F1 Tips: Japanese Grand Prix best bets including a 5/2 Alpine shout

F1 Tips

#WhatOddsPaddy – Max Verstappen to Win the Race and the Winning Margin to be Over 12 seconds
#WhatOddsPaddy – Both Alpine Cars to Finish in the Points

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

One of the most iconic tracks on the planet stages the latest round of the 2023 Formula 1 season as Red Bull bid to bounce back to winning ways at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The runaway constructors’ championship leaders saw their long unbeaten run come to an end under the lights in Singapore last weekend as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took the chequered flag, a result that also snapped Max Verstappen’s record-breaking 10-race winning streak.

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Red Bull’s misfire in Singapore provided one of the most exciting races of the season as Sainz, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had one hell of a scrap over the final laps, although Verstappen will be on a mission at Suzuka to put his rivals back in their place.

I’ve run the rule over Paddy Power’s odds for the Japanese Grand Prix and picked out a couple of best bets. Let’s get to it!

Japanese Grand Prix
Qualifying: Saturday 7am
Race: Sunday 6am
TV: Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports F1

#WhatOddsPaddy – Max Verstappen to Win the Race and the Winning Margin to be Over 12 seconds

When you consider everything that went against Red Bull in Singapore – a car that surprisingly couldn’t deliver the goods over one lap and an early safety car wrecking their go-long strategy – it was still an impressive drive from Max Verstappen to finish fifth.

The Dutchman doesn’t like losing, however, and you can bet he will be flying all weekend at Suzuka in a bid to restamp his authority on the rest of the field.

He won last year’s Japanese Grand Prix by an incredible 27 seconds, despite the race only reaching half distance due to torrential rain, to clinch his second world championship in the process.

Verstappen’s Red Bull will handle the track and the lengthy laps should allow him to build a healthy advantage at the front. It is worth noting that the last three editions of the Japanese Grand Prix has seen the winner finish more than 12 seconds clear of second place.

#WhatOddsPaddy – Both Alpine Cars to Finish in the Points

I fancy Alpine to have a good weekend and score double points for the sixth time this season, which they were set to achieve in Singapore before Esteban Ocon’s cruel late mechanical retirement.

The high-downforce nature of the Suzuka track coupled with some high-speed sections should suit the A523 down to the ground – and the team’s best weekends in 2023 have come at similar circuits.

Ocon has scored points in all three of his three Japanese Grand Prix starts including a fine fourth-place finish after qualifying fifth last year.

Gasly, who has additional experience of Suzuka having driven in Super Formula, has been in flying form since the summer break, with more than half of his points for the season being earned in the last three races.

Japanese Grand Prix Tips

#WhatOddsPaddy – Max Verstappen to Win the Race and the Winning Margin to be Over 12 seconds
#WhatOddsPaddy – Both Alpine Cars to Finish in the Points

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

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