F1 Driver Ratings: How do Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and more rank for 2025 Formula 1 season | F1 News

So who starred and who struggled in a Formula 1 season that went down to the wire in 2025? Running through the grid in final Drivers’ Championship order, see how the sport’s stars rated for their performances this year…

Lando Norris, McLaren – 8.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 13-11 / Points vs team-mate: 423-410

Lando Norris has become world champion his way and silenced critics who thought he was not quite good enough to handle the pressure. His turnaround after falling 34 points behind at the end of August’s Dutch Grand Prix was spectacular, dominating race weekends and outscoring Oscar Piastri for six consecutive rounds.

He barely made a clear mistake during the run-in and is a deserved champion, who limited the damage in the first half of 2025 when he was unhappy with the car and mentally stayed strong when it mattered.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 9.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 22-0 / Points vs team-mate: 421-33

Most people in Formula 1 will say Max Verstappen is the best driver on the grid and this year he underlined that fact. Similar to some of Michael Schumacher’s campaigns in the late 1990s or Fernando Alonso in 2012, Verstappen gave McLaren a serious headache in inferior machinery.

The most wins, most pole positions and most laps led is an extraordinary achievement and, apart from seeing red at the Spanish Grand Prix by using his Red Bull as a dodgem against George Russell, he’s nearly maximised the best result possible.

There’s a reason McLaren chief executive Zak Brown calls Verstappen a “horror movie character” and that’s because he’s still the benchmark in F1, even Norris would say that.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 8/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 11-13 / Points vs team-mate: 410-423

Piastri was looking so cool, calm and collected until a poor run of races after a nightmare in Baku – where he crashed twice – saw his championship derail. However, we should not forget how impressive he was earlier in the year with a hat-trick of race wins and had the edge over Norris.

The Australian only has three seasons under his belt, so will surely improve and this year he’s proved that another step in improvement could see him become world champion.

George Russell, Mercedes – 9/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 21-3 / Points vs team-mate: 319-150

The two serious opportunities Mercedes had to win a race in 2025 were both taken wonderfully by George Russell with victories in Canada and Singapore.

Similarly to Verstappen, there are not many races you can point to and say Russell could have done better, that was until the latter stages of the season when Kimi Antonelli began to get the better of him occasionally and a couple of poor starts from Russell in Austin, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, when track position became increasingly critical, may have impacted his final result. Still, arguably Russell’s best campaign in F1 yet.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – 8/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 19-5 / Points vs team-mate: 242-156

Seven podiums in the fourth-best car, and sometimes fifth, for most of the season is a tremendous return from Charles Leclerc, who completely dominated his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc is the all-round package now, although we maybe did not get to see him face the pressure that others did. He’s absolutely ready for a title fight though and is currently the number one driver at Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-19 / Points vs team-mate: 156-242

Hamilton’s first campaign in red was a nightmare to use his own words but he was up against a very quick team-mate, unlike other drivers that adjusted to new machinery.

But some of the deficits Hamilton had to Leclerc were eyebrow-raising and being knocked out in the first part of qualifying four times in a row to conclude the season was shocking.

Aside from that Sprint pole to win in China, there are few positives Hamilton can take from 2025.

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-21 / Points vs team-mate: 150-319

Expectations were high for Kimi Antonelli and we saw flashes of it with Sprint pole in Miami and an excellent Sprint weekend in Sao Paulo where he was second in every competitive session.

Similar to Hamilton, his results compared to his team-mate look pretty ordinary for most of the year but Antonelli is only 19 years old and will take confidence from that difficult run in the summer where he suffered six non-points finishes from seven races.

Alex Albon, Williams – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 9-14 / Points vs team-mate: 73-64

A season of two halves for both Williams drivers but we should not let recency bias allow us to forget Alex Albon’s very strong opening part of the season, where an Imola podium was possible had he not been edged off into the gravel by Charles Leclerc.

Albon, who scored seven points finishes from the first eight races, will be scratching his head over his poor form at the end of the season and must turn that around for 2026.

Carlos Sainz, Williams 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 14-9 / Points vs team-mate: 64-73

Carlos Sainz may have finished behind Albon in the standings but he was on a roll at the end of the year with two podiums in Baku and Qatar, outqualifying his team-mate by a couple tenths on average too after the summer break.

He suffered some bad luck in the first half of the year which did not exactly flatter him and questions were being asked about his move to Williams. Sainz has answered them, though, in style.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 24-0 / Points vs team-mate: 56-33

Fernando Alonso has outqualified Lance Stroll for the last 40 races which is a remarkable stat. After Aston Martin brought a major upgrade to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, Alonso has scored some decent points and battled hard in a difficult car.

