The Rookies: How 2025 has Unfolded for F1's Newest Drivers
30 October 2025As the final rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 season approach, so too does the evaluation of the 2025 rookies. With five official rookies and six, including Liam Lawson, they’ve had mixed results across the year.
From podiums to failing to score points, some drivers have exceeded expectations while others have fallen short of the mark.
Kimi Antonelli
Kimi Antonelli skipped FRECA to jump straight to F2, with early preparations beginning to move him into F1 for the 2025 season. At just 18 years old, he stepped into the full-time seat at one of the best teams on the grid.
With the move came a lot of talk and pressure surrounding the young Italian. With teams and fans praising him from an early age as the next Max Verstappen. So, with his promotion to F1 came the expectation that he would perform straight out of the gate.
Antonelli started strong. The Italian took a fourth place in his first ever F1 race, with the driver keeping one eye on the podium. It began a run of solid results at the start of the year. He quickly identified sixth place as his usual finishing spot, crossing the line there in China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Miami.
However, heading into the European leg of the season, Antonelli struggled. He suffered four DNFs in just seven races, with two others seeing him fall out of the points.
His only respite in the string of poor results was the Canadian Grand Prix. On the first stint, Antonelli moved up into third, where he managed to hold on to the position and cross the line to take his first F1 podium, becoming the first rookie on the 2025 grid to take home silverware.
The weekend reminded the Mercedes team of the promise they saw in him ahead of the year.
He’s continued on to settle into more consistent points-scoring positions with just two occasions where he came away pointless in the last seven rounds.
However, his on-track battles and the potential that has seeped into his results have shown that Antonelli deserves his place on the F1 grid.
Mercedes confirmed that their 2025 line-up will continue into 2026, with Antonelli remaining with the silver arrows for the coming year. Next year, the focus will be on performance rather than adjustment.
To maintain his seat past 2026, he’ll need more showings like the Canadian Grand Prix and fewer like the struggles through the European leg.
Isack Hadjar
Isack Hajdar has easily been the most impressive rookie of the 2025 season. Despite finishing the 2024 F2 season as the runner-up, the conversations around his promotion to F1 were quiet. He was seen by many as the only option for Red Bull, rather than the desired choice.
Hadjar came in almost under the radar, allowing the Frenchman to come into his own within the Racing Bulls.
He impressed straight out of the gate with a strong qualifying performance in Australia. Yet, he gained a lot of attention when he crashed on the formation lap on his way to the grid.
Hadjar walked back to the pits with his helmet on, unable to hold his emotions back, with his career in Formula 1 off to a rocky start. This setback didn’t stop the Frenchman from getting back in the car and continuing on his goal to impress Red Bull though. In Japan, he took his first points, and Hadjar made a step forward each round.
After a few hard rounds from Canada to Hungary, Hadjar broke through. The Frenchman qualified fourth in Zandvoort and maintained his position for the majority of the race, and when Lando Norris suffered a DNF ahead, Hadjar was promoted onto the final step of the podium.
The result turned the heads of the higher-ups at Red Bull, and with it, rumours of a potential promotion coming for the Frenchman in 2026.
His ability to not only outperform his car but also his teammates has secured him a confirmed seat for 2026, according to Helmut Marko, although Marko didn’t confirm which Red Bull team the Frenchman would be driving for.
Either way, the Frenchman has assured his place in the sport for the coming years, overcoming the pressure that comes with being a Red Bull junior.
He’s shown that he has the talent and speed to be a consistent contender at the front, especially if he moves into the Red Bull.
Ollie Bearman
Ollie Bearman has had a harder fight than Hadjar and Antonelli, racing with Haas came with tempered expectations for the young Brit. Knowing the car's capabilities beneath him meant adjusting from fighting for wins in F2 to fighting for points.
Alongside Kimi Antonelli, the Brit received significant hype surrounding his promotion. His early debut in Jeddah in 2024, collecting points in the Ferrari, filling in for an absent Carlos Sainz, had everyone watching him carefully.
Not just from Haas but also from fans and other F1 teams, as well as Ferrari. He was quickly dubbed as a potential future Ferrari driver, guaranteed to have a bright future.
He started the season with a good performance, collecting points in three of the first four rounds. Beyond his ability to compete for points, from his debut in Jeddah last year, the young Brit was praised for his racecraft.
Yet, under the pressure of Formula 1, Bearman lost his footing. From Jeddah to Barcelona, Bearman ran pointless, and although Haas were struggling to get in the points, the young Brit was also getting picked up by the FIA, weekend after weekend.
He did manage to find a level of consistency after Barcelona, but unfortunately, it was a consistent P11; though a strong performance, they left the Brit with nothing to show for it.
