F1 2025 driver line up predictions

[Purosangue]

following on from this Excellent F1 prediction by Lawrence Barreto ...........Who's got his finger on the pulse of F1 2025 predictions either that or he's been smoking pot ........


https://youtu.be/Jv9WIRAdVfc?si=dHVWuhgoIEf1Ir9U


agree , disagree your own predictions ? plenty of potential combinations

Mine Out goes , Riccardo , Bottas , Zhou , Sergeant , Magnusson

In Vettel , Bearman , Antonelli , Pourchaire


Ferrari Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull Racing : Max Verstappen
Liam Lawson

Mercedes George Russel
Fernando Alonso

McLaren Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin Lance Stroll
Sebastian Vettel

Williams Alex Albon
Kimi Antonelli

Visa Cash App RB Yuki Tsunodo
Sergio Perez

Stake F1 Team Theo Pourchaire
Carlos Sainz

Haas Ollie Bearmann
Nico Hulkenberg

Alpine Pierre Gasly
Estaban Ocon

Edited by Purosangue on Sunday 31st March 14:41

[Super Sonic]

Too soon?

[sidewinder500]

Who wants to have Vettel, please not....
On the same page as Ricciardo

[Purosangue]

sidewinder500 said:

Who wants to have Vettel, please not....
On the same page as Ricciardo

stranger things have happened , and he's bored at home , If Alonso leaves Aston Stroll is going to want to have a veteran in his place , So a possibility for Vettel to come back for a year ?

Riccardo's is Toast , no way he's getting a drive in 2025

[OnDaysLikeThese]

Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull Racing:
Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz

Mercedes:
George Russell
Alex Albon

McLaren:
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin:
Lance Stroll
Fernando Alonso

Williams:
Zhou Guanyu
Kimi Antonelli

Visa Cash App RB:
Yuki Tsunodo
Liam Lawson

Stake F1 Team:
Theo Pourchaire
Daniel Riccardo

Haas:
Ollie Bearmann
Nico Hulkenberg

Alpine:
Pierre Gasly
Estaban Ocon


I’m sure I’ll be completely wrong

[Purosangue]

OnDaysLikeThese said:

Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull Racing:
Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz

Mercedes:
George Russell
Alex Albon

McLaren:
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin:
Lance Stroll
Fernando Alonso

Williams:
Zhou Guanyu
Kimi Antonelli

Visa Cash App RB:
Yuki Tsunodo
Liam Lawson

Stake F1 Team:
Theo Pourchaire
Daniel Riccardo

Haas:
Ollie Bearmann
Nico Hulkenberg

Alpine:
Pierre Gasly
Estaban Ocon


I’m sure I’ll be completely wrong

Alex Albon has a contract for 2025 with Williams

[Dingu]

Purosangue said:

OnDaysLikeThese said:

Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton

Red Bull Racing:
Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz

Mercedes:
George Russell
Alex Albon

McLaren:
Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin:
Lance Stroll
Fernando Alonso

Williams:
Zhou Guanyu
Kimi Antonelli

Visa Cash App RB:
Yuki Tsunodo
Liam Lawson

Stake F1 Team:
Theo Pourchaire
Daniel Riccardo

Haas:
Ollie Bearmann
Nico Hulkenberg

Alpine:
Pierre Gasly
Estaban Ocon


I’m sure I’ll be completely wrong

Alex Albon has a contract for 2025 with Williams

I’m sure if Mercedes want him they’ll get him. These things aren’t insurmountable.

[the-norseman]

Antonelli currently 9th in F2 cant see him breaking into F1 in 2025.

[OnDaysLikeThese]

Dingu said:

I’m sure if Mercedes want him they’ll get him. These things aren’t insurmountable.

My thinking was that the struggling Mercedes won’t be able to attract Sainz, and might want a mix of longevity + experience… Alonso too old, and a rookie too green.

Albon is good, gets on fine with Russell, and is in a Mercedes customer team. He’ll probably bring some positivity to the team as he’ll be coming from a car that he has to flog to get points in.

That and Stroll rightly or wrongly might be able to keep selling Aston’s investment + potential etc to Alonso.

Though I wouldn’t rule out Alonso -> Mercedes for one year before retiring if he doesn’t like the feel of the 2026 cars. Will be interesting to see where the chips fall.

[spikyone]

the-norseman said:

Antonelli currently 9th in F2 cant see him breaking into F1 in 2025.

