2025 F1 report cards: Is a title enough to earn Norris an A?

The curtain fell on the 2025 Formula 1 season three weeks ago and the calendar is on the verge to turning over to 2026. But before we get too caught up in the hype around next season and its incoming new regulations, what better time to reflect on the campaign just completed?

Nine different drivers stood on the podium, six rookies got their first taste of the summit of open-wheel racing, four aces took race wins, two teams made midseason driver changes, one world champion got a reality check in a new environment, and a new world champion was crowned.

Laurence Edmondson and Nate Saunders look back on the 2025 season to assign letter grades to all 21 drivers who at one point held a full-time race seat on the F1 grid.

Wins: 7
Podiums: 18
Championship position: 1st
Letter grade: B+

No matter what you think of his season, Norris did enough this year to be crowned world champion at the end of 2025. Only 35 drivers in the history of Formula 1 have achieved that feat, and no matter what gets written about him, Norris name is now permanently etched among the greats. Was he the best driver on the grid this year? Arguably not, but there were times when he was utterly unbeatable, and over the course of the season he overcame his fair share of setbacks to emerge as the champion. His performances in the final third of the season were some of the best of his career and, most importantly, he delivered when it mattered. — Edmondson

Wins: 7
Podiums: 16
Championship position: 3rd
Letter grade: B-

During the first two thirds of the season, Piastri looked destined to become the 2025 world champion. His cool head and relentless speed often made his more experienced teammate, Norris, look like the junior driver in the McLaren pairing. But two accidents over the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend (one in qualifying and one in the race) proved to be a turning point, and what happened at the following races exposed a clear weakness in his still-developing skillset. On low-grip tracks (six of which — in varying degrees — made up the last eight races) he lost confidence in the car, and with it crucial tenths of a second and championship points to Norris. It was still a hugely impressive season for his third year in F1, but that will be of little consolation given that he missed out on the ultimate prize. — Edmondson

Wins: 2
Podiums: 9
Championship position: 4th
Letter grade: A-

Russell looked like a world champion in waiting in 2025, even if his car yet again was not up to the task. He was sublime — consistently strong, largely error-free (completing all but one lap of the season), and delivering Mercedes its only victories in Canada and Singapore. Much was made of Max Verstappen‘s comment that he would have wrapped up the title early had he been in the McLaren, but a similar argument could be made of Russell. Scanning back through his year, his level of performance was sky high, and if Mercedes comes into 2026 as the benchmark team, it might finally be his year to rise to the top. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 3
Championship position: 7th
Letter grade: C-

Stepping up to a Mercedes drive at the age of 18 was always going to be a tall order for Antonelli, and at times it appeared to be too much too soon. But over the balance of the season, and with an understanding of what he was facing in the cockpit, it was an impressive rookie year that hinted at much more to come. His potential was clear in the early part of the season — most notably with his sprint race pole in Miami — but became lost as he struggled to adapt to a rear-suspension change from Imola onward. Despite a debut podium in Canada with the unsettling rear suspension, his confidence took a battering in the middle part of the season before Mercedes reverted to its earlier suspension and a series of strong results returned. Against Russell, he faced one of the greatest measuring sticks on the grid, and by the end of the season, he was starting to live up to the hype around him at the start of the year. — Edmondson

Max Verstappen | Red Bull

Wins: 8
Podiums: 15
Championship position: 2nd
Letter grade: A

What a season. The aura of Verstappen grew immeasurably in 2025, a year that will likely do more for his legacy than any of the record-breaking championship seasons of the past. From Monza onward, the Dutchman was sublime, but even before Red Bull got to grips with the car, performances like his Suzuka qualifying lap were instant classics. The only blot on his record is the intentional smash into Russell in Spain, a lapse in judgment that’s unbecoming of one of the sport’s greats. Otherwise, this was as close to perfection as you are likely to see. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 17th
Letter grade: F

After the snub of not being promoted to Red Bull over the winter, Tsunoda made a strong start to the season in his first two races with Racing Bulls. Had he stayed at the team for the whole year, he would almost certainly still be on the grid for 2026, and it was telling that his biggest regret at the end of the year was not getting to drive the Racing Bull — a car that he felt truly comfortable with — beyond the second round. Rather predictably, once he was at Red Bull as Liam Lawson‘s replacement, he became the latest driver in a long list to struggle as Verstappen’s teammate and failed to fulfill his potential. He has to take a large proportion of the blame for the lack of results — his accident in qualifying in Imola, for example, destroyed a valuable set of upgrades and left him on older-spec parts for several races — but like so many before him, Tsunoda never came close to his potential in the second Red Bull seat. — Edmondson

