With 2025 now at its conclusion, it’s time to reflect on a memorable F1 season and rank the entire grid’s performance.
In a season which saw 1.413 completed racing laps across Grands Prix and Sprints, fans were treated to a rare title battle which threw up twists and turns as McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battled for a maiden F1 crown.
Their inter-team battle however threw open the door to a resurgent Max Verstappen to chase a fifth consecutive title down in the second half of the season, yet Norris clung on to achieve his first F1 championship by two points in the first three-way title battle at the season finale since a four-driver scrap in 2010.
21 – Jack Doohan (Alpine)
Having got a taster ahead of his rookie season at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Doohan just failed to click with this season’s Alpine car performance wise – aside from 11th in Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
It was therefore no surprise that Alpine replaced him from Imola onwards because he just didn’t seem capable of grinding out of top-ten finishes, especially in comparison to teammate – Pierre Gasly who punched above the car’s weight in performance.
20 – Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
Whilst this season proved a struggle for Colapinto just like it was for Doohan, he at least showed improvement across the season in pace which offers hope that he can make a step forward and challenge Gasly more consistently next season if the car is competitive.
19 – Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
After a bright start in the first two rounds of the season, Stroll lost his way and dropped below the radar for much of the season aside from a brief revival around the summer break with three seventh-placed finishes, before another lengthy dip.
Stroll was also outqualified by his teammate – Fernando Alonso 29-1 across Sprint and Grand Prix Qualifying combined, showcasing how poor his season has been hence the difficulty to justify a higher ranking despite him finishing 16th in the standings.
18 – Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls/Red Bull)
Having enjoyed a quiet if average start to the season with Racing Bulls, Tsunoda simply drew the short straw in replacing Liam Lawson at Red Bull after two rounds and was pretty much used as an experimental mule in terms of data gathering at times with not much of a fair chance against Verstappen.
If there is one positive that he can take from this season is his sprint performances because he managed points in four of the six sprint races, but it will be a shame to see him on the bench next season given his personality yet he ultimately lacked speed to keep his seat.
17 – Liam Lawson (Red Bull/Racing Bulls)
After two difficult debut rounds at Red Bull, Lawson certainly settled nicely back into Racing Bulls with a strong performance in Azerbaijan being his highlight, as he qualified third and finished fifth.
Lawson however was outperformed by Isack Hadjar but with a new teammate in Arvid Lindblad coming up next season which should be his first proper season of stability in F1, 2026 is a chance for Lawson to use his learnings and reset to show his potential.
16 – Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
With Sauber generally having not been competitive at times on pure speed, Bortoleto has quietly enjoyed a solid rookie season with five Q3 appearances and top-ten finishes apiece.
This season though was realistically one of embedment for Bortoleto ahead of the 2026 technical regulations revamp coming into effect, but the signs are there for him to progress further if the car next season is competitive because he clearly has the potential to do well with a quicker car.
The Brazilian also can take heart from the fact that he marginally beat Nico Hulkenberg 12-11 in their Qualifying head-to-head, which further demonstrates his progress in his rookie season to match his vastly experienced teammate.
His highlight for this season has to be Hungary because he cleared Stroll on the opening lap then managed to defend resiliently from Verstappen, which was no easy feat yet he managed to do so and finish sixth at the checkered flag.
15 – Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Haas certainly enjoyed an evenly-matched season between their drivers with Ocon only three points behind Bearman in the standings, but the difference for me with Ocon is that he had been slightly less consistent in terms of points-scoring runs.
That coupled with context compared to other drivers resulted in a lowly ranking for the Frenchman but his season is nothing to be harshly criticised, as it was pretty average but respectable in a solid campaign for Haas.
14 – Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Given how uncompetitive Alpine’s car had been all season, Gasly deserves huge credit for how he delivered all of their 22 points from seven points finishes plus 14 Q3 appearances in combined total, across both Sprint and GP Qualifying formats.
You therefore can’t fault Gasly for how he had excelled in spite of the difficult car performance, and sixth at Silverstone marked his strongest highlight of the season in difficult mixed conditions.
2026 therefore can only be a stronger season if Gasly continues to outperform the car’s potential as Alpine switch to Mercedes power.
13 – Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
Having achieved his first F1 podium at Silverstone with a brilliant drive in tricky conditions, Hulkenberg has certainly enjoyed a solid return to Sauber where he has been a huge asset in their improved competitiveness across the season.
That podium in particular wasn’t expected yet Hulkenberg used his experience and authoritative status within the team to overrule Sauber’s strategy decisions, which highlighted his ability to trust his car and racing instincts in such tricky conditions from 19th on the grid.
Hulkenberg also converted each of his Q3 qualifications into top-ten finishes which is a respectable achievement given Sauber’s inconsistent competitiveness across the season, especially given that Sauber had little to lose with Audi taking over next season.
12 – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
2025 hasn’t exactly been a vintage year for Aston Martin yet Alonso’s experience and quality even at 44-year-old showed as he snatched tenth in the standings at end of season.