Some critical mistakes have crept in but Alonso still has the speed to challenge for podiums and wins in the right car.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 11-12 / Points vs team-mate: 51-19

After 239 races, Nico Hulkenberg ended his podium-less streak at the British Grand Prix and has regularly been the team leader at Sauber alongside rookie team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto.

Hulkenberg’s race pace and craftiness still make him one of the best drivers in the midfield and it will be fascinating to see how long he can continue this level of performance.

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls – 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 16-6 / Points vs team-mate: 51-38

Rookie of the year? Definitely at least a contender for it. From bouncing back from that spin on the formation lap at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to scoring points which culminated with a maiden podium at Zandvoort – what a debut season for Isack Hadjar.

Unlike the other rookies, his team-mate is not that experienced so we should be careful to laud Hadjar too much. But, he’s earned a shot with Red Bull thanks to some outstanding performances.

Oliver Bearman, Haas – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 14-10 / Points vs team-mate: 41-38

The other rookie of the season protagonist would be Oliver Bearman as he’s outshone Esteban Ocon, who was rated highly by many prior to this year.

An excellent fourth place in Mexico City was the highlight but there have also been some major errors from Bearman which puts him on the verge of a race ban, having not gone slow enough during red flags in Monaco and Silverstone – crashing in the latter. Nevertheless, he’s got some serious speed.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – 5.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-16 / Points vs team-mate: 38-51

Lawson has just done enough to justify staying at Racing Bulls by getting the upper hand on Hadjar at times and was on an upward curve during the season.

The 23-year-old will need to step it up and prove to be a leader next year though against British teenager Arvid Lindblad but a second chance is fair after ending the season well.

Esteban Ocon, Haas – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 10-14 / Points vs team-mate: 38-41

A disappointing year for Ocon, whose pure pace was rarely seen this year – perhaps due to the characteristics of the Haas or something else we have not noticed. It was surprising though.

Ocon’s race pace has been solid but the Frenchman often found himself in traffic and simply left with too much to do in a tight field.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – 4.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 0-24 / Points vs team-mate: 33-56

Stroll’s lack of raw pace is a concern with 15 Q1 eliminations across the year and has largely been anonymous in the last third of the season.

He put a short run of form together with three seventh places in four races at Silverstone, Budapest and Zandvoort but has consistently been a few tenths, on average, slower than Alonso.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull – 5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 0-22 / Points vs team-mate: 33-421

Yuki Tsunoda’s undoing may have come by stepping up to become Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull, a move many people called for before the season rather than two races in.

But, he has just not been close enough and the Japanese driver is the latest victim whose F1 career has turned upside down by taking the hardest seat in F1. It was always going to be difficult against Verstappen, but you cannot afford to be consistently half a second off the pace.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine – 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 13-5 / Points vs team-mate: 22-0

Pierre Gasly could be your most underrated driver this year after pulling off some great points finishes, including that stunning Sprint weekend in Brazil where he was eighth in the Sprint and 10th in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Don’t forget earlier in the year he qualified fifth in Bahrain and hung onto seventh. Considering how poor the Alpine has been, when the rare opportunities have arisen, Gasly has snatched them.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber – 6.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 12-11 / Points vs team-mate: 19-51

After an impressive Formula 2 championship campaign, Bortoleto perhaps has not fully shown the potential we expected consistently. It took until June’s Austrian Grand Prix to reach Q3 but he repeated that feat in Belgium and Hungary and Italy, converting all four results into points.

He’s been very closely matched with team-mate Hulkenberg in the second half of 2025, so the championship standings are not a true reflection of his rookie season and he outqualified the German over the season, showcasing his raw pace.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine – 5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-13 / Points vs team-mate: 0-22

Having impressed at Williams last year, Franco Colapinto was signed up as Alpine’s reserve driver and given a full-time seat from the seventh round in Imola onwards.

He is the only driver on the current grid not to score points in 2025 and struggled initially before a series of strong performances compared to team-mate Gasly after the summer break earned him a new Alpine contract on merit.

Given how good Gasly has been this year, for Colapinto to be on the tail of his team-mate in the second half of the season is good, but it took a while.

Jack Doohan, Alpine – 4/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 1-5 / Points vs team-mate: 0-7

Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan, who showed more promise in his six race weekends compared to Colapinto. Two big crashes in Australia and, more prominently, during Friday practice in Japan, ramped up the pressure on Doohan, whose seat felt under threat even before the season started.

He actually outqualified team-mate Gasly in his final qualifying in Miami but his short F1 career appears to have ended in the wall after being hit by Lawson in the Grand Prix.

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