Category: Formula One

Ranking the 2025 grid is not an exact science, as there are a myriad of factors behind any driver’s performance across a season.

Still, eight members of the Pit Crew Online have tried to do just that with each member placing emphasis on different factors.

These rankings are taken from a mean average of where those eight members have ranked every driver, with lowest average to highest average.

So, with that introduction done, let’s start with the lowest ranked driver.

21: Jack Doohan
It feels harsh to judge Doohan on the basis of six races, but Doohan was on a hiding to nothing given his position was subject to rumour even before the season started. Some high profile crashes in Australia, Japan and Miami made the probable inevitable, but the Australian did have some highs and deserved points in Bahrain but for a safety car. Needs to leave the Alpine stable.

20: Franco Colapinto
Colapinto arrived at Alpine with a big fee and a big reputation, but got off to a horrible start after a needless crash in qualifying at Imola. For a while, he was nowhere and not helped by rookie errors such as switching the car off in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. He will benefit from stability going into 2026.

19: Yuki Tsunoda
A strong start at Racing Bulls ultimately proved his undoing as he became the latest victim of Red Bull’s second seat. A solid start to his Red Bull career at the Japanese Grand Prix foreshadowed what was to be the root of most of his problems, as his lack of qualifying pace in an albeit tricky car meant he was always out of position. Another to crash in qualifying at Imola, his spectacular accident spooked Red Bull and meant until Laurent Mekies took over from the sacked Christian Horner after the British Grand Prix, he was always a spec behind teammate Max Verstappen. 2025 reputational damage was complete when he dangerously weaved in front of Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi like a poor man’s Sergio Perez. Out of F1 for 2026.

18: Lance Stroll
It is abundantly clear that only family has kept Lance Stroll in Formula One for ten seasons. A fortunate but nevertheless impressive sixth in the season opening Australian Grand Prix soon gave way to a now familiar mix of frustration and a lack of pace. Was the only car lapped in Japan at the third round and thereafter failed to finish above 14^th until an excellent 7^th at the British Grand Prix in July. Save for two more 7^th places in Hungary and the Netherlands, this wasn’t backed up and the Canadian admitted to being lost compared to teammate Fernando Alonso.

17: Liam Lawson
Lawson looked on a one-way ticket out of Formula One after demotion from Red Bull after two races. The New Zealander regrouped at Racing Bulls and after his first top 10 of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, points were semi regular. In the final 8 races, he outpointed lauded teammate Isack Hadjar with brilliant drives in Baku and Brazil and after three years of upheaval for Lawson within the Red Bull stable, 2026 offers the first year of stability. He showed himself to be the right choice to be incoming rookie Arvid Lindblad’s benchmark next season, but his career at the top of F1 appears over before it’s begun.

16: Esteban Ocon
If this ranking was during the summer break, Ocon would likely have made the top 10. Showed real class in a drive to 5^th in China (albeit assisted by a Ferrari double DSQ) and impressed with 8^th in Bahrain, but was buried by rookie teammate Ollie Bearman in the second half of the season to finish behind the Brit in the standings, and qualified on average 1.2 places behind. As Haas’ base pace improved, Ocon was often lost on setup and the car got often got away from him. His reputation has taken significant damage this season.

15: Lewis Hamilton
If Hamilton had thought a fresh start for 2025 at Ferrari would rejuvenate his form after a sad end to a wonderful Mercedes partnership, he was sorely mistaken. A sprint win in China was as good as it got as the 7-time World Champion was soundly beaten by one of the current best in Charles Leclerc. The Brit was not helped by a Ferrari team who came up with a totally new concept in the final season a rules cycle and failing to understand their car, and it took both team and driver a long time to adjust to one another. His first year off a Grand Prix podium in 19 seasons in the sport says much about how the year went. He cut disconsolate figure at the end of the season, with the final four races seeing him out of Q1 and relying on recovery drives to score in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. It feels like 2026 could be farewell for a legend of the sport.

