Singapore Grand Prix Preview: Going for a Big Priced Winner

Plenty has happened in the couple of weeks between the Italian Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix. Most notably is Kimi Räikkönen’s departure from Ferrari and his return to Sauber. Many think this will mean that Kimi won’t bow down to team orders for the remainder of the season, but I’m not so sure…

Are Ferrari losing faith in Vettel?

Räikkönen’s return to where it all began is clearly a swan song for the 38-year-old Finn. But this could be a moment of genius from Ferrari. Bringing in Charles Leclerc offers fresh talent to put the pressure on Vettel. The German has been suffering from consistency issues, which could well cost him the title. Making regular mistakes, when in what is clearly the fastest car, will not have endeared Vettel with the Tifosi, or Ferrari themselves. Vettel has always been the “number one” driver, next year he could well be shown up by the 2017 Formula 2 Champion. I, for one, hope Ferrari give Leclerc their full support and don’t expect him to play second fiddle to Vettel.

Kimi Räikkönen entered F1 in 2001 for the Sauber Team, since then he's racked up:

20 Grand Prix wins
100 Podiums
1 World Championship

Kimi Räikkönen will leave Ferrari at the end of the season to return to where it all began, after signing a 2-year deal with Sauber. pic.twitter.com/I1L3NcECSa

— BetVictor (@BetVictor) September 11, 2018

Kimi’s departure to Sauber is not truly a departure from Ferrari either. Haas is widely thought of to be a Ferrari B-Team, however, with regulation changes and the possibility of new engine suppliers from 2021 It’s hard to think that Haas won’t be looking for an American motor. Haas-Ford perhaps? This opens the door for greater collaboration between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo-Sauber, with Alfa also being part of the FIAT group. Could Kimi’s return to Sauber actually be a research and development role for Ferrari? If this is the case, expect Kimi to once again play ball when it comes to team orders now that his future has been decided.

Onto this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix

At the time of writing it looks like it’s going to be a wet weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. This is likely to add some excitement and may throw up some unexpected results.

One thing I do expect is to see the Safety Car.The Safety Car has been deployed at every Singapore Grand Prix held since 2008. We’ve seen it 17 times across 10 Grand Prix. Unfortunately, stats like this mean that it’s not really much of a betting opportunity; at the risk-reward factor could well be off-putting. Still, if you’re betting solely on statistical probability it’s hard to ignore even at such a short price.

Last year’s Singapore Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen and Max Verstappen collide in the run towards turn one, none of these three finished the race. In fact, eight drivers failed to complete the race, and over the past five years there has been an average of five drivers a year that have failed to see the chequered flag. This leans me towards the number of classified drivers market, however, it’s worth noting that if a driver completes 90