After the scandal of last year's race where should we be putting our money this time round? Anthony Jordan reports...

Formula One returns to the scene of its greatest scandal this weekend, as the teams go racing at the Singapore Grand Prix. The result of last year’s race was shocking at the time, with Renault claiming their first victory in almost two years as Fernando Alonso profited from a safety car period caused by an accident involving his then teammate Nelson Piquet Jr.

The result sparked scenes of jubilation amongst the Renault faithful and buoyed by this success Alonso went on to record another win for the team at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. While Piquet managed to finish fourth in Japan, his position in the team had been in jeopardy for a while due to some poor performances, and he was finally released after failing to score any points after the tenth race of the 2009 season in Hungary.

At the Belgian Grand Prix rumours began to emerge that Renault had ‘rigged’ the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix by ordering Piquet to crash his car. This crash caused the safety car period that handed Alonso his race win, due to him being the only driver to have made his pit stop. Piquet was granted immunity by the FIA for his testimony in the investigation, and when the truth emerged that team boss Flavio Briatore and Chief Engineer Pat Symonds had ordered Piquet to crash, they were fired by Renault and excluded from any FIA event for life and five years respectively, while Renault were permanently excluded from Formula One, but this was suspended for two years.

What does this mean for Formula One and the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix? As they say, any publicity is good publicity! While people may complain about the levels of morality displayed by Renault in last year’s race, the majority of these same people, along with many people who had lost interest in F1 and people who’s interest has been pricked by the news of this scandal, will be tuning in on Sunday to watch the action and drama unfold on the track. I know I will!

Speaking of the action on the track, who will win the race? Lewis Hamilton is the favourite to take the chequered flag, with William Hill offering the best odds 13/5 at the time of writing. The championship challengers are looking good too, with the Rubens Barrichello (11/2 Boyle Sports and Betfred) being slightly favoured ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button (6/1 Blue Square, Betfred).

My pick would be Kimi Raikkonen, who is currently at 8/1 with Extrabet. The Ferrari man has looked very good in the last four races, finishing on the podium in all of them and a win this weekend could very well be on the cards. For those who like an outside bet, how about Adrian Sutil in the Force India at 28/1 with Sportingbet. Force India have improved majorly and a podium for Sutil does not seem out of the question, so an each way bet could see a return.

Betting Recommendation:

1pt on Kimi Raikkonen to win the Singapore GP at 8/1 with Extrabet
0.5pt e/w on Adrian Sutil to win the Singapore GP at 28/1 with Sportingbet