The 2024 F1 season is hotting up, with seven different winners in the first 14 races of the year and three in the last four races. Max Verstappen currently leads the championship with 277 points, ahead of Lando Norris in second with 199 points.
Over half of the grid’s contracts are set to expire at the end of the year and it looks likely that the summer break will be packed full of negotiations. The driver market was sent into chaos at the start of the year when Lewis Hamilton announced he would be leaving Mercedes - the team he’s been with since 2013 - to join Ferrari, leaving Carlos Sainz out of the Italian outfit.
2025 F1 driver line-up
Hamilton's announcement of his move to Ferrari meant that contract negotiations began earlier in the season than anticipated, as teams looked to secure their driver line-ups for the next season. The move left Sainz without a seat and he had been described as "the cork in the bottle" by Kevin Magnussen, as the grid tried to solidify their seats for next year.
That cork may be out of the bottle now though, as Sainz announced at the start of the summer break that he will be joining Williams in 2025. The Spaniard has signed a two-year deal with the option to extend past 2026. Team principal James Vowles has said: "Carlos brings not just experience and performance, but also a fierce drive to extract every millisecond out of the team and car; the fit is perfect."
The move from Hamilton also leaves the second Mercedes seat available, with speculation that the place could be given to F2’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Following the 17-year-old’s maiden feature race win in Hungary, the Italian said "I don't know if I will be ready” for a move into F1 next year.
Antonelli’s Prema team-mate Oliver Bearman announced in July that he would be joining Haas in 2025. The Chelmsford-born driver had an impressive debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian GP after he was called to stand in for an unwell Sainz. Following the announcement of his move into F1, Bearman said: “It’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me. To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team makes me so immensely proud.”
Nico Hulkenberg will return to Sauber 12 years after previously racing for the team. The German will leave Haas at the end of 2024 after rejoining the team last season to replace Mick Schumacher. Hulkenberg will work with Sauber as they become Audi in 2026, with former Audi F1 CEO Andreas Seidl saying at the time: “With his speed, his experience and his commitment to teamwork, he will be an important part of the transformation of our team – and of Audi’s F1 project.”
Esteban Ocon will part ways with Alpine at the end of the year and has opted to join the Haas line-up alongside Oliver Bearman. The news followed his controversial collision with team-mate Pierre Gasly at the Monaco GP which left the team’s management upset and threatening to replace him for the following Canadian GP. Ocon has spent five years with the Enstone-based team after joining Renault in 2020 which rebranded to Alpine in 2021.
Ahead of the Dutch GP, Alpine announced that it had promoted its reserve driver Jack Doohan to replace the outgoing Ocon in 2025. The Australian has been part of the Alpine Academy since 2022 and will be the first driver to graduate up to the F1 team. Following the announcement Doohan said: “I am very grateful for the trust and belief by the team’s senior management. There is so much work ahead to be prepared and ready and I will give my best in the meantime to absorb as much information and knowledge to be ready for the step up.”
Here is the current 2025 grid and when their contracts are set to expire:
| Team | Driver | Contract deadline | Driver | Contract deadline |
| Red Bull | Max Verstappen | End 2028 | Sergio Perez | End 2026 |
| Mercedes | George Russell | End 2025 | TBC | TBC |
| Ferrari | Charles Leclerc | Beyond 2025 | Lewis Hamilton | Multi-year |
| Aston Martin | Fernando Alonso | Multi-year until at least the end of 2026 | Lance Stroll | Beyond 2025 |
| McLaren | Lando Norris | Multi-year beyond 2025 | Oscar Piastri | End 2026 |
| Alpine | Pierre Gasly | End 2026 | Jack Doohan | End 2025 |
| Williams | Alex Albon | End 2026 | Carlos Sainz | End 2026 |
| Haas | Oliver Bearman | Multi-year until at least the end of 2026 | Esteban Ocon | Multi-year deal |
| Sauber | Nico Hulkenberg | Multi-year until at least the end of 2026 | TBC | TBC |
| RB | Yuki Tsunoda | End 2025 | TBC | TBC |
This shuffle has left several drivers without confirmed seats for 2025, with just three seats left for the taking. The following drivers are yet to announce their plans for the next season and are currently out of a seat going into next year:
• Daniel Ricciardo
• Kevin Magnussen
• Logan Sargeant
• Valtteri Bottas
• Zhou Guanyu
2025 F1 calendar
Formula 1 and the FIA have revealed another 24-round season for 2025, which also marks the championship’s 75th anniversary.
The season opener will return to Melbourne for the first time since 2019. The Australian GP will take the season-opener spot from the Bahrain GP which had hosted the opening race for the last four years. The race in Sakhir will now move to the fourth race of the season, followed by the Saudi Arabian GP which have both been moved due to Ramadan taking place in March.
The Hungarian GP will mark the start of the summer break, swapping places with the Belgian GP which is closing the first half of the 2024 season. Once again the Dutch GP will make the end of the summer break, with F1 returning on 29-31 August for the final 10 races of the year.
