The editorial team’s (more or less) daring bets for the 2025 Formula 1 season

Ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, the editorial team took part in the betting game for this new campaign which promises to be exciting!

Published 22/01/2025 à 11:00

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The editorial team’s (more or less) daring bets for the 2025 Formula 1 season

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Gonzalo's Bet
Yuki Tsunoda signs a first podium

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What if this was the best way to answer Red Bull after having been once again shunned by the parent team? Because if it seems unthinkable to see him impose himself – even if it is not impossible, after all Pierre Gasly achieved the feat in 2020 – Yuki tsunoda could probably sign the best performance of his career.

Since its beginnings in F1 In 2021, the Japanese showed some great things but sometimes lacked the precision to make his efforts concrete. While he appears more mature - and pumped up - than ever, especially after the promotion of Liam Lawson whom he nevertheless dominated, we think that Yuki Tsunoda could reach a new level this season, in order to show the management of the Austrian team that they should probably have finally given him a chance.

Capable of signing some nice shots like a 4th place in the race in Abu Dhabi in 2021 or a Top 3 in qualifying in Brazil last November, Yuki Tsunoda could finally get his first podium for his fifth season in F1. After all, Alpine managed to sign a double at Interlagos that no one saw coming. With 24 Grands Prix on the program for the season, we can imagine that at least one opportunity will present itself to him. In this case, he will have to seize it perfectly!

 

Jeremy's bet
Jack Doohan to finish season at Alpine

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It has not escaped anyone's notice. Jack Doohan may have become the first driver to come from the academy Alpine to be a permanent member of the F1 team with the A-arrow, his medium-term future is dotted. Very early on at the end of last season, rumors of the existence of a contractual clause allowing Alpine to end his driver's F1 adventure after just a few races has cast a shadow over the Australian's future. And the grand recruitment of Franco Colapinto as a reserve is not going to be enough to reassure Mick Doohan's son.

The probability of seeing the Argentinian replace the Aussie during the season is quite high, because Flavio Briatore likes the temperament of the Albiceleste as much as his various supporters. For my part, I take the daring bet that we will see Jack Doohan until the end of the season. What we saw of him in Abu Dhabi in 2024 convinced me. He was legitimately a little soft in the race for a first, of course, especially playing the game of the team which was in the middle of a fight for 6th place in the championship, but his pace on a lap glimpsed from free practice was very competitive, not far from the times set by Pierre Gasly. It has always been his strength among youngsters, to go fast on a lap.

With his presence at the Abu Dhabi rookie tests, the upcoming Bahrain tests under his belt, and a first 2025 Grand Prix at home in Australia, I think Jack will acclimatise properly and perform quickly. It remains to be seen what Alpine if the latter gives complete satisfaction quickly. Will she dare to part with it despite everything? I'm betting a coin on a full season of the Australian.

 

Valentin's bet
Lewis Hamilton world champion with Ferrari

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Since joining Formula 1 in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has always impressed me with his exceptional talent and unwavering determination. With his seven world championship titles, he is already a legend. While his career may be coming to an end, the idea of ​​him joining Ferrari for the 2025 season excites me to no end. The Scuderia finally seems ready to return to the top. After years of restructuring, the team has found a balance under the leadership of Frédéric Vasseur. The excellent results of 2024 demonstrate this since the firm of Maranello fell just 14 points short of a first Constructors' world title since 2008.

The 40-year-old driver's experience will be an invaluable asset. Even if the last few seasons were more complicated, his years at Mercedes, where he dominated the championship almost unchallenged, show how well he knows how to get the most out of his equipment and inspire those who work with him. He demonstrated again last season that he could be formidable, as evidenced by his victory at Silverstone, in front of his home crowd. I think that to find his magic again over the course of a season, the Briton needed a change of scenery, to get out of the slump in which Mercedes has been stuck since 2022 and above all to find a car much more regular.

Imagine it: an eighth world title, under the legendary colours of the Prancing Horse. It would be the pinnacle of an already exceptional career. With a competitive single-seater and his thirst for victory intact, increased tenfold by the very idea of ​​being able to restore Ferrari's nobility, I don't see what could stop him.

 

Dorian's Bet
There will be two new Grand Prix winners

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

In 2024, Lando Norris et Oscar piastri became the 114th and 115th drivers to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, respectively. For 2025, I predict that there will be, once again, two new Grand Prix winners… and the ones I see joining that list are Liam Lawson (Red Bull) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes). A logical choice, since these are the two new drivers who are joining teams at the top of the table, the famous “Top Teams” (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes).

For the New Zealander, the task does not look easy against Max Verstappen : the last time another Red Bull driver won was Sergio Perez at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April 2023! Nevertheless, the Kiwi has proven, in his first 11 Grands Prix, that he has a strength of character that could allow him to shine on the track. He still needs to adapt to the Red Bull, known for being designed with great care for the Dutch quadruple world champion…

As for the Italian, who started at Mercedes at just 18 years old, he will obviously be in the spotlight throughout the season… but if he resists the pressure and if he confirms the potential that is promised to him, that of a world champion in the making, then nothing could be impossible for him. Will he be the first rookie to win a Grand Prix in his first season since Lewis Hamilton in 2007? I believe it!