Weak car performance and bad luck hindered Alonso in the opening eight rounds so to get points in six of the subsequent seven rounds was crucial in igniting his season, when he could of easily settled for a lacklustre season given that the team’s eye is on 2026 and new regulations.
Instead he grafted for those points-finishes with a season-high finish of fifth in Hungary, underlining that he still has the capabilities to fight higher up the grid so hopefully he has a car which allows him to be at the front end more regularly next season.
11 – Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Going from a front-running team in Ferrari to a less competitive team in Williams, Sainz certainly had a challenging season of adapting to a new environment amidst some early inconsistency compared to his new teammate – Alex Albon.
Sainz’s perseverance however was rewarded with a superb performance in Azerbaijan as he qualified second and finished third, which was the breakthrough that he needed in a second half of the campaign where he pretty much outperformed Albon as Williams enjoyed a strong season.
Further third-placed finishes in US Sprint and Qatar GP followed for the Spaniard who certainly is heading into 2026 with renewed confidence.
Williams’ inconsistency in converting their practice performances into stronger qualifying and race results though held Sainz back at times, so hopefully they can keep progressing forward next season now he has had a season under his belt within the team.
10 – Alex Albon (Williams)
Although there eventually wasn’t much to separate Albon and Sainz, I have ranked the Thai driver just higher because he was impressively solid in the first half of the season – aside from bad luck in Spain, Canada and Austria, which proved enough to match his best F1 championship of eighth from 2019.
The second half however was less positive because Albon was let down by strategic and technical failings amidst Williams’ shift in focus to 2026, whilst Sainz was able to adapt better and extract better results as performance stagnated, but it nevertheless was a strong overall season.
2026 though will hopefully see more performance development across the season which should suit Albon who will need to raise his game now Sainz has found his feet within Williams, so I expect their inter-team battle to be a highlight of next season.
9 – Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
Given that this season was always set to be a foundation-laying year for Hamilton at Ferrari much like his move to Mercedes in 2013 was timed a year before new regulations, there is no doubting that this has been a pretty disappointing debut campaign for him in the Scuderia.
Much of his poor performances though were more down to Ferrari’s strategy blunders and car performance but whilst it is easy to say this is his worst F1 season with no Grand Prix podiums, it is dismissive to say that in one overall sense because he did still win the Chinese Sprint which counts as a podium in my opinion.
Hamilton however is now at a crossroads because he failed to get out of Q1 in the last three rounds (including Qatar Sprint Qualifying), which suggests that the raw natural speed isn’t there now with age but Ferrari’s eye is on 2026 so the answers as to his struggles lies in next season’s car and better strategies.
8 – Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Having got a taster of F1 across three race weekends in 2024, Bearman has certainly utilised his learnings to help Haas make huge strides since their slow start to the season, even if luck wasn’t on his side in terms of results and especially in Qualifying at times.
There however has been rookie errors which is natural for his first full season in F1 but to comfortably outqualify the experienced Ocon 18-12 across combined Sprint and GP Qualifying is impressive, whilst it was closer in race trim (16-14) but a campaign to use as a progressive base for next season.
Bearman’s drive in Mexico though deserves to be highlighted because he showed maturity and composure amidst a chaotic phase of the race, especially to pass Max Verstappen for fourth amidst a fierce battle between the Dutchman and Hamilton which was bold but respectably brave.
2026 however marks the turn of a new era of regulations which will pose a test for Bearman because in F2, he enjoyed a strong rookie season then struggled in his second season with new regulations, so you have to wonder if history could repeat itself despite this being F1.
7 – Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
Tasked with filling Hamilton’s boots at Mercedes despite being a rookie, Antonelli enjoyed a solid debut season with four podiums in combined total across sprints and main races plus pole for Miami Sprint as the youngest polesitter in any F1 format.
There however has been periods of inconsistency especially in Qualifying but considering that Antonelli was still in education during the first half of the season, he has done a cracking job of settling into F1 whilst embracing risks as he executed an one-stopper to finish third in Las Vegas.
Seventh in the championship and just six points behind Hamilton therefore is a solid building base for Antonelli given that 2026 clearly is Mercedes’ overall aim for unleashing his talent more fully, hence the lack of pressure put on him all season especially when George Russell was in form.
6 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Although Leclerc has been let down at times in terms of strategy like Hamilton this season, he deserves credit for the fact that he dragged his Ferrari onto the podium on seven occasions to finish fifth in the championship.
The Monegasque also thrashed Hamilton 22-6 in race head-to-head (including Chinese GP result prior to disqualification), which showcased his ability to outdrive an under-developed car across the season – especially to get pole in Hungary and put himself in the fight for victory until a chassis issue cost him pace.
Sixth though felt like the ideal ranking for Leclerc because whilst he outdrove the car with some recovery drives at times, there were stronger drivers worthy of the top five rankings.
5 – Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
Having proven to be quite hot-headed in F2 last season then spun out on the formation lap in Australia which left him devastated, Hadjar could of easily let his confidence drop yet he has been a surprise joy with his maturity and exciting aggressive style.