Surprised to read that he apparently already has enough super licence points. Perhaps an argument for a change in the weightings, or limiting the number of points that can be scored at a particular level, it seems absurd that you can just enter a load of national and regional F3/F4 championships and get points from all of them.

There was a lot of talk about Mercedes putting him straight in alongside Russell next season without considering that he had to prove himself in F2 at the moment. His current position isn't entirely his own making but he'll need to up his game to justify progressing. Ironically with the new rules in 2026 he might be better off spending two seasons in F2.


On the other predictions, it's a travesty that Ollie Bearman can come into Ferrari of all teams, be close to Leclerc's race pace in an unfamiliar car on a very difficult circuit, and yet we all know he's only going to be at Haas next season. His name ought to be in the hat for a number of the teams with vacancies. Young driver contracts are doing more harm than good in F1.

[HTP99]

sidewinder500 said:

Who wants to have Vettel, please not....
On the same page as Ricciardo

Yep, please no to Vettel, he alwasys seems to get mentioned by a few posters when these topics come up, just no!

Edited by HTP99 on Monday 1st April 09:22

[Wills2]

Sainz to Mercedes would be a good move, better than playing second fiddle to Max at RB or chancing it at Audi's new team (although they will want a big name they have a mountain to climb with that team), I think there are quite a few drivers that it would be good if they moved on from F1, they're not doing anything and have had plenty of race starts and seem to be bed blocking new talent coming through, I get keeping ex champions and crowd favourites but I can think of 5-6 drivers that add nothing to the spectacle some have had over 200 race starts without a podium never mind a win.

As for Vettel coming back, just no, give a young driver the chance to make their name, we also need more teams and some kind of jeopardy to their position in F1, as they move to a franchise it's all too cosy and nailed on for people to take risks.

[asfault]

spikyone said:

the-norseman said:

Antonelli currently 9th in F2 cant see him breaking into F1 in 2025.

Surprised to read that he apparently already has enough super licence points. Perhaps an argument for a change in the weightings, or limiting the number of points that can be scored at a particular level, it seems absurd that you can just enter a load of national and regional F3/F4 championships and get points from all of them.

There was a lot of talk about Mercedes putting him straight in alongside Russell next season without considering that he had to prove himself in F2 at the moment. His current position isn't entirely his own making but he'll need to up his game to justify progressing. Ironically with the new rules in 2026 he might be better off spending two seasons in F2.


On the other predictions, it's a travesty that Ollie Bearman can come into Ferrari of all teams, be close to Leclerc's race pace in an unfamiliar car on a very difficult circuit, and yet we all know he's only going to be at Haas next season. His name ought to be in the hat for a number of the teams with vacancies. Young driver contracts are doing more harm than good in F1.

Up his game?
You 2 are brutal yeah he did kinda throw away a potential 4th or so in the sprint race at oz but it's the 3rd race weekend of the season and he has already had a front row quali start.
Plenty of time for a few wins or podiums and a top 3 4 5 would be enough to ahow he has it. 1st or second and we could start saying he is the next Hamilton or verstappen.

[thegreenhell]

asfault said:

Up his game?
You 2 are brutal yeah he did kinda throw away a potential 4th or so in the sprint race at oz but it's the 3rd race weekend of the season and he has already had a front row quali start.
Plenty of time for a few wins or podiums and a top 3 4 5 would be enough to ahow he has it. 1st or second and we could start saying he is the next Hamilton or verstappen.

He really needs to finish top 3 minimum to justify jumping straight into F1 next year. I think talk of him replacing Hamilton is pure fantasyland unless he can dominate F2 first, which he isn't showing signs of so far.

The unfortunate stats for F1 drivers who failed to finish top 3 in their first year of F2 or GP2 is not pretty. The only ones in that position who have gone on to win an F1 race are Maldonado, Perez and Gasly, and none of those would ever be considered future champion material by any serious top team.

F2 is hard, but F1 is harder, and there's no room for excuses. If he isn't top 3 by the end of this year then he needs a second year in F2, and he needs to dominate then, or he's heading for a career in Formula E.

[thegreenhell]

spikyone said:

On the other predictions, it's a travesty that Ollie Bearman can come into Ferrari of all teams, be close to Leclerc's race pace in an unfamiliar car on a very difficult circuit, and yet we all know he's only going to be at Haas next season. His name ought to be in the hat for a number of the teams with vacancies. Young driver contracts are doing more harm than good in F1.

