We’re still a few months away from the 2025 Formula 1 season, and it is shaping up to be a good one because of the twists and turns we’ve seen in the drivers’ market, with new and familiar faces switching places.
Max Verstappen may have won the drivers’ championship for the fourth consecutive year, but Red Bull are no longer the kings of the constructors’ championship, as McLaren usurped them. The Milton Keynes outfit replaced Sergio Perez with Liam Lawson, and the early Formula 1 2025 odds expect them to have a tougher time to compete for trophies this season.
Speaking of McLaren, we expect them to carry over the momentum they’ve built last year, making them arguably the team to beat this season.
Without further ado, let’s dive into SBOTOP’s bold predictions for the 2025 campaign by continuing to read below.
McLaren will reign supreme
The Papayas have come a long way in the past few years. It wasn’t too long ago when they couldn’t even muster a point, and now they go into the 2025 campaign as the reigning constructors’ champions. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were pivotal to their meteoric rise, with the former finishing second in the grid with 374 points and the latter finishing fourth with 292 points.
Lando Norris had the mission of getting his maiden win, and he got more than he expected. The 25-year-old broke his drought in the Miami Grand Prix, and Norris secured three more wins in the Netherlands, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi. Not to be left out, Oscar Piastri also won a couple of races in Hungary and Azerbaijan.
Norris’ win in Abu Dhabi clinched McLaren’s first constructors’ championship since 1998, and it didn’t come easy. Norris had to dig deep after teammate Piastri was knocked out after an early collision with Max Verstappen. Norris kept his composure to capture the chequered flag even when the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. were breathing down his neck.
McLaren’s backroom also deserves a ton of credit for giving Norris and Piastri a top-performance car to work with. The Papayas haven’t missed since Miami, and if they keep it that way, don’t be surprised of Norris will win the drivers’ championship and lead the team to the promised land again.
Alonso will end his drought
Fernando Alonso hasn’t won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. The two-time world champion is showing no signs of slowing down (despite his advancing age) and is determined to get another win in 2025.
The evergreen Spaniard is coming off a chastening 2024 campaign. Alonso entered the year with so much promise as he was coming off a successful 2023 season with Aston Martin, where he compiled eight podiums. Instead, he found himself driving an unpredictable car that didn’t give him a chance since he never had a single podium finish in 2024. Alonso’s best finish in 2024 was finishing P5 in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Because of their lacklustre performances, team owner Lance Stroll added Adrian Newey to their ranks. Newey, arguably the greatest Formula 1 engineer ever, helped design championship-winning cars for Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, and he is keen to bring his winning ways to Aston Martin. His presence and vast technical experience should boost Alonso’s hopes of breaking his drought.
A first-year driver will win a Grand Prix
Formula 1 has seen its fair share of breakout youngsters in the past few seasons, and some of them have already secured full-time gigs. Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan, Oliver Bearman, and Isack Hadjar are the rookies on the grid this year, and we believe they’re capable of producing positive Formula 1 2025 results.
Lawson and Antonelli have the most realistic chance of winning a race because they’re with Red Bull and Mercedes. Lawson was brought in to replace Sergio Perez after faring well as a reserve driver for AlphaTauri, while Antonelli is a product of Mercedes’ developmental program.
Bortoleto is fresh from winning the FIA Formula 2 championship, while Bearman has only finished outside of the points once in his Formula 1 career thus far. Jack Doohan is promoted to a full-time driver after being on the reserves, and Hadjar is considered a wildcard by many.
It has been a while since a rookie won a Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton was the last one in 2007 when he was still with McLaren. Maybe this is the year when another youngster will catch us by surprise.
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