The 2025 Formula One season saw six new drivers with a full year’s contract ahead of them, although the likes of Liam Lawson and Jack Doohan have full F1 weekends under their belt already.
The surprise of the season to date is the pace of the Racing Bulls team, with Yuki Tsunoda in his fifth year in F1 joined by rookie Isaac Hadjar, who just missed out on last year’s F2 championship.
Tsunoda has three top ten finishes in the qualifying sessions this year although in China he [played second fiddle to his team mate who will start the Grand Prix and P7 with the Japanese driver two slots back. Yuki has collected points in both Melbourne and the Sprint in Shanghai and on pace analysis is in good shape to add to those in the Grand Prix tomorrow.
Hadjar nightmare start
His team mate Isaac Hadjar had a nightmare start to the year crashing out of the Australian GP on the formation lap on the way to the grid. He was pictured in floods of tears returning to the pit lane, something Dr. Helmut Marko described as “embarrassing,” which Hadjar agreed with.
Yet he has made amends come his second F1 outing in China, making up two places in the Sprint and qualifying with a remarkable time to claim seventh for the Grand Prix, two places ahead of Tsunoda. However, Hadjar’s swift rehabilitation is in marked contrast to Liam Lawson, who was chosen over the winter to replace Sergio Perez.
Lawson qualified last in Australia, then one place better in the Shanghai Sprint before returning to the bottom of the pile come Grand Prix qualifying. The New Zealand born driver is under huge pressure to deliver, given his team mate Max Verstappen is currently 2nd in the driver standings and will starting a competitive P4 for tomorrows race in the People’s Republic.
Red Bull sacked Sergio Perez with a year remaining on his contract due to his meltdown in form over the second half of 2024. This cost Red Bull the constructors’ championship, despite their other driver claiming his fourth consecutive F1 drivers’ title. Now Lawson will be directly compared to Perez, who started his final year with the team with two second places behind his team mate and 36 points. Lawson even with the benefit of an extra Sprint race by way of comparison, is highly unlikely to break his duck by the end of F1’s second weekend of the year.
George Russell “is demotivating the entire Mercedes team”
Antonelli already remarkable
By stark contrast to Lawson, is Mercedes’ replacement for Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Antonelli is living up to all his star billing and was the first full time F1 driver since Zhou Guanyu back in Bahrain 2022 to score points on debut.
Antonelli stormed through the field in wet conditions in Melbourne to climb from P16 to finish P4, just two seconds behind his team mate. He qualified seventh and finished there in the Shanghai Sprint and starts P8 in the Grand Prix tomorrow. The young Italian looks set to score points in the Grand Prix and currently lies in in fourth in the championship, six points behind team mate Russell.
Mercedes must feel as though they hit the jackpot with Hamilton’s replacement looking as though he is a stand out F1 talent, something last ascribed to Max Verstappen following his win on debut with Red Bull in Barcelona.
The remaining three 2025 F1 rookies have all had disappointing starts although at least the attention Jack Doohan was receiving has been eclipsed by the woes of Lawson. Rumours swirled before the season began that the last minute signing of Franco Colapinto to the Alpine team meant Doohan’s days were numbered and some reports were citing the Australian had just five race weekends to save himself from being replaced by the team;’s Argentinian reserve driver.
Doohan looking over his shoulder
Doohan crashed out on lap one of the Grand Prix in Australia and whilst failing to make it out of SQ1, he did finish ahead of team mate Pierre Gasly. In the race Doohan was given a ten second penalty by the stewards for causing a collision and his miserable run continued as he was plumb last and over 30 seconds behind his team mate Gasly, who finished the Sprint in P12. Both Alpine’s failed to make it out of Q1 for the Grand Prix, but despite his previous issues, Doohan was just a tenth behind his team mate.
Oliver Bearman impressed during his stand in role for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia last season, scoring points for finishing P7 and holding the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris behind as he charged for the line.
The British driver had a nightmare in Australia, having crashed his car heavily in practice. Bearman did not even make the start of qualifying as the Haas engineers hustled to make the car ready, but failed. Oliver was classified last (P14) in Melbourne ins what turned out to be a race of attrition with cars dropping out like flies.
Come Sprint quali and Bearman surprised his team mate by making it out of SQ1 and starting the race in P12. Esteban Ocon conversely was out in the first session to finish the Sprint less than a second behind his team mate in P16.
Bearman recovery under way
Normal service resumed at Haas come Grand Prix qualifying, with the experienced Ocon starting the race in P11 with Bearman down in P17. Baerman is holding his own currently and in a Haas not expected to trouble the points frequently has time on his side to become evermore familiar with the team and his car.
Last but not least, F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto has the unenviable task of doing his part in helping the rank outsiders Kick Sauber from not being pointless or last in this year’s constructors race. He started well in Australia by out qualifying his one lap expert team mate, Nico Hulkenberg, but a driver error saw him DNF whilst the Hulk muscled his way to a remarkable P7.
Come Sprint qualifying, Bearman was again ahead of his German rival, claiming P12 whilst Nico languished down in P17. Bearmen retained his advantage in the Sprint finishing some ten seconds ahead of Hulkenberg (P19) in P15.
Hulkenberg and Bortoleto see-saw
The roles flipped around again come Grand Prix qualifying, as Hulkenberg made it out of Q1 whist Bortoleto was down in P17. Nico starts behind arch rival Esteban Ocon in P11 which should provide for sparks when the lights go out in Shanghai on Sunday.
Bortoleto is doing better than probably expected and looks to be in situe for the long haul as the 2025 season progresses.
‘The ugly’ defines Lawson’s situation, whilst ‘the good’ is an understatement of Kimi Antonelli’s rapid progress. Hadjar was bad down under, but appears to be quickly coming good. Whilst Doohan, Bearman and Bortoleto are not exactly ‘the bad,’ ‘could do better’ is probably their current predicament, but Doohan is most at risk still of being replaced by Colapinto.
Marko: ‘Lawson has one more race weekend’
With the Formula One Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying completed in Shanghai, patterns are developing for both the teams and the drivers. Max Verstappen is clearly maximising what is a difficult car to drive and the Red Bull sister team have been a revelation.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified in the top ten for the Sprint and finished the short form race in sixth place. Come Grand Prix qualifying, both Racing Bulls were in the pole position shootout, with rookie Isaac Hadjar finishing in P7 and his Japanese team mate in P9.
Max Verstappen was asked whether he was surprised by the pace of the Racing Bulls. His response was coded: “They’re doing very well, they’re very close to me. Maybe that also says something,” he smiled suggesting the VCARB 02 is stronger than even the RB21… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