14: Gabriel Bortoleto
Save for a comment by former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko about being a B grade rookie, Bortoleto’s first half of the season went under the radar as an uncompetitive Sauber had him out of the limelight. Sauber got their act together and points followed in Austria, while he outraced none other than Max Verstappen with an excellent sixth in Hungary. He troubled esteemed teammate Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying throughout the season but will be disappointed that a few rookie errors crept in with two needless crashes in Brazil and another in Las Vegas. Part of a strong lineup for 2026 as Sauber becomes Audi.

13: Pierre Gasly
Gasly has proven difficult to rank in what was clearly the worst car. Some excellent drives include a seventh in Bahrain, eighth at the ultimately chaotic Spanish Grand Prix and a brilliant sixth at the wet British Grand Prix. Made Q3 10 times in a car that had absolutely no business being there, but with Alpine moving to customer Mercedes status for 2026 there should be scope for better things for the Frenchman.

12: Nico Hulkenberg
2025 will be remembered as the year the German finally broke his podium duck, with a perfectly judged third place at Silverstone. Outqualified 11 times by rookie teammate Bortoleto, it was his Sunday pace that impressed most in 2025 with nine points finishes and another top five in Spain. A strong end to the season for the German yielded an unexpected 11^th in the standings as he showed himself to be a sensible choice as Audi embark on their first F1 adventure in 2026.

11: Ollie Bearman
Bearman’s potential was highlighted with his parachuted performances for Haas and Ferrari in 2024, and he backed that up in his first full season in F1 at Haas in 2025. Three points finishes in the first four races was a good start, and while rookie errors such as crashing under red flags at Silverstone and needless collisions have him close to a race ban, he can be pleased with his season. As Haas got quicker, so did he and he buried experienced teammate Ocon in the second half of the season, with a brilliant drive to fourth in Mexico threatening a first ever Haas podium the pick of the bunch. Looking like Ferrari’s long-term answer.

10: Alex Albon
While he outscored new teammate Carlos Sainz over 2025, his late season slump was alarming as the Spaniard eventually got the upper hand in the final third of the season and it is that momentum that has counted against him here. However, his excellent form before the summer break shouldn’t be ignored and he was for a long time battling Antonelli for 7^th in the standings. Four top fives in a body of work containing 11 points finishes show that when the top four teams had an off day it was him more than most that picked up the spoils, and if he can regain that form for 2026 then Williams have a formidable driver pairing for F1’s new era.

9: Kimi Antonelli
Antonelli made a consistent start with three top 6 finishes in the first three races including a wonderful fourth on debut that showed his sky-high potential. He went missing in the European season when Mercedes brought in a suspension upgrade they would later drop. There were some rookie errors along the way, such as when he took Verstappen out on lap 1 in Austria and spun predecessor Hamilton in Holland. Showed good mental strength to bounce back in the final third of the season and almost take 6^th overall. Two third places in Canada and Las Vegas were good if fortuitous, but his second place in Sao Paolo was another glimpse of his world class talent. Plenty to improve on but a very high ceiling.

8: Isack Hadjar
Hadjar suffered a nightmare debut in Australia by crashing out on the formation lap and attracting a needless comment from Helmut Marko. To bounce back as he did with strong pace in China and points in Suzuka was impressive, and the Frenchman carried on that improvement throughout the season. There was bad luck and bad RB strategy along the way notably in Qatar and China, while crashing in qualifying in Austin is a mark against him. Hadjar has shown enough about him to suggest he won’t be overawed by being Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate in 2026.

7: Fernando Alonso
That he took until Round 9 in Spain to score his first points was more down to luck than the Spaniard as reliability problems proved costly in China and Monaco, and the Aston Martin wasn’t strong enough to compete. That said, there were costly errors with a crash in Melbourne and a spin in Qatar to drop out of the top 6, but he comprehensively outperformed Stroll again. If Adrian Newey works his magic, 2026 could roll back the years for F1’s oldest driver.

