World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli came good in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix and is a short-priced favourite to secure his sixth win of the season at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday.
The Italian teenager has gone three races without a win which has seen his lead reduced from 66 points to 25, but he was on course to win at Silverstone two weeks ago before a car failure knocked him out of the points and he has a great chance of making amends this week.
Antonelli has Red Bull's Max Verstappen alongside him on the front row as he looks to become the fourth different winner of the race in the last four F1 seasons.
Belgian Grand Prix Tips Summary
Best Bet - Charles Leclerc to finish 3rd @ 4/1
Alternative Bet - Lando Norris to set the fastest lap @ 8/1
Bet Builder - Max Verstappen podium finish, Lando Norris top 6 finish, Arvid Lindblad to win Group 2, Valtteri Bottas to win Group 4 @ 7/1
Belgian Grand Prix Prediction
Best Bet: Charles Leclerc to finish 3rd @ 4/1
Charles Leclerc celebrated his first grand prix victory since 2024 at Silverstone two weeks ago. He was the chief beneficiary of Kimi Antonelli's misfortune but did his best to maximise his position when it mattered most.
The same formula could work for the Monegasque driver this weekend, enabling him to improve from fourth on the grid to third in the race.
The Ferraris have not had the pace of Antonelli this weekend, but they were competing with the second Mercedes of Russell on Saturday and Leclerc was just 0.024 seconds behind the British driver in qualifying having gone faster than him in Q2.
Leclerc earned his first career victory in Belgium in 2019 and has finished third in the race in each of the last three seasons.
He looks a decent price at 4/1 to fill that position again on Sunday.
Alternative Bet: Lando Norris fastest lap @ 8/1
Lando Norris must have mixed emotions ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. He has known since the start of the week that his race would be compromised by a 10-place grid penalty incurred for using more than the permitted number of power electronics units and that has seen him demoted to 13th on the grid after qualifying third-fastest.
On the other hand, his new power set-up has had Norris looking a real threat at the front again this weekend and he was second-fastest in two of the three practice sessions before setting the quickest time in the first part of qualifying.
The British driver was also fastest in the first run of Q3, and should be reasonably hopeful of coming through the pack to score some decent points.
Norris is an interesting bet at 8/1 to set the fastest lap of the race, as he has done once this season in Miami.
The McLaren man could be tempted to start on the hard tyre compound for a long first stint to enable him to take advantage of any safety-car periods.
If none arrive, though, he could be making his pit stop later than most of the fast cars at the front and that would see him coming out of the pits on fresher rubber with a low fuel load later in the race, which is prime territory for a fastest lap.
Belgian Grand Prix Bet Builder Tips
Max Verstappen podium finish
Lando Norris top 6 finish
Arvid Lindblad to win Group 2
Valtteri Bottas to win Group 4
Pays 7/1
For a four-leg Bet Builder on the Belgian Grand Prix that pays out at 7/1 if successful, start by taking Max Verstappen to finish on the podium.
The three-time Belgian Grand Prix winner starts alongside Antonelli on the front row and is much happier with his car now the team have reverted to an older version of their rear wing. The Dutch driver has been in the top three in almost every session this weekend and was second in Austria in the penultimate race.
Add Norris to come through the pack for a top-six finish and complete the bet with two group winner selections.
Arvid Lindblad can win Group 2 ahead of his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, who has a fast Red Bull but starts down in 21st on the grid due to a penalty, and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto.
The British driver was seventh at Silverstone and starts in that position on Sunday ahead of his three rivals.
In Group 4, Valtteri Bottas of Cadillac can win the battle of the back-markers. Bottas starts 18th and has been ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez in every session this week, while Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have been way off the pace at Spa.
Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.
Key Race Stats
Mercedes have won seven of this season's first nine races
Kimi Antonelli has converted four of his five pole positions this season into wins
Three different drivers from three different teams have won the last three races at Spa
McLaren finished first and second in last season's Belgian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton has won the Belgian Grand Prix five times
Charles Leclerc has finished third at Spa in three successive seasons
Read F1 Belgian Grand Prix: Start time, weekend schedule, how to watch & TV channel on site.
Read more F1 betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
