Chinese Grand Prix 2025 – The Best Bet Opportunities
Formula 1 betting expert Roy Brindley delivers two tasty bet opportunities for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Alex Albon is fancied to finish in the top six for a second successive race weekend. © Getty Images
Key Facts:
- Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix is predicted to be very different to the Australian curtain raiser.
- Lando Norris’s chances are obvious at a track where results normally go to form.
- Form suggests every driver can make the chequered flag.
- Another top-six predicted for heroic Alex Albon.
With six drivers retiring from the race courtesy of dramatic incidents and accidents, the 2025 Australian Grand Prix proved a chaotic event. Nevertheless, the betting favourite, Lando Norris, driving a McLaren, won the contest despite some scares.
Had heavy rain not persisted throughout the race, the British driver would have likely led home a McLaren 1-2 finish with a considerable margin back to the third-place finisher.
The papaya car had already signalled itself as a dominant force with a comfortable 1-2 in qualifying.
Just seven days later, 2025’s second Formula 1 race, the Chinese Grand Prix, will take place at the Shanghai International Circuit. The weather forecast suggests rain is not going to be a factor. So, the question is, can any other team be a genuine factor in Sunday’s race?
The Leading Driver/Team Combo Is a Fair Even-Money Bet
Online betting sites quote Lando Norris on even-money to take Sunday’s headlining race. As this weekend’s action features a sprint race, there will be only one free practice session on Friday. The 19-lap’ sprint’ takes place on Saturday, and Norris is even-money to win this contest too.
Shanghai’s circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, whose tracks all have a similar template: Slow corners leading onto long straights to maximize overtaking opportunities. Resultingly, faster cars have little problem passing slower rivals.
Indeed, the history books show previous editions of this race have invariably gone to the leading driver/team combo at the time. Lewis Hamilton has won this contest six times. That record is all the more impressive given four recent editions were cancelled due to Covid.
Play the Stats and Play 18-Plus Finishers
Hamilton’s Ferrari did not show enough to suggest he is about to claim his seventh Chinese Grand Prix. The odds compilers at the sportsbook arm of Betfred agree. They have given the veteran a 25/1 quote for race victory this weekend.
Nevertheless, there are some tempting betting opportunities starting with the finishing numbers market. Completions are always high in this race, and despite the field being rookie-laden, ‘over 18’ race finishers appears to be a sensible bet at 6/4 odds.
There have only been five ‘non-classified’ race finishers in China’s past four Formula 1 races. Two of those contests saw every car that started the contest finish it. Stats, therefore, suggest there is greater than a 40 percent chance (6/4 odds) that there will be no more than one non-finisher this weekend.
Alex Can Repeat Top-6 Heroics in China
Armchair viewers would have done well to catch a glimpse of Alex Albon in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. The reason was simple: He was faultless! The Thai driver outqualified his much-lauded new teammate, Carlos Sainz, to start in sixth and converted that to an excellent fifth place just four seconds shy of third-placed George Russell.
Albon’s Williams car appeared quick in pre-season testing, and its performance in Australia underlined that. With Shanghai’s International Circuit not too dissimilar to Melbourne’s Albert Park – requiring only slightly more downforce – there is little reason to believe recent form will not translate.
The best online bookmakers make Alex Albon 9/4 to repeat his Australian heroics and finish in the top six once again. It is a fair bet at a fair price.
Weekend Schedule – How to Watch the Chinese Grand Prix
Sky Sports’ dedicated F1 channel will broadcast the weekend’s Formula 1 action, starting with the Drivers Press Conference on Thursday. The full Chinese Grand Prix timetable is listed below, with stated times being UK/GMT.
Thursday March 20
5.00 am: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday March 21
3.00 am: Chinese GP Practice One
5.30 am: Team Principals’ Press Conference
7.30 am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying
Saturday March 22
3.00 am: Chinese GP Sprint Race 7.00 am: Chinese GP Qualifying
Sunday March 23
7.00 am: The Chinese GP
Whilst Sky will continue to show exclusive live coverage of all practice laps, qualifying, sprint and Grand Prix races throughout the next three years, Channel 4 offers free-to-view highlights programs.
This weekend, the Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying highlights will be broadcast on Channel 4 on Friday at 11.35 am. Saturday’s sprint race and qualifying highlights will air at 2 pm. Steve Jones, David Coulthard and Lawrence Barretto will present the broadcaster’s race coverage from 1 pm on Sunday.
