Oscar Piastri F1 favourite after Spanish win and Max Verstappen penalty

There is still a long way to go in the season, but Oscar Piastri, and certainly McLaren, have considerable cause to celebrate after the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. Piastri ran a solid race, beating teammate Lando Norris into second place. 

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who had opted for a three-stop strategy, was involved in an incident with Mercedes’ George Russell.

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After reviewing the incident, the stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second time penalty, moving him down from fifth to 10th. 

He was also given three points on his licence, meaning, with 11 points, he is one point away from a race ban that could prove extremely costly. 

Piastri is now 10 points clear of Brit Norris and 49 points clear of third-placed Verstappen. Russell is in fourth place on 111 points and Leclerc rounds off the top five, having amassed 94 points so far.

Piastri has now won five of the nine races this season and having taken pole in Barcelona, he was in control throughout the race. However, it wasn’t Piastri’s victory that hit the headlines. 

Having overtaken Norris on the first corner to take second, Verstappen surprised everybody by adopting a three-stop strategy. Despite being in third place at the time, his race fell apart after the safety car was deployed. 

Verstappen had been forced to fit hard tyres as, according to Red Bull boss Christian Horner, that was all that was available at the time and they believed they were preferable to eight-lap-old soft tyres. 

The hards meant Verstappen struggled for control. Following an overtaking incident with Russell, Verstappen’s race engineer told the Dutchman to give the position back. With two laps remaining, he appeared to move over to let the Brit pass but then speared into the Mercedes. 

On investigation, the stewards determined that Verstappen’s actions had directly caused the accident. He was given a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to tenth in the final standings. 

To add further misery to the Red Bull racer, he was also given three points on his licence, taking his total up to 11 points. The rules dictate that one more point will see Verstappen handed a one-race ban, which could prove costly later in the season. 

Piastri’s lead means he has been given odds of 8/13 to win his maiden title. Although he has enjoyed a dominant start to the season, however, he is only 10 points clear of team-mate Norris, still with 15 races left.

Lando Norris has won one race and secured two podiums, including in Barcelona. He is 10 points behind Piastri and is currently priced at 7/4 to win the title.

Four-time championship winner Verstappen has won two races, in the US and Japan, and featured on the podium in two other races. However, he is now 49 points adrift of Piastri and has odds of 13/2 to win his fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship.

Further back in the betting, Charles Leclerc and George Russell are 150/1 while Lewis Hamilton is 250/1 to stage an implausible comeback.

Current odds for the FA Drivers’ Championship, from Ladbrokes.