2025 F1 Race Schedule and Latest World Championship Odds

By clinching victory in seven of the first ten races of the 2024 season, Verstappen seemed to be on an effortless procession to the title.

It was a season of two halves. Those early wins would prove far more crucial than anyone anticipated when the script was flipped mid-season as Lando Norris mounted an unexpected title challenge as Red Bull wavered.

While Verstappen ultimately got over the line—thanks in no small part to a stunning wet-weather masterclass in Sao Paulo during the season’s closing stages—there’s a growing sense that 2025 won’t offer the same margin for error.

Indeed, with Norris’ brightly coloured papaya car set to fly off the line from the very beginning, Verstappen can’t afford a misstep in what should be an end-to-end battle for the Drivers’ Championship.

This is a view backed up by the latest odds for the world title with both Norris and Verstappen inseparable in the outright market having been priced at 21/10 to win the championship.

For those fans looking to back either driver to go all the way in 2025, these daily bonuses from DraftKings allow new customers the chance to bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets which can be used on the Drivers’ Championship.

While these are generous opening promotions to kickstart the new F1 season, the wider point is that at this stage, this upcoming showdown appears too close to call. However, a closer look at the 2025 schedule and a crucial change to the venue of the start race from 2024 may provide the first clue as to how things might play out.

Ramadan will run throughout the month of March in 2025 which means that the new season won’t start in the Middle East as it did in 2024 with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix now scheduled for April.

This change means that the opening race will return to Melbourne in Australia - a track that Verstappen has historically struggled at. The Dutchman did not finish the 2024 race - tellingly, his first retirement in two years since the 2022 Grand Prix in Australia.

Altogether, Verstappen has only recorded two podiums in Australia in seven starts which might open the door for Norris to gain an early foothold in the race for the title.

Zooming out of Melbourne to cast an eye over the whole season, the 2025 schedule will once again feature 24 races where the drivers and teams will visit five out of seven continents.

Aside from some early tinkering to the start of the season, the 2025 calendar is more or less the same with the three-week summer recess once again sandwiched between the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix.

Additionally, there will once again be six sprints in the upcoming season which are set to take place in Miami, Austin, Shanghai, Spa, Sao Paulo, and Qatar.

Similar to 2024, the 2025 season will wrap up in Abu Dhabi with the finale at Yas Marina Circuit taking place from December 5th to 7th.

Will there be anything on the line when the drivers line up on Yas Island as there was in 2021?

Only time will tell but 2025 has the potential to be one of the all-time great seasons in F1 history with Verstappen's side mirrors filled with competition.