Brazilian Grand Prix tips, predictions and best bets: Charles Leclerc offers value in Sao Paulo
- Mark Scott
- 1 November 2023
The last leg in F1's relentless triple header of races takes us to sunny (or not) Sao Paulo for the much-loved Brazilian Grand Prix...or the Sao Paulo Grand Prix if you want to be all modern about it.
Combine a hectic sprint weekend format with a spicy weather forecast and you already have all the ingredients needed for a thrilling weekend of F1 action.
Let's run you through our best bets and tips for Interlagos...
Charles Leclerc - pole position
With only three pole positions in his last nine races it is very hard to make a case for Max Verstappen at such skinny prices and, because of this, there is great value to be had elsewhere.
Step forward poor Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver who has four pole positions to his name this season - including P1 at the last two race weekends - but has not been able to convert any of them into race wins due to Red Bull's clear superiority on Sundays.
Red Bull's weakness is qualifying and, quite frankly, they won't care when they know Verstappen can cruise to the front in no time.
If you want to get against Red Bull for the rest of the season, do it on a qualifying day (remember qualifying is on Friday with the sprint weekend format in effect).
You could also take Ferrari best team qualifier at a decent price if you want to add Carlos Sainz to the mix, another smooth operator in qualifying.
Charles Leclerc - podium finish
If we know, barring any disaster, Max Verstappen will win for the 17th this season (please, make it stop) then Charles Leclerc can do the next best thing by finishing on the podium.
Leclerc had a superb race in Mexico to finish P3 considering he spent almost half the race with a good chunk of his front wing missing courtesy of an overly ambitious Sergio Perez on the mad dash down to Turn 1.
Leclerc's biggest threats this weekend look like being Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, two drivers in excellent form but all the juice has been squeezed out of their respective prices.
Alex Albon - points finish
Alex Albon has been one of the surprise stars of the F1 2023 season, rebuilding his F1 career from Red Bull reject to the main man at Williams.
After a dry spell from Singapore to Qatar, Albon has recorded back-to-back P9 finishes since to keep his impressive points tally rising.
He will fancy his chances of scraping a few more in Brazil, too. A pretty timely resurgence given AlphaTauri are starting to hunt them down for P7 in the Constructors' Championship at this late stage of the year.
Brazilian GP tips:
Charles Leclerc - pole position
