With only 0.01% of the fanfare of the F175 launch in London, live from a dark living room in the southern hemisphere is a comprehensive look at the upcoming 2025 F1 season through the people that make the most difference with our 2025 F1 Season Driver Preview & Bold Predictions, with something for everyone. Except you Lance Stroll, you get nothing.
This 2025 F1 Season Preview & Bold Predictions covers our driver by driver thoughts, with a bold prediction and a juicy/filler stat thrown in along the way. More than enough to use as a cheat sheet at your social function.
READ MORE: 2024 F1 SEASON STATS
READ MORE: 2025 F1 SEASON PREVIEW – TEAMS
2025 F1 Season Driver Preview, Stats & Bold Predictions
Going driver by driver in the order we think the 2025 World Championship will end up at, is our thoughts on the season ahead.
Oscar Piastri
He probably won’t look like he cares, as is his mellow attitude, but we have Oscar Piastri as the 2025 World Champion.
The Australian has impressed mightily since debuting for McLaren in 2023 and has been one of the best performing rookies since maybe Lewis Hamilton. A good car helps, and the McLaren was certainly that by the end of 2024, a constructor’s title proves that. And there’s no reason the McLaren won’t be even better in 2025, and from the start of the season.
So why is Oscar Piastri a potential 2025 World Champion and not the more hyped team mate? Because Piastri makes very few mistakes, unlike his team mate who made a few crucial errors when he needed them least in 2024, which probably cost him the Championship. With another season of experience under his belt, you can expect fewer in 2025 from Piastri, with more added confidence and speed.
Bold Prediction: 2025 World Champion.
Stat: Using a six race rolling Championship Points for form in 2024, Oscar Piastri was top of the pile from Rounds 16 to 18.
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen heads into the 2025 not knowing if his car is the fastest for the first time in a few seasons, and that’s good for neutrals who tired of dominant Red Bulls in recent seasons.
Verstappen’s Championship win in the third fastest car in the end (and sometimes fourth)….(and sometimes eighth in the hands of #PerezOut) is probably his finest, as was his drive in Brazil to effectively seal it.
But 2024 would have been a little sobering too, as his on track behaviour did come and bite him on the arse during the season, and with more rivals than ever for the World Championship, except for his new team mate who will probably suffer the curse of the 2nd Red Bull seat, he will probably have to work even harder in 2025.
But he did show a level of patience not usually associated with him over his career in the second half of 2024, collecting valuable World Championship points rather than running into someone to prove another type of point. That will help in 2025 as he may not have the fastest car again, but his talent isn’t in doubt and he will likely push all the way for the title.
Bold Prediction: Signs for Aston Martin at some stage in 2025.
Stat: Including every practice session, all three qualifying sessions, sprint sessions and the race, Max Verstappen was only bettered by his team mate 13 times in 2024, averaging out to being beaten once per every second race weekend.
Charles Leclerc
Fresh from the F175 celebration where he was told that he was the best looking F1 driver by the MC, Leclerc will follow that up in 2025 being the best looking Ferrari driver. No mean feat in 2025 with the high profile arrival of new team mate Lewis Hamilton.
He may start running out of chances to win a title with Ferrari, as there will be some pressure on his team to put resources into Lewis Hamilton to justify the big F1 transfer.
As ever he will be up the front, as he is usually a factor in every race, and we get the vibe he is going to cover Lewis Hamilton in the team H2H.
Easy to like, he will get far into the World Championship battle, possibly an outside going into the last race in a classic replay of the 1986 season or 2010. Maybe we’ll get it wrong and he’ll end up as Champion, which will make plenty happy.
Bold Prediction: A sweet run of form in the middle of the season sees Leclerc lead the Championship, but a summer fade sees him miss the Championship again.
Stat: Charles Leclerc had the third best grid to lap one position net result in 2024, and didn’t lose a place from his grid slot from Round 12 onwards.
Lando Norris
After going close in 2024 the common thinking is Lando Norris is primed to go one step further in 2025, and the British-based Sky F1 will be hoping so too.
There’s no doubt about Lando Norris’ speed, nor are there many doubts about the car McLaren will probably produce, but the question for us is the errors at critical times that hampered Lando’s title charge will be still evident in 2025, as he will have a team mate who is even stronger than the previous season.
There will probably be days where Norris takes pole by a few tenths of a second and runs away to win without trouble, but not as many as he likes. While you get the feeling that his tea mate will be consistently taking the points and staying just ahead enough throughout 2025 after Piastri wins the opening GP in Melbourne.
Bold Prediction: Will become increasingly grumpy as his team mate takes over the Championship attention. Norris to have sizeable dummy spit at British Grand Prix.
Stat: Lando Norris took out eight pole positions from Round 10 onwards in 2024, no one came near him for as many pole positions. Lando Norris only gained a position on lap one of a Grand Prix in 2024 twice. Although taking a lot of pole positions doesn’t help.
