Who are the betting favorites to win the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix?

Max Verstappen won the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 and clinched his fourth straight Formula One world championship in last year’s race on the Strip.

The Red Bull driver is the slight betting favorite over McLaren’s Lando Norris to win Saturday night’s F1 race on the Strip. But Norris is a heavy favorite to end Verstappen’s reign as the world champ.

Verstappen is the +175 favorite to win Saturday’s race, and Norris is the +230 second choice at Caesars Sportsbook, which has 79 individual wagering markets on the Grand Prix and also will offer same-game parlays and in-play wagering.

“We anticipate having a very large menu for the Las Vegas Grand Prix with 100-plus betting options for the race and expect to see some good action come in as we get closer to Saturday,” Caesars head of football Joey Feazel said.

Caesars shattered its record handle, or amount of money wagered, on any auto race when it took well over $1 million in wagers on the inaugural F1 race in Las Vegas.

Betting was down at Caesars and the Westgate SuperBook on last year’s race, which was dominated by winning Mercedes driver George Russell, impacting in-play wagering.

“The first year, the handle was through the roof. It was crazy. I was shocked at the number,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “Last year, the attendance was down a bunch and so was the handle.”

BetMGM, which took a $200,000 bet on Verstappen to win the inaugural race, and STN Sports reported record betting again last year and expects heavy action again.

“We’ve seen growing interest in Formula One, and any time there’s any event here, you always see a huge uptick in interest and handle and write,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “I think it will surpass what we did last year. There will be more and more props and different betting options on our app, and it will be a huge event for us.

“We’ll be rooting for the favorite, as we’ve already seen a lot of action come on some of the drivers who are longer shots.”

Odds

Russell is the +450 third choice to win back-to-back races on the Strip, and Oscar Piastri, Norris’ McLaren teammate, is the 8-1 fourth favorite. Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli is next at 10-1, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at 18-1 and his teammate, seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, at 33-1. The odds then skyrocket to 150-1.

“Outside of Hamilton, the top six guys are the only ones that can really win,” Salmons said. “It’s obviously a sport of money and equipment, and whoever’s got the fastest car is going to win. Right now, it’s Verstappen and Norris.”

Piastri was the odds-on favorite to win the world title after winning his seventh race of the season Aug. 31 in the Dutch Grand Prix, but he hasn’t managed a podium (top-three finish) in the past four events. Verstappen won three of the next four races, and Norris won the past two (in Mexico on Oct. 26 and Brazil on Nov. 9) to take a 24-point lead over Piastri with three races left.

Norris is a -600 favorite at Caesars to win the F1 world championship, though he can’t clinch the title this week. Piastri is the +650 second choice, and Verstappen, 49 points back, is the 10-1 third choice.

“There was a point where Piastri was minus big money to win the Drivers’ Championship, and now Norris is a huge favorite,” Salmons said. “He just has to finish third in the next three races and he’ll win.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.