Check out the latest F1 odds and best bets with my Singapore Grand Prix predictions and picks for the race on Sunday, September 22 (8 a.m. ET, ESPN).
The Singapore Grand Prix will be held under the lights around the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Coming off of a street race just last weekend at Baku, the brand-new Constructors’ Championship leaders McLaren have caught up and surpassed Red Bull Racing for the first time since the 2022 season.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is a high downforce track that features nineteen turns, four DRS zones and is known for being a very difficult circuit to overtake on. Of the fourteen prior Singapore Grands Prix, nine of the fourteen winners have started the race on pole, and twelve of the fourteen have started in the top three positions on the grid.
Qualifying on Saturday night local time took place under the lights, with Lando Norris securing pole position in Q3 for the fifth time this season. Exceeding expectations and seeming getting the most out of his car was Max Verstappen, who will start on the front row in P2 for the race. Securing a second-row lockout was the Mercedes pair, Hamilton in P3 and Russell in P4.
Causing a red flag during the last qualifying session, Carlos Sainz crashed on the last corner, hitting the barrier and failing to post a valid time. His teammate at Ferrari also did not post a time in Q3, with Charles Leclerc starting in P9 and Sainz down in P10.
(Bet on the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend with our DraftKings promo code!)
F1 Odds With Azerbaijan Grand Prix Picks & Predictions
McLaren Top of the Class
Norris secured pole position in Singapore with a lap time of 1:29.525, while his teammate Oscar Piastri will start the race down in P5. While his last lap time in Q3 was not good enough to start in the front two rows, he was top of the grid in P2 with a top lap time of 1:29.640, which would have been good enough to start right behind Norris.
As mentioned before, Singapore is a high downforce circuit, which is advantageous for both McLaren cars. While needing to pass three cars ahead of him at the start, Oscar Piastri to finish in the top two is great value at plus money.
Other high downforce circuits this season include Hungary, Imola, Spain and Monaco, just to name a few. The McLaren car this season has finished in P2 at all four tracks, including a one-two finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix back in round thirteen.
Pick: Oscar Piastri – Top 2 Finish (1 unit, +220 on DraftKings)
Verstappen Struggles Continue in Singapore
Verstappen has led the Drivers Championship since Jump Street in 2024, including seven race victories. Going back to last season, a historic one in which Verstappen won nineteen of twenty-two races, the one blemish for Red Bull was the Singapore Grand Prix. Sainz secured the only non-Red Bull victory in 2023, with Verstappen finishing down in P5.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit has always been a difficult race for Verstappen and Red Bull, where in 2022, he qualified in P8 and finished in P7. Although he had a successful qualifying this year, the struggles continued on Sunday, where I see Max finishing outside of the podium.
Pick: Max Verstappen – Top 3 Finish – No (1 unit, +160 on BetMGM)
Props, on Props, on Props
Any street race on the F1 calendar has a high likelihood of safety cars and crashes due to the precision required to avoid the barriers and other cars on the track. Monaco is well known for being a narrow track with very little room on either side, with these modern F1 cars being so wide, but right up there with Monaco is the Marina Bay Street Circuit. In fact, the safety car has a one hundred percent appearance record thus far over the first fourteen Singapore Grands Prix.
Since returning to the calendar in 2022, there have been six safety car appearances in the two most recent editions of the Grand Prix. Since the books are not going to give us a decent number for the safety car to appear, there is another way to attack this angle that is supported by the recent race history.
The number of classified finishers in the 2022 race was only fourteen, while the total number of classified drivers was up to sixteen last year. I expect more of the same here in this year’s Singapore Grand Prix. The likelihood is quite high for multiple incidents to occur on such a tight race track. This season has seen a low number of crashes and retirements, but for at least one race weekend, that trend should turn for us.
Pick: Number of Classified Finishers – Under 17.5 (1 unit, +125 on DraftKings) | Number of Classified Finishers – Under 16.5 (1 unit, +350 on DraftKings)
