The 2023 Formula 1 season will continue on Sunday with the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, the nation's capital and also the largest city in the world below sea level. The race will begin at 7 a.m. ET and Red Bull Racing will be hoping to continue a dream start to the season after winning each of the first three races of the season. Max Verstappen has won twice and sits atop the 2023 F1 standings while Carlos Perez won in Saudi Arabia and is second. Verstappen is the -275 favorite (risk $275 to win $100) in the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix odds from Caesars Sportsbook while Perez is priced at 9-2.

SportsLine's proven computer projection model simulated the Azerbaijan GP 2023 10,000 times and came up with a surprising leaderboard.

Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary Formula 1 prediction model takes into account a slew of factors including track history and recent results.

The model has been scorching hot when it comes to picking Formula 1 race events dating back to 2021. It nailed both of Leclerc's wins in 2022, and at the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix, the model was strongly backing Verstappen as its top pick. The result: Verstappen dominated the field and ran away with a surprising victory. 

It followed that up by calling Verstappen's win at the Rolex Emilia Romagna GP in April and nailed Verstappen to win in Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Abu Dhabi. It also called Verstappen's victory in Bahrain to open the 2023 season and his win earlier this month in Australia. Anyone who followed the model's lead on those plays has seen HUGE returns!

The Baku City Circuit is the fourth-longest track on the Formula One schedule at 3.73 miles with the 20-turn track looping through the city. The city first hosted Formula 1 in 2016 for the European Grand Prix and then has hosted the Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2017, with the exception of 2020 because of the global pandemic. All six F1 races held in Baku have yielded a different winner but Mercedes and Red Bull Racing have been the dominant manufacturers, winning three races each. Verstappen is the defending champion of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and he's won 17 of the last 25 races staged by Formula 1. 

Now, the model has dialed in on the 2023 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and just released its coveted picks and leaderboard projections. 

We can tell you the model is fading Lewis Hamilton even though he won the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is coming off his best finish of the year. Hamilton finished less than two-tenths of a second behind Verstappen in Australia but that was his only podium of the year so far and he's currently fourth in the 2023 F1 standings. He's failed to hit the podium in his last two starts in Baku, finishing fourth last season and finishing 15th in 2021. And there are far better values in the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix field on Sunday.

The model is also targeting one driver getting well over 25-1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix odds to make a serious charge up the leaderboard! Anyone who backs this driver could hit it BIG. You ABSOLUTELY need to see who he is before locking in any Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP picks of your own.

So who wins the 2023 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix? And which SERIOUS long shot might be in contention? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the full projected F1 Azerbaijan GP leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed its racing picks last year, and find out!