F1 2020 Driver’s Championship Fourth Place Odds – Next Best Behind Hamilton, Verstappen, and Bottas

• With Lewis Hamilton on the verge of claiming a seventh career F1 crown, sports bettors can now place their focus further down the Formula 1 Drivers Standings
• Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is a heavy favorite to finish ahead of the Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for a second straight year, while Daniel Ricciardo is favored to lead the best of the rest
• We’ve got you covered with all the odds and trends as the F1 season enters the home stretch

With just five races remaining on the 2020 Formula 1 schedule, Lewis Hamilton has all but clinched a remarkable seventh career F1 Drivers Championship. Heading into this weekend’s running of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Hamilton maintains a massive 77-point lead atop the standings.

But while Hamilton’s dominance has robbed fans of any suspense, opportunities still abound for sports bettors looking to get in on betting action on how the rest of the F1 Drivers Standings will look at season’s ends with Valtteri Bottas favored as a -286 bet in the F1 Drivers Championship odds to finish ahead of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen in the standings.

Best Finishing Position Odds

All odds taken Oct. 28 at DraftKings

Close Race for Fourth Place

Things tighten up considerably in the battle for fourth place in the F1 Drivers Standings. Just one race removed from his first podium finish of 2020, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo narrowly leads Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc with 80 points and is pegged as +200 chalk to lead the Formula 1 also-rans in the standings this season.

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Earlier this month, Ricciardo claimed his first podium of the season with a third-place run at the Eifel Grand Prix and has finished among the top six in five of his past six outings. However, the 31-year-old may find himself at a disadvantage against Leclerc and Perez down the stretch.

Perez, Pink Mercedes on the Rise

After finishing fourth in the standings in a breakthrough 2019 campaign, Leclerc has been the biggest casualty of a lost season for Ferrari, reaching the podium just twice. The rising star has shown signs of turning things around by finishing in the points in each of his past four outings.

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Perez has recorded top five finishes in four of his seven outings since returning to action after being stricken by COVID-19. He turned in a spectacular if unheralded, performance last weekend in Portugal. Perez recovered from an opening-lap collision with Verstappen that sent him to the back of the pack, powering his way to an impressive seventh-place finish.

With Racing Point’s Pink Mercedes continuing to keep pace with the top constructors on this year’s F1 circuit, Perez is a solid +225 bet to ultimately move past Ricciardo, and lead the way among this year’s pretenders.

Best Bet: Sergio Perez (+225)

Bottas vs Verstappen Odds

Bottas Maintains Edge in Race for Second

Just 17 points separate Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen in the hunt for second as the spotlight shifts back to Italy this weekend. Second only to Hamilton in last year’s standings, Bottas has reached the podium on nine occasions, including victories in both Austria and Russia, and is coming off a second-place run behind Hamilton in Portugal last weekend.

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Hamilton's seventh world title edges closer

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Verstappen has kept pace with Bottas with nine podium finishes, including his lone victory at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. A model of consistency, Verstappen has finished among the top three in every race he has finished. However, he has also faced his fair share of adversity, with technical issues and untimely collisions preventing him from finishing on three occasions.

Retirements Loom Large for Verstappen

Those retirements now loom large in Verstappen’s bid for second place, and his failure to finish in any of the final five races of the season would likely end his hopes.

The picture is likely to become clearer when the Formula 1 season closes out with three races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, where Verstappen has enjoyed his moments, but Bottas has been exceptional. In addition to his four career top five finishes in Abu Dhabi, including a win in 2017, Bottas has impressed in Bahrain, reaching the podium in each of his past three appearances.

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Conversely, Verstappen owns a track record of misfortune in Bahrain, where he has failed to finish in two of the past three years. That adds to the pressure on the 22-year-old to turn in big results in his next two outings against the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas, which has finished 1-2 on four occasions so far this year.

Best Bet: Valtteri Bottas (-286)