2021 Turkish Grand Prix Race Preview and Best Bet

Following the disappointing cancellation of the Japanese GP this weekend, the Formula 1 circus instead heads back to Turkey for the second year in a row. Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 Turkish GP in tricky conditions, what can we and the top betting sites expect this weekend in Turkey?

Formula 1 Turkish GP

Sunday, October 10th, 2021 - 8:00 AM EDT at Istanbul Park

Last Time Out

The Russian GP was another exciting race in the F1 calendar as we witnessed Lando Norris’s fall from grace, the British driver was on course for his first-ever F1 win when leading the race.

With just a few laps remaining he had a difficult decision to make when the heavens opened up and the rain came pouring down. Ultimately Norris choose to stay out on his dry tires, a choice that failed to pay off. You can understand his desire not to give up the lead in what could have been his first race win.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1442122320944959496?s=20

Ultimately Lewis Hamilton went on to win the race as Norris struggled to control his car, he eventually crossed the finish line in a lowly 7th. Elsewhere Verstappen did well to finish 2nd given his grid penalty for changing his engine.

It was also quite humbling and nice to enjoy the retiring Kimi Raikkonen finish inside the Top 10 one final time as he placed in 8th position at the Sochi GP. He most likely won’t finish any higher than 8th for the rest of the season.

Previous Turkish Race Winners

2020 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)2011 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)2010 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)2009 – Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes)2008 – Felipa Massa (Ferrari)

Official Best Bet

Max Verstappen holds all the aces ahead of this race. He has a brand new engine, which should give him the fastest car this weekend in Turkey.

His title rival, Lewis Hamilton is most likely going to take a grid penalty, but this will come post-qualifying which essentially means Verstappen should be able to outqualify Hamilton this weekend with a better, fresher, and newer engine than the Englishman.

Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates. Photo by Yuri Kochetkov / POOL / AFP.

We absolutely love the odds on Verstappen to take pole position at +140, this is way overvalued in our opinion and we were expecting to see his odds for the pole to be closer to -110. When we consider he is -140 to win the race, the odd don’t match up. Take Verstappen for pole position at these very generous odds.

Formula 1 Pick: (visit our Sportsbook Review)

Aston Martin for a Big Showing

It's hard to ignore how strong Aston Martins were here last season (branded Racing Point then) as they qualified 3rd and 1st respectively, with then driver Sergio Perez finishing in 2nd position and pole-sitter Lance Stroll finishing in 9th, no doubt a result he was far from happy with given his pole position.

We believe that the value for the Aston Martins to both finish inside the top 10 is too good not to play at odds of +300.

https://twitter.com/AstonMartinF1/status/1445660096734715911?s=20

Sebastian Vettel certainly knows his way around the track here as he won back in 2011 with Red Bull and even last season when driving for Ferrari, he managed to finish in 3rd position from starting on the grid in 11th. As we discussed Stroll claimed pole here last season

Only twice this season has both Aston Martins finished inside the top 10 together, we believe this is why the odds are so high at +400, but history has a habit of repeating itself more often than not in the world of F1, and at these odds, it’s a play worth considering.

Formula 1 Pick:

Charles Leclerc Value for a Podium Finish

Out final Formula 1 pick for the Turkish GP is Leclerc to finish on the podium (top 3) at some nice value Formula 1 odds at +290.

The driver from Monaco changed his engine in the previous race, meaning he should be able to use the full strength of the new power unit this weekend in Turkey. Ferrari will be slightly confident of a potential podium finish this weekend given their 4th and 5th place finishes here last season. Now that Leclerc has a new engine, they could have their opportunity to make something happen.

Either way we think +290 is way too big for a Leclerc podium, his team has proved that they were fast here last season, plus he should have that little bit of extra speed on his rivals with the new engine.

Formula 1 Pick: (visit our Sportsbook Review)

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.