Lewis Hamilton prepares for his Ferrari debut as the 2025 Formula 1 season begins in Melbourne this week at the Australian Grand Prix.
After making the blockbuster move from Mercedes to partner up with Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia will hope to dethrone Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with the Dutch driver bidding for a fifth successive F1 crown. However, former driver Ralf Schumacher has said on the Sky Germany podcast “I don’t think he [Verstappen] has a chance” after Red Bull’s lae-season struggles last year.
After the official three-day pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit, excitement is building around McLaren, with Lando Norris and this week’s home favourite Oscar Piastri moving into title contention.
While George Russell now leads the Silver Arrows, they also have Kimi Antonelli who is among an exciting crop of rookie drivers in F1 this year, as is Briton Ollie Bearman, who spoke exclusively to The Independent this week about his title ambitions.
Follow all the latest F1 news with The Independent as we count down to the Grand Prix during race week.
Formula One news LIVE
- F1 returns for 2025 season at Australian Grand Prix on Sunday
- Lewis Hamilton poised for Ferrari debut after making switch following 11 years with Mercedes
- Lando Norris starts 2025 campaign as favourite for Drivers' Championship
- Four-time defending champion Max Verstappen told he has 'no chance' of title in struggling Red Bull by Ralf Schumacher
- Hamilton’s Verstappen promise revealed ahead of Australian Grand Prix
- Exclusive interview – Ollie Bearman: ‘You only get one shot in F1 – my ultimate goal is to be a world champion’
F1 2025 rookies: Who is Racing Bull's Isack Hadja?
13:34 , Luke BakerNicknamed “le petit Prost” in French media, Hadjar has been handed his F1 opportunity at Red Bull’s sister team at the age of 20.
The Frenchman has a one-year contract and Red Bull’s history – aside from Perez – shows patience is rarely afforded to their drivers, no matter the age.
He impressed with his F2 runner-up spot last year, despite a nightmare start-line stall with the title on the line at the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Can Hadjar compete with Yuki Tsunoda, who is heading into his fifth season? It remains to be seen whether RB’s car will be competitive enough to challenge for the points.
F1 2025 rookies: Who is Haas driver Ollie Bearman?
13:16 , Luke BakerThe rookie story of 2024, Bearman will drive for American-owned, Ferrari-powered Haas this year as a result, largely, of a memorable F1 debut in Saudi Arabia last March.
Stepping in for the ill Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, Bearman qualified a respectable 11th and finished seventh – ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris – at one of the most feared street circuits on the calendar in Jeddah.
From that moment, a spot on the 20-man grid seemed inevitable. His 2025 place was confirmed at Silverstone, and another stand-in moment in Azerbaijan for Haas brought another top-10 finish, showing that Bearman (raised in Chelmsford, Essex) is ready for his F1 promotion at 19.
He has a two-year contract at Haas, racing alongside experienced race winner Esteban Ocon in what should be a fascinating intra-team battle this year. And if he continues to shine, a spot at Ferrari (perhaps replacing Hamilton) is not out of the question in the future, given his links to the prancing horse.
F1 2025 rookies: Who is Alpine driver Jack Doohan?
12:57 , Luke BakerThe son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick, Jack Doohan has waited patiently for his chance at Alpine.
He has now got it, but will already be feeling the heat.
Doohan will compete in his home race in Melbourne with reserve driver Franco Colapinto – signed from Williams in the off-season – breathing down his neck for his seat. It is hardly ideal circumstances for the 22-year-old, who has dealt with it admirably so far.
A third-place finish in F2 in 2023 shows his potential, but Doohan can ill afford an acclimatisation period. Whether he can stave off Colapinto will be one of the early season stories to keep an eye on.
F1 2025 rookies: Who is Red Bull driver Liam Lawson?
12:35 , Luke BakerLawson has featured in 11 F1 races so far (five in 2023, six in 2024) but the first foray was as a stand-in, while the second was an audition for the mothership.
In what has been an incredible ascension, the Kiwi will now partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025, taking his place in the hardest seat in F1.
