Top 5 Drivers 2025
Discussion
1. Max
2. Norris
3. Piastri
4. Russell
5. Hadjar
Bearman, despite some amazing performances, is too hot-headed and has the habit of being in the wars, getting into needless scraps, and usually blames the other guy. He's young and wants to prove he's big / top dog in F1 but as with a lot of F1 newbies think they can treat F1 cars like its F3 or even F2. Work on the aggression and Ollie can potentially in the right car give Max a hard time week in, week out.
2. Norris
3. Piastri
4. Russell
5. Hadjar
Bearman, despite some amazing performances, is too hot-headed and has the habit of being in the wars, getting into needless scraps, and usually blames the other guy. He's young and wants to prove he's big / top dog in F1 but as with a lot of F1 newbies think they can treat F1 cars like its F3 or even F2. Work on the aggression and Ollie can potentially in the right car give Max a hard time week in, week out.
I think there’s been some really strong drives this year. The field is really strong and only Stroll and Tsunoda stand out as being well below par.
Top tier
Norris
Verstappen
Piastri
Best of the rest:
Russell
Leclerc
Sainz
Antonelli
Alonso
Bearman
Hadjar
So so
Lawson
Bortoleto
Gasly
Ocon
Albon
Must try harder
Colapinto
Hamilton
Hulkenburg
Waste of a seat:
Tsunoda
Stroll
Top tier
Norris
Verstappen
Piastri
Best of the rest:
Russell
Leclerc
Sainz
Antonelli
Alonso
Bearman
Hadjar
So so
Lawson
Bortoleto
Gasly
Ocon
Albon
Must try harder
Colapinto
Hamilton
Hulkenburg
Waste of a seat:
Tsunoda
Stroll
Difficult question. FWIW, here are my thoughts.
Max and Lando were outstanding obviously. Piastri lost the plot eventually over a season, but I don t doubt his talent. Lando supervened as we know and showed his ultimate speed and class over them both.
I was so impressed with this crop of Rookies. Hadjar in particular, especially after his heartbreaking, nightmarish debut in Melbourne. Bearman, he is a racer through and through, and the real deal. Kimi, survived a very bad patch to come back fighting. Not the finished article yet though - what could Hadjar or Bearman have achieved across a season in that Mercedes? Obviously impossible to say but
George continues to impress on so many levels. He has massive pace and is ruthless to boot, so if the Merc is the best car next year, he d be my favourite to be champion. Leclerc, very fast but also too furious. Makes too many mistakes. Lewis, I think if next year s car is good he ll rediscover his mojo. Alonso, wily old fox still has it. Sainz and Albon well matched, although it looks like Sainz has the measure now; let s see what the new car brings. Bortoletto seems like the real deal too - Will be interesting to see what happens under the Audi regime; the Hulk still pulls it out of the bag. Stroll and Colapinto. Do they still deserve a seat? (Rhetorical question).
Will be very interesting to see how Lindblad and Lawson shape up.
Max and Lando were outstanding obviously. Piastri lost the plot eventually over a season, but I don t doubt his talent. Lando supervened as we know and showed his ultimate speed and class over them both.
I was so impressed with this crop of Rookies. Hadjar in particular, especially after his heartbreaking, nightmarish debut in Melbourne. Bearman, he is a racer through and through, and the real deal. Kimi, survived a very bad patch to come back fighting. Not the finished article yet though - what could Hadjar or Bearman have achieved across a season in that Mercedes? Obviously impossible to say but
George continues to impress on so many levels. He has massive pace and is ruthless to boot, so if the Merc is the best car next year, he d be my favourite to be champion. Leclerc, very fast but also too furious. Makes too many mistakes. Lewis, I think if next year s car is good he ll rediscover his mojo. Alonso, wily old fox still has it. Sainz and Albon well matched, although it looks like Sainz has the measure now; let s see what the new car brings. Bortoletto seems like the real deal too - Will be interesting to see what happens under the Audi regime; the Hulk still pulls it out of the bag. Stroll and Colapinto. Do they still deserve a seat? (Rhetorical question).
Will be very interesting to see how Lindblad and Lawson shape up.
Edited by Diderot on Tuesday 9th December 23:42
fooman said:
Really it's who I'd furthest ahead of their team mate, Max is always miles ahead. Lando / Oscar are pretty interchangeable.
Yup as the for other drivers , all would say Max is step ahead , many express amazement at his pace , especially in qualifying . They know a bit more than the armchair boys , and believe me they all have an ego as well ( needed to be successful ) and yes would still say that Lando
Oscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn’t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki’s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they’d “helped” Lando like RB, he’d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I’m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
Oscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn’t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki’s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they’d “helped” Lando like RB, he’d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I’m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
Norris
Verstappen
Piastri
I’m going to say in that order too, Norris did the best of the lot and Piastri had a major wobble. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who said Verstappen was number one however, when he could get the car to work he could out drive everyone but he could also drive reckless at times when the McLaren drivers felt they needed to play it safe.
Once past those three everything becomes way more subjective. Gasly was regularly putting that alpine it had no place being (namely in the points and Q3).
Hadjar was superb even taking into account his regular mistakes in qualifying.
Bearman-the real deal! But my goodness dropped some clangers-his apprenticeship in the haas is well deserved and I can see big things for him.
George Russel, say no more. Consummate professional but continually let down by a Mercedes that’s never got a hold on the ground effect regs.
So any of those four would round out my top 5.
Honourable mentions…
Alonso did well but he’s such a self publicist if he does only one tiny thing right in a race you won’t hear the end of it. From him in particular!
Saintz, shown his pedigree but also shown up what his intra team rivalry is-you don’t look world class by beating Albon.