George Russell
George Russell is a hard driver to judge. After outperforming in a Williams for a few years, he has done a decent job at Mercedes, especially last year where he mostly had Lewis Hamilton under control.
Russell beat Hamilton by 19-5 in final qualifying in 2024 and had him covered 14-9 in the races. George Russell only missed Q3 once in 2024 and qualified inside the top 7 in every race from Round 14 onwards.
Things soured towards the end of 2024 after a spat with Max Verstappen, and to be honest we are hoping the hate continues into 2025, as F1 does need a good rivalry, and one that can take points from each other and deliver them to McLaren. Maybe the nice guy sheen has rubbed off a bit for George Russell after 2024, but maybe he was too nice and needed to become more of an arsehole. We hope he does for our satisfaction and amusement.
Bold Prediction: A minimum of three on track clashes with Max Verstappen sees a new Red Bull v Mercedes rivalry begin. Will win a couple of races but will be outqualified by Antonelli more than he would like in the latter half of the season.
Stat: Over the past three season, George Russell beat Lewis Hamilton 39-29 in final qualifying H2H, but interestingly the Race Result H2H was 33 all. Note: we remove races where car failure and not driver error has meant both cars don’t finish.
Lewis Hamilton
There was something alarming about some of Lewis Hamilton’s late season races in 2024 that makes one think that the Ferrari move will not quite work out. That may be harsh on one of the greats of F1 history, and maybe a change of scenery will work wonders like it did when he joined Mercedes. The more emotional atmosphere at Ferrari may be just what he needs. Or not.
Successful or not, the move to Ferrari has at least energised the entire F1 grid, with his move away from Mercedes starting an overdue clear out of drivers and welcomed fresh blood.
Bold Prediction: No wins for Ferrari, but a podium at the British Grand Prix.
Stat: The last English driver to make a full time debut for Ferrari was Nigel Mansell, who won his first race for the Italian team. Lewis Hamilton saw the biggest drop in average grid slot when splitting the season between Pre and Post Summer Break.
Fernando Alonso
If only Fernando Alonso drove for an Adrian Newey designed car earlier in his career, he may well have the Championships he deserves. That said, there’s still flashes of brilliance from Alonso, more so in 2023 than 2024 but still, he is still capable of magic and while Newey won’t have too much influence over the 2025 design, his presence and expertise will surely turn the Aston Martin around somewhat. If Newey can design Lance Stroll out the car will get even better.
Hopefully the Aston Martin is closer to 2023 form, and it was enjoyable to have Alonso as the X Factor going into every key session, and he should be keen to stick around and see what Newey has to offer.
Bold Prediction: How about Pole Position in Canada, and three podiums. Alonso’s average grid slot over the past four seasons (not the band) is 9.0, but that improves to 3.7 at Canada.
Stat: If Alonso wins a Grand Prix this season after June, he will be the fifth oldest driver to win a Grand Prix, taking over from Jack Brabham. Fernando Alonso was the second best driver in 2024 in terms of beating their team mate in qualifying and races combined.
Kimi Andrea Antonelli
After 2024 saw no driver changes and a bunch of old names being retained, how refreshing it is to see a young lion being thrown in at the deep end, and very few drivers come in with such little experience. Coincidentally, the last driver to come in with such a lack of experience was Kimi Raikkonen, when he jumped from Formula Renault to Formula 1, and that worked out well. Well enough for Antonelli to adopt his name. Antonelli didn’t quite impress in F2, did win a race yes, but overall he didn’t blow us away, which is a concern given the even larger jump up that F1 is.
A F1 win may be a bridge too far in 2025, but we think on the right day Antonelli has a few podiums in him, and his youth and speed will keep George Russell on his toes as the season progresses.
Bold Prediction: Antonelli outqualifies Russell at the opening GP.
Stat: Kimi Antonelli has won 32% of his Junior Formula races including last season, which saw a meagre two wins from 26 starts.
Liam Lawson
The most poisoned chalice in F1, leaves most fans wondering if the New Zealander can turn it into a Golden Chalice. He seems to have enough ability from his guess spots over the past two seasons, and he also seems feisty enough after a few run ins last season, he’ll need it going up against Max Verstappen and the Red Bull hierarchy.
We can see Lawson struggling as the Red Bull isn’t fast out of the box and is developed towards Max Verstappen like never before, making the car even less suitable for the Red Bull number two.
Our own hierarchy of this preview has him behind the even less experienced Antonelli for Championship, as Lawson’s qualifying will let him down in 2025, but won’t stop some outstanding recovery drives and a first podium in the middle of the season.
Bold Prediction: Qualify outside the top ten for two of the first three races, and be an innocent bystander on lap at Albert Park. Probably taken out by one of the Racing Bulls. Despite being competent, will be sacked at the end of the season.
