2 Times There Was A Shock Winner of the 1st F1 GP of the Season

The 1st F1 GP of the 2025 F1 season is just around the corner, and the new campaign is expected to be tighter than ever. Might we see a shock winner right out of the gate?

Max Verstappen remains the reigning champion, just as he has been for the last three seasons. Despite it looking like he would have a fight on his hands in the previous term, he still managed to remain dominant, romping to his fourth straight world championship, albeit by his smallest points margin since 2021.

Throughout 2024, however, several new contenders rose. McLaren had the fastest car on the grid, but blunders from both the pit wall and lead driver Lando Norris cost them a realistic shot at the driver’s championship. They did, however, claim the Constructors Championship for the first time in 26 years, and they will be gunning for further silverware this year. The bookies certainly feel that they are up to the task.

Who Will Win in 2025?

For the first time in what feels like an eternity, Verstappen isn’t the betting favorite to claim yet another title heading into the 2025 campaign. That is an honor that goes to the aforementioned Norris, with the bookies pricing him as a 7/4 frontrunner, with the reigning champion some way behind him at 4/1.

And there is plenty more that online crypto betting sites are getting excited about ahead of the new season getting underway. If you’ve been betting on sports with Thunderpick, then you may well have already racked up some points in their ongoing “race” promotion. The promotion is inspired by Formula One and racing in general, with players garnering points for the bets they place throughout the race period. The first to cross the finish line is in line for a mighty prize, so it’s attracting a lot of attention and excitement – just like the real deal. No wonder so many people are betting on sports with this particular provider.

But while Thunderpick’s races are certainly thrillers, the only prize that the F1 grid will be thinking about at present is victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Over the years, there have been some shocking upsets at the season opener, and here are two of the best of them.

Kimi Raikkonen

Finnish superstar Kimi Raikkonen famously claimed an unexpected title in 2007, taking full advantage of McLaren’s civil war to squeeze through, winning the last two races of the season and upstaging both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. The following year didn’t go as planned, however, and he surrendered his title with a whimper. By 2010, he was out of the sport altogether.

He spent two years away, racing in both NASCAR and the World Rally Championship before returning in 2012 with Lotus Renault, even winning a race in his return season. So perhaps then, we shouldn’t have been surprised to see him reign supreme in the curtain-raiser in Melbourne in 2013. But we certainly were.

Qualifying seventh on the grid, no one expected much from the Iceman. However, an impressive start catapulted him up the field, and when he managed to make his way past Lewis Hamilton and up into the top four, he suddenly had a shot at victory.

Following the first round of pit stops, the three frontrunners – namely Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa – were all held up by the long first stint of Adrian Sutil. All three of them boxed for a second time, as did Sutil. That released Raikkonen, and he delivered a series of blockbuster laps that ultimately won him the race.

He boxed again, as did the three aforementioned drivers chasing him, but none of that trio could make an impression, and the Finn went on to pick up what he called an “easy” victory. He wouldn’t win again all season.

Fernando Alonso

Heading into the 2010 season, Fernando Alonso hadn’t won a race in almost 18 months. He famously secured back-to-back titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, becoming the youngest world champion ever in the process. But a failed move to McLaren seriously hindered his stock, and two more years in a return spell with Renault did little to catapult him up the championship standings.

In 2010, he made the move to Ferrari to replace the outgoing Raikkonen. Everyone knew of the Spaniard’s quality, and he was considered the fastest pound-for-pound driver on the planet. However, his new Prancing Horse wasn’t one of the grid leading cars, instead being a distant third behind the Red Bulls and the McLarens. Despite that, Alonso took the fight to his faster rivals, and he would end up winning on his debut in Bahrain.

The win was certainly a shocker, especially considering just how much of a lead pole-sitter Vettel pulled out throughout the first half of the race. However, throughout the latter stages, the German’s Red Bull began to slow down due to a spark plug issue, and that allowed him to be reeled in by the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa. Both quickly blitzed by to hand the Scuderia a surprise one-two, and Alonso outperforming his struggling car was a story of the season, as he not only won this one in Bahrain, but very nearly the title as well.