BetZillion is back with a betting preview for the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, providing you with free betting picks and predictions for the upcoming race with the best F1 auto racing odds.
But even though the Albert Park we knew from 2019 is no longer, our Formula One betting experts have a pretty good idea of what we can expect to happen this weekend and which drivers you might want to wager on at the current F1 Australian Grand Prix 2022 odds.
Here is our free Formula One betting preview, with the best picks and 2022 Australian GP betting tips you should follow!
It will be 2 weeks since the last Formula One race once the flag drops at Albert Park, which gave the auto racing bookmakers more than enough time to compile the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix betting odds. And we can’t say we are surprised with what the offer shows.
25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsLive bettingMany sportsFast payoutsGreat supportMobile appsLive bettingAfter a humiliating season-opening week in Bahrain, Max Verstappen helped Red Bull get back on the horse with an emphatic victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The reigning F1 champion scored his first W of the 2022 season.
With that victory, Verstappen now sits third in the Drivers’ Championship standings ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, with 25 points – 8 short of Carlos Sainz Jr. and 20 below Charles Leclerc.
We must acknowledge how dominant the Red Bull driver was in Saudi Arabia, where he had an iffy showing in the qualifying run and started fourth on the grid, yet still came out on top. Verstappen is still a threat, and even though it’s too early to say whether he will win his second title, you can’t argue with the bookies who have him priced as the top dog for the Australian race.
But when we talk about his chances to win in Australia, it’s important to note that Red Bull only has one win at Albert Park, courtesy of Sebastian Vettel in 2011. Meanwhile, Verstappen has never won here, nor has he ever claimed pole position, but he should be hoping he can deliver this weekend.
Charles Leclerc heads to the “Land Down Under” as the no.2 on the outright betting markets, priced at 6/4. Interestingly, Leclerc is priced at higher odds than Verstappen, even though he has achieved more.
The Ferrari driver had an excellent start to the 2022 F1 season, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix. And even though he couldn’t win in Saudi Arabia, Leclerc still finished second, which sits him atop the F1 standings.
Leclerc is in excellent form and has a car to take to the victory lane. However, his past performances in Australia aren’t that great. In his debut (2018), Leclerc could only manage a 13th-place finish, granted he was at the time driving for Alfa Romeo.
Upon switching over to Ferrari for the 2019 season, Leclerc has improved and ended the Australian Grand Prix in 5th place, which remains his best placement on Albert Park. With more momentum under his belt and a better engine, Leclerc has an excellent chance to improve that performance, but the question remains – can he win?
Carlos Sainz Jr. has had an excellent start to the season and is undeniably one of the top-3 drivers ahead of this weekend’s race. But even though Sainz Jr. has produced a couple of highlights over the first 2 races, his tag as the third-best driver should be taken with a grain of salt.
Sainz Jr. placed second in Bahrain and landed third in Saudi Arabia, for which he deserves much praise. But there is no denying that the Spaniard doesn’t seem able to keep up with his teammate yet.
We wouldn’t hold it against anyone who expects Sainz Jr. to do well in Australia, but he has yet to show enough to add him to our list of F1 Australian GP predictions for 2022 as a potential winner.
The 2022 Australian Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, at 15:00 local time (AEDT). It will mark the first running of the Australian GP since 2019 because the race got cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID.
Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit has undergone significant changes since it held the last F1 race in 2019, meaning that the 2022 Australian Grand Prix will look much different from the Australian GP we saw 3 years ago.
Many things have changed, but arguably the most notable and impactful came around Turn 9 and 10, where the race organizers removed the chicane to create a sweeping right turn. Moreover, there will also be a new DRS tone down the back straight, improving the racing experience for both the drivers and the fans.
Besides removing the chicane, several corners have been widened or changed to allow cars to more accessible run side by side more and reach higher speeds, including corners 1, 3, 6, 13, and 15. Likewise, the pit lanes have also been widened, which increased the pit lane speed limit to 80 km/h, and lastly, the whole circuit has resurfaced for the first time since 1995.
Some early evaluations of the changes indicate that the race’s average speed should increase by about 15km/h. Statistics also show that lap times should be more than 5 seconds faster.
Now it’s time to look at our main selections for the upcoming race, providing you with 3 choices and picks you should follow.
Our main 2022 Australian GP prediction is on Charles Leclerc to win his second season race. He had a phenomenal start to the 2022 Formula One World Championship, and there is very little to suggest he can’t claim his first W in Australia on Sunday.
The drivers have yet to test Albert Park’s new look, and it’s impossible to know who will do well and who won’t. But even with that in mind, we expect the race will be a battle between Verstappen and Leclerc, and realistically you can’t go wrong with picking either of them.
But we’re looking for value, and at 6/4, Leclerc offers more of it. Optimally, it would be best if you waited for the practice or qualifying runs to finish to get a better idea of who will deliver in Melbourne, and placing a timely in-play bet on this race isn’t a wrong choice either. But since we’re betting on pre-race markets, Leclerc is an obvious choice.
Albert Park is Daniel Ricciardo’s home track; however, he has yet to shine in Melbourne. Ricciardo’s best placement came in 2014 when he finished as runner-up, but even that was taken away from him after he got disqualified for exceeding fuel-low rate limits.
Since then, his best finish was fourth (2016, 2018). He might have improved upon that in 2021 when he was in a McLaren car, which was good enough to help Ricciardo compete for a podium finish, but the COVID pandemic spoiled his plans.
So far this season, Ricciardo has only one 14th-place finish from Bahrain and DNF from Saudi Arabia. With those figures, it’s tough to have much faith in him to do well, but 9/4 for Ricciardo to finish inside the top-10 is good enough for us to pull the trigger.
Fernando Alonso is another outsider we have high hopes for. He is looking very fast in the Alpine F1, and even though he has not won a single F1 race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso is easily one of the most consistent drivers in the field.
Last season, he claimed 15 top-10 finishes and 5 top-6 and continued that trend in 2022, with a 9th-place finish in Bahrain but an unfortunate DNF in Saudi Arabia. But we’re mostly interested in his performance in Melbourne, where he won his first race in 2006 after claiming 2 3rd-place finishes in 2005 and 2004.
In his last 5 starts in Australia, Alonso’s placements show 5th, RET, RET, 4th, and 2nd. If we look past his 2 DNF (2017, 2016), Alonso has been phenomenal at this track. He has finished inside the top-6 in 12 of his last 14 races!
We don’t expect him to win the race or to claim the podium position. But Alonso should be in the mix for a top-6!
For our final prediction, we’re on Charles Leclerc to claim the fastest lap time at 15/8. He was the quickest driver in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which isn’t that surprising considering how fast Ferrari has been this season. And there is nothing that would suggest Ferrari (namely Leclerc) can’t be the fastest in Melbourne.
Prediction: Charles Leclerc to claim fastest lap time – 15/8
That covers everything you need to know about the upcoming race and provides you with all the information you’ll need to bet on F1 Australian Grand Prix 2022. But before you place your bets, visit the safest betting sites and wager only on the best Formula One bookmakers.
