Way too early bold predictions

So here we are again, on the eve of another F1 season. 3 days of testing and 3 practice sessions stand between us and lights out on the F1 2025. While we are so close to the Australian Grand Prix on 16th March, there are still many miles to be driven before meaningful action that we can actually trust takes place. 

So why not fill those meaningful miles with meaningless predictions that we will never mention again…unless I nail them!

Here we go: 

Verstappen Wins the Australian Grand Prix

I know what you are thinking, blimey, brave choice Jimmy. The man who has won the first race of the season for the last 2 years at a canter and won the last 4 titles in a row is likely to win the first race of this season as well. However, Max Verstappen is no longer the bookies favourite for the title, something we haven’t been able to say for a long time. Arguably, Red Bull finished 2024 with the fourth fastest car, and had McLaren decided to put all their chips in front of Norris much earlier, the Drivers Championship could have gotten away from him. But Verstappen is the best driver in the world right now and he’s suddenly got a fight on his hands. I wouldn’t be surprised while the world is looking at McLaren and Ferrari, Verstappen shows everyone just what makes him a 4-time World Champion, so after a race with multiple safety cars and a wee bit of chaos, the champ comes out on top to lead the championship once again, but not for long…

There are 7 different winners in the first 7 races

I have a feeling that 2025 will live up to the greatest start to an F1 season ever, 2012. They had 7 different winners in 7 races that season, so why can’t 2025? Now, in any other season, that would feel really bold, but actually it’s not too far-fetched for current form. There were 5 different winners in the final 6 races of 2024. So really I am talking myself out of my own bold prediction but to be fair to myself, having 7 different winners means there will be some shocks, and here is the big one – Lewis Hamilton won’t be one of them.

I’ll leave that there and will say no more…except predict all the winners in order. Here we go: 

Australia – Max Verstappen

China – Charles Leclerc

Japan – Lando Norris

Bahrain – Oscar Piastri

Saudi Arabia – Fernando Alonso

Miami – Liam Lawson

Emilia Romagna – George Russell

Lewis Hamilton will win more races than Charles Leclerc

Now Lewis Hamilton fans, don’t fret, I fully expect Lewis to hit the ground running at Ferrari, just not quite get over the line in the first half of the season, but never count out Lewis Hamilton, especially when he feels he needs to prove people wrong. If Ferrari produces a car fast enough to win races, Hamilton has proved time and time again that there is no one better. He won 2 races last season in a car that was inconsistent at best, but when it was on, so was he. That’s only one less than Leclerc in a much better car, imagine what Lewis can do in that car. 

Piastri Leads the Championship at the Summer Break

While Norris led the McLaren resurgence last year, I have been really impressed with Oscar Piastri in his short 2-year career. He immediately put the memories of Daniel Ricciardo to bed in his rookie season, proving McLaren’s decision right 10 fold. He is quick, fast and has got pace, as someone resembling Alan Hansen once said (3:57 on the video below), and he very rarely makes mistakes. His tyre management let him down in 2023 as well as some iffy qualifying performances but in year 2, he was never far away from Lando, sometimes in front of him, both on Saturday and Sunday and once he won the Hungarian Grand Prix, he became a problem in Lando’s title fight. His overtake around the outside of Norris in Italy was a statement of intent from Oscar, and one that was beautifully executed. He is only going to get better, and no one had a better winning pedigree in the lower formulas than Oscar Piastri, so he knows how to fight at the front. Will he win the championship? I don’t think so, but he is going to be a real player in it.

3:57

And the Winner is…

This is a really tricky season to predict, if we get the whole season like last year, we are in for a treat. I genuinely think we have 5 title contenders, maybe 6. Close your eyes and throw a dart type choice. But I’m taking this seriously, this is genuine, from the heart and that. It has to be…Lando Norris. Cmon the boy, he WILL be the first British champion since Lewis Hamilton and break the Dutch stronghold.

My bold prediction is the points total: 394 to win it.

You heard it here first.