Let the 2025 season commence...
WHAT'S GOING ON
It’s 2025, and Formula 1 is celebrating its 75th Anniversary! The first race of the season is just days away, so let’s have a look at some changes for this year…
Driver line ups:
8 out of the 10 teams have switched up their driver pairings, with only McLAREN sticking with their 2024 pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and ASTON MARTIN with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
The new pairings are:
RED BULL FERRARI MERCEDES
Max Verstappen Charles Leclerc George Russell
Liam Lawson Lewis Hamilton Andrea Kimi Antonelli
ALPINE HAAS WILLIAMS RB SAUBER
Pierre Gasly Esteban Ocon Alex Albon Yuki Tsunoda Nico Hulkenberg
Jack Doohan Oliver Bearman Carlos Sainz Isack Hadjar Gabriel Bortoleto
THE HEADLINES:
If you’ve been living under a rock, Lewis Hamilton now drives for Ferrari. Big move. It also means that Sainz no longer drives for Ferrari. He is now at Williams. The new pairings of Hamilton and Leclerc, and Albon and Sainz are seriously strong. Exciting.
Couple of swaps and changes: Ocon has moved from Alpine to Haas, as Hulkenberg leaves Haas and heads to Sauber. Russell is now lead driver at Mercedes, jumping into Hamilton’s shoes.
THE ROOKIES:
Lots of them!
Lawson - RED BULL
We’ve seen him in an F1 car before when he replaced Ricciardo for RB mid season last year. But this is his first full season, and this time it’s for the big boy team. With Verstappen as his teammate. No pressure.
Antonelli - MERCEDES
The baby of the grid at just 18 years old. He is a Mercedes protege and could be the injection of youth the team need this year. With Hamilton leaving the team, Antonelli is stepping into some ginormous boots to fill.
Doohan - ALPINE
Having a had a cheeky practise last season as Alpine chucked Ocon 1 race before the end of the season, Doohan is ready to take the reins in his seat for the season. However, Alpine’s signing of Colapinto as reserve driver has put the pressure on Doohan to perform, as his replacement is hot on his heels.
Bearman - HAAS
Who can forgot this teenager’s F1 appearance last season, as he subbed in for Sainz at Ferrari and nailed a P7 finish. Now with a full season ahead of him, he’s definitely one to watch.
Hadjar - RB
The final driver confirmed for 2025, 20 year old F2 runner up Isack Hadjar. Rumour has it he’s quite a fiery character, so his pairing with Tsunoda makes for a very interesting season.
Bortoleto - SAUBER
Back to back F3 and F2 champion, this man was destined for F1, and now is his chance to prove himself.
A few rule changes…
No more fastest lap point. A point used to be awarded to the Top 10 driver with the fastest lap in the race, but no more.
More opportunities for rookies to jump in on practise sessions - upped from 2 sessions to 4
Mandatory 2 pit stops in Monaco rather than 1.
Driver cooling systems - additional 5 kg weight allowance for the systems which will be mandatory when temperatures go above 31 degrees.
(There’s more but they’re a bit faffy and boring, these ^ are the ones you need to know)
Let’s go racing…
We begin the season in Australia. Now, we’re all going to be a bit rusty when it comes to rules/strategy/concentrating/knowing who is who and what is what. That is okay. Let’s just enjoy the chaos and have a big old debrief after.
Enjoy!
Finally! It felt like the off-season was never going to end 🤣 Who you tipping for Melbourne? I think a McLaren 1-2 with Norris breaking Aussie hearts by taking the win.