Ranking Every Driver from the 2025 F1 Season
- Matt Hylen
- 1 day ago
- 13 min read
With the 2025 Formula One season officially coming to a close, it's time to reflect on just how good each driver was this season. Though there were a fair share of disappointing performances among the grid, many of the drivers exceeded expectations, making it all the more difficult to put into an order. Nevertheless, what better way to cap off a season with limitless memories than reflecting on each driver's season?
Before we get into my ranking, a quick disclaimer: My ranking is based on how each driver performed during the entirety of the 2025 season. I am taking each and every qualifying and race performance into account and making a combined comparison to the drivers' expectations coming into the season, and how it stacks up to their teammate.
Also, be sure to check out my summer break rankings of every driver at the end of this article to see how your favorite driver fared!
With all that said, let's get into it!
Jack Doohan
Midseason Ranking: 21
Average Race Finish: 16.3
Similar to what I said in my summer break rankings, there is not much to say for Jack Doohan. He was thrust into a position he simply was not ready for, which showed in his performance during his time in F1. Who knows, maybe he will find his way back one day, because he was not given a fair shot. With that said, due to the fact that he was the only driver replaced midseason, he has to come in at 21 on my list.
Franco Colapinto
Midseason Ranking: 20
Average Race Finish: 16.1
To be fair, Franco Colapinto was thrown into a new car on a new team in the middle of the season, so the expectations were not high. With that said, though Alpine's car was horrible, Colapinto showed no flashes this season. He struggled all season long, seeming miles off his teammate, Pierre Gasly, while not scoring a single point in 2025. We will see what Franco looks like once given a full offseason to prep for the 2026 season, but he sticks at my 20 spot for 2025.
Yuki Tsunoda
Midseason Ranking: 18
Average Race Finish: 12.6
It was an absolutely brutal season for Yuki Tsunoda in 2025, with it really being no fault of his own. He started off fine with VCARB, but the switch to Red Bull completely derailed his season and ultimately his F1 career. Tsunoda was yet another victim of the 2nd Red Bull seat, as he was unable to find any sort of pace within the car for most of the season. He was miles off the pace set by his teammate, Max Verstappen, despite the fact he managed to score 33 points. It is extremely unfortunate, but Tsunoda's inability to come close to competing with his teammate is why he comes in at 18.
Lance Stroll
Midseason Ranking: 19
Average Race Finish: 13.7
Lance Stroll performed exactly to expectations this season in my eyes, but that simply is not good enough. He did have his highs (P6 in Australia and P7s in Great Britain, Hungary, and the Netherlands) but Stroll had far too many lows (10 bottom five race finishes). Compare that to his teammate in Fernando Alonso and you have yet another poor season from Stroll.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Midseason Ranking: 17
Average Race Finish: 14.3
Gabriel Bortoleto had a solid rookie season, with the start being better than the finish. Like any rookie in F1, Bortoleto's highs were very high (P6 in Hungary, P8 in Austria and Monza), but the lows were very low (10 bottom-five race finishes). With that said, he dominated his teammate Nico Hülkenberg in qualifying, beating him 12 times and appearing in Q3 four more times, which is a very positive sign. However, points are scored on Sundays, which were less fortunate for Bortoleto and why he remains at the 17 slot.
Pierre Gasly
Midseason Ranking: 9
Average Race Finish: 14.6
This is my biggest drop-off on the list, which pains me to say. Pierre Gasly was given a horrific car all season long. It's a testament to his talent that he was even able to score a few points, let alone 22. With that said, he completely fell off a cliff in the second half of the year. He scored a total of 2 points in his last 11 races, with there being multiple occasions when he and his teammate would be double-digit seconds off the car in P18. It was a great start to the year for Gasly, all things considered, but the horrible second half (though not his fault) is the reason for the significant drop in my ranking.
Esteban Ocon
Midseason Ranking: 10
Average Race Finish: 12.5
Similar to his former teammate Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon's start to the season was terrific. He fought through the lack of qualifying pace to produce some pretty good results (P5 in China, P8 in Bahrain, P7 in Monaco). However, Ocon fell off a cliff in the second half of the season and got dominated by his rookie teammate Ollie Bearman. While Bearman was securing points on multiple occasions, Ocon finished off the season with multiple Q1 exits and 8 finishes of 15th or lower.
The biggest issue for Ocon was the fact the car seemed better in the second half of the year than it did in the first half. Yet, Ocon got worse as the season went on, as if he completely lost touch with the car. Ocon did finish two of the final three races in the points, but even that could not save him from the fact Bearman dominated him in 2025 despite the two being 3 points apart points-wise.
Lewis Hamilton
Midseason Ranking: 11
Average Race Finish: 8.5
2025 was nothing short of a nightmare for Lewis Hamilton. Though Ferrari's car was extremely poor, Hamilton showed his age and simply was not good enough this season. He did manage to win one race in the China Sprint, but otherwise was not able to grab a single podium in any Grand Prix. He finished a whopping 86 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who seemed to be in another league but in the same car.