6: Carlos Sainz
It is too simplistic to say that Sainz was poor in the first half and great in the second half of 2025. Sainz was on for points before crashing in Australia, and while he was outperformed early season by Albon there were good races in Saudi Arabia, Imola and Miami while Williams found his technical feedback and mentality invaluable. While he went missing in Spain and Japan and had a needless collision with Antonelli in Austin, Sainz got the upper hand on Albon in the second half of the season culminating in two podiums, on merit, in Baku and Qatar. If Williams master the 2026 regulations, he and Albon will make the most of it.

5: Charles Leclerc
Leclerc was a victim of Ferrari’s strange design path from the start of 2025, and took it to six front row starts that the car didn’t deserve. There were a couple of poor races including another horrible wet British Grand Prix outing but this season was another where the car was the issue and not the driver. 2025 being winless does not reflect how good this season was for the Monegasque as he firmly asserted himself over 7 time Champion Hamilton. He must wonder whether it will ever happen for him at Ferrari.

4: Oscar Piastri
If this was compiled after Monza, Piastri would top the standings. Unfortunately the Australian’s season completely unravelled after a disastrous weekend in Baku, and he revealed later in the season that being asked to swap positions with teammate Norris in Monza affected him. He was never able to wrestle back control of the season and by Mexico he had fallen behind his teammate in the Championship standings. Despite this, there was a lot of good as he dominated Norris in the first 15 races of the season and the run from China through to Holland was peerless as he was off the podium only once in Canada during that run. He will need to work on his mentality to become the complete driver in Formula One.

3: George Russell
Russell showed remarkable consistency and did not deserve to have questions over his future throughout most of 2025. Asserted himself over hotshot teammate Kimi Antonelli after beating Hamilton in two of three seasons at Mercedes. Two wins in Canada and Singapore were brilliant and his worse weekends were mostly car induced, with only the borderline farcical Monaco Grand Prix and a Sao Paolo Grand Prix in which he was outpaced by Antonelli really count against him. Has proven himself the complete driver in 2025.

2: Lando Norris
Norris threatened to blow a golden opportunity at the title with a lacklustre and error strewn first half of the season, with an unnecessary collision with Piastri in Canada the nadir of that spell. Victory at the Austrian Grand Prix kickstarted the Brit’s season and he came to form at the right time of the season to knock the stuffing out of teammate Piastri. Norris proved a lot of people wrong by showing enormous mental fortitude to come back and close out his first World Drivers’ Championship. A worthy champion.

1: Max Verstappen
This season eclipsed Fernando Alonso’s 2012 for the best forlorn World Championship challenge. That Verstappen only made two notable mistakes with the red mist on George Russell in Spain and the halfspin in Silverstone when a dry set up proved too hot to handle in the wet. Apart from those, and a horrible weekend in Hungary, the Dutchman extracted the maximum from his car. His ability to rally the team over a weekend and improve performance on such a consistent basis, and his mentality in chasing at the end of the season means no one can argue when he says that 2025 was the best performance of his career. The biggest asset on the current grid.

Image credits: f1pressarea.pirelli.com

Oscar Piastri dominated to win a controversial Spanish Grand Prix for McLaren ahead of teammate Lando Norris.

Charles Leclerc took an opportunistic third ahead of George Russell, who was seemingly deliberately hit by an angry Max Verstappen three laps from the end.

Verstappen received a 10s penalty for that and is the subject of another investigation, which saw him drop from fifth to tenth.

Nico Hulkenberg took a masterful fifth after overtaking an off-colour Lewis Hamilton in the dying stages, with Isack Hadjar seventh.

Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso completed the top tenth ahead of Verstappen.

Controversy came after the a Safety Car ten laps from the end was brought out after Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure in his Mercedes.

Almost all of the drivers still left pitted for used or fresh softs, with the exception of Verstappen who stopped for new hards from third.

The Dutchman made his frustrations with his Red Bull team clear, and on the restart nearly spun into the inside wall leading on to the main straight.

