Formula 1 2022 Betting: Verstappen slight favourite as Hamilton bids to regain title

Max Liu
17 March 2022
3:00 min read

Lewis Hamilton celebrates Grand Prix win

Lewis Hamilton is out to retain the Drivers' Championship in 2022

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Get the odds on the Formula One 2022 Drivers' Championship as Lewis Hamilton bids to wrest the title back from Max Verstappen starting with Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix...

"Hamilton is 4.57/2 to win Bahrain, perhaps due in part to his claim last week that his Mercedes is off the pace."

Lewis Hamilton is 3.02/1 to win the Drivers' Championship in 2022 ahead of this weekend's season curtain raiser at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The seventime champion would love to making a winning start in Bahrain where he has triumphed five times, including last year.

But Max Verstappen, who controversially beat Hamilton to the 2021 Drivers' Championship, is 2.942/1 to make a winning start to the season.

Hamilton is 4.57/2, perhaps due in part to his claim last week that his Mercedes is off the pace.

Betting points to another thrilling Championship

Verstappen 2.915/8 is the marginal favourite to retain his title.

After Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and George Russell both come next in the betting at 9.617/2.

Last season's Drivers' Championship was one of the most fiercely fought for many years and the rivalry between the seventime champion and the young pretender tipped over into personal animosity.

Lewis Hamilton Russian GP 956.jpg

If the outright market on Betfair is correct then in 2022 we could see the championship go to the wire again.

Hamilton may be playing down his chances of winning in Bahrain but across the season he is up for the fight after last year's disappointment.

He is trying to use the experience as motivation to become the first driver to win eight Championships, surpassing the record he currently shares with Michael Schumacher.

With a first title under his belt, Verstappen will have grown in confidence and, with a Red Bull car that looked the best in testing, he will be just as determined as last season.

But the way Hamilton got himself back into contention for the Championship, winning three races in a row after Verstappen appeared to have it sewn up, showed that the Brit's driving is as sharp as ever.

He needs Mercedes to give him a car that's equal to his ability. If they can do then he will be in with a strong chance of wresting the top prize back from Verstappen.

We'll have the latest F1 betting news on Betting.Betfair across the 2022 season.

Sunday 3 July, 3.00pm

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Max Verstappen
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
George Russell
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Carlos Sainz
Lando Norris
Daniel Ricciardo
Fernando Alonso
Esteban Ocon
Sebastian Vettel
Lance Stroll
Guanyu Zhou
Pierre Gasly
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Mick Schumacher
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