F1's 2025 Season Recapped

By Campbell Goldston

After 24 races in 21 different countries and a title fight until the very end, the 2025 Formula One season came to a close in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 7 with McLaren driver Lando Norris being crowned champion. Red Bull driver and championship runner-up, Max Verstappen, took victory in the race, but the win was not enough to push him into the championship lead.

The 2025 season had seen the two McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen, fight for the championship crown throughout the year. The last time the sport saw a three-way fight until the final race was in 2010. 

Entering the race, Norris was on 408 points, Verstappen on 396, and Piastri on 392. During qualifying, Verstappen took pole position with Norris taking second and Piastri taking third. 

At the race start, Verstappen held his lead and began to create distance between himself and the other nineteen drivers, and Piastri overtook Norris for second place. The trio all had solid drives, which resulted in them all sharing the podium, with Verstappen on the top step, Piastri in second, and Norris in third. 

Oscar Piastri had a strong start to his season, winning the second race of the year and then winning three consecutive races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami, the fourth through sixth races of the season. Following his win in Saudi Arabia, Piastri took the lead of the championship and held it until race 20 in Mexico, where his teammate Lando Norris took over. 

Max Verstappen seemed out of contention to win another championship. Having won the past four world titles, it seemed as though a McLaren driver would win the 2025 season. Following the Dutch Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was 104 points behind Oscar Piastri, the championship leader at the time, but an impressive second half of the season left him 11 points ahead of Piastri. 

However, it was Lando Norris who came out on top at the end of the season. With seven wins on the season and 16 podiums, Norris proved to be a strong championship contender throughout the entire year. 

Other notable points from the season include McLaren winning the Constructors’ Championship at the Singapore Grand Prix and ending the season with 833 points, 364 points ahead of Mercedes, who finished in second place. 

This season also saw first podiums for multiple drivers: rookies Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar, and veteran Nico Hulkenberg, who had 239 race starts before securing his first podium in Silverstone this year. 

The 2026 season will see a new car design with simplified, dynamic front and rear wings containing movable flaps that adjust based on whether a car is going through a corner or a straight. They will also use new power units that utilize sustainable fuel, and overall, a narrower, shorter, and lighter car design. Additionally, new teams will enter the sport, with the grid expanding to have 11 teams, the most the sport has had since 2017. American-based Cadillac will join the grid as the eleventh team, and Audi will replace Kick Sauber. 

The sport will also welcome one rookie to the grid, Arvid Lindblad, a member of Red Bull’s Junior Team, who will drive for Racing Bulls in the upcoming season. Lindblad will replace rookie Isack Hadjar, who moves into the Red Bull seat, consequently replacing Yuki Tsunoda, who will serve as a reserve driver for Red Bull. 

Overall, the 2025 Formula One season was a dynamic one with a close title fight and a midfield battle, and new aspects added to next season will make the 2026 season one to anticipate.