The 2024 Formula One season is just days away, with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, March 2 kicking off a campaign that will stretch over a record 24 races. Having blown away all contenders to claim a third straight World Championship title in 2023, Red Bull's Max Verstappen is once again the man to beat.
Verstappen won a mind-blowing 19 of the 22 races on offer last season, with team-mate Sergio Perez claiming another two more as Red Bull dominated both the drivers' and constructors championships like we've never seen before.
With the 20 drivers being put through their paces in Bahrain testing last week, Red Bull are wasting no time in picking up from where they left off, with Verstappen setting the pace in the first practice laps and laying down a marker for his competitors.
With no roster changes from the end of last season, save two teams undergoing rebrands to Kick Sauber and Visa CashApp RB, the 20-driver lineup taking to the grid in 2024 will all fancy their chances of making an impact, with more races than ever before to do so.
That's plenty to keep tabs on amidst a packed season, but don't worry, The Sporting News is on hand to give you the best odds, bets and tips as the 2024 Formula One calendar kicks into life.
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2024 F1 Drivers' Championship odds
In the least surprising news of the new season, three-time world champion Max Verstappen is the overwhelming favourite to secure a fourth successive title in 2024, with the chasm between himself and the rest of the field reflecting the dominance he displayed in romping to victory last year.
Perhaps more interestingly, DraftKings have ranked both Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz — the only other drivers to win races besides Verstappen in 2023 — at a fairly sizeable +2800 moneyline, putting the pair joint-seventh in the list of favourites to take home the World Drivers' Championship this year.
Behind Verstappen on -370 sits Lewis Hamilton on a moneyline of +850, one of only two drivers with a three-figure moneyline and suggesting just how hard Verstappen will be to beat this year. However, the pair — who have won 10 titles between them — are separated by McLaren's 24-year-old Brit Lando Norris, who is a surprise candidate at +750 and thus second-favourite to Verstappen.
Norris' McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri lags a way behind the trio at +2000, with George Russell and Charles Leclerc of Mercedes and Ferrari respectively both locked in at a +2200 moneyline. The new generation of drivers has been led front and centre by Verstappen for the past three years and counting, but DraftKings' odds suggest that a changing of the guard may just be on the horizon in 2024 if you're feeling bold enough to bet against Verstappen.
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Odds via DraftKings (USA), Sports Interaction (Canada) and SkyBet (UK)
| Driver | DraftKings | Sports Interaction |
SkyBet |
| Max Verstappen | -370 | 1/5 | 1/4 |
| Lando Norris | +750 | 10/1 | 14/1 |
| Lewis Hamilton | +850 | 10/1 | 8/1 |
| Oscar Piastri | +2000 | 33/1 | 40/1 |
| Charles Leclerc | +2200 | 10/1 | 22/1 |
| George Russell | +2200 | 22/1 | 25/1 |
| Sergio Perez | +2800 | 25/1 | 25/1 |
| Carlos Sainz | +2800 | 40/1 | 50/1 |
| Fernando Alonso | +3500 | 25/1 | 40/1 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | +8000 | 500/1 | 100/1 |
| Lance Stroll | +15000 | 500/1 | 250/1 |
| Pierre Gasly | +15000 | 750/1 | 250/1 |
| Esteban Ocon | +15000 | 750/1 | 250/1 |
| Alexander Albon | +25000 | 250/1 | 150/1 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | +40000 | 750/1 | 250/1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | +40000 | 1500/1 | 1000/1 |
| Guanyu Zhou | +50000 | 1500/1 | 1000/1 |
| Kevin Magnussen | +50000 | 2000/1 | 1000/1 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | +50000 | 2000/1 | 1000/1 |
| Logan Sergeant | +50000 | 2000/1 | 1000/1 |
2024 F1 Constructors' Championship odds
Following their Verstappen-led domination of recent seasons, Red Bull are unsurprisingly the favourites to follow in their star drivers' tracks and claim a third successive Constructors' Championship in 2024.
There's an even shorter moneyline on the Austrian franchise winning the constructors' title than on Verstappen to win Drivers' Championship number four, currently sat at -475 with DraftKings and way ahead of closest challengers McLaren on +700.