That allowed Leclerc’s Ferrari alongside and ahead into third, via a touch on the straight, before the seeds of this race’s defining incident were sewn, as Russell made contact with a now mad Max at the first corner to force him off the track.

An angry Verstappen was then told to let Russell through having retained fourth, and on lap 64 he appeared to comply with that instruction into Turn 5, before ramming the Brit’s Mercedes in what appeared to be retaliation similar to his incident with Hamilton at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was given a ten second penalty for his act of retribution meaning he scored one point for tenth.

Piastri made an excellent start to lead away from the grid, while teammate Norris dropped behind Verstappen after they went three wide with Russell, who was subsequently baulked and passed by the two Ferraris.

Norris would eventually pass Verstappen after 12 laps and Red Bull switched to a three stop race.

That looked like it may pay dividends as McLaren woke up to the possibility that they may be caught napping, and before the Safety Car Verstappen was only two seconds behind Norris having covered off a previously two-stopping Leclerc.

More to follow…

Max Verstappen held off the challenge of both McLaren drivers to win the Japanese Grand Prix.

The result stretches his unbeaten record at Suzuka to 6 years and was both Red Bull and Honda’s fourth successive win at the circuit.

He finished ahead Lando Norris in second and Oscar Piastri in third, with neither driver able to land a blow on Verstappen save for one challenge from Norris at pit exit which saw the Brit take to the grass.

The Dutchman is now only one point behind Norris in second place in the Drivers’ Championship in a car some believe is only 4th fastest.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton seventh for Ferrari.

Isack Hadjar took his first points of the season in eighth to become the second highest Red Bull-backed driver in the standings with four points, ahead of a frustrated Alexander Albon and Ollie Bearman in tenth for Haas.

In what was a largely processional affair, Verstappen made the best of starting from pole position to lead away from the lights, and through the first stint was never troubled as Norris could rarely get close enough to stay within DRS.

After some jockeying from McLaren in the pit lane, both lead drivers pitting on lap 22.

A slow stop for Red Bull allowed Norris alongside, but with the pit lane narrowing Verstappen was never going to move aside and Norris went grass-tracking.

Verstappen was never troubled from there on.

At points it was Piastri who looked the quicker of the two drivers, the Australian getting to within one car length on lap 50 as the closest he could get to second place.

Leclerc was best of the rest for Ferrari but ultimately never close to the cars ahead with Hamilton a distant seventh on a different strategy as Ferrari produced a steady weekend after the double-disqualification farce in China two weeks ago.

George Russell could not re-produce his podium heroics of Shanghai, as yet another quiet race yielded fifth ahead of his charging young teammate Antonelli, whose overcut strategy ultimately yielded no gain from sixth on the grid.

Further back it was more of the same with little action to excite the fans, the best action coming as Albon and Hadjar both passed slowing traffic including Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz as they came through the field on new tyres on their way to decent points finishes.

Hadjar’s pace had been excellent all weekend, and starting seventh he and his Racing Bulls team will be pleased to finish in the top eight on a weekend where former teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who replaced Lawson at Red Bull for this race, could only manage 12th at his new team.

Albon’s race was apparently blighted by upshift issues and some less than happy radio exchanges, the Thai driver taking aim at Williams’ strategy after earlier shift frustrations, while Bearman built on a superb Chinese Grand Prix to score another point for Haas in tenth.

Image: Pirelli Media

Max Verstappen will start from pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix for the first time since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman took a shock pole for Red Bull Racing by 0.012s ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

George Russell will start tomorrow’s race from fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, while Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli will start sixth.

Isack Hadjar, who had to overcome seat issues earlier in the day, starts and excellent seventh for Racing Bulls ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Ollie Bearman complete the top ten.

Eyes were on both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, with Lawson having been moved to Racing Bulls from Red Bull after two poor weekends ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend to be replaced by Tsunoda.