The 23-year-old has impressed with his on-track speed and attitude, despite fewer than a dozen starts. Singapore in 2023 was when people first took note, where he navigated the most humid race of the season to finish ninth.
He replicated that result in Austin a year later, before wagging his middle finger to Sergio Perez during a contentious moment in Mexico a week later.
Lawson has fire in his belly. Christian Horner has praised his “versatility and racecraft” – he’ll need both attributes to challenge Verstappen on a regular basis.
Lewis Hamilton admits racism in Serie A ‘crossed his mind’ before Ferrari F1 move
12:18 , Luke BakerLewis Hamilton has admitted that incidents of black footballers being racially abused in Italy did make him think twice when deciding to move to Ferrari this year.
The seven-time F1 world champion has switched to Ferrari after 12 years and six world titles at Mercedes. His first race in Scuderia red is at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 16 March.
Hamilton is also F1’s first and only black driver and has detailed in the past the “traumatising” racial abuse he has suffered, detailing in 2023 that he had bananas thrown at him and was repeatedly called the “n-word” at school. He was also racially abused at F1 testing in Barcelona in 2008.
Serie A footballers such as Mike Maignan and Moise Kean have been subject to racial abuse in the past and Hamilton did admit that racist chanting at Italian matches “crossed his mind” when making the decision to move to Ferrari last winter.
Lewis Hamilton admits racism in Serie A ‘crossed his mind’ before Ferrari F1 move
Toto Wolff makes shock Max Verstappen F1 revelation after breaking ‘promise’ to Lewis Hamilton
12:04 , Luke BakerToto Wolff promised Lewis Hamilton he wouldn’t pursue a move for Max Verstappen while the Brit was at Mercedes, as revealed in the new season of Drive to Survive.
The Mercedes team principal, who worked with Hamilton for 12 years, spent the first half of the 2024 season looking for a replacement for the Ferrari-bound driver.
Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso were among the contenders, with Wolff eventually opting to promote teenage prodigy Kimi Antonelli to partner George Russell this year.
Yet Wolff made no secret of his desire to sign Hamilton’s 2021 foe Verstappen – especially amid unrest at Red Bull at the start of last season – and details as such in season seven of Drive to Survive, released on Friday.
Wolff makes shock Verstappen F1 revelation after breaking ‘promise’ to Hamilton
Max Verstappen told 'he doesn't have a chance' of F1 title this year
11:47 , Luke BakerMax Verstappen does not have “a chance” of a fifth straight F1 Drivers’ Championship win in 2025 according to former driver Ralf Schumacher.
Schumacher believes Verstappen delivered a “rescue” effort in a struggling Red Bull car last year but he won’t be able to do the same again.
McLaren’s Lando Norris is the favourite to win the title this season and Schumacher is adamant Verstappen will be powerless to stop the Brit and others at the front of the grid.
Speaking on the Sky Germany podcast, Schumacher said: “Last year it was clear. Red Bull was very strong at the start of the season, but then they couldn’t handle the car. Verstappen was the rescue.
“However, he will have to get used to everything coming to an end. I don’t think he has a chance.”
Why Lando Norris knows there is ‘no excuses’ now – he has to win 2025 F1 title
11:30 , Luke BakerTaking the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi at the final race of 2024, bringing home a first constructors’ title in 26 years for McLaren, brought up mixed emotions for cheerful chappy Lando Norris.
On one hand, it was pure elation. A member of the McLaren family for eight years, this meant as much to Norris as anyone else. He described it as a “perfect” end to the season, beating Ferrari to the championship by 14 points. And he’d need no invitation; he was going to get “hammered” later that night over the border in Bahrain.
Yet in the same breath, even amid joyous papaya-clad celebrations on the pit-wall, the boy from Bristol could not help but sample that bittersweet taste. “It’s been a special year,” he said over team radio, before adding: “And next year is going to be my year, too.”
Why Lando Norris knows there are now ‘no excuses’ – he has to win 2025 F1 title
Who finishes higher out of Hamilton or Leclerc at Ferrari?
11:17 , Kieran Jackson, Formula 1 CorrespondentWill the performances match the hype? That’s the big question ahead for Hamilton.
