The third Singapore Grand Prix takes place under the floodlights on Sunday as the F1 circus moves back to Asia. With five races remaining and less than a single win covering the first five drivers in the title race, the championship looks set to go right to the wire in the Abu Dhabi desert in seven weeks' time.

Red Bull driver Mark Webber currently leads the chase and is currently a clear 15/8 favourite for the drivers' trophy, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso vying for second favouritism ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button.

The paddock consensus is that the Singapore street track suits the Red Bull RB6 more than its rivals from McLaren and Ferrari and there are solid grounds for believing that to be the case.

This circuit, in contrast to the previous two races in Belgium and Italy, demands the teams adopt a high-downforce set-up, something with which the Red Bull should feel far more comfortable with after its struggles in the recent European events.

The characteristics of the track place it somewhere between Monaco and Valencia, both of which were won comfortably by the Anglo-Austrian team.

Since the latter race in late June the FIA have imposed more stringent load tests on the car's floor and front-wing assembly, which some observers believe has contributed to the fall-off in competitiveness of the Red Bull in the last two races.

But the team's engineers insist that the new rules have not forced them to change the car at all and the sector times from Spa-Francorchamps would indicate that the RB6 is still in a league of its own around slower corners.

The Marina Bay circuit has plenty of slow corners but, unlike the Hungaroring, where Red Bull dominated in August, the turns are of a shorter duration, with more emphasis on braking performance and longitudinal traction.

Ferrari proved in Hockenheim and Monza that their F10 is the car to beat in that respect so it could be tight between those two constructors this weekend.

Like the bookies, we'll give the nod to the Milton Keynes-based team and back Sebastian Vettel for pole.

Vettel has come in for some harsh criticism in recent weeks, slipping to fifth in the championship on the back of a number of errors.

Accidents in Turkey and Belgium, allied with mistakes in Britain and Hungary, have compromised his championship chances but while his team-mate can play the percentage game the young German knows he has nothing to lose.

Vettel's racecraft and maturity has been called into question but his ability to deliver a perfect qualifying lap when it most counts is unchallenged.

He has already taken seven pole positions from 14 races this season so with what is likely to be the fastest car once again the 3.00 (bwin) on him heading the grid does appeal.

We'll also take a chance backing Felipe Massa in the same market at a dismissive 17.00 (bet365).

Massa is under no illusions that his role is to help Alonso to the title but the Brazilian would like nothing more than to show up his team-mate and give his bosses the kind of headache they faced at Hockenheim.

He missed this race last season through injury but his pole position lap the previous year was one of the finest you'll ever see - he was two-thirds of a second clear of his nearest rival and 0.8 seconds quicker than Kimi Raikkonen in the sister car.

There are obvious dangers with backing him to win the race but the odds of 17.00 (Betsson) yield place terms of 5/1, which is simply too long.

In fact if he does manage to out-qualify his team-mate, he would only be able to cede position if Alonso is directly behind him, so the win part of the bet is certainly not a wasted stake.

There is still an underlying resentment between Massa and Alonso about the events here two years ago - Nelson Piquet's faked crash which allowed Alonso to win the race is still seen by the Brazilian as the event which cost him the championship.

This, combined with the unsavoury situation at Hockenheim in July, means that Massa has a point to prove and plenty of pride left to fight for.

It makes sense go against the crowd and support him at a circuit where he would have easily won in 2008 were it not for events triggered by Alonso's Renault team.

With thunderstorms forecast across the weekend we're reluctant to get further involved in the race winner market at this stage but looking down the grid we can see Robert Kubica and the Williams drivers performing above their recent results.

 Kubica excelled in Monaco and Valencia so should once again be at the sharp end on the Singapore streets but the bookies are wise to his threat, pricing him at only 3.25 for a podium finish.

His Renault should be up there with the McLaren, which has proved troublesome on bumpy circuits so far this season, but only an eventful race is likely to see the Pole justify the short odds available.

Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, could be in with a chance of repeating the form which saw the Brazilian finish fourth in Valencia.

The Williams excels on slow, sinuous circuits, while braking and traction is also a strength.

The pair are worth backing at either side of evens for a points finish, while Barrichello may represent value at 5/1 to repeat his top-six finishes at Valencia and Silverstone.

And those with bwin accounts can take the 3.80 about a double points-finish for the Grove-based team.

PICKS: 
Sebastian Vettel to take pole position at 3.00 (Bwin).
Felipe Massa to take pole position at 17.00 (Bet365).
Massa to win the race at 17.00 (Betsson).
Rubens Barrichello to finish in the top six at 5.00 (Bet365).
Williams to score a double points finish at 3.80 (Bwin).