Formula 1: You won’t believe what Esteban Ocon’s odds were

Esteban Ocon secured his first career Formula 1 victory in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring despite incredibly low odds to win.

While the straightforward Formula 1 races of the V6 turbo hybrid era have become somewhat easy to predict, the ones that aren’t straightforward are ones that truly nobody could have seen coming.

Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring was hardly a straightforward race, and the odds indeed back the fact that nobody saw it coming.

After opening lap chaos in wet weather and a bizarre one-car restart with only Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes not opting to move to slick tires, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon found himself as the legitimate race leader. Entering this race, he had led a grand total of zero laps in 77 career starts.

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With Hamilton buried well outside the top 10, his teammate Valtteri Bottas out, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez out and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also buried outside the top 10 with significant damage, Ocon looked like a true threat to win the race, even only a handful of laps in.

He maintained his composure despite consistent challenges from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel throughout the duration of the 70-lap race around the 14-turn, 2.722-mile (4.381-kilometer) road course in Mogyoród, Hungary.

Hamilton was charging hard at the end, but thanks in large part to Ocon’s teammate, Fernando Alonso, holding him up for several laps in the battle for fourth place, he was unable to challenge the top two.

Ocon held on to beat Vettel and secure his first career victory after leading 65 laps. It was just his second career podium finish, as he also finished in second place in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.

And here’s where things get even crazier.

WynnBET had listed Ocon as +50000 to win Sunday’s race. Yes, +50000! That’s the same thing as 500:1, meaning Ocon had an implied chance of just under 0.2% to win.

A few hours ago, you could even argue that this was generous.

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Vettel was listed at +7500 (75:1), and Hamilton was listed as the overwhelming favorite at -200 (1:2).

So if you used WynnBET and bet a few dollars on Ocon to win this race, it’s implied that you’re probably pretty happy right now.

The next race on the schedule is not for another four weeks, as Formula 1 is now in its summer break. The season is scheduled to resume on Sunday, August 29 with the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which is set to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. This race is the 12th of 23 on this year’s schedule.

Keep an eye out for WynnBET to upload their odds for this race, as well as for the world championship battle, which is effectively between Hamilton and Verstappen. Hamilton now leads by six points.

Follow along with WynnBET and make your pick now in New Jersey, Indiana or Colorado when the new odds go live!