The 2025 F1 season roars into life in Australia this weekend and an exciting year is in prospect as Max Verstappen bids to win a fifth successive drivers’ title.
The Red Bull ace is not the favourite to retain his crown this time, however, with 2024 runner-up Lando Norris topping the odds list as he seeks his first championship success.
There’s plenty of intrigue with three of the top four teams making changes to their driver line-ups and the biggest move of all seeing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes, where he won six of his titles, to join Ferrari.
Formula One season preview betting tips
- Lando Norris to win Drivers’ Championship @ 13/8 with bet365
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli to win a race @ 11/10 with bet365
- McLaren to win Constructors’ Championship @ 5/6 with bet365
All odds are courtesy of bet365, correct at the time of publishing and subject to change.
Norris looks ready for title success
Norris has come a long way in 12 months and looks capable of taking another leap forward to become F1 world champion in 2025.
The British driver did not even have a race win to his name at the start of last season, but made the breakthrough at the Miami Grand Prix as McLaren’s car upgrades began to bear fruit.
He ended the season with four wins and took second place in the standings, 63 points behind Verstappen, but the Bristol-born racer will be the first to admit he should have been a lot closer.
McLaren had the strongest car for many races in the second half of the season as the Red Bull dealt with balance issues but errors by the driver and team plus some old-fashioned bad luck combined to ensure that Norris could never land a telling blow on Verstappen, who had established a huge advantage when winning seven of the first 10 races.
McLaren won the Constructors’ Championship as Verstappen got very little support from team-mate Sergio Perez and the three days of pre-season testing suggested they will start the year as the team to beat.
Norris recorded one race-simulation run that was far superior to anything his rivals showed, so he looks well set to get off to a positive start.
One potential hurdle to Norris’s success is the mid-season change to the rules on front-wing flexing, which comes into force at the Spanish Grand Prix, the ninth round of the 24-race championship.
If one team’s performance is affected more than others by making the necessary adjustments to comply, that could be a turning point in the championship but there is plenty of time for teams to put plans in place.
Verstappen can never be written off, but is likely to have to work a lot harder for his points this season and his team no longer has the benefit of the services of design guru Adrian Newey, who is now with Aston Martin.
Ferrari could also throw down a title challenge but it remains to be seen if they are faster than McLaren and indeed how the relationship between new arrival Hamilton and established Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will pan out.
Norris has a capable team-mate in Oscar Piastri, winner of two races last year, who can provide valuable support in a title battle, taking points away from his rivals, but the Australian was out-qualified 20-4 by Norris last season and may have to settle for improving on last year’s fourth-placed finish.
Formula One Season Preview Tip 1: Lando Norris to win Drivers’ Championship @ 13/8 with bet365
Antonelli can shine in rookie campaign
Lewis Hamilton’s departure to join Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes created a vacancy that the German manufacturer has decided to fill with exciting teenage prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Italian is just 18 years old but has impressed with his pace throughout his career and is considered a special talent in the same bracket as Hamilton and Verstappen.
The huge crash he had when taking part in practice for the Italian Grand Prix last year was an example of the type of error to expect from an enthusiastic youngster finding his limits, but he can be fancied to get it right on at least one occasion and pick up a race win in his first campaign.
Antonelli will have 24 chances to put it all together and Mercedes won four races in 2024 after a slow start to the campaign.
Formula One Season Preview Tip 2: Andrea Kimi Antonelli to win a race @ 11/10 with bet365
McLaren should stay out in front
The importance of both drivers contributing a decent number of points was shown when McLaren pipped Red Bull to the team title last season, and they look the right favourites to keep that crown this year.
Red Bull have dispensed with struggling veteran Perez, but his replacement, Liam Lawson, has plenty to prove and may not be able to compete regularly with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes unless the Red Bull has a major advantage in pace.
Ferrari look the chief challengers with Leclerc and Hamilton both capable of delivering wins if the car is up to the required standard but they appear to be off the pace of their British rivals to start the season at least.
Formula One Season Preview Tip 3: McLaren to win Constructors’ Championship @ 5/6 with bet365
