Sao Paulo Grand Prix betting tips and F1 predictions: Hamilton finishing the season with a flourish

Where to watch the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Practice and Grand Prix qualifying
Sky Sports F1, 2.30pm & 6pm Friday

Sprint Shootout & Sprint race
Sky Sports F1, 2pm & 6.30pm Saturday

Grand Prix
Sky Sports F1, 5pm Sunday

Best bets

Lewis Hamilton to win the Grand Prix
1pt 9-1 bet365

Lando Norris top-two finish
1pt 7-4 bet365

Sao Paulo Grand Prix predictions

Max Verstappen arrives for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with more than double the points of his closest championship rival, his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen wrapped up his third drivers’ championship in Qatar last month, but Perez has Lewis Hamilton breathing down his neck for second place in the standings.

And if paddock gossip is to be believed there is more than pride at stake, as Perez is understood to be at risk of losing his seat if he fails to land that runner-up spot. 

Perez’s season unravelled quickly after a bright start saw him win two of the first four races, and hit a nadir in his home event in Mexico last week when he crashed out at the first corner while trying to pass Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Seven-time champ Hamilton finished a fine second in the race and would be level with Perez in the standings had the Mercedes driver not been disqualified from the United States Grand Prix for a technical infringement. 

Mercedes, and particularly Hamilton, are showing some strong form to finish the season, and the team scored a 1-2 finish at Interlagos last season.

That result came after Verstappen had sauntered to victory in Mexico, so it may not be plain sailing for the 1-3 favourite.

This is also the final sprint weekend of the year, a format which has thrown an element of unpredictability into races this season.

Lando Norris’s run of four podium finishes came to an end in Mexico following a mistake in qualifying that left him starting 17th on the grid.

The McLaren driver flew in the race, though, climbing to fifth by the finish and gaining on the Ferraris ahead of him.

Granted a more polished qualifying performance Norris, who has finished second five times in the last ten races, could be a decent bet at 7-4 for a top-two finish.

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