Formula 1: 5 things we have learned about the 2025 F1 season so far
McLaren has firmly announced themselves as the team to beat
After bringing an end to a 26-year wait to win the Constructors’ Championship last season, McLaren now look likely to run away with the title again this year, and by all accounts, seem as though it will take something miraculous not to have the Driver champion in their camp as well.
While Lando Norris was widely expected to be the main rival to Max Verstappen by the best online betting sites at the outset of this season, it’s actually Oscar Piastri who has made the better start to the 2025 season, now 16 points clear at the top of the standings ahead of his teammate.
So far, McLaren seems to have built a rocketship this season, so much so that even Red Bull’s world champion has already conceded that Team Papaya are unlikely to be reeled in for the Constructors’ Championship this year, saying, “With the gap that they have, realistically, you don’t really have a big chance.”
Hamilton underestimated challenge at Ferrari
After 12 years with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton made a shocking decision to switch allegiance to Ferrari for the 2025 season, and needless to say, things have not gone smoothly for the seven-time world champion over the first quarter of the season.
Aside from a brief moment of joy with his Sprint win in China, Hamilton has yet to get to grips with the SF-25 and in the lead-up to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, for which our F1 predictions will be available ahead of this weekend, the 40-year-old lifted the lid on how tough his transition has been. He said:
"I anticipated it would be very tough because I’ve joined a team before and I came in with a really open mind. I just didn't know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging and it's as challenging as it could ever be on all fronts.”
Teams aren’t afraid of personnel shake-ups
Gone are the days of Formula 1 teams allowing one of their drivers to surge and the other to go through the motions, and that became evident at the very start of the season when Red Bull got rid of Sergio Perez and brought in rookie sensation Liam Lawson.
However, the young New Zealander was given just two races before being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Now, leading up to Imola, another driver has experienced a similar fate, with Alpine driver Jack Doohan suffering the axe for Franco Colapinto.
Alpine hinted at Doohan’s poor performances over the first six races as the reason behind their decision, with the 22-year-old having failed to earn a single point to date, but most onlookers, including other drivers are in agreement that it was a tad harsh on the youngster, given that he is in a car that has been completely ineffective against other midfield rivals.
Red Bull continue to struggle for consistency
With six races already in the rearview mirror, Max Verstappen is already a whopping 32 points behind Piastri in the driver standings, and has won just one race to date, which came at the Japanese Grand Prix at the start of April.
Indeed, it has been an inconsistent start to the season for the Red Bull team, as they looked good in Jeddah and Suzuka, while in Bahrain, they were well off the mark. In fairness, though, they just don’t seem to have the pace to hang with McLaren.
Sure, they have found a little more stability with bringing in Tsunoda in place of Lawson, but it’s difficult to see how they can challenge for top honours unless they can find another massive upgrade to close the gap to the Papaya team.
Mercedes could be the team to watch at Imola
Ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Mercedes has revealed that they will introduce several upgrades to the W16 in an attempt to open the gap between themselves and Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren. Team principal Toto Wolff said:
"Our focus is on making gains on that final point as we begin the European leg of the season. The team at Lauda Drive have been working hard to do that and we will be bringing several updates over the coming races. F1 is a relative game, though, and we know our competitors will make progress too. It will be interesting to see how that plays out on track."
The 53-year-old’s comments came after explaining that the team had drawn three conclusions over the first quarter of the season, including having made progress from last year with a more well-balanced car; the team scoring solid results so far with four podiums; and that they still have more to do to challenge for victories.
