Sebastian Vettel names his ‘favourite’ to win the 2025 F1 world championship

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Sebastian Vettel has warned F1’s three title contenders that the Brazilian Grand Prix can be a ‘crazy’ race. Lando Norris enters the event a point ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen lurking 35 behind.

At this race last year, Verstappen produced one of F1’s greatest-ever drives to win from 17th on the grid. Norris, who had an opportunity to ignite his title charge, only finished sixth.

Vettel has been enjoying Verstappen’s recent surge. The reigning champion ruled himself out of the running after falling over 100 points behind at the Dutch GP but has scored 116 from a possible 133 since.

Back in 2010, Vettel was involved in a three-way title fight himself against Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. He came from a relatively distant third place to snatch the championship in the Abu Dhabi finale.

Sebastian Vettel picks Lando Norris as the title favourite

Speaking to Sky during one of his rare appearances in the paddock at the Brazilian GP, Vettel said Verstappen had a very real chance. With four Grands Prix and two Sprints remaining, he still has time to complete the turnaround.

But Vettel believes that Norris is the ‘favourite’ at this stage. The British driver has overturned a 34-point deficit to Piastri in five races, taking top spot after the most dominant victory of 2025 in Mexico.

“Yeah, why not?” Vettel said when asked if Verstappen could repeat his 2010 feat. “There are still a lot of points. Obviously, he’s not the favourite. Lando is the favourite right now because he’s leading, but we don’t know what happens.

“This weekend can be a crazy one. Sao Paulo has always got something up its sleeve.

“It’s nice to watch, it’s exciting. Obviously when Max closes in, it’s a bit more intense. I wish for him to get some points.”

According to Alex Jacques, ‘the entire Formula 1 paddock’ expected Norris to beat Piastri comfortably at the start of the year, so the Australian may be more comfortable being underestimated.

Sebastian Vettel has already been wrong about the 2025 F1 title race

Speaking in April, Vettel said four drivers could win the title – the McLaren duo, Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell. Russell remains in mathematical contention, but winning from 98 points back isn’t realistic.

Vettel is a huge fan of Russell, so much so that, last year, he named the Mercedes driver as F1’s next world champion not named Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton.

Technically, that could still be true if Verstappen snatches the title this year and Russell triumphs in 2026, but McLaren remain in control for now.

Intriguingly, Zak Brown is willing to lose the championship if it means upholding his team’s racing principles. That means he won’t choose a number one driver, even though it would maximise their chances.