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 – as part of FormulaRapida.net – decided on the Tier system where we have 10 F1 teams divided in four tiers. Here’s how they are stacked up –
Tier 1 –
McLaren –
There was no beating McLaren on the F1 constructors’ side in 2025. After a solid end to 2024, they started off handsomely this year and fared better than rivals Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari. They had a healthy lead from the get go, which they never lost. They dipped towards the end which made the drivers’ side interesting, but by then the constructors’ championship was already sealed. In fact, they won their second on the bounce after claiming the 2024 title. Last year, it went down to Abu Dhabi, but this year, they sealed it in Singapore, with six races to spare.
They collected 833 points in all, which is their highest collection of points in a season beating last year’s 666. It is their 10th constructors’ title, which puts them as second best constructor in the history of F1, after moving ahead of Williams – only Ferrari is ahead with 16 against their name. In all, they scored 14 wins in 2025 with 34 podiums, 13 pole positions, 12 fastest laps, three sprint wins and eight sprint podiums. The late dip perhaps affected their numbers and stats, but they got the two ultimate prize which they were after for long.
The MCL39 delivered them both constructors’ and drivers’ championships in the end, which is their first double since 1998. It is their 13th drivers’ title win, first with Lando Norris – and first since Lewis Hamilton won in 2008. Despite some questionable decisions – from execution point of view – McLaren did all in F1 2025 to justify the Tier 1 presence for the second season in the row. They showed dominance, even though it was not an easy feat to capture the title in the way it did, especially against fierce competition like Red Bull, who fought back ferociously in the second half. The fair play game between Norris and Oscar Piastri did raise some question marks, but with the championships in their pocket, it was all fair in the end.
Red Bull –
Even though they finished third in the 2025 F1 constructors’ standings, they made it in Tier 1 for the sheer push in the second half which almost got Max Verstappen his fifth drivers’ championship. They cut a deficit of 104 points to just two in the end where the Dutchman lost to Lando Norris. The constructors’ fight was never to happen considering the slow start and the ever-lasting second car trouble. That aspect could have cost them a place in Tier 1, though, but the sheer performance by the former world champion pushed the team in the top bracket single-handedly. It was similar to how he helped the team to finish third without much help from his teammate.
He scored 421 points of the team’s total of 451, with Yuki Tsunoda only managing 30 from the 22 events he competed for the team, where Liam Lawson scored none. In the end, Red Bull missed second in the constructors’ to Mercedes by only 18 points despite the German F1 team having two drivers scoring well. In all, Red Bull scored eight wins in 2025 with 15 podiums, eight pole positions, three fastest laps along with two sprint wins and three sprint podiums – all thanks to Verstappen. If only they had the second car sorted, they could have scored a lot more and finish closer to McLaren than being nearly 250 points behind.
This was a minus point for Red Bull in the end. The crash in Imola for Tsunoda disrupted their arrangements, but considering the caliber of the team, to not have a second car in shape for several seasons now, it has only hurt their chances. In a not so dominant situation, it creates pressure on the second driver. Even if he is couple of thousands behind, he looses chunk of places and a chance of points, which is what happened during the course of 2025. To avoid further troubles, Red Bull will need to hope that both cars are close to each other in the coming years.
Mercedes –
Having finished fourth in 2024 and lost Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari in F1 2025, Mercedes bounced back well in terms of results, finishing second this year beating rivals Red Bull and Ferrari in the process. The jump from P4 to P2 made the difference between finishing in Tier 1 and Tier 2, to go with a bit more consistent results. They did not have a car which could win the championship, but to their own surprise they found pace in races where they didn’t think they would. George Russell took charge and showed the way with a performative run, while rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had pockets of performance despite some dips in between which shook his confidence.
In all, Mercedes scored 469 points in F1 2025 – remarkably only one point more than they did in 2024. But it helped them finish second in constructors’ against fourth last year. They managed two wins in all with 12 podiums, two pole positions and five fastest laps along with four sprint podiums. From a manufacturer point of view, Mercedes had a 1-2 finish in the constructors’ standings to end the era, with drivers’ and constructors’ championships in their kitty via customer team, McLaren. On the performance front, their season looked like going in a different direction at one point, but a timely reversal of an update helped it turn the tides to maintain its consistency and help beat Red Bull in the constructors’.
Tier 2 –
Williams –
After the performance they put in, it shouldn’t be surprising that Williams features in Tier 2. They were clearly the best of the rest after making a huge jump from where they were in 2024 to where they finished in 2025. The fruits of the toil behind the scenes from James Vowles were rewarded nicely this year to finish fifth by good margin over its competitors. Even though they finished far way off Ferrari in terms of points, but how the team handled its season was far better than how the Italian manufacturer did. Considering the resources and pending big change incoming in 2026, the Grove-base team looked like a team of old when it ran towards the front of the field.
They scored 137 points in all which was 120 points more than what it did in 2024, when they finished ninth in the standings. They managed to score two podiums, a fastest lap along with a sprint podium in all of the 24 races, in a remarkable turnaround from one season to another. They had the chance to score even more if not for mishaps and luck running out for either drivers. The team had two halves with Alexander Albon starting well and Carlos Sainz finishing well. This eventually helped them both to end up inside the Top 10 of the drivers’ championship. The two experienced campaigners helped the team to take the step they were missing in the last few seasons of a collective push.
Sauber –
Much like Williams, the Swiss outfit had a remarkable turnaround from F1 2024 to 2025. They were down and out last year and it looked like the same when the 2025 season started, but the update in Barcelona worked wonders for them. They looked like a proper midfield team and found themselves in Q3 often, which was thing of the past for them. They made less mistakes as well and scored good points under the guidance of Jonathan Wheatley and Mattia Binotto, with one eye on 2026’s Audi takeover. They just had to see-through the year, but they showed their best to show that the Hinwil-based outfit still has the ‘Sauber magic’, which they have run through for a large part in the near past.
