The 2025 Formula One season is just around the corner, and the campaign promises to be one of the tightest in recent memory. Over the course of the last three years, Max Verstappen has ruled with an iron fist, romping to three straight world titles in addition to the one he claimed in a riveting battle against Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Now, however, several contenders have risen to the fore, and the reign of the Flying Dutchman could be set to come to an end.
The new campaign gets underway on March 16th in Australia, kicking off a world tour that will culminate in Abu Dhabi in December. But which drivers have a genuine chance of leaving the Arabian Gulf state with the World Championship in tow? Let’s take a look.
Max Verstappen
There really is no other place to start than with Max Verstappen. In recent years, the Red Bull man has dominated F1 unlike anything we have ever seen before. His hammer-and-tongs battle with Lewis Hamilton back in 2021 ended in dramatic circumstances, but his last three title triumphs have been very clear-cut.
In 2022 and 2023, Super Max won a whopping 35 of 43 races, breaking a plethora of records on the way. In 2024, his dominance wavered somewhat, but he still won nine of 2024 to claim the title by a mighty 63 points.
Now, real money gambling sites make him a joint favourite to make it five on the spin next term, and a lot of bettors are showing interest in those odds. The popular real money gambling at Bovada platform currently prices the Dutchman at +190 to retain his crown, and if he lives up to the billing, he will enter the record books. So far, only the iconic Michael Schumacher has ever won five straight world championships, and Verstappen has the opportunity to join the legendary German should he be the one standing tall in Abu Dhabi at the end of the year.
Will the bookies be proven right and history be made? Or is somebody else going to stream ahead of this champion?
Lando Norris
Britain’s Lando Norris is the man who pushed Verstappen the closest last season. His McLaren team built him an absolute rocketship throughout the season, with the car being the fastest on the grid by some distance at the midway point. The 25-year-old rewarded his team with a maiden victory in Miami before adding further wins in the Netherlands, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi. However, questions remain as to whether Norris has the consistency required to claim a world championship.
The Brit qualified on pole some eight times last season. Inexplicably, however, he lost the lead on the first lap in four of those races. In addition to that, his team seemed unwilling to back him as their outright number one driver – a problem that Verstappen never has at Red Bull – and it seems like winning the championship could be an even more difficult task. The pressure is certainly on this year, and Norris simply has to deliver.
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is a distant +425 third favorite for the title, but write him off at your peril. The Monegasque man has been the leading light with the Scuderia ever since making the move from Sauber back in 2019. In fact, the Italian press has christened him as “il Predestinato’ – the predestined one.
Leclerc has picked up some impressive victories in Formula One, none more so than last season’s victories in his homeland of Monaco and his team’s homeland, Italy. But despite his unquestionable quality, the 27-year-old has never been truly involved in a championship fight.
He did push Verstappen hard throughout the first half of the 2022 season; however, disastrous team decisions, car failures, and even the occasional driver error left him out of contention well before the end of the campaign.
Now, as he enters the prime of his career, it’s time to start stringing victories together. If he can do that, he may very well push Verstappen and Norris all the way.
Lewis Hamilton
Another problem that Leclerc has this season is that he has been joined at Ferrari by the GOAT, Lewis Hamilton. The British driver holds the record for most world titles with seven – level with Michael Schumacher – and it really should have been eight in 2021. He now heads to Maranello in the twilight of his career at 40 years of age, but he hasn’t given up hope of claiming one final record-breaking world championship.
He is hoping that the Scuderia will provide him with the tools to get the job done. Despite not featuring in a title fight in four years, Hamilton proved at last year’s British Grand Prix that he still knows how to win a race. That victory was his first in almost three years, and if he starts the current season with further wins, he may well contend once more. However, if things don’t go his way, it will be interesting to see how he responds, especially if his young and hungry teammate is firing on all cylinders.