F1: Bryce’s Bets -- 2023 Miami Grand Prix
Welcome back to Miami! After four rounds of the 2023 season, the drivers and teams have landed in My-Yam-Eee for Formula One's second annual Miami Grand Prix.
After a boring Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, where Sergio Perez won his second race of the season, Miami has the potential to be a very good race.
The first reason is the mixed-up grid. Lewis Hamilton had a poor Q2 and is starting 13 on the grid. In Q3, Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari on his flying lap and brought out the red flag. This stopped all other drivers from putting in their best lap.
Therefore, Max Verstappen is starting ninth and Kevin Magnussen is starting an excellent fourth in his Haas ride. Perez is starting from pole, followed by Fernando Alonso in second in the Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz in third in the Ferrari.
Another reason this race could get wild is there is a chance of rain in the forecast on Sunday. Rain is the great equalizer and could produce a surprising winner. Regardless of the weather, the mixed-up grid should produce plenty of overtakes as Verstappen makes his way through the field and some other cars fall back.
After a 2-2 record last weekend, let’s try to do even better with the cars stateside. All odds are from SI Sportsbook:
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Sergio Perez to Win –125
Perez has looked like the king of street circuits as of late, winning in Saudi Arabia and in Baku. Miami is a temporary street circuit, but Perez should have the speed to break away from Alonso and Sainz. Neither the Aston Martin nor the Ferrari have shown the race pace the Red Bull has. Expect Perez to be able to hold off Verstappen and take the win from pole. If weather comes into play then all bets are off to what happens, but Perez is a veteran driver who should be able to navigate the conditions, especially from the front without any spray in his face.
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Valtteri Bottas Top Ten Finish +170
This might be my favorite bet of the weekend. Bottas has shown good pace this weekend and finished seventh at Miami last season. Bottas hasn’t scored since the opening round in Bahrain, which is why the odds are high despite him starting 10th. Look for Bottas to get some much-needed points for Alfa Romeo here.
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Carlos Sainz Podium Finish +115
Sainz hasn’t had the best start to the season but he’s had good pace in Miami at a place where he was on the podium last year. He’s starting third and he has a good chance to have better pace than Alonso. Bet on Sainz to hang on to that top-three spot regardless of if Verstappen gets up to the front.
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Max Verstappen Fastest Lap –105
This play backfired on me last week as George Russell had a big enough gap to pit and steal the fastest lap point. I don’t see that happening this race as there’s a high probability a caution puts the field back together. Last race was an outlier because there were drivers who started from the pit lane that didn’t pit and were holding everyone up in hopes of a safety car. Verstappen should be trying to rip through the field to get to the front and has been the quickest all weekend.
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Season Record: 5-11
Best of luck betting and enjoy the race! Be sure to go to autoracingdigest.com for all your motorsports needs and follow @AutoRaceDigest on Twitter.