Having scored just the four points in 2024, Sauber managed 70 in 2025. The close competition meant they only managed to gain one place in the constructors’ to be ninth. But they scored a podium courtesy Nico Hulkenberg, who broke his personal jinx. The German was matched well by rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, where they were tied 12-all in qualifying battle. The two delivered when it mattered and helped the team to improve on all sides to be a formidable midfield team ahead of the 2026 change and birth of its factory collaboration with Audi. Despite the constructors’ position, they showed how a team works and in our ranking, they ended up being the best Ferrari-powered team over the factory outfit.
Tier 3 –
Ferrari –
For a team like Ferrari, it is not often that despite finishing fourth in the F1 constructors’ championship, they are ranked in Tier 3 rather than Tier 1 or even Tier 2. Such was the performance of the Italian manufacturer that things just didn’t work out, whether it was their own decision or otherwise. They had the maximum number of eyeballs coming into 2025, due to the hiring of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Him partnering with Charles Leclerc was the making of a dream team, but it didn’t turn out to be the best of years for either, despite the push from the Monegasque. Granted that Ferrari stopped development early in April, but given the aura of the team, they never looked like a title-winning team. They struggled by the end of the year as they dropped from second to fourth in the constructors’ position, which is their second worst since the last time they won the championship in 2008. They were sixth in 2020 and fourth in 2009 and 2014 to go with 2025.
Their points nearly halved from 2024 to be 398 as opposed to 652 they scored last year. The biggest downer was no race win in the whole season, which was the same in 2021. In the end, they scored seven podiums to go with one pole position and two fastest laps along with one sprint win and two sprint podiums. Unlike Williams and Sauber, they never looked like a team to do wonders on a given weekend. It was always the chasing situation with them and they faltered several times which was very unlike championship-level team and different from the likes of McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. This was still not the level of 2020 performance, but also nothing sort of 2024 even. They were below average by their standards, no matter how much Hamilton and Leclerc – in particular – tried.
Visa Cash App RB –
The sister Red Bull team had more potential than what they managed to show in F1 2025. They started out with Yuki Tsunoda but got Liam Lawson back in the car which slowed their run slightly, since the Kiwi had to be re-adjusted in the car, but despite that they faltered at certain moments which didn’t align with consistent results. Rookie Isack Hadjar pulled the team in several occasions early on, but it wasn’t enough. The Kiwi came good slowly but they couldn’t capitalise as much to take on Williams in the fight for fifth. They improved their performance from last year though, to be sixth from eighth and nearly scored double they managed last year.
It was 92 points in 2025 from 46 in 2024. In doing so, they scored a podium courtesy Hadjar, but that was it. They collected double points in few races, but never looked as dangerous as Williams did in certain races against the top teams. It was a decent push to be sixth but some of the teams faltered from last year which allowed them to gain on them. It was so-so performance which is why they found themselves in Tier 3 unlike Williams and Sauber, who showed marked improvement. In the end, Visa Cash App RB looked more or less similar to how they have been in the recent past, but the only difference is that they scored more this year.
Aston Martin –
After they finished fifth in F1 2024, Aston Martin couldn’t repeat the performance in 2025 and the inconsistent run meant it could only manage seventh. It was still respectable finish considering the team looked less pacey than the likes of Haas and Sauber, who ended up behind the Silverstone-based team. The car just didn’t work at most of the circuits and where it did, they could eke out good points to stabilise itself in the standings. A string of seventh place finishes is what helped them to stay in the hunt and be only three points behind Visa Cash App RB, even though the car was not as good as their’s.
The performance from Fernando Alonso was the major difference, as he dragged himself into the Top 10 when he didn’t deserve to. There were some unlucky moments, otherwise they might have beaten Visa Cash App RB even. In the end, they scored 89 points without any podium finish, where Lance Stroll chipped in, but the heavy work was done by Alonso mostly. Despite the results, Aston Martin fell short in the performance side, which is why Tier 3 was the maximum it could reach for its efforts.
Haas –
It didn’t start of well for Haas in F1 2025 when they faced early problem with their car. They put immediate fix, but it was only a compromise. They had some good results early on to put itself in the fight for fifth, but mid-season, they couldn’t capitalise in certain races which dropped them behind in the fight. Much like Visa Cash App RB and Aston Martin, they didn’t show their full potential, even though they strengthen its tools and methods during the season. They could have scored a lot more which was acknowledged by Esteban Ocon, after late identification of an issue that they limited their performance. Interestingly, Oliver Bearman could do a lot more than the Frenchman.
They finished eighth in the constructors’ standing with 79 points and ended up in Tier 3 due to performance gap to other midfields like Sauber. Even though they scored high points in 2025, they were still eighth in the standings, highlighting close competition. Granted that they had a new driver line-up to adjust with, which slowed part of the team’s progress, but they could have done a lot better than what they managed after missing out in few occasions, either due to pace or due to mistakes.
Notable mentions –
Instead of putting Alpine as the lone team in Tier 4, we slotted it under mentions after a disappointing season all together in F1 2025. They even had a driver change after six races with Jack Doohan dropped for Franco Colapinto, who bought some budget with him, but neither managed to score any points. In the end, they managed scored 22 points – all due to Pierre Gasly’s heroics. But overall, it was a huge fall even from 2024 standards. The last time they finished 10th or below in the constructors’ was back in 1978. It wasn’t the end of Renault power unit era they hoped for.
Here’s F1 drivers on era gone by
Here’s stats from Pirelli
Here’s stats from F1