Stat: Lawson is one of seven drivers on the current grid that have driven for either Red Bull team at one point. Since 2019 the number two Red Bull driver has scored on average 200 less Championship points than Max Verstappen.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly’s turnaround of speed in the Alpine late in 2024 sets him up well for being the leading non top four driver in 2025. Whilst the Red Bull drive didn’t work out for him, like many others, he is certainly a very handy driver in the lower ranked cars and should be a nuisance for the top four teams again in 2025.
If the Alpine continues with the speed Gasly found in the latter stages of 2024 that is. Even if it isn’t to begin, maybe Gasly can pull some pace out pf his arse like he did in 2024 himself.
Bold Prediction: Consistent Q3 appearances and a couple of podiums.
Stat: Pierre Gasly improved his average grid position by 4.57 places when splitting the season into Pre and Post Summer break. It was the best improvement of all the drivers from 2024.
Carlos Sainz
After arguably his best season in F1 in 2024, it certainly looks like ending up with a Williams drive for 2025 is a knitted sweater of a reward for Sainz. Early publicity shots of Sainz makes him look somewhere between long term public servant, and uncomfortable teen at a family get together.
But Sainz will no doubt push Williams a little forward, and will certainly determine once and for all whether Albon is a genuine F1 star or just someone who has comprehensively battered some of the worst F1 drivers in the last decade.
Bold Prediction: Will look sadder and sadder by the race.
Stat: Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the World Championship for three of the past four seasons.
Alex Albon
As alluded to above, the arrival of Carlos Sainz is a big test for Alex Albon, who is thoroughly likeable, but hard to read in terms of his F1 star power.
He ended up having way too many accidents in 2024. and was ultimately less impressive than 2023 to a degree. Which makes it hard to tip him to do better in 2024 when he has such a quality team mate on the books. Although Sainz may have some midfield adjusting to do.
Bold Prediction: Q3 in Australia will be a high point. A handful of point scoring drives await.
Stat: No driver had a worse net result for positions lost on the first lap from grid position last season than Alex Albon with -31.
Oliver Bearman
Oliver Bearman is rewarded for his fine work as an F1 substitute in 2024 with a full time driver with Haas in 2025, even though his F2 season was underwhelming. But then again, so was Kimi Antonelli’s and he got an even better drive.
Based on his few years in lower formulas Bearman is a robust racer, and that’s a good thing as the Haas will likely spend most of its time in the midfield where points will be at a premium and elbows matter.
That’s not to say Bearman won’t put in the odd good shift in qualifying and raise a few eyebrows, especially those of his Haas team mate Esteban Ocon, but it is the races where Bearman will shine and push his claims towards a front line team.
Bold Prediction: Q3 and top six at Monaco.
Stat: Oliver Bearman’s six points in last season’s Saudi Arabia GP means he has outscored 24 other Ferrari drivers in their F1 history. Including Giancarlo Fisichella and Luca Bad-oer.
Nico Hulkenberg
Will this be the season that Nico Hulkenberg loses the tag of most races without a podium? Well, no. Moving to a team with one point scoring finish in 2024 probably won’t help.
That doesn’t mean that Sauber can’t improve in 2025, and that Nico Hulkenberg won’t on occasion in 2025 pull a few magnificent qualifying laps out of his rear end, and that’s ruling out some favourable weather conditions, combining with a great qualifying with an improved Sauber. But under normal circumstances, no.
But he is still popular, and his F1 return to Haas has proven he has the speed, and the experience will be a bonus for Sauber with the F2 Champion Bortoleto on the other side of the garage.
Bold Prediction: A couple of top six qualifying efforts later in the season. A handful of point scoring drives.
Stat: Nico Hulkenberg had an identical Q1/Q2/Q3 result from Round 16 onwards as Sergio Perez in 2024. Q1 (5), Q2 (2), and Q3 (2).
Yuki Tsunoda
Being overlooked again by Red Bull could go either way, and we are hoping/predicting it will go in a giant ball of anger with flashes of outright speed mixed with moments of pure brain fade and anger.
It’s always hard to predict how good the Racing Bulls will go, a bit like trying to work out what their team name is from year to year.
Bold Prediction: Will suffer three consecutive first lap exits in the middle part of the season. At least one will involve Liam Lawson.
Stat: Yuki Tsunoda’s average grid position in 2024 on street tracks was much better than modern or classic venues.
Izack Hadjar
Another graduate from F2 for the new F1 season in an exciting year for rookies, but Hadjar could be the most interesting, if not the most successful.
Throughout his F2 season he was fast, capable of winning and very capable of whining. Not since the legendary ex Red Bull protege Dan Ticktum has there been someone so grumpy over the team radio. Even Helmut Marko has said he should calm down.
