Formula 1: Way-too-early championship favorite confirmed for 2025

The 2024 Formula 1 season concluded with Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, a race dominated by McLaren's Lando Norris from start to finish.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race winner has gone on to win the following year's championship six years in a row, and the 25-year-old Briton is hoping to make it seven straight after getting his first taste of a title battle in 2024.

Norris finished the season in second place in the standings behind Max Verstappen, Red Bull's four-time reigning world champion. Verstappen led the series in victories with nine, despite Red Bull only managing a third place finish in the constructor standings. Norris was next on the list with four trips to the top step of the podium.

As expected, Verstappen and Norris are among the favorites to win the 2025 Formula 1 world championship.

At DraftKings Sportsbook, Verstappen is listed as the outright favorite, but with much longer odds than he has had over the past few years. In fact, you have to go back several years before Verstappen's current run of titles to find the most recent offseason in which a title favorite was listed with odds as long as Verstappen does.

The 27-year-old Dutchman is listed at +175, just ahead of Norris at +250.

Listed third is Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who matched his career-high single-season win total with three victories in 2024 en route to a third place finish in the standings. Ferrari fell just shy of McLaren in the constructor standings following a late-season resurgence and are expected to be strong again in 2025, and Leclerc is listed at +450.

Just behind him is teammate Lewis Hamilton, whose legendary 12-year partnership with Mercedes came to an end on Sunday. The seven-time world champion is listed at +600.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri is listed at +1000, just ahead of Mercedes' George Russell at +1200. Mercedes newcomer Kimi Antonelli is listed at +5500.

Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson are both listed at +6500, indicating that there is still some uncertainty as to who Red Bull will have as their second driver in 2025.

Full 2025 Formula 1 world championship odds can be found here.

The Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to open up the 2025 Formula 1 season at Albert Park Circuit on Sunday, March 16. Carlos Sainz Jr., whom Hamilton is set to replace at Ferrari, is the reigning race winner. Sainz is set to move to Williams as the replacement for Franco Colapinto, who replaced Logan Sargeant during the 2024 season, and is listed at +15000 to win the title.