Formula 1 2025 Season Preview
A new Formula 1 season is just around the next turn, so we’re taking a closer look at what we can expect in the upcoming months. Which drivers are you most excited to see this season?
Last season was a highly entertaining one, with the constructors title going down to the last race and many different race winners. It didn’t quite start out that way, as Max Verstappen got off to a flying start, but the middle part of the season saw some excellent results from McLaren, Ferrari and the odd Mercedes win too. In total, seven drivers won races last season, which makes it for a far more interesting spectacle and fans will be hoping for the same again rather than a return to the Max Verstappen dominance of previous seasons. This year there have been a few changes to driver line-ups but the cars will more than likely be quite similar to what we saw last year as this is the last year before the new regulations kick in and we start off with a fresh page. Not much is expected of the cars at the back of the grid, such as Stake F1, who will be putting all their energies into coming up with a competitive car for next season. The same can be said for the likes of Aston Martin, whose recruitment of Adrian Newey raised many eyebrows a few months back. His job will surely be to build a top level car from scratch for next season. All that means that most teams are only finding marginal gains when improving the car from last season. With that in mind, we can expect McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull to be the leading contenders again this season.
A Balancing Act
Teams face a difficult balancing act going into this season, they need to be competitive, whether it is to actually win a title or races or to finish as high up in the table for prize money, but at the same time they need to look ahead to 2026 in the hope of a flying start. As of January 1, teams are allowed to start aero work on their 2026 cars, and from that date on have to balance their limited aero testing time between both current and future projects. Wind down the 2025 development too soon, and you could be left behind this season. Maintain a focus on next year and you compromise the new car. It will be fascinating to see who plays their hand most effectively. With only one year left, teams have had to make a call on whether or not to carry over mechanical parts from 2024, including the chassis itself, or invest in updates that will have a short shelf life.
Off to a Flying Start?
Looking ahead to this season it is fascinating to see which team will hit the ground running. McLaren looked most likely to do so, they had an impressive pre-season testing and, over the second half of the season, they were the better team. The fact they won the constructors title emphasises this and they will look to build on that, especially hoping that they can get one of their drivers to win the Drivers crown, most likely Lando Norris. Both Norris and his team mate Oscar Piastri learned a lot last season and both will be hoping for fast starts this season. The question mark remains though, who will the team back if both are doing well. This is a problem that everyone expects Ferrari to face too, they now have a driver pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. It will be fascinating to see how that relationship develops and who gets to be the number one driver in the Maranello camp. Red Bull struggled in the second half of last season, but these struggles gave Max Verstappen the chance to prove that he is not only winning titles due to being the best car, but he is actually an excellent driver too. He will be hoping for a more user friendly car this season. Whether any of the other teams can break into the top teams is questionable and in reality it is hard to see much improvement for the likes of Aston Martin, Alpine or Racing Bulls. It might be worth keeping an eye on Haas and Williams as the two who might offer an improvement though.
The Drivers
The biggest change to the driving line up is one that we have known about for a long time, for most of last season in fact. Lewis Hamilton decided to call time on his Mercedes career and move to Ferrari, with a new challenge something he appears to be relishing. Many neutrals are hoping this move works as another title win for Lewis for the iconic Italian team would certainly tick a lot of boxes. He partners Charles Leclerc, meaning that Carlos Sainz was the one to make way and he has moved to Williams, perhaps a surprising move for such a talented driver. Sergio Perez has left F1 after a difficult season at Red Bull and the much coveted, but equally difficult, second seat at Red Bull goes to impressive young New Zealander Liam Lawson. Lewis Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes goes to young Kimi Antonelli, meaning that George Russell is without a doubt the number one driver there now. Another young British driver joins the grid on a permanent basis as Ollie Bearman joins Esteban Ocon at Haas, a completely new line up for them. Another new arrival is Isaak Hadjar, who takes the second seat at Racing Bulls alongside Yuki Tsunoda. The last of the newcomers are Jack Doohan, the Australian racer taking the second seat at Alpine alongside Pierre Gasly and finally Gabriel Bartoletto, who forms part of a new line up at Sauber alongside Niko Hulkenburg. All this means that the only unchanged teams are McLaren and Aston Martin.