This should make for a pretty explosive pairing at Racing Bulls alongside the similarly peeved Yuki Tsunoda.
Hadjar has been compared to Alain Prost, and there is some likeness to looks, voice and height. And there might be some other comparisons too, as we can only see him grabbing single digits points in his first F1 season.
Bold Prediction: Will take 10 races to get into Q3, where he will retire after a first lap crash. Then get into a scuffle with the other driver.
Stat: Hadjar has been compared to the great Alain Prost, they are about the same height 1.65m to 1.67m. Not a stat, but this footage of Hadjar’s reflexes in the Monaco tunnel is pretty good.
Isack Hadjar and Ritomo Miyata incident in the Monaco tunnel – YouTube
Esteban Ocon
You almost forget he is still in F1, but then he appears in a Haas race suit at the F175 event and the memory is recalled.
As Ocon showed in 2024, despite some underwhelming performances in qualifying, he is still capable of a podium in the right conditions, which should be music to the ears of Haas, who you could argue very rarely take advantage of their opportunities.
But as a whole, we see him being comprehensively outqualified by rookie Oliver Bearman, and mostly outraced.
Bold Prediction: Sacked by Haas at the end of the season as he makes way for a Japanese replacement with Toyota becoming more involved.
Stat: Despite the late season surge of Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon did outqualify Gasly more in 2024 by 12-11.
Franco Colapinto
With Flavio Briatore involved at Alpine, and an Argentian F1 fan market ready to get excited, we can’t see it taking long for Franco Colapinto to work his way into an Alpine drive. It’s hardly been denied by some within the team.
Colapinto did a great job replacing Logan Sarg-dent in the early stages of his guest cameo, but such is the curse of the second Red Bull drive that even the mention of Colapinto being considered by Red Bull saw the mistakes and crashes come. To the point that Williams looked to be running out of spares. So to be honest it is questionable if he is worth the hype, fans in South America aside.
Will he prove to be better than Jack Doohan? We guess it won’t take long to find out.
Bold Prediction: Takes over Jack Doohan’s drive at Monaco, crashes in qualifying.
Stat: Franco Colapinto beat Alex Albon in 18 different sessions in his stint at Williams in 2024. Logan Sargeant managed only 17 in his two-thirds stint.
Gabrielle Bortoleto
A deserving F2 Champion and he comes across as not only fast, but a consistent performer which will help in his F1 rookie season. It also helps to win the F2 Championship in one of these rare seasons of huge driver movement. The three Champions before him never got a drive as quick.
Although, that drive is Sauber, who rarely threatened for points, or indeed a car behind them. But being a step closer to becoming Audi will see a step forward in the car. But Bortoleto will be reliable and finish a lot of Grands Prix and even nudge close to Q3 by the end of the season.
Bold Prediction: Will finish all but two races in his first F1 season.
Stat: Bortoleto is the first F2 Champion to get a F1 drive the very next season since 2020 when Mick Schumacher won and drove for Haas the next season. Interestingly, both drivers won their Championship with only two wins. He is the fourth driver to win F3 and F2 Championships back to back. The other three are pretty handy – George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
Lance Stroll
Looked less interested as 2024 wore on, culminating in his genius work into a Brazilian sand trap late in the season. He’s hard to like, which makes things like Brazil all the more enjoyable. In fact, more than a few F1 neutrals will be hoping he doesn’t have a good season so is removed from the possibility of having an Adrian Newey car to spoil with his insolence and/or apathy.
Whilst Fernando Alonso will slowly build the Aston Martin into an upper midfield challenger, Stroll will likely look like he wants to be elsewhere. Like us, doing his review.
Bold Prediction: Never makes it into Q3. Quits before Brazilian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen signing for Aston Martin announced that weekend.
Stat: Lance Stroll average 15th on the grid from Round 16 onwards in 2024, leaving him ahead of only the Saubers and Franco Colapinto.
Felipe Drugovich
Will finally get a run when Stroll quits, and is rewarded with a point at home as he masters the home conditions.
The late season run won’t be enough to gain a seat for 2026, but it will at least give him an F1 start and point. Both seem a long way off at the start of the season.
Bold Prediction: Scores a point in Brazil on his debut.
Stat: Isn’t Lance Stroll
Jack Doohan
Has there been a driver heading into their first season under so much pressure to keep their seat before the season starts? That’s what Aussie Jack Doohan will be working with, and with Flavio Briatore involved, he has one of the most ruthless F1 operators of all time to contend with.
Sadly we think he will struggle early and ultimately be fired early into the season like all the reports are saying is going to happen.
Bold Prediction: Sacked before Monaco.
Stat: Has a go kart track at his property in Australia.
MORE F1 DRIVER STATS
QUALIFYING AND RACE AVERAGE POSITION BY TRACK TYPE BY TEAM
We take the average grid and race position and split by the type of track it is.
