BetZillion takes a look at the opening race of the 2022 Formula One World Championship season and provides you with free betting picks for Bahrain Grand Prix, with the best F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2022 odds, courtesy of the top auto racing betting sites.
However, while the Dutch driver did enough to deserve the 2021 F1 title, many believe it will be much more challenging for him to emulate that success this year. Whether that be the case or not remains to be seen, but we should get a more precise answer to who is the fastest driver this weekend when the F1 returns with the opening race of the season in Bahrain.
This betting preview covers everything you need to know about the upcoming race and provides you with excellent 2022 Bahrain GP betting tips for you to trail.
An essential thing to keep an eye on for this season is the new regulations for the 2022 generation of cars, which promises to even up the field and provide us with much closer battles, which won’t be decided on manufacturers’ advantages over one another. Whether that will be the case remains to be seen, but according to the latest Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix betting odds, the defending champion should still have an edge heading into the season’s first race.
25+ sportsSuperb bonusesEasy to useVIP programLive gamesMany bonusesMany bonuses24/7 supportMobile appsLive bettingMany sportsFast payoutsGreat supportMobile appsLive bettingThe defending F1 champion, Max Verstappen, is priced as the main favourite to kick off the new season he left off last year. And that does seem fair, given how good “Mad Max” looked in 2021.
Admittedly, the final race of the 2021 F1 season featured a highly controversial finish, and many F1 fans still believe Verstappen did not 100% deserve to win. We’re not taking sides here, but no matter who you think deserved to win last year’s championship, you can agree that Verstappen was – besides Lewis Hamilton – in a class of his own.
The question is whether Verstappen will be as fast in 2022 as he was in 2021. Last year, Red Bull had the fastest cars, which helped Verstappen claim the title, but if the new set of regulations should indeed level the playing field, it’s only fair to expect Red Bull drivers not to have such a substantial edge over other cars.
We wouldn’t hold it against anyone who has Max Verstappen as his main bet on the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2022. But we would tame our expectations on the Dutch champion – at least for the season’s first race.
It was rare to see Lewis Hamilton not be priced as the main favourite to win a Formula One race until last season. And it was even rarer to see Hamilton not be the main favourite to win the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 7-time world champion won the Bahrain Grand Prix 5 times in his career, including the last 3 races (2019-2021). And yet the auto racing bookies seem to believe Hamilton is not the most likely winner for this weekend race. Why might that be?
“We are not the quickest now,” said Hamilton ahead of the 2022 Formula One season’s opening race.
Statements like that can make you concerned about his chances to win, but let’s remember one thing. The Brit said the same thing in 2019, 2020, and 2021, yet he won all 3 races.
Admittedly, his testing results weren’t that great, which explains why the widespread legal bookmakers have him priced at 5/2. But even though it seems like Hamilton will have his work cut out for him, he is someone you should never underestimate – especially on the Bahrain International Circuit.
For the 2022 season, Valtteri Bottas switched over to Alfa Romeo, so it’s fair to say that the days of the Finnish driver occupying the no.3 spot are over. Even though the new regulations promise a much even field, we all know this won’t work. Over the entire season, manufacturers like Alfa Romeo will still finish behind Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari.
Priced at 5/1, Charles Leclerc is the 3rd-most likely driver to win the season opener, which sounds fair, and even though he is priced very generously, it does make sense that the Ferrari driver isn’t much closer to the top 2 drivers. And that is mainly due to Ferrari’s struggles last year.
But we should be careful not to overreact to last year’s results, knowing that all manufacturers have made the necessary changes to become (or remain) competitive this season. And that particularly holds for Ferrari, who looked very good in testing.
The Prancing Horse had consistent lap times with no reliability issues, suggesting Ferrari should improve this year. Will that be enough for Ferrari to win their first F1 Sakhir GP since 2018?
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix is slated for Sunday, March 20, with the flag set to drop at 16:00 local time (AST). It will mark the 18th running of the event and the 11th time the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place on Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit – which has been the configuration in use since 2012.
As the opening race of the season of one of the world’s most popular sports, the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix will be well covered by all bookies, TV channels, and streaming platforms, so you can rest assured that you will be able to follow the action. Moreover, if you want to place live bets, this option will be available on most bookmakers, but we highly recommend finding a bookie that can offer live streaming options.
When predicting the opening race of a new Formula One season, it’s usually wise to throw the stats we have on the drivers from last year out of the window. While we can’t ignore that Verstappen and Hamilton were in a class of their own in 2021, we must also consider that all cars have changed ahead of this season.
With that in mind, you should follow our top 2022 Bahrain GP predictions!
For the first time in years, we can bet on Hamilton to win the Bahrain Grand Prix with outsider odds, which is an opportunity that is very hard to pass on. Admittedly, his performance in testing wasn’t excellent – which contributed to the odds on Hamilton shifting up – but we wouldn’t put too much weight on that.
Hamilton had terrible testing runs in 2019, 2020, 2021, and he still won the Bahrain race; if he managed to do it 3 times, it definitely can’t be a coincidence. We can agree that there is a world where Hamilton’s era of dominance has ended, but if there is one driver you shouldn’t bet against for the Bahrain Grand Prix, it’s Hamilton.
We have to kick off the new season with a bold prediction, but realistically, backing Leclerc to win the season opener isn’t as crazy as it may sound. Ferrari were terrible in 2021, which could lead you to believe the 2022 season won’t be much better for them, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Ferrari grew more assertive towards the end of last season, and it wasn’t much of a secret that the Italian squad was dedicating most of its resources and time towards building a solid car for 2022. How many times did you see Mattia Binotto in a race? It strongly indicated that he might have other, more important things to do, i.e., working on a new car.
Leclerc has yet to win in Bahrain, but he only drove here twice and won the pole position in 2019.
Moreover, he placed 3rd here last year, so it’s fair to say he knows his way around the track. So if our speculations are correct and Ferrari should enter the new season with faster cars, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility for the 24-year-old to claim his 3rd career victory this weekend. But we’ll play it safer and add Leclerc to finish on the podium as our second 2022 Bahrain GP prediction.
Lando Norris won the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2018 while still driving in Formula 2, and he did well here last year when he placed 4th, so he is someone to keep an eye on. He also had a very convincing performance in testing, suggesting he should be set to kick off the 2022 season with a bang.
We wouldn’t expect Norris to claim the checkered flag, but he had many highlights last year, indicating that the 22-year-old could be in for a strong season. It’s also important to note that in the 2021 Bahrain GP, he ended the qualifying run in 7th place but still finished in 4th, so it’s fair to say that the tracks suited his style.
Priced as high as 8/5 to finish inside the top-6, it’s hard not to add Norris to our F1 Bahrain GP predictions for 2022.
We end our 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix coverage with a longshot bet on Mick Schumacher to finish the weekend race in the points. Haas is not one of the top manufacturers, but they have improved their driver lineup and have a Ferrari power unit, which could be the best on the grid.
Moreover, Hass had more time in the wind tunnel – due to finish last in 2021 – than any other team, meaning they had more time to develop parts. Admittedly, reliability was not cork solid at Bahrain, but things are looking up for Haas, who should start the season strong.
Prediction: Mick Schumacher to finish in the points – 9/4
Our Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix betting preview concludes, providing you with 4 excellent betting picks while wagering on the best F1 bookies!
