Singapore Grand Prix: Hamilton can win with Maldonado immediately behind

Pastor Maldonado can chase home Lewis Hamilton
After today's final qualifying James Frankland previews Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, and our man fancies Lewish Hamilton to lead from the front but expect a strong challenge from Pastor Maldonado...
Lewis Hamilton led the charge of the floodlight brigade in Singapore with a scorching pole position lap almost half a second clear of the rest of the field, securing his third pole in four races and continuing McLaren's run of four poles in four races.
Hamilton starts as 1.715/7 favourite for victory in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix but must be hoping that no lasting damage was done to his MP4-27 when he clipped the wall during third qualifying. For a better return on a Hamilton victory back him at 5.85/1 to take the win along with fastest lap - but bear in mind that only one driver has achieved the 'grand slam' of pole, fastest lap and win this season, and it wasn't Hamilton.
Alongside Hamilton is street circuit specialist Pastor Maldonado, who surprised even himself with second place on the grid.
Maldonado hasn't scored a point since winning the Spanish Grand Prix back in May - ironically also qualifying second to Hamilton before the Englishman was demoted to the back of the grid for a fuel irregularity - and his odds of 20.019/1 to win in Singapore demand your attention, being markedly better than the 12.011/1 that he could have been backed at before the race in Barcelona.
Those odds partly reflect Maldonado's recent run, where he has earned more penalties than points, and also thrown himself out of points-scoring positions, no more obvious than a potential podium finish in Valencia when he tangled with Hamilton who was struggling with tyre wear at the time.
It also says a lot about what is expected tomorrow, that Hamilton will run and hide on a circuit in which overtaking is hard, but not impossible. However should Maldonado jump the McLaren off the line, he could make the circuit's characteristics work for him and keep Hamilton and other challengers behind, for which you can get 7.87/1 for the Williams driver to lead the first lap.
The safer option over the course of the race might be to back him for a podium finish at 3.65n/a although you can also get 8.415/2 on a Hamilton-Maldonado forecast. The expectation was that the race would see a straight fight between Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, and you can back the World Champion to finish second to Hamilton at 2.962/1, or ahead of him at 8.415/2.
Looking slightly further down the grid there are a couple of candidates for consideration in the Top 6 Finish market.
First off, Paul di Resta qualified sixth and is at 2.526/4 to maintain that place to the finish, which will boost Force India's hopes of catching and overhauling Sauber. However, Sauber starlet Sergio Perez is worth a look in this market too, based on his outing in the Italian Grand Prix where he went from 12th to second at the chequered flag. Perez starts 14th tomorrow but has a knack of going forwards in races, so bear him in mind at 3.211/5 to finish sixth or better.
Fastest lap is a really hard market to call this year, with no less than nine different drivers recording a fastest lap in the 13 races held so far. Picking a likely candidate for tomorrow's race is therefore tricky but you have to look at the street circuit specialists - any of Maldonado 16.015/1, Perez 29.028/1, Michael Schumacher 18.017/1, Nico Rosberg 18.017/1 or Hamilton 5.79/2 could be the man to set the mark on the Marina Bay Circuit.
Recommended Bets
Lewis Hamilton to win with Pastor Maldonado second @ 8.415/2
Sergio Perez to finish in the Top Six @ 3.211/5
Fernando Alonso to finish on the podium @ 2.3611/8