Not only that, but his second half of the season was even worse than the first, with Hamilton missing Q2 in three of the last four races. As a Lewis fan myself, I still believe he has more left in the tank, but regardless it was not a good season whatsoever for Hamilton.
Liam Lawson
Midseason Ranking: 15
Average Race Finish: 12.8
I felt as though Liam Lawson's 2025 season flew completely under the radar. The mental toughness it takes to get promoted to one of the top teams, perform to the worst ability one could perform, but bounce back and finish the season strong is simply not discussed enough. Lawson did not let the Red Bull situation phase him, as he drove solidly enough at VCARB to retain his seat for 2026. Not only that, but he was on par with his teammate Isack Hadjar (who was promoted to Red Bull) for a majority of the second half of the season.
He scored points on multiple occasions (including a P5 in Azerbaijan, P6 in Austria, and P8 in Monaco, Belgium, and Hungary), while competing with Hadjar brilliantly in qualifying (including a podium qualification in Azerbaijan). A career-saving season from Lawson that is underrated in my eyes.
Fernando Alonso
Midseason Ranking: 13
Average Race Finish: 11.9
Though Fernando Alonso started 2025 in the most unlucky way one could imagine, he had a very solid season filled with positives. With the Spaniard being in his mid-40s now, it's remarkable to see that Alonso still has plenty left in the tank. He outqualified his teammate, Lance Stroll, in every single session, while also outscoring him by 23 points.
Finishing in the top 10 in the Drivers' Standings with a car that was, at times, among the worst on the grid, Alonso adjusted nicely and still put together solid weekend after solid weekend. His start to the year is mainly why he did not climb up the ranking even more, but regardless, he deserves a top-12 spot within a loaded grid.
Nico Hülkenberg
Midseason Ranking: 8
Average Race Finish: 12.8
This may end up being a little high, but what Nico Hülkenberg was able to do in a car with zero expectations was truly amazing to witness. As I said, Sauber was the worst team in the sport in 2024 with no real expectations of that changing in 2025 with the team becoming Audi in 2026. Yet, the team somehow found a way to produce a competitive car, which Nico capitalized on.
Of course, his biggest highlight came at Silverstone with that maiden podium, but his track record of poor qualifying sessions to points finishes in 2025 was very impressive. With that said, he definitely came down to earth in the second half of the year, with qualifying getting worse as the car started to decrease in pace, but the first half was far too impressive for Hülkenberg to fall any lower than 11 in my opinion.
Oliver Bearman
Midseason Ranking: 14
Average Race finish: 11.8
What a rookie season for Ollie Bearman. It took a while for him to get a hold of the car, which was the case for most of the rookies, but once he did, he was stellar. He was as expected in the first half of the year, but dominated his teammate in the second half of the season. With a P4 in Mexico being the best of the bunch, Bearman showed the world that he could very well be the next big thing in F1. He seemed to improve with every race that occurred, with his potential being sky high at this point. Haas could not have asked for a better rookie season from Bearman, who showed all the flashes the team was hoping for.
Alex Albon
Midseason Ranking: 5
Average Race Finish: 11
This was such a tough ranking for me, but I have to drop Albon a bit due to his second half. Let me first say that Alex Albon had a tremendous year. The way he started the season and carried that momentum all the way to the summer break showed the true talent Albon has. He outperformed expectations by a country mile in the first half of the season, gaining a bulk of points that would solidify his spot ahead of the midfield.
With that said, Albon continued his habit of starting a season off great and ending it in a concerning way. In his last 8 races, Albon failed to score a single point while his teammate, Carlos Sainz, was competing for podiums. I may have a little recency bias here because of how good Albon was to start the year, but he just seemed like a shell of himself in the final stretch of the season while other drivers ahead in my ranking improved dramatically.
Carlos Sainz
Midseason Ranking: 16
Average Race Finish: 12.2
If you wanted to switch Sainz with Albon, I would 100% understand that; however, the two podium finishes this season are what put him over Albon in my eyes. Yes, Sainz's first half of 2025 was not great, to say the least, but I am attributing that more to the fact he was in a brand new car on a brand new team and was adjusting to that. I feel that Carlos Sainz's second half showed just how good he really is, which is why I have him as my biggest jumper within the ranking.
Sainz was phenomenal to end the season, cementing himself as one of the best drivers in the entire sport. Though this may not account for his ranking, finishing with more podiums than the man who replaced him at Ferrari should also speak volumes to the talent of Carlos Sainz. A truly great year for a truly great driver.
Kimi Antonelli
Midseason Ranking: 12
Average Race Finish: 9.8
This may be one of my more controversial rankings, but I felt that Kimi Antonelli exceeded all expectations this year. Yes, he did have a couple of different non-point stretches where he missed out on Q2, but the highs in my eyes relative to expectation were remarkable. His weekend in Brazil was one of the better weekends we have seen from a rookie in a long time, while his 17th to 3rd performance in Las Vegas was among the best performances of the season.
