F1 2025 surprises: Hamilton, rookies, rivalries all defy expectations

The 2025 Formula 1 season kicked off with a unique unveiling of each team’s new livery at London’s O2 Arena. The highlighted stories included Lewis Hamilton’s debut as a new Ferrari driver after a record-setting 12 years with Mercedes, the rivalry between Red Bull’s reigning Champion Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris, and an unprecedented array of six full-season rookie drivers.

Halfway through the F1 2025 season, it’s a good time to note that none of the original storylines are unfolding as expected.

The following are tables that list the current 2025 FIA F1 World Championship standings. You’ll find summaries of the major plots and sub-plots in the Formula 1 seasons so far.

Driver and team standings

At this point, and remember there are still 12 more Grand Prix in 2025, McLaren has a commanding lead in the Constructors’ Championship points, and Piastri and Norris are the points leaders, first and second respectively, in Drivers’ Championship points.

Max Verstappen can conceivably catch up to Norris and Piastri. Still, because of the current point spread, Max’s chances of winning the Driver’s crown this year depend both on him winning most of the time and the McLaren drivers finishing way down in the order for most races. That’s a tough ask.

McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes all benefit from two drivers who consistently finish in the top five or six positions in races. Red Bull is struggling to find a second driver to partner with Max and finish high. Red Bull has tried with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, but neither has been up to the task. Lawson was sent back to the Racing Bulls, which is the Red Bull second team, and Tsunoda was brought up to drive for Red Bull, but it didn’t work.

McLaren is already so far ahead of the other teams, with more than twice the Constructors’ points as Ferrari in second place, that the team title race could be over. The other teams consistently state that McLaren’s cars are the fastest on whatever track is next, and the Red Bull cars, which have been set up for Max’s driving style, are difficult for other drivers to control.

Mid-season 2025 F1 Constructors’ Championship points

Mid-season 2025 F1 Driver Championship points

Drivers drama

Going into the season, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari was viewed as a threat to McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes, with Hamilton as the stronger driver on the team. However, Hamilton has not been on the winners’ podium for a Grand Prix this year and has had an admittedly difficult time adjusting to the change. Charles LeClerc is just one spot ahead of Hamilton, but that’s not how it was expected to play out.

Of the six full-season rookies this season, two have stood out. Kimi Antonelli has been outstanding racing for Mercedes; he’s in seventh place in the standings and still only 18 years old. Isack Hadjar has also been impressive driving for the Racing Bulls. Otherwise, the rookies have been mostly hanging in, holding spots in the bottom five drives in points. That’s, of course, easy to say and to write, but they still classify among the very best in the world, and two drivers of six leading the way are exceptional.

F1 team personnel changes

As the middle of the F1 season approaches, the teams refer to it as “silly season” because rumors start flying about changes in the remainder of the year or for the following year. There is no shortage of such talk this year, but chasing them all is meaningless. Two changes among team management that did occur have both been dramatic. Apparently, for family reasons, Oliver Oakes left the Alpine F1 team earlier in the season.

More dramatic was the dismissal of Red Bull CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner, the only leader Red Bull has had in its 20-year history. There are many theories and stories about exactly why Horner is gone, but the greater question is how his departure will affect Verstappen, mainly, but also the entire team.

F1 2026 brings new engines and new cars

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All the drama with drivers, cars, teams, and managers is taking place in an unusual year, because next season an entirely new spec series of F1 cars will begin racing. The cars will be smaller with smaller tires and will get more of their power from sustainable sources.

Teams were not allowed to start developing their 2026 cars before January 1, 2025, which is one reason several of the teams have dialed back in-season changes to the 2025 cars. F1 teams are limited by the FIA rules and regulations for the yearly amount of money they spend developing cars, regardless of which season the cars will race in.

The second half of the F1 2025 season will be fun to watch, even if some of the outcomes seem predictable at this stage. Anticipation for 2026 will continue to grow as we wait to learn if the eleven teams can build competitive cars according to the new specifications. Cadillac will also join in for 2026, fielding an 11th F1 team.