2020 Russian Grand Prix Betting Preview & Latest Odds

September 24, 2020 by Ryan Knuppel

Formula 1The Formula One World Championship action is moving to Sochi Autodrom for the 10th race of the season, which will also mark the ninth running of the Russian Grand Prix and the seventh time the race will be held in Sochi.

All the spotlight will once more focus on Lewis Hamilton as the Brit looks to lock in his seventh win of the year and further extend his lead on the driver standings.

The Russian Grand Prix was first held in 1913 and 1914 but was later dropped from the calendar until 2014 when it was reinstalled and has been since a part of the F1 calendar.

Ever since its return to the Formula One World Championship calendar, Hamilton won four out of the six races, while the remaining two belonged to Nico Rosberg (2016) and Valtteri Bottas (2017).

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The most recent round of the 2020 F1 season – the Tuscan Grand Prix – was the first race to see the live audience, with nearly 3,000 spectators allowed to attend the race daily. The additional safety measures made live viewing of F1 races manageable, which ushered the F1 organizers to allow the remaining races of the season to be open to a limited number of fans, which includes the upcoming Russian Grand Prix.

So far races have been held as “closed events” but are gradually opening up to allow more spectators which will be the case with the Sochi race. As revealed by the race organizers, all of the 30,000 tickets for the upcoming race have already been sold out meaning the Russian Grand Prix will host the largest number of spectators of any races so far this season.The 2019 Russian Grand Prix took place on Sunday, September 29, when we saw Lewis Hamilton win his fourth race on Russian soil and the ninth race of the season. The Brit finished the race +3.829s ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas and +5.212s ahead of Charles LeClerc while also setting the fastest lap in the Russian Grand Prix’s history (1:35.761).

It remains to be seen whether the Britton can add another Russian Grand Prix title to his name, however, it’s hard to doubt his ability to do so following his spectacular performance in Tuscan, where he swept the floor with the competition. Hamilton is now leading the drivers’ standings, 55 points ahead of Bottas and 80 points above the third-placed Max Verstappen.

F1/E Reviews

 

Drivers To Watch Out For

* Odds have been provided by 888sport and are accurate as of 24/09/2020

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis HamiltonIt should not come off as a surprise to anyone seeing Lewis Hamilton priced as the odds-on favorite to win his fifth Russian Grand Prix. The British driver has been a force to be reckoned with this season, winning six out of nine races, all in a fairly convincing fashion.

The only three races Hamilton failed to win were the Austrian Grand Prix (4th), The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix (7th) and most recently the Italian Grand Prix (7th). Nevertheless, his success and consistency this season is enviable and while some of Hamilton’s wins were in one way or another assisted with Verstappen’s technical difficulties, Hamilton is still undeniably the best driver of the 2020 season and looks set to solidify himself as the most successful driver at the Russian Grand Prix.

Odds to win: 1.47 (-215)

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri BottasAs per usual, Valtteri Bottas is priced as the second-favorite to win which is more than fair. He already has seven podium finishes this season, which includes one win from the opening race of the season, as well as three runner-up finishes and three third-place finishes.

At the Tuscan Grand Prix, Bottas finished second which is a promising sign for the Finnish driver as he looks towards repeating his success from 2017 and win his second Russian Grand Prix race. Having said that, if the situation occurs where Bottas and Hamilton are ahead of the pack, it’s highly likely the Finn will be instructed to let Hamilton pass, which is why we don’t see any reason to back Bottas to win.

Odds to win: 4.25 (+325)

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen looked primed to challenge Hamilton for the title this year, but a streak of engine problems made it very difficult for the Dutch driver to achieve that feat. The “Mad Max” was visibly frustrated with engine issues which took him out of the race in Tuscany and while it was reported Red Bull and Honda will work overtime to get his car ready for the Russian Grand Prix, there is always the “what if” the issues persist.

While we believe Honda will manage to fix the problems sooner or later, the rather short timeframe they have to do so make us doubt Verstappen’s car will be flawless comes this weekend.

What’s more, Verstappen failed to finish on the podium in all of the past three races, posting two fifth-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in 2019.

Odds to win: 7.50 (+650)

Dark Horse: Lando Norris

Lando NorrisLando Norris is by no means one of the best drivers in the field nor is he even close to being regarded as a title contender, however, there is no denying the British driver has been consistently solid this season.

Norris started the season with a third-place finish in Austria and even though he failed to add another podium to his name, Norris average finish across the last three races sits at 5.66 which is nothing to sneeze at.

He finished seventh in Belgium, fourth at Monza and managed a fairly impressive sixth-place finish in Tuscany.

Norris is priced at 2.75 (+175) to finish in the top six in Russia, which is fairly generous even though he managed only eight last year. Nevertheless, the young driver is driving significantly better than he did in his maiden F1 season, so there is definitely a chance he could push for a strong finish.

Odds to win: 101.00 (+10000)

Our Prediction

We like Norris at 2.75 (+175) to finish in the top six, which will also be our main prediction for this race. As for the winners’ market, we will once more steer clear from betting on Hamilton since the odds are way too low, while we are not prepared to risk our money in hopes for an upset win from one of the underdogs.

As talked about above, Bottas to win might seem like an appealing bet since the Finn has a very strong season, but then again, there is little to no chance the Silver Arrows would allow Bottas to claim the checkered flag ahead of Hamilton if the two find themselves in the lead.

Like we predicted in the Tuscan Grand Prix betting preview, we will again back Daniel Ricciardo to finish in the top six. The odds offered on the Australian driver to achieve that feat are not as high as they were last time out – and understandably so – but considering how solid his driving has been across the last three races (4-6-4), there are definitely reasons to back him on the top-six market.

Ryan Knuppel Author

Ryan (aka Knup) has been writing sports betting content for over a decade now. He covers anything and everything related to United Stats sports including football, basketball, baseball, golf and more. He has finished first place in several gambling related contests over the years which gives him instant credibility in the betting world. Ryan is a die-hard St. Louis...

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