Betting Says McLaren and Norris Are the Ones to Beat in F1 2025
Despite a tame showing in pre-season testing, bookmakers struggle to see beyond Lando Norris and McLaren for the forthcoming 2025 F1 season.
Lando Norris and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown will be hoping for more silverware in 2025. © Getty Images
Key Facts:
- The 24-race 2025 Formula 1 season is set to start in Australia.
- Pre-season test times have given mixed signals.
- Bookmakers believe driver Lando Norris and his McLaren team are the ones to beat.
- Betting sites decline to offer odds on Verstappen outpointing his new teammate.
The 2025 F1 season, comprising 24 Grand Prix weekends, including six F1 Sprint races, and stretching until December 7, will get underway on March 14. Melbourne, Australia, is the opening stop for F1’s travelling circus. Pre-season testing in Bahrain concluded last week.
McLaren’s two drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, only posted the eighth and seventeenth fastest times during three days of testing in the Arabian Gulf.
Nevertheless, odds compilers at the UK’s best betting sites believe the team showed itself to be the one to beat in 2025.
The Woking-based outfit, which landed F1’s Constructors’ Championship in 2024, is just 11/10 to retain its title in 2025. Lando Norris, beaten by 63 points into second in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship standing, is 7/4 to go one place better this time.
Williams Top, Ocon Gets the Max with Good Reliability
Underlining the scepticism associated with pre-season testing times, Williams’ new driver, Carlos Sainz, who recorded the fastest lap of any driver during the second day in Bahrain, can be backed on 100/1 odds to become 2025 World Champion. His team are 250/1 to win the Constructors’ title.
Pre-Season Testing Best Times
- Carlos Sainz – Williams – 1m 29.348s – Day 2
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 1m 29.379s – Day 2
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 1m 29.431s – Day 2
- George Russell – Mercedes – 1m 29.545s – Day 3
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull – 1m 29.566s – Day 3
- Alex Albon – Williams – 1m 29.650s – Day 3
- Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – 1m 29.784s – Day 2
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 1m 29.940s – Day 3
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 1m 30.040s – Day 3
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 1m 30.229s – Day 2
Typically, the Bahrain Grand Prix race distance is 57 laps. During testing, all of 2025’s 20 F1 drivers completed the equivalent of at least two full races. Esteban Ocon enjoyed the most track time, completing almost five race distances and 1,407 kilometres in his Haas.
As a result of calling in sick for a day, Lance Stroll, driving for the Aston Martin team owned by his father Lawrence Stroll, circulated the medium-downforce circuit 133 times. His 720 kilometres of running means no driver has less experience with their 2025 race car.
Throughout testing, no team experienced significant reliability issues. As the current car spec is entering its fourth campaign, it would be surprising if breakdowns play a large part in proceedings during the season ahead.
BREAKING: The 2025 F1 calendar has been announced, with the season starting in Australia for the first time since 2019! 📆🚨 pic.twitter.com/yI7wncsJ4T
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 12, 2024
What Will Happen When Sandbags Are Removed?
With unknown fuel loads and tacticians working on different strategies, times set during testing are difficult to decipher. Furthermore, teams are notoriously reluctant to show their true capabilities.
Formula 1 all but created the term ‘sandbagging’. Only when qualifying begins during the Australian GP weekend will fans have an idea of the true potential of every team’s 2025 race car – with the proverbial momentum-hindering sandbags removed!
Bookmakers appear convinced 2024s pecking order will not change dramatically. Following McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship betting are Ferarri (6/4), Red Bull (5/1) and Mercedes (14/1). This is the same order that teams finished at the conclusion of last season.
Bookies Prefer Lando Over Five-Time Chasing Max
Lando Norris did not win the World Drivers’ Championship in 2024, however. Four race victories did propel him into the second spot. This momentum, allied to a significant end-of-season form for a dip for Red Bull, appears to be the primary factors behind the British/Belgian being made favourite for the title in 2025.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is 3/1 to win the title for a fifth time. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, 2024’s third-placed championship finisher, is 5/1 third favourite.
Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc’s new teammate, follows on 15/2 odds. The odds compilers at the sportsbook arm of Ladbrokes are far sweeter on the Brit’s chances and offer just 4/1.
Online betting sites have also devised a host of intriguing season-long driver match-ups. Leclerc is 1/2 to outscore Lewis Hamilton (6/4). Lando Norris, 2/9, is strongly fancied to outpoint his teammate, Oscar Piastri.
At Mercedes, George Russell (1/7) is expected to finish ahead of his rookie teammate, Kimi Antonelli (4/1). No odds are offered on Max Verstappen being outscored by his new garage-mate, Liam Lawson. Presumably, this outcome is too unlikely to be calculated.
How and Where Can I Watch the Australian GP?
The Australian Grand Prix will start at 3pm local time (4am UK time) at Albert Park on Sunday, March 16. Beforehand, there will be three practice sessions and a qualifying session. The ever-present Sky Sports dedicated F1 channel has exclusive rights to the broadcast and kicked off its 2025 coverage with a successful London launch event in mid-February.
