At the halfway mark of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship season, the title is still very much up for grabs ahead of this weekend’s trip to the Hungaroring.
Round 13 promises plenty of drama on one of the shorter tracks as we inch closer to the European summer break.
A fortnight ago at Silverstone it was Lewis Hamilton ending a long victory drought and the British driver will be keen to add to his record tally of race wins in Mogyorod.
Read on for our preview and best bets for this weekend below!
Track Stats
- Direction: Clockwise
- Lap Distance: 4.381km
- Total Laps: 70
- Race Distance: 306.630km
- Lap Record: 1:16.627 (Lewis Hamilton, MER, 2020)
- 2023 Podium: Max Verstappen (RBR), Lando Norris (MAC), Sergio Perez (RBR)
- Most Event Wins: Lewis Hamilton (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020)
Race Winner
The last time Max Verstappen went consecutive races without a victory was over two years ago when the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc won in England and Austria.
He responded to that by winning the next five events, however it’s tough to imagine he will be able to go on a similar run as we approach the midseason break.
It seems far more likely that we are going to see one of the chasing pack pick up their second (or maybe first) race win of the year.
Rain came to the aid of Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone and his price of $7.00 to win looks tempting, but the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris look well placed ahead of this race.
As it stands the forecast is for a mostly dry race which does play into the hands of the Zac Brown lead team and the value on one of the two cars being the first over the line looks quite strong.
Winning Car: McLaren @ $3.00
Winning Margin
The winning margin in each of the last three races has been under 2.22 seconds and with the field looking much more competitive.
Even if Verstappen does not win this race, he’s going to be pushing the eventual winner all the way.
Winning Margin: 0-5.999 seconds @ $1.91
Podium Finish
While the top step on the podium might be a bit beyond the veteran Mercedes driver, he will likely once again be in the mix for a podium finish, especially if the weather does come into play.
He has finished on the podium in two of his last three races and has topped teammate George Russell on both occasions.
In what is a coin toss between the two drivers, take the one coming off a win.
Lewis Hamilton Podium Finish @ $2.00
Points Finish
While there are 10 drivers at under even money in this market, there is no shortage of value to be found amongst the rest of the field.
Especially with much more competitive racing at the top of the order.
Let’s start with the Frenchman Pierre Gasly who had a lighter than expected workload at Silverstone, breaking a run of four straight points finishes.
However with a couple of weeks to fix the car, I’ll be expecting him to feature once again here.
Both Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda had a welcome return to the top ten at Silverstone and one if not both will be well placed to repeat that feat once again.
Lance Stroll Points Finish @ $2.60
Pierre Gasly Points Finish @ $3.00
Yuki Tsunoda Points Finish @ $3.25
Classified Finishers
This might not be the most exciting of bets but it’s a good way to find some enjoyment from a largely uneventful race.
Two of the last three races have seen all 20 drivers classified and there was only one retirement in England.
Backing a full field to complete the race is at a decent price and it’s worth having a play on that.
Over 19.5 Finishers @ $3.50