F1 title odds: Max Verstappen new favorite after stunning championship turnaround

A sentence that would've been unthinkable just a few races ago: there is a new favorite to win the 2025 F1 drivers' championship, and he doesn't drive for McLaren.

Max Verstappen has roared back in recent weeks to close right up on the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, setting up a three-way fight in the final rounds.

It appears the championship will no longer be decided by an inter-team battle and Papaya rules - Verstappen is coming and he is absolutely for real.

Back on August 3 you would have been laughed at for suggesting the Dutchman had any shot of retaining his title again - he was struggling in the RB21 and rated at massive +5000 odds to win it all for a fifth time.

Even after his home Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 31, Max still trailed Piastri by a massive 104 points. But in the space of five races, that deficit has dropped to just 40.

Verstappen continued his blistering run of form by claiming a maximum 33-point haul from last weekend’s action in Austin - winning both the Sprint Race and the US Grand Prix.

Events in Texas meant that the Red Bull great has now claimed as many points (119) as both McLaren drivers combined since the summer break. He is unquestionably back.

The McLarens meanwhile were once again struggling, notably when they crashed into each other to come out of the Sprint totally pointless. The impact on the odds to become champion was seismic.

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Who is favourite to win the F1 drivers’ championship?

After being a distant 50/1 back in August, the oddsmakers now make Verstappen the favourite to become champion in 2025. That completes a quite astonishing turnaround.

As we sit here today (Saturday October 25), heading into Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix, the latest odds now look like this:

Max Verstappen, +5000

The oddsmakers are clearly terrified of a rejuvenated Verstappen, that is clear. To put his renaissance into more context, those odds mean his probability of winning the title has gone from a virtually impossible 2% to 40%.

How does Verstappen become world champion?

While Max is now favourite to claim the title, he still has a ton of work to do with only five Grands Prix and two Sprint Races remaining.

If he wins every single race from now to the end of the race - improbable but not impossible - all he would need in terms of help from elsewhere is for Piastri to finish as low as third in one Grand Prix. It is almost in his own hands.

F1 2025 schedule - which races are left?

As we said, there are five Grands Prix and two Sprint races are remaining. So a maximum haul of 141 total points to be had for any one driver. The remaining schedule looks like this: