With the 2025 F1 season done and dusted, FormulaRapida.net decided to draw out a ranking system in a ‘Tier’ system, moving away from a traditional, individual ranked order.
The long 2025 F1 season had its share of strong performances from everyone on the grid, whether at the front of the field or at the back. For this reason, we decided to do away with the traditional system of an individual, ranked system of categorisation.
Darshan Chokhani – FormulaRapida.net’s own – decided on the Tier system where we have divided the 17 drivers in four tiers, with the remaining regulars in the others section. Here’s how they stacked up –
Tier 1 –
Lando Norris –
After years of toil, Lando Norris finally secured his first F1 drivers’ world championship in the final race in 2025 in Abu Dhabi. It was evident from the get go that the Brit will be one of the key contenders given the dominance of McLaren. But it wasn’t easy in the course of the season when he had some moments where it seemed that the title was lost. The crash in Canada and retirement in Zandvoort set him back in the championship against his key rivals, but he mounted a good recovery by the end of it to retake the points lead and maintain it until the end. He made certain mistakes, but the highs were good enough to overlook those and slot him in Tier 1, much like the other two competitors.
In the end, he scored 423 points in all with seven wins, 18 podiums, seven pole positions and four fastest laps along with two sprint wins and four sprint podiums. It is his best points haul in career after surpassing the 2024’s best of 374. The consistency was key in the end considering the two non-scoring results. The number of podiums was useful as he collected 18 from 24, which was the highest among the three F1 title contenders and it limited his three non-scoring events – which includes disqualification in Las Vegas. Remarkably he had only three races in whole of 2025 where he finished outside the podium – a fact overlooked by many discrediting him for a championship win. Off track, he stood his ground despite voices against him and McLaren for the fair game they executed – granted it made things too close against their rivals by the end, but they got the results they wanted.
Max Verstappen –
The Red Bull driver almost did it in F1 2025, but fell short by two points in the quest of his fifth drivers’ world championship. Max Verstappen had checked himself out after Zandvoort when he was 104 points behind the then points leader. But the step taken by Red Bull, whether it was minor updates or getting the set-up right, it was handy against McLaren, who stopped its development work early on. With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fighting among themselves, it allowed the Dutchman to close in and he almost did it. He showed his sublime self and smartly picked his spots to regain chance to fight for the championship and take it to the last race of the season when the constructors’ was done way early.
In the end, he ended up second with 421 points with eight wins, 15 podiums, eight pole positions and three fastest laps along with two sprint wins and three sprint podiums. In fact, he scored the most wins of the 2025 F1 season, more than even the eventual winner Norris. As opposed to the Brit, he had just one non-scoring event but the slow start in the first half cost him dearly in the end. He was the same in 2025 as he has been for years now, but still managed to add a layer to his performance after staging a comeback of century to nearly snatch the title away from the hands of either of the McLaren drivers. A lot of them pinned him as a champion despite not winning the title, which in itself proves his credential for a Tier 1 slot.
Oscar Piastri –
Arguably the most improved of the other Tier 1 drivers was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Despite a slow start in Australia, he picked up pace and took the points lead which he retained for several rounds going into the second half. He worked on every issue that ailed him in his first two seasons, especially on tyre preservation. He was his usual even when he stumbled on a roadblock in the latter part on low grip surfaces. Although, that undone is championship run and threw him off. Once he lost the lead, there was no going back. It was not that he lost the mojo, the inexperience hit him in low grip surfaces, which is a key learning for him to mount on a title challenge in the time to come. In his own words, he has to become an all-rounder and not leave anything on the table for the rivals to get back on him.
Despite the misses, Tier 1 was given for Piastri after he managed to put in a title challenge in only his third season. In all, he scored 410 points to be third in the standings, scoring seven wins, 16 podiums, six pole positions and six fastest laps along with one sprint win and four sprint podiums. The points he scored is his career highest along with the position he finished in. His cool demeanor was a highlight despite all the voices from the outside about unjust being played at him from McLaren and Norris. There were confusing moments, but he held on to his values to showcase his worth.
Tier 2 –
George Russell –
The first of the lot in Tier 2 has to be Mercedes’ George Russell, who came alive in F1 2025 from the shadows of Lewis Hamilton as the team leader. From the get go, the Brit looked racey and spicy in almost all the weekends. The car was inconsistent still but had better consistency than how it was in previous seasons. This helped Russell to extract maximum and he did so. He delivered whenever mattered and was there to pick up, fighting with the McLaren pair and also Max Verstappen. Naturally, he was comfortably ahead of rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the process. The Brit looked like a different driver than the previous years, not overdoing things but focusing on extracting performance. And that reflected in the results after finishing a solid fourth, just behind the Top 3 drivers and interestingly only separated by 104 points to the leader, considering that Mercedes wasn’t in the league of either McLaren and or Red Bull.
