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Verstappen Chasing Valuable Points in the Netherlands

Lewis Hamilton Remains on Top

The already dramatic and controversial Formula One World Championship season took another twist last weekend when the unforgiving weather caused havoc at the Belgian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen won the shortest race in the history of the sport, which helped him reduce the gap between him and Lewis Hamilton. He still has a lot of work to do to reclaim the throne.

Still, Mad Max should feel confident in his chances to reclaim the top spot in the standings, as Formula One travels to his home circuit on Sunday for the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix. The race will take place on CM.com Circuit Zandvoort in Zandvoort, just a three-hour drive from Verstappen’s hometown of Hasselt.

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton competes in the qualifying session of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix
KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

However, as history has taught us, home tracks don’t always result in good results for the crowd’s favorite drivers; granted, we can expect Verstappen to be as motivated as ever to deliver in front of his friends and family.

A Long-Awaited Return to Zandvoort

The Dutch Grand Prix has been one of the most anticipated races throughout Formula One history. It was first introduced in 1948 and has become a mainstay on the F1 calendar since 1952.

The Dutch Grand Prix was scrapped after the 1983 season, and while it should have returned last year, the race was canceled due to COVID-19. Therefore, the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix marks the first F1 race in the Netherlands in 38 years.

The 2021 Dutch Grand Prix will make the 35th iteration of the race and the 13th round of the 2021 Formula One season. It will be contested over 72 laps over a distance of 306.648 km (≈ 190.542 mi).

Although the track itself isn’t considered as one of the more challenging on the calendar, it should present a tough test for the drivers. Since the race wasn’t held once in 38 years, none of the active drivers have any previous experience driving on it, some of whom haven’t even been born when the Dutch Grand Prix was last held.

Jim Clark remains the most successful driver of the race, having won the Dutch Grand Prix four times. Meanwhile, Ferrari is the most successful constructor with nine wins.

Win Would Do Job for Verstappen

Max Verstappen travels to his home country motivated to deliver, knowing that a win will be enough to get him back on top of the Drivers’ Championship. The Dutch, however, can count himself lucky for being declared as the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix, where he has received some help from the unpredictable Belgian weather.

Formula 1 (@F1) August 29, 2021

Though some may argue that Verstappen didn’t deserve to win, he put on a solid performance over a small sample size of laps on Spa-Francorchamps. Although there is no way of telling how the race would have ended had the drivers been able to finish it, you can be sure that Verstappen would emerge as one of the strong candidates to claim the checkered flag.

Meanwhile, the current leader, Lewis Hamilton, wasn’t too happy with the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix outcome. The seven-time world champion was visibly frustrated, criticizing the aborted race, and accused Formula 1 of cynism in the way they decided to run the rainy race.

We should have called it quits, not risked drivers and most importantly refunded fans who are the heart of our sport,” said Hamilton.

“There was no moment today when we would have been able to race.”

Unfortunately, Formula One rules weren’t on his side on the day. As stated, race points must be awarded if the field completes at least two laps.

Regardless, Hamilton finished the race in third, behind George Russell, and secured 7.5 points, which is enough for the Brit to remain on his throne atop of the standings. He is currently at 202.5 points, while Verstappen is at 199.5, which could mean that we’re in for the tightest finish to the season in the history of Formula One.

Prediction

It usually makes sense to look at how the most recent race went and use the results to figure out which driver will deliver next weekend. That, however, isn’t the optimal approach for figuring out who to bet online for the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix since last week’s race can hardly be used as an indication of which driver should do well.

Alternatively, using the drivers’ previous performances on the track should give you a solid idea of how well they do. Again, this approach isn’t possible since the Dutch Grand Prix hasn’t been held in 38 years.

Still, the bookmakers seem to have an idea of how to price drivers for the weekend race. Once again, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen sit tied at +110 atop of F1 odds to win the race, with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez tied as second-favorites at +1600 by the BetUS sportsbook.

The Formula One betting odds for this weekend make a lot of sense if you compare the drivers’ form over the entire season. Verstappen and Hamilton are the undisputed best drivers of the season and are priced accordingly, with current no.4 and no.5 priced as the second-favorites.

However, the bookmakers seemingly forgot about Lando Norris. The young Brit is priced as high as +3300 to win the race and at +400 for a podium finish.

Although he hasn’t done too well in his last two starts (14th, DNF), Norris has claimed fourth on Silverstone as well as third and fifth in Austria. A top-three finish won’t come easy; however, we have to keep in mind that Circuit Zandvoort will present a new challenge for all the drivers and the fact that Norris has done well on similar tracks before.

Those two factors make Norris a solid bet for a podium finish any online sports betting fan should consider.

Pick: Lando Norris podium finish (+400)

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