For the first time since 2019, F1 is back at Marina Bay for the Singapore Grand Prix. In what should be a highly competitive weekend, our Singapore Grand Prix picks are looking at surprises on the podium and in the points.
After a three-week break, Formula 1 returns this weekend with the Singapore Grand Prix, returning to the Marina Bay circuit for the first time since 2019.
All eyes in Singapore will be on championship leader — and Singapore Grand Prix odds favorite — Max Verstappen, as the Dutchman can clinch his second straight Drivers’ Championship this weekend, results should go accordingly.
Ahead of qualifying, we’re looking a bit further down the grid to bring you our best free Singapore Grand Prix picks and predictions.
Singapore Grand Prix picks and predictions
Pre-qualifying predictions
Picks made on 9/30/2022 at 4:00 pm ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Singapore GP predictions (pre-qualifying)
Podium finish pick
Though it has become increasingly difficult to believe in Ferrari, even at tracks in which it should be strong, the early returns in Singapore — a circuit which should, in theory, suit its car more than any other team — were promising.
Though Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished third and sixth in FP1, Ferrari was the quickest through the second and third sectors, and just 0.17 seconds off the pace in the first. Then, in FP2, Sainz was the quickest overall with Leclerc second, just over 0.2 seconds off, and again the team was quickest through sectors two and three — underscoring the way in which its car suits the track.
With Red Bull easily the best car on the grid, but Ferrari and Mercedes better suited for Singapore, it’s going to be a wide-open fight for the front places in Saturday’s qualifying. However, we can take away enough from both Fridays in Singapore and recent races to thin out the field enough to be confident in Sainz standing on the podium.
Though Mercedes was competitive on Friday, Lewis Hamilton wasn’t overwhelmingly happy, expressing his belief they were still roughly a second off the pace at the front. With a car that hasn’t been exceptional in a one-lap setting this season, it’s difficult to see either Hamilton or George Russell out-qualifying Sainz.
Then, as far as Red Bull is concerned, Sergio Perez’s incredibly underwhelming season has just continued. Max Verstappen’s teammate has been completely out of the fight at the front for months now, lapping not just at an uncompetitive time in comparison to Verstappen but to Ferrari and Mercedes, too.
It’s not a huge edge but Sainz should be the third-most likely to finish on the podium on Sunday. He’s currently listed with the fourth-shortest odds. At a track F1 hasn’t raced at since 2019, in a Grand Prix that will have two or three teams fighting at the front, it’s enough of an edge to have me happily backing Sainz to finish on the podium.
peck: Carlos Sainz Jr. – Podium finish (-120 at bet365)
Point finish pick
Looking further down the grid for potential surprises this weekend, it’s hard not to be excited about the outlook for Valtteri Bottas and Alfa Romeo, a driver with good results here previously and a car well-suited to a low downforce circuit like Marina Bay.
After a quiet start to Friday, Bottas had a highly encouraging FP2 in which he finished seventh fastest overall and less than half a second off Hamilton in fifth. Quite encourage too was Alfa Romeo’s performance over the course of the full lap, in which it had the fifth-quickest ideal lap time and wasn’t slower than fifth in any of the three sectors.
A strong weekend in Singapore would be a continuation of Bottas’ career at Marina Bay up to this point. Prior to the pandemic and the Singapore Grand Prix’s removal from the F1 calendar, Bottas finished third, fourth, and fifth in consecutive years at Mercedes, and previously finished fifth here in a Williams, too.
Bottas’ results have cooled off considerably since the start of the season, in which he finished in the points in seven of nine races, but Singapore represents a great chance for the Finn to get back in the Top 10 — and a great chance at good value for us, with Bottas at +150.
peck: Valtteri Bottas – Points finish (+150 at bet365)