Lawson advanced through to the second session for what was already his best qualifying session of the season, knocking out Nico Hulkenberg in the process.

The German joined teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll on the sidelines after the first session.

That was to be as far as both men would get, with both departing in the second qualifying session.

Lawson did manage to outqualify Tsunoda in 14th as the Japanese driver, who had looked quick throughout the weekend, made a mistake at Turn 2 to only manage 15th on the grid.

They’ll start behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in 13th, Carlos Sainz’s Williams in 12th and Pierre Gasly in 11th.

Image – Pirelli Media

Confirmation of the news that no one in F1 has been waiting for came on Thursday morning, as Red Bull announced that Yuki Tsunoda will replace Liam Lawson in the senior team.

Lawson will drive for Racing Bulls, the team he drove for in 11 races across two part season spells in 2023 and 2024, and returns after twice qualifying last at the Sprint weekend Chinese Grand Prix and 18th at the Australian Grand Prix, while crashing in the race in Australia and finishing 15th on the road in Shanghai.

Tsunoda gets his chance after over four seasons and 89 starts with the Red Bull junior team in the guises of Alpha Tauri, VCARB and Racing Bulls.

Red Bull are renowned for their ruthless handling of their young driver programme. Just ask Pierre Gasly, who in 2019 got half a season and despite obvious improvement in the junior team was never again considered for the senior team.

Even for Red Bull though, two races is a new low.

Not since Yuji Ide’s infamous four race spell for Super Aguri in 2006, where he lost his superlicense when three dreadful flyaway races were followed by the Japanese flipping Christijan Albers at the San Marino Grand Prix, has a stated permanent drive gone so wrong, so quickly.

Lawson will get a chance to go again.

What’s changed?

Much has and will be made of the decision to replace Lawson, a driver Red Bull  believed had the mental fortitude to be teammate to four-time World Champion Max Verstappen with Tsunoda, who not three months ago was not believed to have the mentality to be able to cope with the same role he’s now been thrust into.

Team Principal Christian Horner said of Tsunoda when announcing the switch: “Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car.”

When announcing Lawson’s move to Red Bull, Horner said:  “Liam’s performances over the course of his two stints with Racing Bulls have demonstrated that he’s not only capable of delivering strong results but that he’s also a real racer, not afraid to mix it with the best and come out on top.”

Contrast that with this week:

“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together we see that, after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience as he continues his F1 career with Racing Bulls, an environment and a team he knows very well.”

How times  change.

Red Bull’s muddled thinking

On the face of it, Red Bull have, completely by themselves, got the worst of both worlds.

The reality is worse than that.

When all meaningful metrics – race finishes, points, qualifying points – pointed to Tsunoda being the right choice to replace the shredded Sergio Perez for 2025, Red Bull chose Lawson based on being a “real racer” and other intangibles.

It then gave Lawson a full pre-season and two races in a car that, while tricky, is better than the New Zealander has been able to show at two tracks he’d not driven on before pulling the trigger.

In taking Tsunoda out of the Racing Bulls frying pan and throwing into the Red Bull fire this early on, it is giving Tsunoda almost a full season in a car notorious for being difficult to adapt to, while wasting the chance to ease him in and help the Japanese prepare with pre-season testing.

Tsunoda’s most recent meaningful time in a Red Bull was at the end of season test at Abu Dhabi last year.

He has carried on what was an impressive end to last season in 2025, and would have scored points in both Grands Prix were it not for poor strategy calls from Racing Bulls, after a 6th in the Chinese Sprint.

However, promotion to Red Bull this soon in the season with the media interest that will generate, plus the adaptation process that will inevitably come with joining a new team, in time for his home race will bring a pressure he hasn’t previously been under.

His fiery personality and some expletive-laden radio exchanges are ultimately what led to doubts at Red Bull about his ability to cope with pressure.

It is worth remembering that despite outshining every teammate since Gasly left for Alpine, Tsunoda was Red Bull’s third choice for this seat.