The 2024 calendar saw several big changes, which bunched countries together for a better geographical flow in hopes of reducing the carbon footprint of the series. The changes will continue in 2025 including the season openers of Australia, China and Japan scheduled together and the Middle East races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi closing the season.
Here is the full 2025 F1 calendar:
| Date | Grand Prix | Location | Track |
| 14-16 March | Australian GP | Melbourne, Australia | Albert Park Circuit |
| 21-23 March | Chinese GP | Shanghai, China | Shanghai International Circuit |
| 4-6 April | Japanese GP | Suzuka, Japan | Suzuka International Racing Course |
| 11-13 April | Bahrain GP | Sakhir, Bahrain | Bahrain International Circuit |
| 18-20 April | Saudi Arabian GP | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Jeddah Corniche Circuit |
| 2-4 May | Miami GP | Miami, Florida, United States | Miami International Autodrome |
| 16-18 May | Emilia Romagna GP | Imola, Italy | Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) |
| 23-25 May | Monaco GP | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Circuit de Monaco |
| 30 May-1 June | Spanish GP | Barcelona, Spain | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya |
| 13-15 June | Canadian GP | Montreal, Canada | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve |
| 27-29 June | Austrian GP | Spielberg, Austria | Red Bull Ring |
| 4-6 July | British GP | Silverstone, United Kingdom | Silverstone Circuit |
| 25-27 July | Belgian GP | Spa, Belgium | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
| 1-3 August | Hungarian GP | Budapest, Hungary | Hungaroring |
| 29-31 August | Dutch GP | Zandvoort, Netherlands | Circuit Zandvoort |
| 5-7 September | Italian GP | Monza, Italy | Autodromo Nazionale Monza |
| 19-21 September | Azerbaijan GP | Baku, Azerbaijan | Baku City Circuit |
| 3-5 October | Singapore GP | Marina Bay, Singapore | Marina Bay Street Circuit |
| 17-19 October | United States GP | Austin, Texas, United States | Circuit of the Americas |
| 24-26 October | Mexican GP | Mexico City, Mexico | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez |
| 7-9 November | Brazilian GP | Interlagos, Brazil | Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) |
| 20-22 November | Las Vegas GP | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Las Vegas Street Circuit |
| 28-30 November | Qatar GP | Lusail, Qatar | Lusail International Circuit |
| 5-7 December | Abu Dhabi GP | Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi | Yas Marina Circuit |
What is the F1 sprint race schedule for 2025?
Once again there will be six sprint races for the 2025 season. Shanghai will be the first sprint race of the year, followed by Miami, as was the case at the start of the 2024 season.
Spa will host its first sprint for the first time since 2023, replacing Austria which hosted a 2024 sprint. Events will also be held in the US and Qatar for the third time. Interlagos is the only venue returning to the calendar which has hosted a sprint race every year since 2021, and will mark the fifth sprint race at the Sao Paulo-based track.
There are no announced changes to the 2025 sprint race format, following some significant changes in 2024. A new format was introduced this year which replaced the Friday race qualifying session with sprint qualifying.
Saturday then begins with the sprint race before qualifying for the main race taking place later in the day. These changes allowed for cars to be released from parc ferme conditions after Saturday’s sprint, allowing for teams to make set-up changes before qualifying.
Here is the full 2025 F1 sprint calendar:
| Date | Grand Prix | Country | Track |
| 21 - 23 March | Chinese GP | Shanghai, China | Shanghai International Circuit |
| 2 - 4 May | Miami GP | Miami, Florida, United States | Miami International Autodrome |
| 25 - 27 July | Belgian GP | Spa, Belgium | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
| 17 - 19 October | United States GP | Austin, Texas, United States | Circuit of the Americas |
| 7 - 9 November | Brazilian GP | Interlagos, Brazil | Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) |
| 28 - 30 November | Qatar GP | Lusail, Qatar | Lusail International Circuit |
2025 F1 regulation changes
The FIA is considering acting on aero changes in 2025 to combat the significant drop in the ability of cars to be able to follow each other. It follows a number of complaints in 2023 by drivers that the current cars are struggling to race close to each other, with an analysis of performance showing a 50% drop in the ground effect machinery.
The FIA did not make the changes heading into the 2024 season as it felt it would be unfair given teams had already put a lot of resources into this year’s cars. The FIA's single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said: "We are studying solutions for 2025. We have identified some parts of the cars to act on, such as the endplate of the front wing, the side of the floor and the fins inside the wheels (around the brake ducts). We could lay down somewhat more restrictive rules in these areas.
"It is clear we no longer have the advantage of 2022 and, therefore, we know that there is work to be done."
The 2025 season will be the 12th and final year of the V6 hybrid turbo power unit. It comes as part of the regulation changes which will see the end of the MGU-H unit for the more powerful MGU-K. F1 will also scrap DRS in 2026, opting for a push-to-pass system known as ‘X-mode’ which will put the front and rear wings into a low-drag setting on the straights.
The minimum weight for the driver will be increased from 80kg to 82kg and, as a result, the minimum weight of car, without fuel, will be increased from 798kg to 800kg for 2025.
But the FIA also plans to introduce new chassis rules for the 2026 season which will make cars around 40-50kg lighter.
