5 F1 Request A Bets to Look Out for in this Weekend’s Italian (Imola) GP

So far this season, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen have been the two most dominant drivers on the grid in terms of performance.

The Monegasque driver managed wins in Bahrain and Australia as well as a second-place finish in Saudi Arabia. Whilst Verstappen won in Jeddah and was on course for two second-place finishes in Sakhir and Melbourne, but for problems with his car forcing him to retire from the races themselves.

Sergio Perez is having a decent season so far, as the Mexican finished second in Melbourne. Prior to this, he scored a fourth-place finish in Saudi Arabia and was on course for a podium in Bahrain after Verstappen’s engine failure, before technical problems with his own car forced him to retire from the race.

Valtteri Bottas has impressed so far with a rejuvenated Alfa Romeo team, earning sixth and eighth-placed finishes at Bahrain and Australia. The Finn may have scored more points this season if he wasn’t forced to retire at Jeddah.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly will be looking to impress at Alphatauri’s home GP, having previously scored points in either of his last two races, taking his tally up to six for the season after a disappointing retirement in Bahrain.

As mentioned above, Leclerc has looked like the driver to beat this season, as the Ferrari has shown better pace than the Red Bull, with Verstappen often struggling to keep pace with the leading Prancing Horse.

Verstappen would have been on course to score podiums in all three of the races this season if it wasn’t for car problems, whilst Carlos Sainz’s first lap retirement at Australia ruined the Spaniard’s perfect podium record this season, having finished second in Bahrain and third in Jeddah.

Lewis Hamilton will be expected to score points here as Mercedes look to make further improvements to their car. With Sprint Qualifying in place for the Saturday, this could perhaps enhance the seven-time world champion’s chances as the German Constructor have typically been better race pace-wise than in out and out qualifying. Hamilton has scored 28 points in three races this season.

Meanwhile, Perez has finished fourth and second-place finishes in his last two races and will be expected to fight for a podium here.

In the aforementioned tips, we have demonstrated the pace that Leclerc and Verstappen possess, it would be a major surprise to not see this exciting duo on the podium once again. Leclerc has had the upper hand this season and leads the World Driver’s Championship with 71 points from the opening three rounds of races.

Gasly has managed to sneak into the points in his last two races and has shown in his time at Torro Rosso/Alphatauri that he is a very reliable driver.

Meanwhile, fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon is seventh in the driver's standings following an impressive start to the season for Alpine, who look to have made improvements from last season. The former BWT Racing Point man has recorded two seventh-place finishes, as well as sixth in Saudi Arabia.

McLaren look to have drastically improved from their horrendous start in Bahrain, as since then, Lando Norris has finished seventh and fifth in Jeddah and Melbourne. The Bristol-born driver will be looking for a third-consecutive points finish this weekend.

Two-time world champions Fernando Alonso hasn’t had the rub of the green this season, but, this could be a chance to put things right at a circuit he famously won at back in 2005 at the expense of Michael Schumacher when the Emilia Romagna circuit was branded as the San Marino GP.

Alonso was on course to fight for a shock pole position in qualifying at Albert Park before a car failure, before falling unfortunate in safety car timings, seeing the Spaniard finish 17th. His only points have come at Bahrain when he finished ninth and he will be expected to pose a good challenge here, especially with Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying taking place.

Gasly will be looking to replicate the seventh-place finish he managed in Imola last season. Meanwhile, Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t scored a point since Bahrain and will be determined to fight for a top 10 finish.

Haas endured a difficult race at Jeddah, as Kevin Magnussen finished 14th, following impressive fifth and ninth-placed finishes in the first two races of the season. The Danish driver will be hoping that the American Constructor can bounce back here and give him the maximum opportunity to finish inside the points.

Red Bull are supposedly bringing updates to their car at Imola according to Helmut Marko, although they will only get one practice session to try these out. If they are successful in their bid to improve Verstappen’s car, then the Dutchman may have a decent chance of winning the race come Sunday.

Leclerc’s worst finish across the first three races of this season was second-place at Jeddah, whilst Sainz had finished on the podium in both of his first two races.

Alonso will be keen for some redemption after what was a disaster in Australia, following some staggering levels of pace in the Alpine, whilst Bottas and Norris will want to continue their bright starts to the 2022 campaign.