Young drivers always need to go through a year or two in a backmarker or midfield team before getting the top job. This has always been the way. Young driver contracts aren't helping in some ways, restricting where drivers can go when there are so few opportunities, but the lack of opportunities is a bigger issue to me. There are fewer teams than at any time I can remember, and established drivers are having longer careers than ever, meaning a much lower turnover of drivers than at any time in the sport's history. I think this year is the first time ever that their was not a single driver change from the end of last season to the start of this.

[spikyone]

asfault said:

Up his game?
You 2 are brutal yeah he did kinda throw away a potential 4th or so in the sprint race at oz but it's the 3rd race weekend of the season and he has already had a front row quali start.
Plenty of time for a few wins or podiums and a top 3 4 5 would be enough to ahow he has it. 1st or second and we could start saying he is the next Hamilton or verstappen.

I would suggest that getting "a few wins or podiums" from here would mean upping his game from where he is now. It's far from brutal to say that at this point, he isn't showing what he needs to show. FWIW, Lewis won a GP2 race on his first weekend. Piastri, Leclerc, and Norris all won a race on their first F2 weekend. Russell won on his second. The best drivers get up to speed quickly.

I think that right now, Antonelli's name being thrown around as a potential F1 driver for next season is based more on hype and his contract situation than on his results. It was always pure fantasy to suggest he'd drive for Mercedes next year unless he blew everyone into the weeds in F2.

3rd at the end of the season might - depending on circumstances - justify a promotion to a Williams seat. 4th or 5th and I'd leave him in F2 to gain more experience, with the expectation that he wins the title comfortably next year.

[Purosangue]

Wills2 said:

As for Vettel coming back, just no, give a young driver the chance to make their name, we also need more teams and some kind of jeopardy to their position in F1, as they move to a franchise it's all too cosy and nailed on for people to take risks.

To be clear , Im not in favour of Seb coming back , I think he's had his run , and was mediocre at Aston

However its not up to me , a team like Audi would probably jump at the chance as would Aston if Alonso did leave , they would want a big name and know Seb , so I could see Stroll could make it happen

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/i-cant-...

Lots of Journey men , Bottas , Riccardo , sergeant ,Zhou , Magnusson,

Gasly and Ocon are a wasted talent at Alpine , cant see Albon moving from Williams he's in a comfort zone , If he got the call for Mercedes you know it would only be for a year before Wollf throws Kimi Antonelli in 2026 , So where does that leave him ?

Lando is getting impatient still not winning a race . must rile him Riccardo winning while at McLaren and now Piastri winning the sprint race , Still this year its all up for grabs ,

[carinaman]

Regarding Antonelli check lastnights Missed Apex YouTube video with Joe Saward.

If what Saward said is correct then Antonelli's current results may not matter.

[asfault]

spikyone said:

asfault said:

Up his game?
You 2 are brutal yeah he did kinda throw away a potential 4th or so in the sprint race at oz but it's the 3rd race weekend of the season and he has already had a front row quali start.
Plenty of time for a few wins or podiums and a top 3 4 5 would be enough to ahow he has it. 1st or second and we could start saying he is the next Hamilton or verstappen.

I would suggest that getting "a few wins or podiums" from here would mean upping his game from where he is now. It's far from brutal to say that at this point, he isn't showing what he needs to show. FWIW, Lewis won a GP2 race on his first weekend. Piastri, Leclerc, and Norris all won a race on their first F2 weekend. Russell won on his second. The best drivers get up to speed quickly.

I think that right now, Antonelli's name being thrown around as a potential F1 driver for next season is based more on hype and his contract situation than on his results. It was always pure fantasy to suggest he'd drive for Mercedes next year unless he blew everyone into the weeds in F2.

3rd at the end of the season might - depending on circumstances - justify a promotion to a Williams seat. 4th or 5th and I'd leave him in F2 to gain more experience, with the expectation that he wins the title comfortably next year.

I wonder if skipping f3 will come back to haunt him.
Yes fast tracked but he loses out on gaining knowledge on alot of the circuits and also the mini end of season couple of f2 races drivers can sometimes do.

On the other hand with brand new f2 cars none of the returning from last season drivers have quite as big an advantage over the newbies who need a race or 2 to get up to speed...

time will tell I guess.

[asfault]

carinaman said:

Regarding Antonelli check lastnights Missed Apex YouTube video with Joe Saward.

If what Saward said is correct then Antonelli's current results may not matter.

An hour.. im not watching that,
can you give us the gist?