Formula 1: You won’t believe the updated world championship odds

The drivers with the third best Formula 1 world championship odds behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are quite interesting.

Like it was before the 2021 Formula 1 season began back in late March, it is effectively a foregone conclusion that this year’s world championship battle will come down to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

These two drivers have combined to win eight of the season’s first nine races, and they have occupied the top two positions in the driver standings after each of these nine events.

Verstappen currently leads with five wins and 182 points, two wins and 32 points ahead of Hamilton with three and 150, respectively. The third place driver in the standings is Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who sits 46 points behind Hamilton with 104.

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Perez is the only other driver who has been victorious this year, with his win coming when both Verstappen and Hamilton had late issues in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit.

With Verstappen having won three races in a row and four of the last five and with Red Bull having won five races in a row, it should come as no surprise that WynnBET lists Verstappen as the favorite to win this year’s world championship at -500, with Hamilton, the seven-time world champion who has won the last four titles, ranked second at +300 amid a five-race losing streak, his longest since the end of the 2017 season into the beginning of the 2018 season.

But it’s who is ranked in a third place tie that is quite interesting, almost like it’s meant to poke fun at those who quite literally want to throw their money away because they know that it’s a two-man race at this point.

Three of the four drivers who have yet to score this season are tied for third place at +425: Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas rookie duo of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher.

We’re not kidding.

That means that if you’re silly enough to bet $10 on any one of them to win the championship, you’d only win $42.50 if somehow (meaning every other driver dropped out of the running, and more) you ended up being correct.

These odds are literally implying that there is a 57.14% chance that one of these three drivers is going to win the world championship.

Schumacher’s 13th place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the best finish among this trio so far this season.

To be clear, you shouldn’t put any money on anybody other than Verstappen or Hamilton at this point — but certainly don’t throw away money on anybody in this trio at +425 — yes, +425!!!

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Odds aside, what’s really implied is that this would be really, really crazy.

I personally wouldn’t recommended betting on an “any one of Latifi, Mazepin or Schumacher” deal at +10000000 for that matter. But at least those odds imply that it’s somewhat of a longshot.

Heck, it isn’t even that. It’s literally impossible.

If you are thinking about making a high-risk, high-reward move in terms of betting on somebody other than Verstappen or Hamilton to win this year’s world championship, please don’t be the guy or girl who puts money on Latifi, Mazepin or Schumacher just to say you’ve done it.

Here’s a full list of WynnBET’s 2021 Formula 1 world championship odds following Verstappen’s Austrian Grand Prix victory at the Red Bull Ring.

• Max Verstappen, Red Bull: -500
• Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes: +300
• Nicholas Latifi, Williams: +425
• Nikita Mazepin, Haas: +425
• Mick Schumacher, Haas: +425
• Esteban Ocon, Alpine: +1000
• Fernando Alonso, Alpine: +1500
• Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo: +5000
• Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo: +5000
• Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin: +5000
• Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri: +10000
• Charles Leclerc, Ferrari: +10000
• Lando Norris, McLaren: +10000
• Sergio Perez, Red Bull: +10000
• Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren: +10000
• George Russell, Williams: +10000
• Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari: +10000
• Lance Stroll, Aston Martin: +10000
• Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri: +10000
• Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes: +20000

As you can see, very interesting — even beyond Latifi, Mazepin and Schumacher.

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Perez at +10000 may tempt a few, as could the fact that Valtteri Bottas, who sits in fifth place in the standings, has the worst odds at +20000. Otherwise, just play it safe, as the order might as well be randomized. Nobody else has a chance.

The 10th race on the 23-race 2021 Formula 1 scheduled is the British Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 18. This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN from Silverstone Circuit beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Hamilton and Verstappen each won a race at the track last year.