Leclerc, willing to try and make that dog of a Ferrari do things Lewis Hamilton isn’t prepared to do. Win it or bin it, except a win seems to be a fluke podium or sixth or something. Lucky he hasn’t crashed all by himself more? Or supreme car skill that keeps it on the ragged edge? You decide.
Almost everyone else you sort of done exactly what was expected, Hulkenburg got his podium but Bortaletto ended up looking a good long term bet-nothing stand out as yet though.
Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton well done. You have been this seasons biggest disappointments.
Verstappen
Piastri
I’m going to say in that order too, Norris did the best of the lot and Piastri had a major wobble. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who said Verstappen was number one however, when he could get the car to work he could out drive everyone but he could also drive reckless at times when the McLaren drivers felt they needed to play it safe.
Once past those three everything becomes way more subjective. Gasly was regularly putting that alpine it had no place being (namely in the points and Q3).
Hadjar was superb even taking into account his regular mistakes in qualifying.
Bearman-the real deal! But my goodness dropped some clangers-his apprenticeship in the haas is well deserved and I can see big things for him.
George Russel, say no more. Consummate professional but continually let down by a Mercedes that’s never got a hold on the ground effect regs.
So any of those four would round out my top 5.
Honourable mentions…
Alonso did well but he’s such a self publicist if he does only one tiny thing right in a race you won’t hear the end of it. From him in particular!
Saintz, shown his pedigree but also shown up what his intra team rivalry is-you don’t look world class by beating Albon.
Leclerc, willing to try and make that dog of a Ferrari do things Lewis Hamilton isn’t prepared to do. Win it or bin it, except a win seems to be a fluke podium or sixth or something. Lucky he hasn’t crashed all by himself more? Or supreme car skill that keeps it on the ragged edge? You decide.
Almost everyone else you sort of done exactly what was expected, Hulkenburg got his podium but Bortaletto ended up looking a good long term bet-nothing stand out as yet though.
Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton well done. You have been this seasons biggest disappointments.
My top two would definitely be:
Veratappen
Russell
In that order. Below that, I think it's hard to judge between a number of drivers. I think I'd probably put LeClerc third but the next two spots could go to any of about six drivers, including the two McLaren drivers.
There's no way I'd put either McLaren driver in the top two! To my mind they both had too many races where they significantly under-performed.
ETA: I'm also not convinced I'd put Norris above Piastri. If you look at their relative performances, there's really nothing in it, it's just that at the period of the season where Norris was tha couple of tenths off Piastri, the McLaren was three tenths faster than everything else so he was still coming second. By the period where Piastri was two tenths slower than Norris, half the field has moved into that gap.
Veratappen
Russell
In that order. Below that, I think it's hard to judge between a number of drivers. I think I'd probably put LeClerc third but the next two spots could go to any of about six drivers, including the two McLaren drivers.
There's no way I'd put either McLaren driver in the top two! To my mind they both had too many races where they significantly under-performed.
ETA: I'm also not convinced I'd put Norris above Piastri. If you look at their relative performances, there's really nothing in it, it's just that at the period of the season where Norris was tha couple of tenths off Piastri, the McLaren was three tenths faster than everything else so he was still coming second. By the period where Piastri was two tenths slower than Norris, half the field has moved into that gap.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 10th December 09:15
maz8062 said:
Lando
Oscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they d helped Lando like RB, he d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
Agreed. Max is an incredibly fast driver, but ultimately it's about getting the most out of the whole package over the course of the season, and Lando did that, even if it's just by two points. Much is made of how good the McLaren is, but whatever RB did over the summer to their car brought it back on par which enabled Max to fight back in the Championship. That and having 3 other drivers on track who know they have to drive off track if necessary to let him through.Oscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they d helped Lando like RB, he d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
Don't have an issue with Yuki giving Max a tow in qualifying, but it's a shame the last thing Yuki will be remembered for in F1 is blatantly cheating.
maz8062 said:
Lando
Oscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they d helped Lando like RB, he d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
Agreed also Max ramming GR keeps him off the top spot for meOscar
Max
Hadjar
Bearman
Max doesn t get the top spot from me because his team threw all of their resources, including the second driver, at his disposal. The FIA even chipped in to help out too. Yuki s driving at the last race was a disgrace - he was only on track to cheat for Max, from giving him a tow for qualifying (not repaid by Max) to weaving and cheating in the race.
The McLaren drivers, however, challenged and took points off each other and still won - the right way individual sport should be conducted in my view. If they d helped Lando like RB, he d have won the thing by the summer break.
Hadjar rookie of the year. Notable mention for a cracking job, and I m not a fan, goes to Alonso. Incredible performance from him.
kambites said:
My top two would definitely be:
Veratappen
Russell
100% for me on this. Veratappen
Russell
1) Max
2) George
3) Lando
4) Oscar
5) Isack
Isack winning the battle of the rookies. Especially showing strength turning it around after Aus (with Marko on his back too).
George doing a great job being consistent and always near the front in a car that was never more than third fastest.
Lando and Oscar were good, neither above 8/10 for me over the whole season.
Max showing why every team principle would sign him if given the chance.
jimmsy said:
kambites said:
My top two would definitely be:
Veratappen
Russell
100% for me on this. Veratappen
Russell
1) Max
2) George
3) Lando
4) Oscar
5) Isack
Isack winning the battle of the rookies. Especially showing strength turning it around after Aus (with Marko on his back too).
George doing a great job being consistent and always near the front in a car that was never more than third fastest.
Lando and Oscar were good, neither above 8/10 for me over the whole season.
Max showing why every team principle would sign him if given the chance.
Russell remained Mr Consistent even with one or two poor weekends he only finished outside the points once (11th at Monza) and no DNF's.
Verstappen had his silly moments but was monumentally quick.
Hadjar definitely best rookie and has grown a lot through the season. Bearman also looking very promising.
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