Formula One betting tips: Ante-post selections for the 2025 F1 season ahead of testing in Bahrain

Formula One betting tips: 2025 season

5pts Kimi Antonelli to win a race at 7/2 (Unibet)

3pts Kimi Antonelli to win 2+ races at 7/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair)

3pts Ollie Bearman to beat Esteban Ocon at 13/5 (Virgin Bet, Livescore bet)

2pts Gabriel Borteleto to beat Nico Hulkenberg at 7/2 (StarSports)

2pts Alex Albon to beat Carlos Sainz at 3/1 (General)

1pt patent Bearman, Borteleto, Albon at best available prices

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

The Formula One 2025 season kicks off with Bahrain testing this week.

This is the final year before a major aerodynamic regulation change. With the cars operating at the near maximum of the current regulations, 2025 looks set to be the most competitive Formula One season for at least a decade.

It's 5/2 the field for the opening race, but in the meantime there's season-long value before testing gets started.

Rookies ready to roll

Toto Wolff said he knew within minutes of Lewis Hamilton's departure that KIMI ANTONELLI would be his replacement.

Wolff missed out on the opportunity to sign a young superstar in Verstappen and sees Antonelli as redemption for this. He's not short of confidence in the young Italian by throwing him straight into the deep end in the top team, rather than letting him learn his trade at the back of the grid like his teammate did for three seasons.

Mercedes showed promise at times in 2024, with the peak performance delivering four wins for the Silver Arrows. Prior to testing we won't know where they stand compared to the others but at a minimum they will be expecting to win races and be in the mix so Antonelli should have the machinery to challenge for a breakthrough and possibly more than that.

Stepping straight into a top F1 team for an 18-year-old is a daunting task, but with the confidence shown in him and what he's achieved so far in his career he can take to Mercedes like a duck to water. He has had a stellar junior career winning two Formula Regional championships before making the jump to F2, where he took to the top step twice in a season where he finished a respectable sixth.

Wolff believes Antonelli is the next big thing, and in a car that is expected to bring home some silverware he can get at least one win 2025. That's 5/2 via Coral's specials, 21/10 with Paddy Power, and as big as 7/2 with Unibet, all of which rate cracking value. Paddy Power also quote 7/1 for two or more wins and we'll add that, too.

Best of the match-ups

This seasons sees six full-time rookies line-up on the grid and I'm backing two of the them to get the better of their teammates, namely OLLIE BEARMAN and GABRIEL BORTELETO.

Haas and Sauber have replaced their entire line-ups as they gear up for major regulation changes in 2026.

Bearman has three races under his belt, one with Ferrari and two with Haas. He has looked impressive in these three outings, having finished P7 in a Ferrari after being called up due to Carlos Sainz's appendix surgery in Saudi Arabia. He beat teammate Nico Hulkenberg in Azerbaijan on merit in the Haas and showed flashes of speed in Interlagos.

Bearman comes up against a solid, but not superstar driver in Esteban Ocon. In eight seasons Ocon has only beaten his teammate on one occasion, a disillusioned Fernando Alonso in 2022 who had given up after signing for Aston Martin. Ocon has a reputation for ruining relationships with teammates and the same could happen here.

With how highly Bearman is rated by Ferrari, I would make him favourite to be the eighth teammate to get the better of Ocon so anything odds-against has to be taken.

Hulkenberg has a stronger record against teammates (7 wins, 4 losses) than Ocon but is a similar level midfield driver who is no guarantee to fend off the rookie challenger. Borteleto has won F3 and F2 championships consecutively proving he is worthy of this F1 seat, having got the better of Franco Colapinto who proved his worth in F1 last season.

Last year, I tipped Guanyu Zhou to get the better of Valtterri Bottas as scoring points is a rarity and luck plays a significant part of when this team scores points. The same could be said this year and a single points-scoring finish may be enough to win this battle. The betting has this match-up one-sided, but I have it much closer.

Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari has resulted in Sainz undeservedly losing his seat and having to spend at least a year down the field. He comes up against ALEX ALBON who has made Williams his own since being dumped by Red Bull in 2020.

Albon has spent three years at Williams and has yet to be challenged by a teammate but has managed to outperform his machinery and become a regular points-scorer. This is being priced up like Sainz is going to walk into Williams and easily brush Albon aside, but for me this could be one of the closest teammate battles on the grid and it could get spicy.

At 3/1 generally, Albon has to be worth backing and he completes a patent (singles, doubles and a treble, seven bets in total) on these driver head-to-heads.

Posted at 1100 GMT on 25/02/25

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