The start of the 2025 Formula One season is less than two weeks away with car reveals and pre-season testing now in the books. With the start of a new year, there are always new storylines to follow, but 2025 has more than its fair share of plots that will keep fans’ attention.
Of those include an inordinate amount of rookies and drivers on new teams, a historic title run by the reigning champion, and the new faces he’ll have to defend against. This year is also the last of a regulation set, with 2026 beginning a new era of the sport.
Though the news was announced right before the start of last season, the story of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has been dominating headlines. Hamilton spent the last 12 years of his career with Mercedes, winning a record number of races and tying Michael Schumacher for the most driver’s championships in the history of the sport. He is one of the most popular racecar drivers ever, and his move to the most popular team ever means that they will have more attention from the media than ever before.
After losing the 2021 championship to Max Verstappen on the last lap of the last race, Hamilton had a slight drop in performance with Mercedes. After winning the title in six of the last seven years, he went on to finish sixth in 2022, third in 2023, and seventh in 2024. Ferrari hasn’t won a driver’s title since 2007 and a constructor’s title since 2008, but they’ll hope to help bring Hamilton a record-breaking eighth title.
There’s a more than slight chance that the team will eventually have to choose one of their drivers to prioritize for winning the title this year. Both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have said that they’ll be happy with winning the constructor’s championship, but they might not feel the same later in the season. Leclerc has been on the team since 2019, but Hamilton has more championship experience. Regardless of how the two work together and prioritize winning, Ferrari will have more attention on them than ever before.
Lando Norris had his most successful year in Formula One last year despite coming into the season without ever winning a race. There were times in 2024 when it looked like he could challenge Verstappen for the title, but it never came to fruition. The McLaren team made some questionable calls early in the season that favored teammate Oscar Piastri, but in the end, they were still too far away from winning it all. Norris has proven to be one of the fastest drivers on the track, but last year was the first that McLaren had a car that could challenge the other top teams.
This year, McLaren looks again to have a contending car, but Norris will also have to beat Piastri to win the driver’s championship. Despite it being only his third year in Formula One, Piastri has continued to look better every weekend, and if his rise continues, it won’t be an easy ride for Norris, even if they have the fastest car.
McLaren won the constructor’s title last year with the help of a lackluster Sergio Perez on Red Bull, but it’s not a guarantee this season. If Norris can finally pull it off this year, he’ll be seen as one of the best drivers in recent history. But if he doesn’t, questions will be asked about how long McLaren will want to keep him as their number one driver.
Verstappen won his fourth driver’s title in a row in 2024, and winning again in 2025 would tie Schumacher for the most in a row. Hamilton and Sebastial Vettel both won four in a row, but five has only been done once in what was one of the most dominant eras in the history of Formula One. But the same could be said about Verstappen today, and his run since 2021 has been nothing short of historic and dominant.
At just 27 years old, Verstappen is already third in all-time wins with 63. His run from the middle of 2022 to the middle of 2024 was the most successful stretch ever, winning 35 of 43 races. He also has the record for most consecutive points finishes and the record for consecutive race wins.
Verstappen nearly fumbled the Formula One title last year after multiple scuffles both on and off the track with Norris, but he was able to pull away with the help of his early season wins. He did win all of his titles with teammate Sergio Perez, who is no longer with Red Bull after a few disappointing seasons in a row. This year, Liam Lawson will be Verstappen’s teammate on Red Bull, and questions will be answered early on if the rookie can adequately help Verstappen win yet again.
The 2025 Formula One season features a record-tying six rookies stepping into the cars. Lawson on Red Bull, along with Ollie Bearman on Haas, both have previous racing experience, but it will be their first time as full-time drivers. Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar, and Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli are the other four drivers getting their first experience in Formula One this season.
Along with the rookie, multiple drivers are now with new teams. Besides Hamilton joining Ferrari, Esteban Ocon is now with Haas, Nico Hulkenberg is now with Kick Sauber, and Carlos Sainz is now with Williams.
The beginning of last season saw no changes from 2023, but throughout the year, some new drivers were brought in while others were relieved of their duties. Franco Colapinto stepped in for Logan Sargeant on Williams, and there are already rumblings that he could be in line for Doohan’s spot if he underperforms.
Expect the start of the season to have more crashes and competitive starts compared to years past, as more than half of the grid will be looking to prove themselves on their new teams.
Hamilton joining Ferrari will lead headlines for the majority of the season, especially if he or Charles are contenders for the driver’s title. Norris and his successes will also be talked about a lot, and if he or anybody else can de-throne Verstappen, it will make winning this year mean more than in the years past.
Along with those storylines, the 2025 Formula One season will also be the last of this current regulation set. 2026 will see new regulations that will make the cars smaller and more agile while also using a more hybrid-powered engine than at any other time in the sport. While all teams want to have success this year, they have also all mentioned that the 2026 season and building a car for the new regulation set will be their key priority.
The 2025 Formula One season begins in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix from March 14-16. This year will feature 24 races across five continents and will hopefully bring more excitement and intriguing storylines with the historic amount of change that was seen over the offseason.
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