Hadjar also had to deal with an early swap of teammate after Tsunoda got promoted and Lawson returned from Red Bull, yet he comfortably beat the Kiwi 21-6 in overall Qualifying head-to-head, and likewise in race head-to-head, underlining his raw talent.
In fact his speed and composure in Zandvoort, Netherlands, proved key to his first F1 podium through a fortunate slice of luck, which was earned on pure driver ability as faster teams faltered that afternoon, so it is little surprise to see him promoted to Red Bull for next season.
Now having followed Hadjar from his F3 days in 2022, he has certainly earned that move on merit but after a breakthrough season in terms of maturity, next season will be interesting to see how he fares alongside Verstappen who can too be hot-headed at times but has the same driving style.
4 – George Russell (Mercedes)
In a season where he had to step up as team leader, Russell simply flourished in that position with two superb victories and numerous podium finishes, as evidenced by just one non top-ten finish which marked his best F1 season yet.
It is therefore little surprise that he thrashed Antonelli in Qualifying (25-5) and race (26-4) head-to-heads such was his dominance, but the fact that he wasn’t consistent enough in pace to fight for the title left fourth as his best ranking in my opinion.
Russell’s performances this season though has to act as a base for him to build on next season if Mercedes nail the new regulations, because he was otherwise superb especially at Mercedes’ weak tracks in hot conditions – aside from Monaco where they lacked pace.
3 – Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
After his spin in the season-opener at his home event, Piastri showed maturity to bounce back with victory at the Chinese GP which served as a launchpad for his impressive title challenge where he led for 15 rounds and often showed incredible composure.
If there was one weakness in Piastri’s campaign then it was his inability to claw podium finishes between Azerbaijan and Brazil rounds prior to disqualification in Las Vegas, which ultimately cost him the title because he arguably would of been champion if finished third on three or four occasions in that period.
Podium consistency when not winning therefore has to be the aim for Piastri in future title challenges but this has been a huge season of learning for Piastri, although I do think that his brake-testing penalty at Silverstone was harsh after Valtteri Bottas got away with a similar move at 2020 Tuscan GP which ended in a pile-up.
Nevertheless 2025 has been a true breakthrough year for Piastri and I can’t wait to see what comes his way in coming seasons, especially after how he maturely dealt with Papaya Rules when matters could of easily overheated between he and Lando Norris.
2 – Lando Norris (McLaren)
After getting an appetite for a title fight last season, Norris deserves credit for how he channelled his disappointment of last season into a successful title bid because someone as self-critical as him could of easily let it deflate him yet he showed exceptional maturity to take his first title.
The road however wasn’t exactly easy because he was fighting his own teammate for the title yet he and Piastri delivered a masterclass in how to have a mature title battle, but he crucially showed composure in accepting podium finishes when wins weren’t possible.
Whilst an oil leak unfortunately caused him to retire in Zandvoort, his collision with Piastri in Canada was a case of poor judgement which I don’t blame either driver for as McLaren had the opportunity to hypothetically swap both and let Norris try to pass Antonelli for third then switch back if he didn’t/
McLaren’s strategy error in Qatar also nearly cost him the title if Antonelli hadn’t made that late error to give him fourth and that crucial two-point difference to take the title in Abu Dhabi, where he played the sensible strategic game to clinch the title in a three-way fight.
I however do think that Qatar is an example where Norris could of been more ruthless and pitted against McLaren’s wishes, which could of given him the title with a race to spare, so I want to see more ruthless instinctive strategic moves from Norris moving forward if he is to claim more titles.
2026 though is interesting territory with the regulations changes making it hard to call what will exactly happen to the pecking order.
1 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Across his title success in the last four seasons, there has been a variety of sticks to batter Verstappen with from that Michael Masi moment in 2021 to his collision with Norris at 2024 Austrian GP, yet 2025 was perhaps Verstappen’s most mature year of his career.
With Red Bull outclassed by McLaren on pure pace in the first half of the season, Verstappen finally got the chance to showcase his skills in an underperforming car as he outdrove his car to pole in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Miami and Belgian Sprint, plus victories in Japan and Imola.
His victory at Imola also was down to his race start and late-braking ability into Tamburello, yet his title defence looked dead with a 104-point deficit after the Dutch GP so for him to take seven wins across 12 races in the last nine rounds (USA, Sao Paulo and Qatar featured sprint races) was a huge achievement.
Throw in the fact that Red Bull could effectively thrown the towel in after Zandvoort and focused on 2026’s regulatory changes, it is incredible that he managed to achieve the vice-champion title and finish just two points behind Norris considering his first half of the season.
We however shouldn’t forget that there was still small moments of immaturity largely restricted to team radio messages, but he was lucky that the FIA didn’t dish out any heavy punishment for his deliberate collision with Russell in Spain, otherwise he would of been lucky to be in the title mix at Abu Dhabi.
Nevertheless Verstappen undoubtedly has been the most remarkable driver of the season if look at his season’s progress as a whole, although there is still room for improvement behaviour wise but everyone does have their hot-headed moments from time to time.
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