His points were valuable which helped Mercedes finish second in the F1 constructors’ championship after they were only fourth in 2024. In all, he scored 319 points to go with two wins, nine podiums, two pole positions, three fastest laps along with three sprint podiums. The points haul of 319 is his best in his F1 career so far and he equaled his best result of fourth in the standings from 2022 – improved by two places from last year. Overall, Russell delivered for Mercedes, especially after the departure of Hamilton. The youngster took the mantle and showcased his talent which bodes well for the ultimate test in F1 2026 when his experience will be crucial.
Charles Leclerc –
Such has been his tenure at Ferrari that F1 2025 was not his worst season despite no wins against his name. For most part of the year when his rivals were enjoying wins and podiums, Charles Leclerc was left to answer what went wrong for him and the Italian manufacturer at a given weekend. He had pockets of success, but the race win eluded him and the team after they elected to stop development and focus on 2026. They took the bold decision after double disqualification in China in April. This kick-started a sorry season for the Monegasque, who outshone the car at several weekends to drag it into a better slot in Q3 and even manage to get handful of podium results. From a driver’s point of view, he drove well enough to be in Tier 2 and the mistakes largely happened due to over pushing the car. A Top 5 result with no development and no match to McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull, was nothing short of a miracle for Leclerc, who saw another of his rival secure world championship before him.
In all, he scored 242 points with seven podiums, one pole position and one fastest lap. As noted above, it wasn’t his worst season with Ferrari still, which came in 2020. In terms of points scored, he dipped from last year when he finished third in the drivers’ standings. The car didn’t justify his performance and how he dragged the car to results which were not possible. His motivation to excel with Ferrari really came alive during the course of the year when he was really pushing for a race win and not let the season end without a victory against the name of the Italian manufacturer – but it wasn’t to be. He managed to upstage his high-profile teammate Lewis Hamilton as well, which didn’t seem like a surprise in the end considering the challenges the Brit had to face.
Alexander Albon –
As a midfield driver, to feature in Tier 2 is a victory in itself. And Williams’ Alexander Albon showed it in F1 2025 finishing eighth as the best of the rest behind the big team drivers. With the arrival of Carlos Sainz, many put it as the biggest challenge in the Thai’s career after his Red Bull departure. But he didn’t faze down and upstaged the Spaniard in the first half of the year – granted that things went right for him then. The car delivered and he made the most when things were working for him in the first half. Despite three straight retirements early in the season, he looked like that he would beat Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli at one stage in the drivers’ standings. But the dip happened post Monza, which was similar to how teammate Sainz faced in the first half.
Having scored in 11 of the first 16 races, Albon scored none in the last eighth – barring one sprint. That hampered his points tally to be limited to just 73 in the end with a fastest lap, but crucially he finished eighth still in the standings, ahead of Sainz and the rest of the midfield. Hands down, it was his best result with Williams since joining them in 2022. For now, he managed to show his worth against race winner Sainz, but he missed on podiums which the Spaniard managed to. The luckless run towards the end also showcased certain mistakes on his end, but it was not big enough to overshadow his whole season, where he delivered for Williams to finish fifth in the constructors’ after being ninth a year before.
Carlos Sainz –
If not for his run from Azerbaijan, Williams’ Carlos Sainz wouldn’t have featured in Tier 2. After a bad start in Australia, the Spaniard found rhythm in the early part of the year to score points albeit behind Alexander Albon mostly. He was still not 100% with the car as experiments continued behind the scenes. The lull in between bogged him down a bit, but the podium in Baku really changed the trajectory. It pushed him from being slotted in Tier 3 to Tier 2 due to his flawless run – showing shades of how he operated from the cockpit at Ferrari. He didn’t let Williams feel like a midfield team, whether in Baku or Qatar. The Sainz magic started to show and he outplayed Albon in the last eight races.
That run eventually pushed him into the Top 10 in the drivers’ standings with 64 points, courtesy of two podiums and a sprint podium. Even though his points tally dipped from 2024, he maintained his Top 10 in the drivers’ standings, which he has finished in, since the 2017 season. At one stage, it looked like that his personal streak would end, but he overcame the bad luck and bad moments to deliver when it mattered and help Williams finish a solid fifth in the standings. He brought a change in attitude at Williams, which the Grove-based team needed and once again showed how valuable signing he is for a team as shown at Renault, McLaren and Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso –
Even for a writer, it is amazing how Fernando Alonso does things. Given how Aston Martin has been in the last two seasons, there is no reason for the Spaniard to feature in Tier 2 and yet he is, mixing with the likes of Russell and Leclerc. Once again, Alonso dragged his ar*e off to put Aston Martin in a respectable position. The car never looked to be the one at the higher midfield, but he still had enough chances to finish in the points. He did on 10 occasions and missed out probably in at least three or four races where he was comfortably in the position to do so. No one knows how he did it, but he ended up in the Top 10 of the drivers’ standings with 52 points ahead of two drivers who scored a podium. He was dead and out in the first eight races with no points, but scored in 10 from the remaining 16 to turn things around and put Aston Martin in seventh ahead of couple of teams, who looked to have a better and maybe slightly faster car in a closely packed field.
