Motor Racing

Chinese Grand Prix Betting Preview And Race Predictions (2025)

6 months ago

| BY Sam Cox

The 2025 Formula One season has the most intense schedule yet. Days after opening the season at Melbourne’s Albert Park, the teams are back in action in China. It’s also the first sprint weekend of the season, creating a raft more F1 betting markets to evaluate.

Preseason talk was that the top four were relatively close, with McLaren having a slight edge. Melbourne indicated otherwise.

The papaya team were miles ahead of the pack, with Lando Norris cruising to victory. Quickest in short runs, race pace, wet, and dry, it was ominous for the rest of the field. It’s no surprise William Hill’s online betting markets make Norris the clear favourite for Sunday’s race at Shanghai International Circuit.

Ferrari had a frustrating weekend after impressing on Friday. Issues with overheating are unlikely to be cured with such a quick turnaround, particularly with temperatures set to get into the high-20s in Shanghai.

In the midfield, both the Racing Bulls and Williams had an excellent start to the season. Alex Albon thrived in Melbourne and will be looking to build on that this weekend.

Lando Norris to Win the Race – Evens

Norris finished second – 13 seconds behind Verstappen – in China last year. McLaren’s performance in Shanghai was stronger than expected and came before their season-altering upgrade package in Miami.

After the win in Australia, Norris said, “I am confident that when we go to China next weekend we can be very strong because we were strong there last year with not a very good car.”

This time around, McLaren are coming off an imperious showing in Melbourne. They were almost half a second quicker than Verstappen in qualifying and looked to be heading towards a routine 1-2 until Oscar Piastri went off.

Alex Albon to Record a Top-Six Finish – 13/10

Top-six finishes have been rare in Alex Albon’s career (last weekend was his first since leaving Red Bull over four years ago). Albon has been a consistently impressive performer in an improving Williams team in the first half of this decade, though, and that looks to be paying dividends.

Williams were clearly the fifth-quickest team in Melbourne, building on stellar preseason testing performances. With 10 points finishes in the last two seasons, Albon has managed to compete with a much slower car, so we are expecting another strong weekend from the former Red Bull man.

This feels like a very reasonable price given Albon’s showing in Australia only a few days ago.

Pierre Gasly to Record a Points Finish – 10/11

Both Racing Bulls finished made it to Q3 in Melbourne. Misjudging the weather cost Yuki Tsunoda a haul of points. Pierre Gasly was only a few seconds off 10th-placed Lewis Hamilton.

Gasly finished the 2024 campaign with 12 more points than Tsunoda. The drivers had nine points finishes apiece. While Tsunoda might have the better raw pace, Gasly has generally been a more reliable performer on the Sunday, making his longer odds in the points finish market particularly appealing.

The Frenchman finished last season with four points finishes in five races.

Weather

After rain played a major part in preseason testing and the Australian Grand Prix, the early weather forecast is for warm, dry weather throughout the three days of racing in China.