Wins: 0
Podiums: 7
Championship position: 5th
Letter grade: A-

Leclerc dragged his Ferrari to places it had no business being this season. On five occasions he was on the front row of the grid (including a pole position in Hungary) and on seven occasions he was on the podium. In doing so, he made his seven-time champion teammate look distinctly average and salvaged some pride for Ferrari in a season that was otherwise a huge disappointment. Going up against Lewis Hamilton was always going to provide a marker by which Leclerc’s exceptional talent could be judged, and although he did not face the British driver at his best, 2025 served to underline the promise he has shown ever since he first stepped into an F1 car. — Edmondson

Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 6th
Letter grade: F

You can’t sugarcoat it: 2025 was dismal for Hamilton, given his legacy and the hype around his move to Ferrari. The respectable championship position does not tell the full story. Beyond his China sprint pole and win, genuinely positive moments were rare. His own demeanor quickly soured, too, which hardly helped the general feeling around his debut campaign in red. Plenty of blame lies with Ferrari, as the car was awful, but the stats don’t lie. Zero grand prix poles, wins or podiums, and he was out-qualified 19-5 by his teammate. Nowhere near good enough for a seven-time champion. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 8th
Letter grade: C

You have to feel for Albon; what was perhaps his most solid season in Formula 1 was overshadowed by his teammate’s two podium finishes in the second half. Until that Baku podium, Albon had outshone Carlos Sainz comprehensively, and bizarrely, both of their form flipped 180 degrees after that weekend. While Albon loses some marks for his pointless run of races down the stretch, he still looked very handy for most of the season, finishing fifth on four different occasions. Props also go to the Thai driver for the way he helped Sainz integrate into the team early on, reinforcing his status as the ultimate team player. — Saunders

Carlos Sainz | Williams

Wins: 0
Podiums: 2
Championship position: 9th
Letter grade: C+

For a large part of the 2025 season, Sainz’s results did not match his underlying pace. The former Ferrari driver undoubtedly went through a period of acclimatization on arrival at Williams, but more often than not, it was minor details or mistakes rather than a genuine struggle to adapt that was keeping him from the results his pace deserved. It’s what made his podium in Baku feel all the more special when it finally came over a chaotic weekend in the City of Winds. More impressively, a second podium followed in Qatar that was arguably one of the best performances of the year given the limitations of his Williams and the demands of the circuit. By the end of the year, Sainz was performing on a level that suggests the best results of his career are still to come. — Edmondson

Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Championship position: 12th
Letter grade: B

Given how Hadjar’s rookie season started –spinning out on the formation lap in Australia — what followed was remarkable. The headline moment was his Zandvoort podium, but he also progressed from Q1 on all but five occasions through the season. Hadjar’s form was so strong it helped fuel the idea that the Racing Bulls car was better than the Red Bull. Even if it might seem too early for a promising young talent, his promotion to the senior team came fully on the merit of his performances across the year. A bright star with a bright future, and maybe one who can end the curse of being Verstappen’s teammate. — Saunders

Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 14th
Letter grade: D

Lawson’s season is a hard one to judge. You cannot ignore his instant demotion from Red Bull; even if it did seem harsh in its timing, he looked completely out of his depth across the first two weekends. He rebuilt his career admirably at Racing Bulls but was frustratingly up and down. Top-six finishes in Austria and Azerbaijan stood out, and there were a handful of strong drives through the year, but there were just as many mistakes and tangles with other drivers. All of that, coupled with how Hadjar completely out-performed him, makes it hard to give Lawson a glowing review. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 10th
Letter grade: B

Another great season. A slow start — eight races without a point — briefly created a feeling age had finally caught up with Alonso, but a lot of that was outside of his control, and he looked his old self before long. There were a few uncharacteristic mistakes, like his spins in Australia and Qatar, but for the most part he looked flawless as ever. Alonso continues to be unlucky — his car often saved its worst reliability issues for when he was running well — but he scored more than half the team’s points and out-qualified Lance Stroll at every grand prix and all but one sprint. Adrian Newey, please, please, please give this man a car worthy of his talent. — Saunders

