The 2025 Formula 1 (F1) season has officially come to a close. Lando Norris, 26, the McLaren driver from Glastonbury, has been crowned champion of the world after one of the most nail-biting races under the lights in Abu Dhabi, and now we finally get to look back at everything this year delivered. After the mid-season recap, the season took a turn for the better, or more stressful, depending on who you ask. Ever since Australia, the newest class of rookies made an immediate impact, and since then, some fan favorites have battled machinery that seemed determined to make their lives harder. Teams shifted their identities in real-time, and the title fight went deeper into the calendar than anyone had expected. It was dramatic and so frustrating, but it reminded me of why I love F1.
The rookie class set the tone right away and made deciding Rookie of the Year almost impossible. Expectations were high for everyone, but some names stood out: Isaac Hadjar grabbed a maiden podium at the Dutch Grand Prix with the confidence of someone who’d been in the sport far longer. Making his F1 debut at 18, Kimi Antonelli, promoted to Mercedes to replace Hamilton, snagged two podiums of his own in Canada and Las Vegas under immense pressure, and rose to meet the challenge. Ollie Bearman settled well into Haas, putting in strong performances and a fourth place in Mexico. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto, the former F2 champion, now in a struggling Sauber, pieced together enough steady weekends with a solid number of points to end the season. Meanwhile, veteran Nico Hülkenberg finally broke through for a long-awaited podium at Silverstone after 239 races, a moment that felt like overdue redemption. For a grid this young, the midfield felt alive in a way it hasn’t in years; with so many hungry drivers, the next decade already looks loaded.
Ferrari, meanwhile, became one of the strangest stories of the season. Lewis Hamilton arrived with sky-high expectations, backed by a ninety-eight percent redesigned car that the team believed would carry them forward, alongside his seven championships’ worth of expertise. Instead, the project drifted in the wrong direction. Hamilton spent the year battling a machine that wouldn’t meet him halfway and ended up with the longest podium drought in Ferrari history. Charles Leclerc wrestled with the same issues, but this year became the driver to have scored the most points for Ferrari in F1, 150 racs with the same team, and managed seven podiums with the Scuderia. He really did live up to that il predestinato nickname, even while the car fell short.
And while Ferrari faltered, Carlos Sainz thrived at Williams. His podiums in Azerbaijan and Qatar weren’t just good results; they were statements. And Williams didn’t stop there. Completely shifting from their past struggles in the 2022-2024 season, the team clinched fifth in the constructors’ championship in Las Vegas. Alex Albon played a massive role in that climb, delivering the kind of consistent, intelligent drives that turn a team’s trajectory. Watching Williams reestablish itself as a force in the midfield has been one of the most rewarding arcs of the season.
McLaren secured the constructors’ title in Singapore, but their season was anything but straightforward. Papaya rules and team orders divided fans and created complicated situations between Lando and Oscar throughout the season, which led to conflicts within their fanbases. The double disqualification in Las Vegas hit hard, and inconsistency throughout the middle third of the year cracked the door open for a title fight no one saw coming. Verstappen, despite slumps, pounced on every chance. After leading the championship for most of the season, Oscar Piastri had moments where he looked calm and unbothered by the championship fight. However, the media questioned the crack in the facade when pressure crept in, especially after that Baku DNF. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris kept generating both adoration and criticism as he alternated between sublime weekends and ones he’d erase from the record if he could. The championship was always going to hinge on who managed their missteps the best.
Off the track, the paddock changed too. Right before Qatar, the shock announcement came out that Adrian Newey, the legendary designer behind multiple championship-winning cars, including Max’s dominant RB-19 from 2023, will take over as team principal of Aston Martin F1 Team in 2026. Newey’s creative influence has already been shaping the team’s 2026 car, and his new role gives Aston Martin a bold mix of design genius and leadership at the same time. Whether that pays off remains to be seen, but it’s easily one of the biggest “What’s next?” stories heading into the new era.
The rest of the grid had its own turbulence. After the announcement in Qatar that Yuki Tsunoda is leaving F1, his farewell hit harder than many expected, especially after his early-season seat swap with Liam Lawson disrupted momentum at V-CARB. With Isack Hadjar moving to Red Bull, another wildcard in the form of F2 rookie Arvid Linblad enters the Red Bull stable that’s already reeling from leadership changes and engineering turnover. Meanwhile, the Alpine F1 Team was weighed down by slow machinery and internal instability. Franco Colapinto ended the year without a single point, a stark example of how ruthless F1 can be when everything lines up against you. Across the grid, instability was never far away.
Going into Abu Dhabi, it was the first title fight since 2010 where more than two drivers still had a real shot at the championship. Max Verstappen started on pole and eventually took the win, with Oscar Piastri starting third and finishing second, and Lando Norris right behind. The math was simple enough. For Verstappen to take the title, he needed to win and have Norris finish off the podium, or outscore him by 12 points. Norris crossed the line in third, which was just enough. After a roller-coaster season between the three contenders, he dethroned Max Verstappen to become the 35th different world champion, joining a pretty exclusive club. Leclerc kept the pressure on, too, but Norris held them off when it mattered. It’s his first championship, and Verstappen fell two points short.
The season now closes the book on the current ground-effect era of racing and DRS (no more toxic fanboys asking what that means!). Next year brings the MOM system, slimmer chassis, entirely reworked power units, and newcomers to the grid. All eyes are on the new rookie in V-CARB. The latest American giant, Cadillac, arrives with two beloved veterans, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Sauber disappears into Audi blueprints and bold promises. And maybe best of all, we finally say goodbye to the temperamental SF-25.
For all its ups and downs, 2025 has become an extremely unpredictable season, though in my opinion, 2024 will still be my favorite. However, 2025 was an excellent way to bid farewell to the current era we have. And if the season taught us anything, it’s that Formula One never stops reinventing itself, sometimes faster than anyone can keep up.