Tier 3 –
Andrea Kimi Antonelli –
It was a mixed run for Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli in his rookie F1 season in 2025. He started off well in Australia with a fourth place finish and also secured a pole in the early part with a podium against his name too. But the big dip in Europe crashed his season and it looked like the inexperience caught up. It co-incided with Mercedes’ overall performance dip, where an update on the car didn’t suit his style. Teammate George Russell managed it well due to his experience, but Antonelli suffered. It hit his confidence that he needed a meeting with Toto Wolff and Peter Bonnington after Monza. A reversal in the update and travel outside of Europe brought the confidence back, as the Italian returned to his pre-Europe form.
He got his mojo back in a fine return but didn’t manage to overhaul Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, to finish seventh in his first year. He scored 150 points in all, with three podiums and three fastest laps along with a sprint pole and sprint podium. He could have made it in Tier 2 but missed by just to be in Tier 3, due to his massive dip in Europe. Despite the good drives and recovery, there was much left on the table by Antonelli, which even irked team boss Wolff at times. The Italian took it in his stride as a learning for next season. It was still a good first season and he will only improve, not just in his performance but also the tier finish.
Nico Hulkenberg –
It was a solid start for Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in Australia in F1 2025, but the mixed conditions didn’t showcase its true performance. They had a low-key run until Barcelona when the updates changed the whole game and the German came alive in his stride. He found his rhythm and delivered for the Swiss outfit, even though he had troubles in getting qualifying right. Despite the Q1 exits, he could score at odd occasions and it eventually earned him his first podium ever in F1 in Silverstone, where he kept Lewis Hamilton at bay. He broke the podium curse and nearly finished in the Top 10 in the drivers’ standings but for few misses to end up 11th with 51 points – only five behind Fernando Alonso. The German was tied in points with Isack Hadjar, but a fifth place finish helped his cause. His qualifying drop relegated him to Tier 3, where he was tied 12-all against teammate Gabriel Bortoleto. But he managed to use his experience to beat the rookie Brazilian in the points tally.
Isack Hadjar –
The Visa Cash App RB driver was another rookie in F1 2025 to show good performances throughout the season, having looked part of the grid like he has been part for ages. Isack Hadjar did not have the greatest of starts in Australia, but he bounced back well to string of good performances early in the season. The Frenchman had the usual highs and lows for a rookie and a midfield driver, but he managed to score points still in pockets without shedding his consistency. He captured every opportunity when it came towards him and even registered his first podium in Zandvoort. He managed to get on the podium, before Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson could do it. He was part of the Top 10 for long in the drivers’ standings, but only missed out in the closing couple of races to two veterans Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. In fact, he was tied on 51 points with the German, even though he finished behind him in 13th, due to a fifth place result. His performances was noted by the senior team and earned him a Red Bull drive for 2026. It was good midfield outing, but not too extra to make it out of Tier 3 into the second tier.
Oliver Bearman –
It was a season of two halves for another F1 2025 rookie Oliver Bearman. Despite the incident in Australia, the Brit showed his talent by finishing in points in the next few races. But there was a mid-season lull which set him back against fellow rookies. But a timely update for Haas in Austin only elevated his run of points, where he secured his best result of fourth in Mexico, where he almost held off Max Verstappen in the fight for podium. The Brit had the upperhand on experienced teammate Esteban Ocon, which reflected in the standings as he finished 14th with 41 points – three more than the Frenchman. Much like Hadjar, the Brit too showed good potential in his first season which is why Tier 3 was apt placement for him. After an average last F2 season, Bearman thankfully had a decent F1 season to find the confidence he needed for a step up under new regulations in 2026.
Gabriel Bortoleto –
It was a toss-up if Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto should have been in Tier 3 or not. Considering that he only finished 19th in the F1 2025 standings with 19 points, ideally, he shouldn’t have been in the third tier. But his performances as a rookie is what pushed him into the third tier, especially in a car which only started to feel alive after the updates in Barcelona in the ninth round. The Hungary weekend was no doubt the highlight for him apart from going 12-all against Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying trim. The highs were good for the Brazilian, but the F2 and F3 champion has much to learn, especially after the late dramas in Brazil and Qatar. He bounced back well from it in Abu Dhabi, which showed his mindset and will to excel even in setbacks. The Brazilian was a bit less than other rookies, but had his own way in a car which has been a handful in recent seasons.
