2025 Formula 1 Season Predictions
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It’s race week!
Formula 1 returns on Sunday in Australia, and it is shaping up to be one of the best years in a while, with four teams realistically having a chance to win the Constructors Championship.
So once again, we will go 10-1 for constructors predictions, but alongside those predictions I will list where I predict each driver will finish.
Let’s get to it.
10. Sauber (Nico Hulkenberg: 19th, Gabriel Bortoleto: 20th)
This is the last season of Sauber before they switch over to Audi in 2026, with a whole new factory engine and a bunch of new funding.
All of that is to say, they do not give a damn about the 2025 season, and are solely focused on 2026.
It’s why both Hulkenberg and Bortoleto are on multiyear contracts. They know 2025 is going to be a waste, and both drivers deserve a fair chance in 2026.
Nothing wrong with it! In fact, it’s probably a good idea.
But it won’t be fun to watch this year.
9. Racing Bulls (Yuki Tsunoda: 12th, Isack Hadjar: 18th)
10th was the easiest position to predict.
1-4 was tough, and 5-9 was tough.
And even though I like Yuki Tsunoda a lot, I think the inexperience of rookie Isack Hadjar will hamper the Racing Bulls success this season compared to the other midfield teams.
Hadjar is far from a bad driver, but of the 5 rookies I’d say he’s the joint bottom for most expected potential. We’ll get to a few of the others later.
Racing Bulls could probably do better, but they like what they see.
Let’s see if it pays off.
8. Aston Martin (Fernando Alonso: 13th, Lance Stroll: 16th)
One of the biggest splashes this offseason was Aston Martin poaching Adrian Newey, the genius car designer and aerodynamicist from Red Bull Racing.
It’s an awesome move for Aston!
But Newey just got to Aston Martin this month. He has not had time on the 2025 car, and he doesn’t care about 2025. He is solely focused on 2026.
I’ll give them the edge over Racing Bulls because Stroll is better than Hadjar, and Fernando Alonso has so much talent at his disposal to get some points, but this will not be a good year overall.
7. Haas (Esteban Ocon: 14th, Oliver Bearman: 15th)
Last season, I expected Haas to be the worst, and they way outperformed my expectations by ending up 7th.
I expect more of the same this year from Haas, with a talented group of drivers betwen Esteban Ocon and rookie Oliver Bearman.
It won’t be spectacular. Just some good races and decent points.
But that’s all they need.
6. Alpine (Pierre Gasly: 9th, Jack Doohan: 17th)
I absolutely love Pierre Gasly. I think he is an insanely talented driver. And while I don’t have high expectations at all for Jack Doohan, I think Pierre Gasly has the capability to take advantage of weird races and get podiums, and with a supremely tight midfield, those podiums will be a huge help towards Alpine’s success.
5. Williams (Carlos Sainz: 10th, Alex Albon: 11th)
I like what Williams is building towards. I like James Vowles as a team principal. I absolutely love their driver lineup of Sainz and Albon.
I also think Williams has a mindset to try and cash in on success this very moment.
That’s fine.
But I can see with other midfield teams that they are not exactly waving the white flag on 2025, but preparing for the future in 2026 and beyond.
I think that may hurt Williams in the near future, but if they end up 5th, I don’t think they’ll care one bit.
4. Mercedes (George Russell: 6th, Kimi Antonelli: 7th)
Kimi Antonelli is one of the most exciting rookies the sport has had in a while. George Russell has shown his quality time and time again. Mercedes knows how to build a quality car.
It still just feels like they’re a bit behind the top three right now.
A large part of that is the remaining three teams have driver lineups I don’t doubt in the slightest.
And while I don’t doubt Antonelli one bit, I also don’t exactly know if he’ll hit the ground running in Formula 1.
3. Red Bull (Max Verstappen: 1st, Liam Lawson 8th)
Make no mistake, I don’t think Red Bull will be better than Mercedes in terms of car pace.
But I also don’t think the Red Bull will break down.
And when the Red Bull doesn’t break down, and Max Verstappen finishes a race, he finishes extremely well.
Every. Single. Time.
He’s won four straight champonships for a reason, folks.
I expect a 5th straight is coming this year, and I think a large part of it is due to Red Bull knowing where they stand.
Ferrari has two excellent drivers. McLaren has two excellent drivers.
Red Bull has the greatest driver on the grid, and a young Kiwi who has talent, but knows he’s second fiddle to Verstappen.
2. Ferrari (Charles Leclerc: 3rd, Lewis Hamilton: 5th)
The Lewis Hamilton Ferrari era begins with another excellent season for the Scuderia, but Hamilton will not get the best of his teammate Charles Leclerc, simply because Leclerc has far more experience within the team than Hamilton currently has.
It will take time to gel, and I expect we’ll see both Lewis and Charles on the top step of the podium this season, but it won’t lead to a constructors title.
1. McLaren (Oscar Piastri: 2nd, Lando Norris: 4th)
I think we are headed towards a season of a massive problem within McLaren, which is a crazy thing to say about the reigning constructors champs who I think will stay on top again.
But McLaren has Lando Norris, an immensely talented driver who finished 2nd in the standings just last season, and they have Oscar Piastri, one of the very few drivers in history to win the championship as a rookie in F3 and F2, and finally showed signs of the racecraft needed to be a champion last year.
I think on pure talent, Piastri is better than Norris, and I think he now has racecraft that means he can outright beat Norris one on one.
Will McLaren let him? Will they favor Norris instead? Will Piastri just willingly accept that if he’s battling with Norris?
I’m getting strong vibes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, except this time they don’t have a car that’s so much faster than everyone else that they will easily finish 1-2 in the standings.
It sounds crazy to say, but I think this constructors title can come with a ton of problems for McLaren.