The flashes Kimi showed this year, all throughout the year, are enough to convince me that he deserves this 7 slot over guys like Albon and Sainz. The sky is the limit for Antonelli, who came through on the highest of expectations at such a young age.
Charles Leclerc
Midseason Ranking: 6
Average Race Finish: 6.8
It was an extremely tough and frustrating year for Charles Leclerc, who showed once again he is at the top of this sport. He did absolutely everything he could with the car that was provided. He fought through the horrible communication and mistakes the team made throughout the year, while also securing a pole in Hungary. He secured seven podiums this season as well, which is more than the car deserved. Overall, due to the fact he did not win a race in a Ferrari, he remains at my 6 slot, but do not mistake this for him having a poor year.
Isack Hadjar
Midseason Ranking: 7
Average Race Finish: 11.8
There is not a single driver on the grid, in my personal opinion, that outperformed expectations more than Isack Hadjar did in his rookie year. Coming into 2025, the consensus was that he was a shocking selection for one of the VCARB seats, with little to no expectation that he would even make it through the season. Now he is the consensus rookie of the year in a rookie class that is among the best we have seen in a long time and is on his way to drive for Red Bull in 2026.
With seven points finishes this year (his P3 in Zandvoort being the best of the bunch), Hadjar just about accomplished everything a driver in a VCARB could have accomplished. I mean, come on, he scored a podium in a VCARB! Yes, VCARB themselves were better than expected, but not enough to be a podium contender. Hadjar showed the world just how talented he is and in the biggest way he could have. With how consistent he was in 2025, maybe he'll be the one to break the Red Bull 2nd seat curse with the new 2026 regulations.
Oscar Piastri
Midseason Ranking: 1
Average Race Finish: 4.2
Ranking this top four was borderline impossible, but I have Oscar Piastri coming in at my 4 slot. Though he did not win the Drivers' Championship, Piastri had an incredible year that solidified him as one of the biggest young stars the sport has to offer. He led the championship for most of the season, while winning seven races across the season. The only reason he is not higher is the downfall he unfortunately endured in the second half of the year. From his epic collapse in Azerbaijan to a 4-race podiumless streak, Piastri turned from the Championship favorite to a longshot by Abu Dhabi. However, with that said, 2025 showed just how bright the future is for Oscar Piastri, who did have a terrific season overall.
George Russell
Midseason Ranking: 3
Average Race Finish: 4.5
What George Russell accomplished this season is nothing short of remarkable. Mercedes were slated to be the 4th best car coming into 2025, yet Russell's pure speed, consistency, and focus created a result even the team did not think was possible. From his two wins to nine podiums, Russell set the standard for what consistency is in F1. He only missed Q3 once, while also being the only driver not to DNF all season long. George proved in 2025 that he has what it takes not only to be a #1 driver, but that he can be a champion one day. Watch out for George Russell, because if 2026 is anything like 2025, the rest of the grid has a serious problem on their hands.
Lando Norris
Midseason Ranking: 4
Average Race Finish: 4.3
Though it had plenty of ups and downs, no one can deny Lando Norris anymore. Etching his name among the champions of the world and legends of the sport, Norris finally made it over the hump to win his 1st World Drivers' Championship. The biggest thing in my mind that Norris accomplished this year is not the wins he came out with nor the battles he had on track, but the mental adversity he overcame as the season went on. Norris was the favorite coming into the 2025 season, as the McLaren car was supposed to be the best of the rest. It was, but Norris did not start the season the way he wanted to. He was behind Piastri for months, making little mistake after little mistake that cost him as the year went on.
However, he did not let his DNF in Zandvoort be the icing on the cake, but rather the fuel he needed to overcome the adversity he had faced all season long. He battled back mentally, which I felt put him over the edge compared to Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. It is this kind of mental toughness needed to become a champion, which we finally saw out of Lando Norris in 2025.
Max Verstappen
Midseason Ranking: 2
Average Race Finish: 3.7
This should be pretty obvious, but Max Verstappen is the undisputed best driver in the sport. Red Bull has zero business being even close to the top in either championship, yet Max does what he does best and figured it out. With all odds stacked against him, he delivered in a way I don't think he even thought he could. I mean, the fact he was 100+ points down after the summer break and was able to bring it all the way to a two-point deficit by year's end is enough to tell you how good Max Verstappen is.
Yes, he did come up just short in the Drivers' Championship, but as I said, he had no business being there in the first place. He beat out Oscar Piastri in the standings, who led the Championship for a majority of the year, while being a few stupid mistakes away from winning his 5th consecutive world championship. Max Verstappen, with his 2025 season, cemented himself as one of the best to ever do it and is why he comes in at my top spot in my rankings.
Stay tuned for more F1 content, as I will be ranking every TEAM after the 2025 season next. Be sure to check out fansonlysportz.com for more sports media content posted daily.
Also, be sure to check out and follow my socials @matthylen_, where I post all my articles!
Until next time!
-Matt Hylen