Russian Grand Prix Preview and Best Bet

After a chaotic Italian GP which seen both title rivals crash into each other, which caused the race to turn wide open, and in turn caused the race winner to be +10100 shot Daniel Riccardo. Five points separate Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen heading into this round.

Formula 1 Russian GP

Sunday, September 26, 2021 – 8:00 AM EST at Sochi Autodrom

Verstappen and Co Accept Three Place Grid Penalty

With a five point lead in the overall championship, Max Verstappen has a lot to do as he has taken a three place grid penalty ahead of this race following his collision with Hamilton last time out in Monza. Thankfully, the halo which sits above Hamilton’s helmet absorbed the crushing impact of Verstappen’s Red Bull. Although Red Bull and Verstappen saw the incident as “a racing incident” they have accepted the three place grid penalty as they know how strong Mercedes have been at this track in recent years. They have won seven of seven races in a row at this Sochi circuit.

Red Bull will also be hoping Sergio Perez can tun his fortunes around this week as he has failed to finish inside the top 4 in the previous six races. Perez is adrift of Bottas by 21 points which is a lot considering the power of the Red Bulls this year, they arguably do have the better car than Mercedes this season.

McLaren will be over the moon to see the team doing so well this season and they will be ones to look out for next season, especially with two strong drivers in Lando Norris and Daniel Riccardo. Although Norris would have liked to win last time out in Monza, he said he will get his opportunity to win a race in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Max Verstappen. (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

Lewis Hamilton Looks To Take 100th F1 Race Victory

It's been the talk of the paddock now for the previous four races as Hamilton has yet to win any of those four, but he is just one race win away from 100 wins in Formula1. This would make him the first F1 driver ever to reach 100 race wins. Interestingly Hamilton is the only F1 driver on the current grid to have completed every single lap at Sochi with 370 in total.

Although Hamilton is -140 on the betting sites to win the race compared to title rival Verstappen, who is +450, we really can't ignore the fact that Mercedes are so strong here. So Verstappen does hold some value but the grid penalty and the fact Red Bull have never won here is enough to keep us away from the dutchman for this Sunday's race.

Previous Monza Race Winners

2020– Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)2019– Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)2018– Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)2017– Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)2016– Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton. (Photo by LARS BARON / POOL / AFP)

Official Best Bet

Sochi has been a Mercedes stranglehold now for seven years straight since they first began racing here back in 2014, having won all seven races and finished on the podium in the previous three races and have done so in four of the seven races at Sochi. We see some value for our best bets in taking the silver arrows to both finishing inside the top three this weekend in Sochi at odds of +125.

Elsewhere, if you are looking to take Bottas as a race winner here at +350 it might be worth a small play. We really only see one of the two Mercedes winning. It will most likely be Hamilton, but if you don’t want to lay the -140 juice on him to win, then Bottas would be the next best play here for the overall race winner market.

Formula 1 Pick: (visit our Sportsbook Review)

From the 142 cars which have started a race here, 117 have reached the chequered flag. That gives an overall finish rate of 82%. We are targeting some DNF (did not finish) drivers for this race as our side pick with such favorable stats in our favor.

Look to take the under 17.5 classified drivers here at -120 with the best online sportsbooks. The highest number of cars to finish a Russian Grand Prix is nineteen, which happened in 2014, while the following year saw just thirteen drivers reach the end of the race.

Formula 1 Side Pick: Under 17.5 Classified Drivers -120 with The Best Online Sportsbooks