Which Formula 1 team has the strongest driver line-up for 2025? · RaceFans
In 2023 Red Bull were so dominant they would have won the constructors’ championship as a one-car team – providing the car was driven by Max Verstappen.
But last year their rivals were much closer and suddenly the gulf in performance between Red Bull’s two drivers cost them dearly. Verstappen clinched the drivers’ title again but the team fell to third in the standings as Sergio Perez contributed little more than a quarter of their total.
For 2025 all bar two of the F1 teams have different line-ups – including Red Bull. Two of them have all-new pairings and no fewer than six drivers will start their first full seasons.
But amid all that change, which team now has the strongest line-up of driving talent? That’s for you to decide in this week’s poll.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson
Perez slumped to his worst result in four years at Red Bull last season, the team lost the constructors’ championship and showed him the door. In his place comes Lawson, who has just 11 grand prix appearances to his name. Verstappen will surely continue to set the standard by which other drivers are judged, but will his new team mate sink or swim?
Mercedes
George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes have lost their star driver as Lewis Hamilton defects to Ferrari. But Russell’s performances last year suggested he may now be just as quick. Then there’s the fascinating question of Antonelli’s potential: Mercedes have tried to keep a lid on the hype, but the haste with which they’ve pushed him through the junior ranks plus his immediate promotion to a front-running team made that impossible.
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Ferrari
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton becomes the latest in a long line of multiple champions to pursue the dream of winning a title for Ferrari. In his case, of course, it would be a record-breaking eighth. But his final season at Mercedes was less than stellar, while Leclerc produced one of his best performances last year at Ferrari.
McLaren
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
McLaren’s drivers ran each other too close for comfort at times last year, causing strained moments at the Hungaroring and Monza. The team could be heading for a repeat in 2025 if their car remains as competitive as it was for much of last season and Piastri continues to close the gap to Norris.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Alonso will turn 44 next season but has shown no sign of letting up either his relentless pace or his uncompromising racecraft. Stroll languished well off his pace again last year, however.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan
Alpine made a belated effort to lure Carlos Sainz Jnr after Esteban Ocon decided to leave, but were unable to entice him. Doohan therefore becomes the first member of their junior team to make his F1 debut for them (Piastri and Zhou Guanyu having done so for other teams).
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Williams
Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz Jnr
Williams pulled off a coup by attracting Sainz to join them after Ferrari moved him aside to make way for Hamilton. He will undoubtedly prove the strongest competition Albon has faced since he partnered Verstappen at Red Bull.
Racing Bulls
Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar
Having been passed over for promotion to Red Bull, Tsunoda goes into his fifth season at Racing Bulls. Hadjar arrives in F1 without a junior series championship to his name, though he led the Formula 2 standings last year and suffered some poor luck on his way to the runner-up spot.
Sauber
Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
The last two teams have completely reset their driver line-ups for 2025, taking one experienced hand and one newcomer. Hulkenberg’s F1 career was unexpectedly revived by his return to Haas last year, while former McLaren junior Bortoleto has done the Leclerc/Piastri/Russell trick of winning F1’s top two feeder series in consecutive seasons.
Haas
Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon
Haas will be Ocon’s fourth different team since he made his F1 debut in 2016, and his first time sharing a team with someone significantly less experienced than himself. Bearman seriously impressed Haas on his appearances for them in practice sessions and as a substitute.
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I say
While you can’t discount top talents like Verstappen and Alonso, they are one half of somewhat imbalanced driver pairings. Stroll increasingly looks like a drag on Aston Martin’s potential, and while Lawson has the potential to impress, he is still very much an unknown quantity.
McLaren’s pairing of Norris and Piastri undoubtedly served them well last year, and given their relative inexperience compared to many other drivers on the grid, they still have potential to improve. But one team has formed a truly impressive partnership.
Ferrari already had arguably one of the strongest line-ups in F1 with Leclerc and Sainz. But replacing the latter with the most successful driver in F1 history creates a formidable line-up. The days of this team not wanting ‘two roosters in the same hen house’ are long gone.
But one fascinating question in the upcoming season will be whether Mercedes’ faith in Antonelli is vindicated. If he’s really as good as they think he is, their squad could be a serious force.
You say
Which team has the strongest driver line-up for 2025? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Which Formula 1 team has the strongest driver line-up for 2025?
- Haas: Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto (0%)
- Racing Bulls: Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar (0%)
- Williams: Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan (0%)
- Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll (0%)
- McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (30%)
- Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton (70%)
- Mercedes: George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (0%)
- Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson (0%)
Total Voters: 10
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