The Sky Sport Italia team has placed their bets on who might clinch pole position: here’s who they picked.
Not everyone knows that beyond the on-track action, Formula 1’s paddock also leaves space for a fun little game that has now become a tradition: the Pirelli Pole Position Award. Inside the Pirelli hospitality, guests and insiders take part in a prediction challenge by writing down the name of the pole-sitter and the expected pole time.
Alongside these two details, each participant must add their name and the time of the prediction: if more than one person is correct, the first to submit their guess wins. The prize? A Pirelli cap from the race weekend.
The Sky Italy team’s picks
At the 2025 Dutch GP, Sky Sport F1’s Italian crew joined the challenge. Carlo Vanzini backed Charles Leclerc, predicting a 1:09.128. Ivan Capelli went for Oscar Piastri, with a bold 1:08.885, while Roberto Chinchero placed his bet on Lando Norris, with a 1:09.200 forecast. Matteo Bobbi, however, hadn’t yet submitted his prediction at the time of collection.
And after the first two practice sessions, the numbers seem to favor Capelli and Chinchero: McLaren looked strong in both FP1 and FP2, with Norris and Piastri consistently at the sharp end. Fernando Alonso also showed promising pace, bringing Aston Martin into the mix. Ferrari, meanwhile, struggled on Friday, staying outside the top ten in FP1 and only occasionally competitive in FP2.
These results make the predictions even more intriguing, with the two McLarens looking like natural pole contenders—but Leclerc, Alonso, or Verstappen in front of the home crowd can’t be ruled out either.