 

Cyprien's bet
Lawson will not finish the season with Red Bull

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By replacing Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson will become Max Verstappen's fifth teammate at Red Bull, moving into one of the most difficult seats to keep on the grid. The Mexican was finally let go after a mentally draining few years that perpetuated the sinister tradition of the second Red Bull driver whose occupants don't often stay long. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon quickly paid the price and Liam Lawson could also suffer the same fate if his performances are not quickly up to par.

The New Zealander has very little experience in Formula 1 (11 GP) and no one at the Austrian team expects him to match his four-time world champion teammate. However, too big a gap could work against him: if Lawson costs Red Bull points in the constructors' championship or if he breaks his RB21 a little too much, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko could quickly lose patience and send him back to Racing Bulls.

Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda would then be the two favourites to replace him in the mother team, even if the Frenchman will only be making his debut in F1 and the Japanese has never seemed to be considered as an option by Red Bull. A possible lack of form from Liam Lawson would give one of these two boys the opportunity to change their careers... or to burn their wings in turn.

 

Julie-Anne's bet
Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to the championship

© Antonin Vincent / DPPI

While Lando Norris, the face of McLaren for several seasons, is among the favorites for the 2025 championship, his second Oscar Piastri is lying in wait, ready to dethrone his teammate. For his third season, the Australian could well take the upper hand over his elder. How? Through his consistency and tenacity. The Briton performs but lacks consistency unlike the No. 81 driver.

From the start, Oscar Piastri has shown extraordinary maturity, a steely mentality worthy of the greats and, above all, a unique ability to adapt. If he did not yet have the speed of his teammate in 2024, that could well change. McLaren's Constructors' title was not won by a single man: the Australian scored 43,8% of the points, or 292 out of the team's 666.

It is not impossible that the internal duel with Lando Norris will intensify since the Aussie has gained experience and is no longer so far behind his teammate. Oscar Piastri seems more methodical, more "calm". He also tends to wait for his chance to strike at the right moment. At the Italian Grand Prix, he showed his desire to break away from this image of "second driver" by overtaking his teammate right from the start.

Of course, Lando Norris has a wealth of experience in the team that allows him to enjoy a leader status (half-admitted). In 2025, McLaren could well redefine its priorities if Oscar Piastri starts to beat his teammate regularly in qualifying and in the race. And let's be honest: it wouldn't be the first time that an outsider has brought down a favorite. As the saying goes, "good things come to those who wait..." Who knows? Maybe in 2025, we will see an internal battle among the Papayas...

 

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4 Comment (s)

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vincent moyet

22/01/2025 at 07:37 a.m.

An interesting little game. Hamilton champion at Ferrari? I have no doubt that with a good car, he will find his best level again. But many others and not the least (Prost, Vettel, Alonso...) have broken their teeth before him on the desire to be titled at Ferrari. Antonelli has a car that can sometimes perform (and the team does not even know why) so a first lucky victory can happen... For Lawson, Verstappen would really have to be at a loss on a GP and he could seize this chance. As for him being fired before the end of the season, given his little experience, it could happen. RBR would then bring Hadjar up (given that Tsunoda is imposed on them by Honda and will be fired as soon as the partnership ends)? That would be even worse, and I seriously wonder about Horner and Marko's policy... who will they be able to recruit by exhausting their own sector? That Piastri is stronger in the race than Norris, I think that is already the case. But to beat him, he will have to be as fast in qualifying and he is still far from the mark, beaten very widely in this exercise last year. It will be interesting to see all that in any case.

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SABARY Olivier Sabary

22/01/2025 at 05:11 a.m.

When you know motorsport, you know that a driver is judged by an equal car and equal conditions, that the greatest driver in history is the one who has been crowned, at least once, without having the best car on the grid, that each time Lewis Hamilton has been crowned, he had the best car on the grid, that Tazio Nuvolari was crowned in 1935, he had an Alfa Romeo inferior to the Auto-Union, Mercedes, that Alain Prost was crowned in 1986, he had a car inferior to the Williams-Saudia-Honda, that when Ayrton Senna was crowned in 1991, he had a car inferior to the Williams-Renault, that when Michael Schumacher was crowned in 1995, he had a car inferior to the Williams-Renault, was crowned in 2003, he had a car superior to the Renault, BMW-Williams, Mercedes-West-McLaren, that in 2024, Lewis Hamilton was beaten by Russell, likewise in another season, at McLaren, he was beaten by Buttopn

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SABARY Olivier Sabary

22/01/2025 at 05:03 a.m.

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Yves-Henri RANDIER

22/01/2025 at 01:51 a.m.

Just to make you smile, thank you to the editorial staff for publishing this article after Abu Dhabi 2025 in order to see the results of these bets which, at first glance, are not shared by readers from what I have seen!!

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