The team brought Daniel Ricciardo back to what was then Alpha Tauri for a shootout to join the senior team in the second half of 2023 before injury hampered his comeback.

A slow start to the 2024 season made Red Bull realise that the Australian – the first choice to replace Perez – was not the same driver as the daring, late-braking and often rabbit-out-of-hat driver that deposed Sebastian Vettel as team leader before leaving for Renault in 2019.

Masking a fundamental issue

The decision to drop Lawson and the circus around Red Bull’s second seat should not detract from the fact that since design genius Adrian Newey left Red Bull almost a year ago, they have gone backwards in competitiveness.

Verstappen won the World Championship with two weekends to spare in 2024, but he won just two of the last 14 races and one of those was at the wet Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

The Dutchman has hinted that Red Bull have the fourth fastest car, repeatedly criticised the car’s balance and even hinted that Racing Bulls may have a faster car.

While the car is obviously better than Lawson has shown and should score points at every weekend, Verstappen has more than maximised the car’s potential and taken advantage of quicker rivals falling by the wayside.

Verstappen, the last true success of Red Bull’s once fabled young driver programme, is believed to view the decision to drop Lawson as the wrong call, and the fundamental issue is with the RB21 and not the second driver.

While in part that may be a Formula One driver talking up his own performance, the evidence backs up Verstappen’s view.

If finally giving Tsunoda a chance backfires, it will once and for all expose a team in complete disarray.

Oscar Piastri took his third Grand Prix victory with an imperious win at Shanghai International Circuit.

His McLaren teammate Lando Norris had to manage a brake issue but managed second to complete a 50th 1-2 for the team, while George Russell was third for Mercedes and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.

The result leaves Norris eight points clear of Verstappen in the fledgling Championship standings, with Russell a point further back and Piastri a point behind in fourth.

.The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth, while Haas improved from a dreadful Australian Grand Prix with seventh for Esteban Ocon and tenth for Ollie Bearman.

Kimi Antonelli in eighth and Alex Albon in ninth completed the points positions.

It was the perfect start for McLaren as Piastri blocked off Russell to hamper his entry into Turn One, with Norris sweeping around the outside to take second.

Max Verstappen was another to go backwards as he was passed by both Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc, who lost a chunk of front wing hitting Hamilton, through ahead of the Dutchman.

A slow burner of a first stint was curtailed as the midfield, led by Pierre Gasly, Ocon and the Racing Bulls duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar pitted before lap 12.

Expected high tyre wear throughout the race failed to materialise as the leading five cars – all of whom pitted before lap 17 – making it to the end of the Grand Prix on their hard tyres.

At the front, Piastri completed his most complete weekend with a race win during which he wasn’t troubled, with a difficult Friday giving way to a dominant display to underline his own World Drivers’ Championship credentials.

A strong undercut, where the car behind pits for fresh tyres to pass the car ahead when they pit, was prevalent in China and helped Russell briefly repass Norris, but the McLaren had regained second by lap 18 and gradually built a gap.

That gap became important for Norris, who in the last 15 laps reported a long brake pedal that was critical by the penultimate lap.

An eight-second gap became 1.3s by the end of the race as a quietly effective Russell maximised his weekend once again.

Behind that Verstappen grew into the race after an off-colour first stint in which he dropped back from the Ferraris in sixth.

The Dutchman salvaged fourth as Leclerc’s damage caught up with the Monesgasque driver with four laps to go.

Hamilton’s hard tyre performance fell away leading Ferrari to call him in for a second stop before Verstappen passed his old rival.

It was another chastening weekend for Liam Lawson at Red Bull, as he twice qualified 20th and last and could only manage 15th in the race, over a minute behind Vertappen.

Haas’ turnaround from an Australian Grand Prix weekend in which they were clearly the slowest team to an excellent weekend in China was remarkable.

Ocon expertly judged his one-stop strategy to pass and stay ahead of Antonelli’s Mercedes while Bearman, starting 17th, managed his tyres superbly for tenth.