2022 Monaco Grand Prix Prediction, Formula 1 Odds

Last weekend in Barcelona, Max Verstappen benefited from the bad luck of rival Charles Leclerc. Leclerc looked to be on his way to his third win of the season before a power loss forced him to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix.

Last week’s disappointment has not dampened enthusiasm for Leclerc on the Monaco Grand Prix odds, where he leads as a +107 favourite. The reigning champion at this event, Verstappen, closely trails at +134. Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. sits third at +1200. Last week’s second-place finisher Sergio Perez is knotted at +1600 along with Mercedes teammates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Perez, Russell and Hamilton are each searching for their first win of the season.

Monaco Grand Prix Race Time, Weather Forecast

Lights out at the this year’s running of the Monaco Grand Prix is set for Sunday at 9:00 a.m. ET at Circuit de Monte Carlo. The most famous street circuit in all of racing, Circuit de Monte Carlo is 3.337 kilometres in length. It features a DRS zone that extends along the entire start/finish straightaway.

As the weekend approaches, showers remain in the weather forecast for Sunday in Monte Carlo. The temperature is expected to hover around 20 degrees Celsius. As in past years, expect teams to stick to C3, C4, and C5 tires using the softest compounds.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc suffered his first DNF of the season in Barcelona on Sunday, but looks to bounce back this week in Monaco.

Sports Interaction's @timhauraney tells us his podium predictions.

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Verstappen Aims to Build on Recent Success in Monte Carlo

With his victory at Monaco last year, Verstappen snapped what had been a steady stretch of success for Mercedes, which took home the checkered flag in five of the previous seven editions of this race. But as was the case last week, Verstappen also enjoyed the benefit of Leclerc’s struggles at last year’s running of the Monaco Grand Prix. After claiming the pole position with a stellar qualifying performance, Leclerc was forced to withdraw from the race just before start time due to a driveshaft failure.

In addition to last year’s disappointment, Leclerc also failed to finish in his two previous appearances in his hometown race. That adds to the pressure on both the 24-year-old and Ferrari engineers to make sure the race favourite faces no unexpected surprises this time around.

As for Verstappen, he aims to pad an already impressive resume at this event. He has finished among the top five in three of his past four appearances. However, the challenge facing the defending champion is likely to come during qualifying. While Verstappen has managed to eke out victories in four of the past five races, he has emerged as the winner in qualifying just once this season.

Further complicating matters for Red Bull is simmering tension with Verstappen’s teammate Perez, who is coming off a second-place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix, but left Barcelona unhappy with the team orders that forced him to surrender an early lead to Verstappen.

Mercedes Showing Signs of Turnaround

The Silver Arrows have yet to produce a victory so far this season, but after producing promising results in Barcelona a breakthrough could be at hand. Russell remained the most consistent driver on the circuit this season with his third-place performance in Spain. And considering the nature of the track in Monaco will help reduce the edge in pace that Red Bull and Ferrari currently hold over Mercedes, Russell offers enormous value to claim his first F1 win. He is a +225 bet to reach the podium for the third time this year.