He had a second DNF of the season in Hungary before something shifted, and he finally found himself within the points. From that point, it felt like Bearman’s confidence was coming back, taking points in both Singapore and the United States GP.
But the Mexican GP was his greatest show of performance yet. Qualifying tenth, Bearman’s start launched him forward, and after the opening laps, he sat fourth. During the race, he briefly sat third, with the chance of standing on the podium still lingering.
Unfortunately, a podium wasn’t on the card, but coming home to finish fourth made it Haas’ best result since 2019.
He already has his seat with Haas confirmed for 2026, but it’s clear the Brit's goal is to make the jump to Ferrari. To get there, he needs to consistently outperform Esteban Ocon and the car.
Liam Lawson
There’s a debate over whether Liam Lawson is considered a rookie. He took part in multiple rounds in 2024, replacing an injured Daniel Ricciardo, yet 2025 is the Kiwi’s first full-time seat in Formula 1.
The expectations weren’t too high for Lawson, with Red Bull only requiring him to compete against Yuki Tsunoda for the most part.
However, when Hadjar started to turn heads, the pressure ramped up for the Kiwi as 2025 became the season he would be fighting for his future in F1.
He began the year in the Red Bull, replacing Sergio Perez and looking for a hopeful season in one of the championship frontrunners.
Yet, the dream fell apart for Lawson almost immediately. After just two rounds in the main Red Bull seat, a DNF in Australia, and a 12th place in China, he was demoted to the Racing Bulls seat for Japan.
It was eight rounds into 2025 before Lawson collected his first points. Crossing the line eighth in Monaco. He was just outside the points in Barcelona and had his third DNF in Canada.
Although he had another DNF in the UK, he was more consistent in collecting points. However, he was a long shot off his French teammate, who collected his rookie podium in Zandvoort.
Lawson sits 15th in the standings, and while his season so far hasn’t been disappointing, it equally hasn’t been impressive. In a world where new talents are constantly appearing, you have to be making steps forward, or risk losing your place in the sport.
Lawson doesn’t have his future at Red Bull assured, and with new talent likely joining the team for 2026, the Kiwi will be fighting with Tsunoda for a future in the sport. Currently, it’s unclear who will win out.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Gabriel Bortoleto faced a unique situation entering the 2025 season. Despite winning the F3 and F2 championships back-to-back, the Brazilian driver was coming into F1 in arguably one of the worst performing teams on the grid.
So, while the pressure of performance was definitely there for Bortoleto, with teams and fans looking to him to live up to the pressure of being one of the few to take the two titles consecutively.
There was also the knowledge that he’d likely be at the back of the field, hoping to fight for points but with no guarantees.
The start of the season brought a difficult realisation: a DNF in Australia, a poor result, and an unfortunate indicator of what was to come for the young Brazilian.
He took another DNF in Miami and failed to score points until Austria, the eleventh round of the 2025 season. However, it was a brief respite for Bortoleto, and it showed the talent he’d exhibited in the junior categories.
Following it up with a ninth place in Belgium, an impressive sixth in Hungary, and an eighth in Monza, Bortoleto was settling into a rhythm and beginning to take the attention of teams and fans once again.
The Brazilian has a confirmed seat for the 2026 season, remaining with Sauber as they become Audi.
The change offers a brighter future for him, and if he can’t find results with them, he needs to put in a strong enough performance next year to gain the attention of other teams.
Franco Colapinto
Franco Colapinto has endured the most difficult rookie year among all the new drivers. The Argentine driver is another rookie, classified as such with an asterisk.
While 2025 is Colapinto's first full-time seat on the F1 grid, he competed in nine rounds for Williams in 2024, replacing Logan Sargeant. Despite not being seen as one of the best F2 drivers in his tenure, he stepped into the Williams and scored points in his second race.
That caught Alpine's attention, as their second seat was currently undecided. While they’d agreed to put Jack Doohan behind the wheel of the French car, it became clear very quickly that it wasn’t likely to stay that way.
After Miami, the Australian driver was dropped from the seat, and Colapinto was promoted. The pressure was high for the young Argentine, with Alpine showing they weren’t afraid to replace a driver if he wasn’t performing.
However, it’s not been a season of results for Colapinto, with the Argentine still sitting on zero points, 20 rounds in. His strongest result was at Zandvoort, where he crossed the line 11th. Although not all of the struggles have been due to his own actions.
Alpine currently sits last in the Constructors’ Championship, with just 20 points between them. Pierre Gasly holds all of them.
Yet Colapinto has been slowly closing the gap on his French teammate, though it has largely gone undetected amid the team issues.
The Argentine’s future has not been secured, but it is rumoured that he will likely be staying with the team, as rumours suggest.
If he is racing in 2026, Colapinto will need to get himself into the points and stay close to Gasly. If not, his future in F1 is under threat.