Top 5 Drivers
A quick rundown of our prediction for the top five drivers this season:
1. Lando Norris – McLaren
There’s no doubt Lando Norris starts the 2025 F1 season as the favourite. Last year, he came close to toppling Max Verstappen, and in contrast to Red Bull, his McLaren team had upward momentum that should carry over into this year’s version of the car. He also now has the experience that a driver needs to win a World Championship. Just 19 years old when he started at McLaren in 2019, he’s now completed six full seasons with the team. Last year, he became a true frontrunner, collecting his first four wins and soaking up the pressure of being in a title fight. He also went wheel-to-wheel with the uncompromising Verstappen on several occasions. All of that has made him a better driver.
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
In 2024, we saw the pieces come together at Ferrari in the last part of the season. It was just too late for the team to win the constructors’ title, while Charles Leclerc was within striking distance of second place Lando Norris in the drivers’ version. If the Maranello team can avoid the midseason woes it had last year, then Leclerc will be in the title fight in what will be his seventh year in the camp. The big change at Ferrari this year is the arrival of Lewis Hamilton, and how that impacts Leclerc remains to be seen. He should have the edge on balance over the season simply because of his knowledge of the team and car.
3. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
Oscar Piastri heads into the 2025 season knowing there’s a reset and he has every chance of beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris, turning himself into the team’s title chaser. It won’t be easy to do, but it’s in his hands. Last year was only the Australian’s second season at the top level and, finding himself with a car that was capable of winning races, he made the most of it with two wins and a string of podiums. He beat Norris on occasion, and then in the last part of the year he had to play a supporting role that will no longer be required in 2025. He learned a lot, but he’s still four years shy of his teammate in overall experience, and that ultimately should give Norris the edge over the full season. Smart and confident, he’s the perfect package, and if not in 2025, his time will come soon.
4. Max Verstappen – Red Bull
It might seem strange to put Max Verstappen only fourth on this list given that he’s just won four World Championships in a row. However, there’s no doubt that in 2024 the Dutchman punched above the weight of his Red Bull car for much of the season, and it was his flying start that gave him enough margin. This year the McLaren, Ferrari, and even Mercedes opposition should be much stronger and drivers like Norris and Piastri have learned a lot. The big problem for Red Bull is that solving last year’s inherent balance problems won’t be easy. The team is also still in rebuilding mode after some off-track turbulence in 2024, and with aero genius Adrian Newey and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley having left to join rival teams, there will be a loss of continuity.
5. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari will be one of the biggest stories of the season. He slots in behind teammate Charles Leclerc mainly on the basis that Hamilton will inevitably take time to adjust to his new environment. In addition, Leclerc is brilliant over one lap, making it hard for anyone to beat him in qualifying. But make no mistake, at age 40 Hamilton will be in the thick of the action. Great recovery drives in two of the last three races of 2024 showed he still has the race craft and motivation to fight back through adversity. While some have questioned his qualifying pace, it’s now up to him to prove that recent struggles came down to a tricky Mercedes car rather than him losing the edge.
The Calendar
This time around there are very few changes to the race calendar, with 24 races scheduled for the season once again. The order of racing does change though as we start off in Australia with China and Japan next up. Bahrain and Saudi are, therefore, a bit later than they were last year. The midpoint of the season once again comes after the British Grand Prix on the 6th of July and the final race is once again at the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.
Odds and Predictions
As mentioned earlier, the chances are that we will have a much closer title fight this season and this is reflected in the odds going into the new season. Max Verstappen was very short to win last season but this time around it is Lando Norris who is the bookie’s favourite to win the drivers championship. Verstappen is second and he is followed by the two Ferrari drivers, with Leclerc given a slightly better chance of success than Hamilton. Oscar Piastri is fifth favourite and George Russell is a distant sixth, emphasising how far behind Mercedes appear to be.
Please note that the odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last updated: 02.04.25
