Four-time reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is not the betting favorite to win the 2025 world title at FanDuel Sportsbook following a 2024 season which saw him become the first driver in more than four decades to win the championship for the third place team in the constructor standings.
Verstappen overcame a sizable drop-off in Red Bull's performance during the 2024 season to capture his fourth straight world title, doing so with a memorable drive from 17th to first place in Brazil and then adding an exclamation point with a dominant win in Qatar that not many saw coming.
He eliminated his closest rival, McLaren's Lando Norris, in the antepenultimate Grand Prix of the season in Las Vegas. McLaren won the constructor championship, but Norris still finished with five fewer wins than Verstappen over the course of the entire 24-race season.
Lando Norris, not Max Verstappen, favored to win 2025 Formula 1 title
Norris is listed as the favorite at +150, ahead of Verstappen at +380. Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are listed at +550 and +600, respectively, ahead of what many believe could be the first season since 2012 to feature a competitive championship battle between drivers from at least three teams.
Norris' teammate, Oscar Piastri, is listed at +600. Verstappen's new teammate, rookie Liam Lawson, is listed at +4000. Mercedes' George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli are listed at +1600 and +5500, respectively.
Full championship odds can be found here.
It is worth mentioning that Verstappen has only actually been the betting favorite to win the title twice; he has won two of his world championships despite not being the preseason favorite.
Hamilton was favored to win it for Mercedes entering the 2021 season, and he was favored to bounce back in 2022 after his 2021 heartbreak, when many believed that Mercedes would re-emerge as the team to beat to begin the new ground effect era of regulations.
Verstappen won 10 races in 2021, and he broke the previous all-time record of 13 with 15 victories in 2022. Entering 2023, he was actually the favorite for the first time in his career, and he had the most dominant season in Formula 1 history, winning 19 of 22 races and securing an all-time record 10-race winning streak.
He was favored in 2024 as well, and despite Red Bull's drop-off, he was never anywhere other than P1 in the driver standings.
The 2025 Formula 1 season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 16 with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit. ESPN is set to provide live coverage beginning at 11:55 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 15. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the first race on the 24-race schedule!