2025 Marks the End of an Era for Formula 1 Racing
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, with hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. The year 2024 brought F1 fans a fantastic season, with huge names changing teams, fan-favorite drivers getting the axe, and a hard-fought battle for both championships. With this season in the books, let’s look at next year and break down how 2025 marks the end of an era for Formula 1 racing.
The Last Year Of Stable Regulations
Next year (2025) will be the last year of what is coined as the “Ground Effects Era” for aerodynamic regulations in Formula 1. This set of rules was enacted for the 2022 season, marking the end of Mercedes’s legendary run, winning every championship since 2014 and starting the Max Verstappen show.
Whenever there is a significant regulation shift in Formula 1, some teams get it right, while others don’t. This role of the dice usually leads to massive performance differences between teams. As time passes, the teams become more familiar with how the cars behave and make improvements, bringing the grid closer together.
For example, the last time this happened was in 2021. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought tooth and nail for the entire year, resulting in Max coming out on top because of a controversial call made by “he who shall not be named.”
With how close the 2024 season was and stable regulations for next year, it’s safe to say the fight will be even tighter in 2025.
Six Rookies On The Grid
The 2025 season has enormous implications, with a massive shake-up of the drivers. Fan-favorite drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and others are getting their walking papers. As a result, there are six open seats for 2025.
Liam Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls midseason due to his poor performance. In hindsight, Liam didn’t perform much better than the Honey Badger at RB, but the higher-ups at Red Bull saw potential in Lawson and promoted him to the primary team, replacing Sergio Perez for 2025. Lawson leaves an empty seat next to Yuki Tsunoda at RB with his promotion. The RB seat will be filled by Isack Hadjar, the promising runner-up in the 2024 Formula 2 championship.
Our next 2025 rookie is Oliver Bearman. Oliver is a British F2 driver who showed immense promise when he subbed for Carlos Sainz Jr. at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia and finished seventh ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. All the seats at Ferrari are full for 2025, so Bearman will make his full-time debut in F1 with Haas in 2025.
Two more rookies hitting the grid in 2025 are Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto. Doohan is formally Alpine’s reserve driver who was promoted to full-time after Estaban Ocon moved to Hass for 2025. The 2024 F2 World Champion Bortoleto will debut alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber. Leaving just one open seat, we haven’t discussed.
Hamilton to Ferrari
One of the biggest surprises in F1 history happened before the 2024 season started: Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton announced he would drive for Ferrari in 2025.
This news traveled like a tsunami across the motorsport world, and speculation ran wild about why Hamilton would leave after the most successful partnership in F1 history. The truth is that Mercedes did not understand the regulations, and the car was not up to par. Throughout 2022 and 2023, Hamilton and Mercedes struggled, resulting in a single win by George Russel in 2022 and none in 2023. However, the car’s lack of performance was not the only reason.
There were reasons on both sides for the split. Let’s be clear: I am a huge Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton fan. I have supported the team since I got into F1 in 2013, so don’t stone me for what I am about to say. Lewis Hamilton will be 40 years old in two weeks, and it’s been almost 60 years since a driver that old won a championship. That doesn’t mean Lewis is washed or still not the greatest driver of all time, but no one can outrun Father Time. A ton of new talent is coming through the ranks, and Mercedes didn’t want to miss out on a potential generational talent like Kimi Antonelli, as they did with Max Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton’s contract at Ferrari will pay him $100 million a year and return him to the highest-paid driver on the grid. At Mercedes, George Russel and Kimi Antonelli have big shoes to fill. Will they live up to the hype? We will see in 2025.
A New Era on the Horizon
Not only will the driver lineup massively shift for next season, but there will be an even more significant shakeup in 2026. A completely new set of technical regulations for aerodynamics and power units is just beyond the horizon, and if teams nail them, we could see any team on top.
What are your predictions for the 2025 Formula 1 racing season?
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Drew Blankenship is a former Porsche technician who writes and develops content full-time. He lives in North Carolina, where he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. While Drew no longer gets his hands dirty modifying Porsches, he still loves motorsport and avidly watches Formula 1.