Monaco Grand Prix Tips: Piastri can capitalise on qualifying pace
Formula 1 heads to the most glamorous location on its calendar for round eight of the 2025 world championship, the Monaco Grand Prix.
But despite the stunning backdrop and the incredible challenge that the narrow streets of Monte Carlo provides, the race can often be low on action and last year the top ten all finished in the same positions as they had started.
Tip 1 - Oscar Piastri to win @ 2/1
Australian Oscar Piastri arrives with a 13-point lead in the championship, and he will be looking to stretch that advantage on the historic street circuit.
Piastri's McLaren team-mate Lando Norris sits second with reigning champion Max Verstappen nine points further back, and any of the trio could leave the principality at the top of the standings.
Verstappen earned his second win of the season last week at Imola, but the tight and twisty Monaco circuit is not expected to suit his Red Bull. The car certainly struggled at the track last year, as the four-time world champion could do no better than sixth.
With Ferrari, the team of local hero and last year's winner Charles Leclerc, not at its best in qualifying recently, the McLarens could have this race between them.
There is a suspicion Norris is the quicker of the two, but he keeps making mistakes at crucial times, particularly in qualifying, and errors are punished particularly harshly in Monaco due to the proximity of the barriers.
Overtaking is nigh-on impossible, so starting from the front is even more important in Monte Carlo and Piastri, who has three pole positions this year, looks an attractive price to pick up his fifth win of the season. Especially so considering he finished second at the track last year.
Tip 2 - Pierre Gasly top 10 finish @ 19/20
Frenchman Pierre Gasly can be considered something of a course specialist at Monaco.
The Alpine driver has raced at the track seven times in Formula 1 and earned six points finishes. He just missed out when ending up 11th in 2022.
It has been something of an up-and-down season for Gasly, but he has generally been reliable in qualifying, with three Q3 appearances in the last four races.
If he can again qualify in the top 10, that would give him an excellent chance of finishing in the points for only the second time this season, and given his record at Monaco that looks a decent bet.
Tip 3 - Fernando Alonso top 6 finish @ 5/1
It has been a disastrous start to the season for Aston Martin with just 14 points collected from the first seven races, and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is yet to score a point.
Things looked much more promising last weekend as a major upgrade brought a huge boost in performance and Alonso qualified fifth.
It all fell apart in the race at Imola as poor strategy and the timing of safety cars worked against the team, but there are reasons for optimism nonetheless.
The two-time Monaco winner finished second at the track as recently as 2023 and Alonso could be a big price for a top six finish if the car shows the same kind of speed that was hinted at last week.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation