The 2023 Formula 1 season will begin on Sunday with the 2023 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The race will begin at 10 a.m. ET and Max Verstappen will return to action as the two-time defending F1 champion. Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes all kept their driver lineups intact as the three manufacturers are expected to battle it out in an exciting title race. Red Bull's Verstappen is listed as the -133 favorite (risk $133 to win $100) in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix odds from Caesars Sportsbook while Charles LeClerc is listed at +320 to send Ferrari to victory lane.

SportsLine's proven computer projection model simulated the Bahrain Grand Prix 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. Anyone who followed the model's lead on those plays has seen HUGE returns!

The Bahrain International Circuit is a 15-turn, 3.363-mile track in Sakhir, Bahrain that first opened in 2004. It began hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix that same year and the legendary Michael Schumacher won the first-ever Formula One race on the track. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes has a record five victories in Bahrain while Fernando Alonso, who recently completed a move from Alpine to Aston Martin, is a three-time winner. LeClerc is the defending race champion and Ferrari earned a 1-2 finish with Carlos Sainz coming in second.

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

We can tell you the model is fading Sergio Perez even though he is coming off a strong season where he had two wins, 11 podiums and finished third in the Formula 1 standings. Perez's seat with Red Bull Racing appeared to be in jeopardy during the 2022 season but he earned an extension after a prestigious win in Moncaco and then notched his first career multi-victory season with a win in Singapore. However, the 33-year-old Mexican driver finished off the podium in eight of his final 14 starts of the season and was clipped by LeClerc in the battle for second in the standings. Perez finished 18th in the 2022 Bahrain GP and only has one podium finish at the track in his 12-year F1 career.

The model is also targeting one driver with double-digit Bahrain 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 Bahrain GP picks of your own.

So who wins the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix? And which long shot is a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the full projected F1 Bahrain GP leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed its racing picks last year, and find out!