The 2025 season of Formula 1 will be one of the most exciting in the next few years. 2024 will be hard to beat, but there are plenty of reasons why this coming season should be just as interesting. There will be five rookies this season, and multiple drivers have moved to different teams. Instead of anticipating one driver winning every race, we have no idea what will happen. This season will be a mystery, at least until preseason and the first few races. But in Formula 1, no matter what, it is hard to predict what will happen on and off track.
The first reason to watch the upcoming F1 season is the rookies. It has been many years since this many newbies were coming in, and they’re ¼ of the drivers. Oliver Bearman, driving for the Haas F1 team, will be the most experienced since he drove in three races in 2024. He made his official debut in Saudi Arabia for Ferrari and drove in two other races for Haas later in the season. He was on reserve driver duties, so he ended up getting these opportunities when other drivers were unable to compete. He also participated in many practice sessions throughout the year. Jack Doohan, driving for Alpine, drove in the final race of 2024, but other than that has limited experience. He was also a reserve driver last season. Isack Hadjar, driving for Racing Bulls, Gabriel Bortoleto driving for Stake F1 Team, and Kimi Antonelli driving for Mercedes are all coming from Formula 2.
Ollie also drove in F2 for the past couple of years. Bortoleto was the F2 champion, and Hadjar finished near the top as well. Kimi was a rookie in F2 but had a decent season considering his lack of experience. He drove in two practice sessions during the season but ended up crashing very early on into his first outing. Hadjar will be replacing Liam Lawson, who is joining Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s teammate. He drove in post-season testing, but no practice sessions in 2024. Bortoleto seems to be one to watch, being the Formula 2 champion. Joining the Stake F1 Team also means he is joining the Audi Project, so he will likely be there for an extended period, as long as he is holding up in the car. Overall, these rookies have lots of talent and potential, both positive and negative. There is potential for them to be really good, but also the potential to create chaos on track, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Every few years, regulations in Formula 1 change in hopes of improving different aspects of the sport. One of the most recent and controversial regulation changes was adding the cost cap in 2021. This limits how much teams can spend in a season. In 2026, there will be new car regulations. These will drastically change the cars. There are new parts of the cars, like a different system for DRS(Drag Reduction System), which opens the rear wing in a certain zone on track if you are within 1 second of the car in front. DRS basically gives you more speed to overtake. This is technically going away in 2026, however, it’s being replaced by a different system that has a similar purpose.
On the bright side, teams were able to begin work on the cars for next season as of January 1st, 2025. The FIA (the governing body of F1) has also put out a lot of information on the new cars that anyone can look up. In the past, the first season with new car regulations was pretty boring since everyone was trying to figure out the car. This is the last year with these car regulations, so teams are on the verge of perfecting the cars. There are about four teams whose cars have been good for the last couple of years, and this is their final year to work with this car and make it as fast as possible. Some teams are predicted to do well with their car, but somebody could make a comeback for this final year.
There are many new lineups this season. Only two teams are remaining with both their drivers from last season. The biggest and the team that’s going to be watched the most will be Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. Lewis is coming off 11 seasons with Mercedes, winning six of his seven World Drivers Championships. But in early January of 2024, news of Lewis joining Ferrari started a wave of “BREAKING NEWS” graphics on the F1 social media. This news happened even before I got into Formula 1, and yet I knew about the news the day it came out. As of now, Lewis has been very vocal about how excited he is to be with Ferrari. They aren’t just paying him millions of dollars, they’re giving him ambassadorship, and other perks that we probably are unaware of. The photos of his first day at the Ferrari HQ in Maranello definitely broke the internet, and so did the first looks of him in the car. So many people are excited to see Lewis in a different car, and the Ferrari fans of the world(including myself) are hoping, and some are probably praying, that this will be our year.
Hello to those who are completely clueless about all this, which was just like me this time last year. I hadn’t a single idea about Formula 1, but I needed some basic knowledge before heading to my first race in June. So my mom had me watch Drive to Survive on Netflix. It’s basically just a retelling of the Formula 1 season, following different drivers and teams in each episode. There are currently 6 seasons out, for each of the past six seasons. I became hooked immediately, even if they do edit it, and make it more dramatic. But I learned so much about every aspect of the sport. If you want to watch this season, I would recommend watching Drive to Survive before the first race in March. Now, there are about 70 episodes, so here are my recommendations:
First, Season 7, which is coming out March 7th. Last season was filled with so much and will get you to know basically everything you need to know before starting this season. If you want to watch more seasons of DTS, either start from the beginning or watch Season 4, which was the 2021 season. Those who know that season will get it. If you don’t, well, you’ll have to watch and see what happens.
Overall, DTS is a great way to get into F1 with very little knowledge. It shows you the behind-the-scenes of teams, gets personal with the drivers, and helps you understand the stress and danger of the sport. It won’t be for everyone, but it definitely got me hooked, and I would recommend watching it for anyone who wants to just understand more about the sport. Content warning for Drive to Survive: Some bad language that isn’t exactly suitable for kids. These are grown men in high-pressure situations, so they tend to shout whatever first comes into their heads.
There is no way of knowing what is going to happen this season until it starts. Even with that, there are so many unknowns about the cars, drivers, and teams. So many changes throughout the season, so all we can do is predict based off of last year. But that’s the fun of Formula 1. One driver could have an insane streak of winning and suddenly crash one race, or place poorly the next. A team that starts out the season with a slow car could be winning by the end. Last year there were so many exciting races, driver v driver battles, and crazy breaking news. Who knows what’s going to happen this year. But all I can ask is that you tune in, just 24 weekends for the next 9 months, and watch in anticipation.