McLaren have jumped above Mercedes and Ferrari in the stakes to win the Constructors' Championship, despite their drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri having zero career race wins to their names.
| Constructor | DraftKings | SkyBet |
| Red Bull | -475 | 1/4 |
| McLaren | +700 | 7/1 |
| Mercedes | +800 | 15/2 |
| Ferrari | +800 | 9/1 |
| Aston Martin | +4500 | 50/1 |
| Alpine | +20000 | 125/1 |
| RB | +25000 | 150/1 |
| Kick Sauber | +35000 | 250/1 |
| Williams | +35000 | 250/1 |
| Haas | +70000 | 500/1 |
2024 Formula One season predictions
After sweeping aside all before them in 2023, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are once more the benchmark which every other driver will be hoping to reach this year. Winning 19 of 22 races last season, a previously unimaginable feat in the entire history of the sport, Verstappen has already begun to set the pace in preseason testing and his competitors face a tough task to surpass him in 2024.
Winning two of the remaining three races left unclaimed by Verstappen last season, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez will be hoping to shorten the gap between himself and the Dutchman in 2024. Last year's successes came in two of the first four races of the campaign, and the Mexican will know he needs to make another fast start in order to prevent Verstappen from pulling away.
With Verstappen and Perez winning all but one of the 22 races on offer last season, Red Bull naturally cleaned up the Constructors' Championship just as comfortably as the former sealed his third straight title, but with McLaren's odds shortening massively and both Mercedes and Ferrari on the cusp of new eras, they won't be retaining it without a fight.
The 2025 move of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to Ferrari could bring about a huge change to the F1 landscape next season, and you can be assured that Hamilton will be pushing himself harder than ever to win an eighth career title in his last campaign behind the wheel of a car in which he's won six of those Drivers' Championships.
Similarly, Ferrari can't be counted out either, having made some decent strides in 2023. Charles Leclerc couldn't add to his five career wins, but will certainly be keen to do so this season. Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton will replace for Ferrari next season, was the only non-Red Bull winner of a race last year and pushed Verstappen close on numerous occasions.
The young duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are also being heavily favoured in McLaren colours this year, and their shorter-than-expected odds to claim wins towards both individual and team titles implies that some surprises are in store. If Red Bull can be stopped this season, don't be surprised to see these two right in the thick of it.
2023 Formula One season: Best bet
- Pick: Max Verstappen to win Drivers' Championship
- Moneyline lean: -350 (DraftKings)
Yes, we know it's an obvious pick but all the signs suggest it's the right one. Why would you put money on anything else? After a season of cheer, unrelenting dominance in 2023, Verstappen winning his fourth Drivers' Championship in a row is already shaping up to be one of the safest bets you could make ahead of the new season.
Despite narrow odds of just -350, the fact that the Dutchman was already hitting the heights in Bahrain's preseason testing sessions suggests that even considering a different winner at this early stage would be a tall order.
2023 Formula One season prop bet
- Pick: Lando Norris to win Bahrain Grand Prix
- Moneyline lean: +1200 (DraftKings)
It'll be one hell of a task to topple Verstappen so early on, and the defending champion's moneyline lean of -250 reflects that, but the off-season strides made by McLaren's Lando Norris leaves him as third-favourite to top the podium in Sakhir this weekend.
Next-highest backed to win the season's opening race behind the Red Bull pairing of Verstappen and Perez, the time is now for Norris to justify his ascension up the list of favourites to win the 2024 title, and success in Bahrain would be the perfect way for the young Brit to establish his credentials.
Norris has finished runner-up seven times in his career, and if there is an opportunity to top Red Bull in the early stages while they work out any slight teething problems, he has to fancy his chances in the season opener.
2023 Formula One season flier bet
- Pick: Mercedes to record fastest pit-stop of the season
- Moneyline lean: +1800 (DraftKings)
While it's the drivers and team principals who receive the plaudits and non-stop media attention throughout a season, the pit crews of all 10 teams are the often-overlooked unsung heroes who keep their entries ticking throughout each and every session.
It's an obscure bet to take on, especially this early in the year, and despite them being ranked fifth in DraftKings' odds for fastest pit-stop of the season, we think that Mercedes' crew will produce exactly that at some point or another in 2024.
The inspiration behind this choice lies in Lewis Hamilton's departure from his long-time home at the end of the season. Having won six of his seven world championship titles in the sleek silver of Mercedes, Hamilton will be hoping to end his time there on a high, and thus will push both himself and his pit crew to the absolute limit in order to be as efficient — and as fast — as possible.