Tier 4 –
Lewis Hamilton –
One can be surprised and one can be not surprised to find Lewis Hamilton in Tier 4. After the hoo-haa in the winter when the seven-time world champion officially made the switch to Ferrari from Mercedes, much was expected out of the Brit. The Italian manufacturer came into the year after the high of fighting for the F1 constructors’ championship against McLaren in 2024, but from the get go, things looked on the other side in 2025. A sprint win for Hamilton in China generated false hope among viewers, even if the driver and team kept pushed down any hype, but the results and performance surprised them both by the end of the year. The double disqualification halted development programme after the China weekend in April, a move urged by Hamilton, but in that moment, the Brit didn’t think that the lack of development will hurt him dramatically by the end of the year – so much that he would count down days to end the misery. While Charles Leclerc managed to still do something, it was tougher for Hamilton, considering his troubles in qualifying which has been a problem in the era gone by.
He made an unwanted record, as it was his first season in F1 where he scored no podiums at all. Surprisingly, he finished sixth in the drivers’ standings with 156 points, one place up from where he finished in 2024. In fact, sixth is only his second worst result in a drivers’ championship – seventh is his worst. His position and points could have earned him a Tier 3 spot at least, but given that he is a world champion, his overall performance was lacklusture irrespective of the car and time needed to get in terms with new car and environment after changing teams. The driver he replaced – Carlos Sainz – had a much better result despite the problems the Spaniard faced. The hope for the Brit will be to get back to his own self in 2026 under new regulations, where he can at least score wins and podiums.
Liam Lawson –
It didn’t start of well for Liam Lawson at all in F1 2025 when he raced for Red Bull in the first two rounds and was mostly at the back of the field. A quick decision saw him back at Visa Cash App RB from Round 3 onward, where he needed few races to regain his lost confidence. Even though the Kiwi didn’t agree that he needed confidence, but the shock of what unfolded was definitely there. He also had to sync back in the car where rookie teammate Isack Hadjar was doing good things. It took him a while but his first break came in Monaco and he managed good points finishes, which included a best of fifth place in Azerbaijan – ironically against and ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. He was able to finish decently in the end with 38 points – tied with Esteban Ocon, but ahead of the Frenchman due to a sixth place finish. The Kiwi did well but Tier 4 was the maximum considering the start and him losing out to Hadjar in the standings.
Esteban Ocon –
Having switched teams from Alpine to Haas, Esteban Ocon made a dream start to F1 2025 after finishing fifth in only his second race with the team in China. He scored points in few other races in the first half to be in a decent position. But the second half didn’t do justice. He fell behind rookie teammate Oliver Bearman and was chasing performance. It was only by the end of the year when they realised what went wrong but by then he had about 10 races where he could have done better, but couldn’t. Being an experienced campaigner, a return of 38 points irrespective of the issues, is not the best of years. He was tied on points to Lawson, but finished behind due to the Kiwi’s sixth place result. But the bigger news was that he finished three points behind Bearman, who had a much better outing as a rookie. The Frenchman did do well in pockets, but it wasn’t enough to pull himself out of Tier 4.
Pierre Gasly –
Arguably of all the Tier 4 drivers, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly could have deserved more. The Frenchman dragged his car to points when there was no business for him to even finish inside Q3. It was evident very early on that the car was not in the right mode, coupled with a power unit, not even at par with its rivals, but the experienced campaigner managed to still score good enough points. In fact, his 22 points was only what the French manufacturer could manage, where he could have potentially scored a bit more, if not for mistakes or luck. He outshone the car and used his experience to keep himself in the hunt at several occasions, taking the fight to better placed midfield F1 teams. He did all he could in 2025, it will be now on Alpine, in combination with Mercedes power unit, to deliver in 2026.
Notable mentions –
After the disappointment of missing out on Red Bull drive to start F1 2025, Yuki Tsunoda got his chance from the third round and made immediate impact. But the crash in Imola changed his fortunes and put him in the same bracket as his predecessors. He tried hard, earned a few results, but luck was not with him in the end to eventually lose his race seat. He managed 33 points to be 17th just behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who also collected 33 points but multiple seventh place finishes helped him to be ranked ahead. With the experience of the Canadian, he still is to deliver on a consistent basis. Even though he recovered in the races, he didn’t show the performance like teammate Fernando Alonso. For Franco Colapinto, it was a tough second stint in F1 with Alpine after getting more races than his Williams days. He found some pace, but the car didn’t help to deliver like Pierre Gasly, while Jack Doohan got his bid in the first six races, but with no budget, even with okay performances, he couldn’t last longer.
Here’s Top 10 by F1 drivers
Here’s Top 10 by team bosses
Here’s tier system of teams for F1 2025