Lance Stroll | Aston Martin

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 16th
Letter grade: F

Stroll only had a handful of impressive moments — sixth at the opener in Australia, for example — but it was otherwise a completely unremarkably season from a driver who stands out like a sore thumb on the F1 grid. Outwardly, he looked bored, demotivated or just lacking interest, and he does not appear to have made much progress in terms of his race performances, as he fades too often. Seasons like 2025 will only reinforce the feeling Stroll could be an unworthy recipient of a title-contending car in the near future. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 13th
Letter grade: C

Despite a shaky start to his rookie season, Bearman finished on a high and justified the hype that has earmarked him as a Ferrari driver of the future. The pace was clear from the start of the year but, as is often the case in a rookie season, it took a little longer for results to materialize. After the summer break, however, he scored points at six of the ten races, including a standout fourth-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix. Outscoring his vastly more experienced teammate Esteban Ocon should not be overlooked as a significant achievement and helped to cement what was a hugely impressive rookie season. — Edmondson

Esteban Ocon | Haas

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 15th
Letter grade: D+

In a season in which a number of drivers switched teams and struggled to adapt, Ocon was no different. His issues received far less focus than some of the higher-profile names on this list, partly because he still delivered a good number of assured performances throughout the year, but were evident right up until the final rounds of the season. On average lap time, he was outpaced by his rookie teammate, which will be something he’ll need to redress with the rules reset in 2026. — Edmondson

Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Championship position: 11th
Letter grade: C

Hülkenberg provided one of the feel-good stories of the season when he secured the first podium of his career at his 239th grand prix appearance. It was well-deserved in a year in which his Sauber team made significant progress to lever itself from the back of the grid and into contention for points. Unusually for Hülkenberg, his weakness appeared to come in qualifying, and he was matched for single-lap performance by his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto. But his experience shone through on Sundays, resulting in a points haul at the end of the year that left him 11th in the standings despite Sauber’s obvious limitations in the early part of the year. — Edmondson

Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 19th
Letter grade: C

After a slow start to 2025, Sauber’s development midseason highlighted the potential of Bortoleto in his rookie season. It took until the Austrian Grand Prix for the Brazilian to score his first points, but once that milestone was achieved, he started to discover an impressive level of form and scored points on four more occasions. But it was his qualifying record against his vastly experienced teammate that stands out above all else, finishing the season 15-14 ahead in their single-lap head to heads. Errors were made along the way and lessons learned, but make no mistake, Bortoleto’s rookie season was up there with those of Hadjar, Bearman and Antonelli. — Edmondson

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 18th
Letter grade: A-

A quietly heroic season from Gasly in the worst car on the grid. The French driver was one of the few bright spots in a miserable Alpine season, and his final championship position does not accurately depict how well he drove. The Alpine lacked fundamental pace in all areas, but Gasly managed to drag it into Q3 on 11 occasions and score points seven different times despite its obvious shortcomings. There was short lull in the middle of the year, but Gasly went into every weekend already fighting an uphill battle, so it feels harsh to grade him down too harshly for that. — Saunders

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 20th
Letter grade: F

The hype around Colapinto’s 2024 debut with Williams evaporated in 2025. The Argentine gets some slack in that he only got his hands on the grid’s worst car in Imola, seven races into the year, but his elevation to race seat was always a matter of when, not if, yet he never really looked up to the task when the opportunity arrived. He rarely looked like an upgrade on Jack Doohan either. Much better is needed to convince the paddock he is worthy of a full-time race seat in Formula 1. — Saunders

Jack Doohan | Alpine

Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Championship position: 21st
Letter grade: F

With just six races and two sprints, it was impossible to gauge the true potential of Doohan at Alpine in 2025. There were costly mistakes that counted against him (notably his crash on the opening lap of the season in Australia and his practice crash when he failed to close the DRS ahead of Turn 1 at Suzuka), but such errors may have been remedied by stronger results over the course of a full season in the car. Colapinto’s initial struggle as Doohan’s replacement showed just how tricky the Alpine was to drive, and it should be noted that Doohan twice out-qualified Gasly in their short time as teammates. — Edmondson