Lando Norris shockingly pips Max Verstappen as the driver picked by the bookies to win the 2025 F1 drivers championship

McLaren driver Lando Norris has emerged as the odds-on favorite over Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to win the title in the 2025 season. The British driver had a career-best campaign last year as he secured P2 in the driver's championship and scored four race wins from 24 outings.

The 25-year-old had an opportunity to challenge the four-time F1 world champion and had a car advantage over the latter but was unable to take the chance due to multiple mistakes during races.

However, as per Bet365, bookies have predicted that Lando Norris is the odds-on favorite over Max Verstappen in the 2025 season. The bookies have picked the Brit 2/1 while the reigning world champion comes in second with 9/2.

Many have predicted that McLaren would continue to have its advantage over the rivals, given that they won the Constructors' Championship last year from Ferrari and Red Bull.

The second row is occupied by the Ferrari pairing of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with the former coming ahead of his British team by odds of 9/2 and 6/1, respectively. Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri comes in fifth with 9/1, with George Russell following him with 16/1.

McLaren driver Lando Norris speaks on his title aspirations in 2025

McLaren driver Lando Norris stated that he would help his team again in the Constructors' Championship but selfishly wanted to contest for the driver's championship in the 2025 season.

As per The Mirror, the British driver said of his target in the upcoming season:

"As much as I want to win the constructors' every single year, the selfish one is to win the drivers' championship. You need a good team behind you, and that's exactly what I've got.

"I came close-ish last year, I was still always a bit far behind, but I could smell it. I had that feeling of like, 'Okay, this is kind of what it's like'. It was within reach. This year, I need to fix a few things, work on some things, and come back stronger, and that's what I'm ready to do."

He also expressed his expressed his confidence in McLaren's ability to not become complacent after becoming world champions in the 2024 season, adding:

"So the team has remained very focused. It would have been easy for all of them to get back and just go, 'Ah, we're good, we've done it now. Let's just relax'. They've done the opposite. They've gone, 'We want even more', and they've worked even harder to try and find new things for this year. They've turned these expectations into positive things, into more motivation and more drive to want it again."

Lando Norris finished the 2024 season 63 points behind Max Verstappen and was just 18 points ahead of Charles Leclerc.