Spanish Grand Prix Betting Tips: Norris can star in Barcelona
Lando Norris trails his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by just three points in the 2025 F1 World Championship standings after his first career success at Monte Carlo on Sunday.
The British star has not always shone when the pressure has been on this season, but he stepped up when it mattered in Monte Carlo, denying 2024 winner Charles Leclerc another home victory after claiming a crucial pole position.
The one-off event around the streets of Monaco is rarely a good form guide for any other race in the season but this week's race in Barcelona has been touted as a potential turning point since the start of the campaign.
Stricter tests on front-wing flexing will apply from this weekend and we will find out for the first time in qualifying which teams have really been gaining the most from that technology.
Few drivers have their names on the recent roll of honour at Barcelona as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have won the last nine races at the Circuit de Catalunya between them.
Tip 1 – Lando Norris to win the race @ 7/4
Oscar Piastri has been favoured in the betting for the last two races after he won four of the first six rounds this season, but there's nothing between the two McLaren drivers in the betting again as the field make the relatively short trip from Monaco to Barcelona.
Norris had a strong weekend in Monte Carlo and is preferred of the two McLaren stars at a track where Piastri has yet to shine on his first two visits.
While Hamilton and Verstappen have farmed this race between them for almost a decade since the Dutch driver became F1's youngest race winner in 2016, the real correlation is that the strongest car of the season has usually been successful at the track.
Hamilton's Mercedes was the pick of the paddock from 2017 to 2021, winning in Spain each time, while Verstappen has been successful there for the last three years. The winner in Barcelona has taken the world championship in each of those seasons, except 2021 which had its infamous finale in Abu Dhabi with Verstappen taking the title.
Barcelona is a track where the car's performance matters much more than the driver's input and this year's leading design has been the McLaren, which makes Norris seem the smart pick for the race unless the regulation charge hits them harder than their rivals.
Verstappen looks the biggest danger to the McLarens after Red Bull's recent revival but they were at the forefront of flexi-wing technology, so could be affected more than some of their rivals.
Tip 2 – Esteban Ocon to beat Oliver Bearman (Matchups) @ 4/5
Esteban Ocon had his second-best result of the season for the Haas team in Monaco when finishing seventh and the French driver looks worth backing to outperform his team-mate Oliver Bearman again this weekend.
The young British driver has not finished higher than 12th in the last four races and had a tough time in Monte Carlo, qualifying nine places behind Ocon in 17th and then getting a penalty for overtaking during a red-flag period which sent him to the back of the grid. He recovered well in the race to finish 12th, albeit two laps down.
Ocon has a strong record in Barcelona with five points finishes including a fifth place for Force India in 2017, and he was 10th last year for Alpine.
Bearman will be racing at the track for the first time in F1 and could struggle to match his team-mate.
Tip 3 – Carlos Sainz to beat Alex Albon (Matchups) @ 23/25
Carlos Sainz has been ultra-consistent in his home race and he may be able to outperform his Williams colleague Alex Albon in Barcelona. The drivers worked well together in Monte Carlo to both finish in the points and Sainz could shine this Sunday.
He has finished in the points in his home race in all 10 of his starts there for Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari and will be looking to add Williams to that list.
Albon is set to miss practice time this weekend by handing over his car to F2 driver Victor Martins in the first practice session on Friday, so Sainz has more time to work on his set-up.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation