2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Odds: Favored Verstappen Leads Grid Into Baku

Max Verstappen won here in Baku in 2022 and has won two of three races to kick off the 2023 campaign, only solidifying his dominance over the Formula 1 grid. As such, he's alone atop the Azerbaijan Grand Prix odds board.

Chris Gregory - Publishing Editor at Covers.com
Chris Gregory • Publishing Editor
Apr 29, 2023 • 19:50 ET • 4 min read
Max Verstappen Red Bull Formula 1
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

With three wins and five podium finishes through three races, it's been all Red Bull this season and Formula 1 odds are expecting more of the same in Baku. 

As per usual, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are sitting comfortably atop the opening odds board to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30. 

Find out where they stand after qualifying and Saturday's sprint race in our full Azerbaijan Grand Prix odds breakdown below.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix odds

Driver DraftKings
Max Verstappen -215
Sergio Perez +275
Charles Leclerc +900
Lewis Hamilton +2,500
Fernando Alonso +3,000
Carlos Sainz +3,000
George Russell +5,500
Lando Norris +20,000
Lance Stroll +20,000
Yuki Tsunoda +60,000
Oscar Piastri +60,000
Esteban Ocon +60,000
Alex Albon +60,000
Valtteri Bottas +100,000
Nyck de Vries +100,000
Pierre Gasly +100,000
Nicko Hulkenberg +100,000
Logan Sargeant +100,000
Kevin Magnussen +100,000
Guanyu Zhou +100,000

Odds as of April 29, 2023.

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Azerbaijan Grand Prix favorites

Max Verstappen (-215)

Verstappen has two wins in three tries this season, with the other being a second-place finish after starting at the back of the grid in Jeddah. 

The back-to-back defending Drivers' Champion continues to be a dominant force and is routinely an odds-on favorite to win whenever he gets behind the wheel. Baku should be no different — as evidenced by his win here in 2022. 

Sergio Perez (+275)

Despite some ongoing tiffs with his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez's consistent performance on the track has made him the perfect running mate to Verstappen. 

He finished second behind Max at Bahrain, won in Saudi Arabia, and finished fifth in Melbourne after starting at the back of the grid. If for some reason Max doesn't win, Perez is next up. 

Fernando Alonso (+3,000)

Three straight podium finishes for the Spanish legend means he's the best of the rest when you look beyond Red Bull at the top of the board. 

With that said, he'll need some things to go his way should he really want to threaten victory (maybe a Red Bull retirement or two), as he finished 38.6 seconds behind Max in Bahrain and 20.7 seconds behind Perez in Jeddah. 

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Azerbaijan GP pre-qualifying picks

By Shawn Wronka

Azerbaijan Grand Prix opening odds reaction

Max Verstappen to win (-200)

This year has been all about Red Bull, with Max Verstappen (69 points) leading second-place Sergio Perez by 15 points. As expected, Mad Max is the chalk to take home Azerbaijan, and for good reason. Last year's winner by 20.8 seconds cruised to victory last year, flexing Red Bull's dominance in Baku City's straightaways.

Verstappen's odds are short at first sight due to the variance and strangeness of the race. Ferrari has possessed three pole positions in the six years of the race but has never won (only Red Bull and Mercedes have won here). In fact, just two of the six pole winners have even finished on the podium.

But if there was a year to capitalize on (relatively) short odds for Verstappen, it's a year in which he has been as dominant as he has been.

Lean: Bet now before Friday's practices (Best odds: -230 at FanDuel)

Sergio Perez to win (+490)

To that point, teammate Sergio Perez has had his fair share of success early on in the 2023 season. Given that the tight street course has repeatedly created some eye-opening turn of events, there's some method to the madness by taking Verstappen's running mate and the second-best driver on the grid in 2023.

Verstappen has had his fair share of instances of over-aggression over the years, and Azerbaijan is arguably one of the worst courses for that type of reckless approach. Perez, who has picked up wins and steadily great results by being the more level-headed of the two, is in a decent position to benefit from any possible mishaps on Max's behalf.

Last year, Perez finished 20.8 seconds behind Verstappen en route to a second-place finish, but he also had 25 seconds of separation from the third-place finisher George Russell. If Verstappen takes himself out of this race, Perez has shown the ability to run laps around the rest of the grid.

Lean: Bet now before Friday's practices (Best odds: +490 at FanDuel)

Ferrari qualifying winning team (+1,400)

There's no mistake about it, Ferrari's 2023 season has been a disaster thus far. Charles LeClerc, often viewed as Verstappen's biggest threat when it comes to the Driver's Championship, sits tenth in the standings with just six points. His teammate Carlos Sainz has fared much better (fifth with 20 points), but the cumulative Ferrari effort has been a massive disappointment (fourth in Constructor's with 26 points).

Betting on Ferrari to take home a win on Sunday would be a fool's errand given the troubling combination of Azerbaijan's wonky track record and Ferrari's self-inflicted mishaps on race day — but qualifying is a different story entirely.

As mentioned previously they've taken home a qualifying win in three of the six Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and with extended time off and fewer rounds of practice to deteriorate their car and their driver's morale, this weekend's unique format may play in their favor.

Lean: Bet now before Friday's practices (Best odds: +1,000 at DraftKings)

Pick made on April 27, 2023

Azerbaijan Grand Prix starting grid

Starting Position Driver
1 Charles Leclerc
2 Sergio Perez
3 Max Verstappen
4 George Russell
5 Carlos Sainz
6 Lewis Hamilton
7 Alex Albon
8 Fernando Alonso
9 Lance Stroll
10 Lando Norris
11 Oscar Piastri
12 Nico Hulkenberg
13 Kevin Magnussen
14 Zhou Guanyu
15 Valtteri Bottas
16 Yuki Tsunoda
17 Pierre Gasly
18 Nick de Vries
19 Esteban Ocon

Previous Azerbaijan Grand Prix winners

Here are the last five winners of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen currently the defending champion.

Year Driver Constructor
2022 Max Verstappen Red Bull
2021 Sergio Perez Red Bull
2020 No race due to COVID-19
2019 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
2018 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2017 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull

Understanding F1 betting odds

The most popular way to bet on Formula 1 odds is by simply picking the winner of a particular race. Other popular F1 betting options include which car/constructor will win and whether or not a particular race car driver will end up on the podium with a Top-3 finish.

F1 race odds usually look like this:

  • Sergio Perez +1,400

This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to profit $1,400 if Perez wins that particular race. If one driver is especially dominant, you might see a minus sign (-) ahead of that driver's odds like this: 

  • Max Verstappen -120

This means that you would need to bet $120 to win $100 on Verstappen winning the race.

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Chris Gregory Covers.com
Publishing Editor

In his three years on the Covers editorial team, Chris Gregory has helped bolster the site’s PGA Tour and college football coverage, though his love for Rory McIlroy and the Buckeyes is often met with disappointment. He brings a journalism and marketing background to his work as a Publishing Editor and has appeared on Jason Logan’s Sharp 600 to talk about the Masters and golf’s other majors.

His best betting advice? Stay away from betting your favorite teams; it’ll only make the hurt worse.

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