Sport : F1

Our F1 betting expert Tom Millard brings you his best bets for this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

6pts Fernando Alonso to finish on the podium at 11/8 (Blue Square).

3pts Felipe Massa to finish in the top six at 3/1 (bet365, Paddy Power).

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks ago was another event in which the fastest car ultimately failed to win the race.

Lewis Hamilton was never in danger of letting the victory slip away, winning comfortably from pole position, but his McLaren was not as quick in race trim as the Sauber of Sergio Perez.

Perez's pace was aided by a unique strategy among the front-runners - his grid position of 12th allowed him to start the race on the hard compound Pirelli tyre, switching to the medium after a long first stint, rather than the other way round.

But his pace once released into clear air suggested that he would have finished second regardless of strategy, further adding weight to the assertion that his podium finishes in Malaysia and Canada were no fluke.

It might seem strange, therefore, to see the Mexican chalked up at 33/1 to win in Singapore this weekend, but after consecutive races at the two high-speed circuits of Spa and Monza, the return to a circuit requiring a higher downforce set-up could see another shuffle at the front of the pack.

In this most unpredictable of seasons we can admit that we simply don't know which cars will suit the Marina Bay track best, but the market seems to list the leading protagonists in roughly the right order.

Having won the last three races at tracks demanding very different aero profiles, McLaren look worthy favourites to maintain their strong run, with Lewis Hamilton clear at the top of the market at a best price of 5/2 with BetVictor.

Hamilton has a knack of extracting the maximum from his car in qualifying and has always gone well on street circuits, winning here under the floodlights in 2009.

His ragged weekend at Spa aside, the former world champion has looked imperious of late and it's difficult to oppose him on current form.

But before we dive in on the Englishman it's worth bearing in mind that the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso looked unbeatable heading into Q3 at Monza.

The Spaniard suffered a roll bar failure before he could complete a flying lap, leaving him stranded in 10th on the grid.

Had he taken the pole position which looked inevitable, the race could have devolved into a fascinating battle between Alonso and Hamilton, with the outcome far from certain.

The race pace of the Ferraris and the McLarens looked very evenly matched so the failure changed the entire narrative of the weekend.

With better luck than he endured at Monza (and at Spa, when he was obliterated by a flying Romain Grosjean before he even turned the steering wheel), the championship leader could have been heading to Asia in an even stronger position.

Alonso is 5/1 for the win but Blue Square are prepared to offer 11/8 on the Spaniard finishing on the podium, which looks even better value.

Since Ferrari got their act together in time for the European season Alonso's form figures are 2, 3, 5, 1, 2, 1, 5, R, 3, displaying a consistency which suggests he should be odds-on in this market.

We simply don't know who will be fast out of the box this weekend but the Ferrari has been the most consistent car across the summer, with Alonso the most consistent performer.

They are bringing a significant upgrade package to Singapore too, which could see the title favourite consolidate his position at the top of the standings.

The 5/1 looks a fair bet but the stand-out 11/8 allows a good margin for error - if McLaren maintain their form we'd still collect if our man trailed home behind a Woking one-two.

Also consider getting behind Alonso's wingman Felipe Massa in the top-six market.

Massa has finally got to grips with the car and has been performing competently under the radar for the last few races.

He came fourth at Silverstone, fifth at Spa and fourth again at Monza, chipping away at our profits from our ante-post sell of his season points.

It's worth mentioning that Massa still blames Alonso's former Renault team (now Lotus) for losing him the championship after they illegally engineered a win for his now-team-mate in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in 2008.

The Brazilian was in control of that race until a safety car from Nelson Piquet's deliberate crash promoted Alonso into a race-winning position.

With that in mind it must have been unbearable for Massa to have been sat in the Spaniard's shadow for the last three years but he'll be fired up for this one - he's worth backing at 3/1 for what would be a fourth top-six finish in six races.