McLaren passes Red Bull as favorite for F1 title

Doug Greenberg, ESPNJul 22, 2024, 05:19 PM ET

The 1-2 finish for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix was the team’s ninth straight podium and first double podium of the year.

That forward momentum now has McLaren favored to win the Formula One constructors’ championship at -140 odds on ESPN BET, marking the first time in at least two seasons that Red Bull Racing (+110) has not been the favorite for the market.

McLaren opened the year second on the odds board at +650 but got as long as 100-1 shortly after the Chinese Grand Prix due to a string of early sluggish performances, as well as strong ones from Red Bull, which opened the campaign at -350. McLaren then jumped to +5500 after Norris won in Miami.

At that time, Red Bull were -10000 favorites to win the constructors’ title, but Miami also marked the last time Sergio Pérez finished in the top four; he has finished seventh or worse seven times since then, including three no-points finishes.

As a result, reigning drivers’ champion Max Verstappen is picking up the slack for team points, although even he is without a win in three straight races, the first time that has happened since 2021. Verstappen still holds a 76-point lead over Norris in the driver standings and is -600 to win a fourth consecutive title at ESPN BET.

Because of the team’s long preseason odds, Red Bull racked up a commanding 64% of handle at ESPN BET. However, some public bettors liked the chances of the other top teams to finally take the champs down, with Ferrari (31%), McLaren (20%) and Mercedes (15%) all attracting a healthy number of tickets.

Always one of the most exciting races on the schedule, Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix in Spa could prove to be a critical turning point this season. Norris heads into the weekend as the +130 favorite, with Verstappen at +190 — the first time all season the 26-year-old has not been favored for a race before practice and qualifying.

The constructors’ championship is determined via a points system that considers the results of each Grand Prix race.

This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.