BETTING GUIDE: Who do the odds favour as the Sprint returns in Austin?

After a short break, Formula 1 is back this weekend as the United States Grand Prix kicks off a triple header of races – and to add to the excitement, the event will also see the return of the Sprint. With Lando Norris having closed the gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings last time out, do the odds favour McLaren in Austin, or could one of their rivals come out on top?

188BET’s odds are presented in decimal form: for every $1 wagered you would win the figure represented by the odds; so, if Verstappen is favourite at 1.50, you would win $1.50 for every dollar bet.

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The odds for the win

After sealing his third F1 victory in dominant style last time out in Singapore, Norris is the favourite to add to his winning tally in Austin as he looks to eat into Verstappen’s 52-point championship lead with six races remaining.

While Verstappen has not stood on the top step of the podium since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, the Dutchman is still ranked as the second most likely to win this weekend. However, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri shares the same odds, the Australian having taken two victories so far this year.

• Lando Norris 2.10
• Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri 5.50
• Charles Leclerc 7.50
• Carlos Sainz, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 17.0
• Sergio Perez 34.0
• Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso 301
• Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu 601

The odds for who will be fastest in qualifying

Pole position also went to Norris at Marina Bay and the McLaren man is tipped to repeat the feat at the Circuit of The Americas, with Verstappen and Piastri again deemed the most likely to challenge him.

Charles Leclerc is the next favourite in the odds, the Monegasque having already claimed three poles in 2024 amid a good run of form of late for Ferrari.

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• Lando Norris 2.10
• Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri 5.00
• Charles Leclerc 8.00
• Carlos Sainz 13.0
• George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 19.0
• Sergio Perez 34.0
• Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso 151
• Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda 251
• Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll 401
• Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu 601

The odds for a podium finish

While Norris, Verstappen, Piastri and Leclerc lead the way in this category, Carlos Sainz holds the next best odds of scoring a podium in Austin. The Spaniard took third place in the Grand Prix last year, having been promoted one position post-race after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for a technical breach.

Speaking of Hamilton, the seven-time world champion will perhaps be hoping to make up for that disappointment this time around – but both he and Mercedes team mate George Russell are rated behind Sainz in their chances of standing on the rostrum.

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• Lando Norris 1.25
• Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri 1.50
• Charles Leclerc 1.83
• Carlos Sainz 3.75
• George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 6.00
• Sergio Perez 11.0
• Fernando Alonso 41.0
• Alex Albon 51.0
• Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda 67.0
• Liam Lawson, Kevin Magnussen 151
• Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly 201
• Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu 301

The odds for a top-six finish

No driver from outside of the leading four teams has finished on the podium so far this season, but a number have managed to take a solid haul of points with a top-six finish. The man ranked as most likely to achieve this at COTA is Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard’s best result at the track being a P3 when it joined the F1 calendar in 2012.

Another candidate for crossing the line within the top six is Alex Albon. This would surely be the icing on the cake for the Williams driver on what will already be a celebratory weekend as he marks his 100th race start.

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• Lando Norris 1.08
• Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri 1.10
• Charles Leclerc 1.15
• Carlos Sainz 1.40
• George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 1.45
• Sergio Perez 2.50
• Fernando Alonso 5.00
• Alex Albon 6.50
• Nico Hulkenberg 10.0
• Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda 13.0
• Liam Lawson, Kevin Magnussen 17.0
• Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly 29.0
• Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu 101

The odds for a points finish

Who else could potentially be in the fight for points in Austin? Nico Hulkenberg is amongst those with decent odds, the Haas driver having added to his tally in Singapore with a P9 result.

Others favoured to finish within the top 10 include Franco Colapinto – who scored points on only his second F1 outing for Williams in Azerbaijan – as well as Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda. Not far behind in the odds is Liam Lawson, who makes his F1 return this weekend to replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB.

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• Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri 1.06
• George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 1.07
• Sergio Perez 1.10
• Fernando Alonso 1.32
• Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg 2.25
• Franco Colapinto, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda 2.75
• Kevin Magnussen 3.75
• Liam Lawson 4.35
• Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly 9.00
• Valtteri Bottas 21.0
• Zhou Guanyu 41.0

The odds for fastest lap

Speaking of Ricciardo, the Australian’s F1 career came to a close – at least for the time being – in Singapore with a final flourish, the RB driver having set the fastest lap of the race in the final laps.

That won’t be repeated this weekend, but who could achieve the feat this time around? The odds suggest that Norris is the favourite – and the additional point for doing so could be valuable in his championship bid.

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• Lando Norris 2.00
• Max Verstappen 6.50
• Oscar Piastri 9.00
• Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton 11.0
• Carlos Sainz 13.0
• Sergio Perez 17.0
• Fernando Alonso 34.0
• Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda 51.0
• Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg 101
• Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen 151
• Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu 251

What are the odds for which team will take the most points?

With both Norris and Piastri standing on the podium in Singapore, McLaren’s lead at the top of the constructors’ championship has grown to 41 points, meaning that they are again deemed the most likely to take the biggest points haul this weekend.

Red Bull are marginally ahead of Ferrari as second favourite, while Mercedes have slightly more distant odds.

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• McLaren 1.57
• Red Bull 4.75
• Ferrari 5.00
• Mercedes 8.20
• Aston Martin, Williams 151
• Alpine, Haas, RB, Sauber 201

The odds for a Safety Car appearing during the race

Last month’s Singapore Grand Prix was the first-ever F1 race at Marina Bay to run without a Safety Car – but will it make a return in Austin?

• Yes 2.00
• No 1.72

The odds for number of classified drivers

Only two drivers retired from the race last time out in Singapore, continuing the strong run of reliability seen so far across the season – and with the addition of the Sprint offering an extra chance to score points this weekend, everyone will be keen to make it to the finish line on both Saturday and Sunday.

• Over 16.5 1.12
• Under 16.5 6.50
• Over 17.5 1.40
• Under 17.5 2.75

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The odds for the winning margin

While the margins have often been fine during 2024, Norris took victory at Marina Bay by a whopping 20 seconds from Verstappen. Will there again be a dominant winner in Austin, or could it prove to be a fight to the line?

• Over 10 seconds 2.50
• Between 5 and 10 seconds inclusive 3.10
• Under 5 seconds 2.50