Despite the excitement at the biggest transfer in F1 history, the 40-year-old comes into this season after his worst-ever championship position of seventh. He also endured a torrid head-to-head qualifying record, losing 19-5 to Russell at Mercedes.
That will be firmly in his mind as he takes on arguably F1’s quickest driver over one lap. Leclerc has 26 pole positions but just eight race wins – a higher conversion rate will be on his mind this year.
Overall, I back Leclerc to finish higher – and be Norris’s closest challenger.
Season predictions - constructors’ wooden spoon? Sauber
11:01 , Kieran Jackson, Formula 1 CorrespondentIt was a torrid 2024 season for Sauber.
In 24 races, the team scored just four points. Valtteri Bottas, the ex-Mercedes race winner, failed to register a top 10 finish. Both the Finn and Zhou Guanyu were dropped at the end of the season.
The signings of experienced German driver Nico Hulkenberg and Formula Two champion Gabriel Bortoleto present a solid lineup. But testing still saw them well off the pace. They will do well to avoid finishing last again in 2025
Audi will have one hell of a job on when they take over for 2026.
Season predictions - constructors’ champions? McLaren
10:44 , Kieran Jackson, Formula 1 CorrespondentWhile there was little to choose between Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes in testing, McLaren were the clear winners. Their 2024 constructors’ title – as they broke a 26-year duck – makes the papaya favourites this year and testing did nothing to dispel that.
Led by chief designer Rob Marshall (formerly of Red Bull), McLaren have cracked the code of this ground-effect era of regulations. The big question is: have they learned their lesson from a fractious intra-team policy last year?
Will Norris and Piastri bang wheels again? McLaren and Ferrari, with two of the strongest driver pairings on the grid, can ill-afford for their drivers to take points off one another, with clear lead drivers in Verstappen and George Russell at Red Bull and Mercedes.
But the signs are that, at least early on, McLaren will have the quickest car.
Season predictions - world champion? Lando Norris
10:31 , Kieran Jackson, Formula 1 CorrespondentBefore testing, I was inclined to go with Charles Leclerc, on the basis that Ferrari could have closed the marginal gap to McLaren in the off-season. But a telling three days in Bahrain have changed that.
McLaren’s standout race-pace last week, with Norris at the helm of their 2025 MCL39 car, was the main on-track headline. Despite a tightly congested top four, McLaren are clearly the frontrunners ahead of the new campaign.
There is a school of thought that Oscar Piastri could challenge him strongly this year and the Australian will no doubt be eyeing an improvement in qualifying to pose a genuine threat over the course of 24 races.
Yet Norris is their standout driver. He needs to improve – particularly at lights out – but the Briton does have the quality to become a world champion. As he has acknowledged, if he is armed with the quickest car, there can be “no excuses” this time around.
‘No love lost’ between George Russell and Max Verstappen as last season’s feud rumbles on
10:16 , Luke BakerThe dispute between four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell shows no sign of abating as the new season gets underway.
The pair memorably clashed after the Qatar Grand Prix last season, when Verstappen, the eventual winner, was penalised for impeding the Brit.
Russell claimed that afterwards Verstappen threatened to "purposefully go out of his way to crash into me and 'put me on my head in the wall'", while his Dutch counterpart said he had “lost all respect” for the Mercedes driver.
‘No love lost’ between Russell and Verstappen as feud rumbles on
Who could drive for Cadillac in 2026 F1 season?
09:58 , Luke BakerAfter Cadillac were confirmed as Formula 1’s 11th team on the grid for the 2026 season, attention now turns to who the American team could select as their drivers.
A number of free agents could tempt Cadillac due to their experience, though, namely Valtteri Bottas or Kevin Magnussen, who has driven for fellow American outfit Haas. The flashy pick might see Cadillac turn to big names Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, who both fell short in their efforts to retain or claim the No. 2 seat at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen, with Liam Lawson making his debut this year.
Damon Hill confirms return to F1 pundit role for Australian Grand Prix
09:38 , Luke BakerDamon Hill has revealed he will return to TV work in the F1 paddock at next week’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The 1996 F1 world champion left Sky Sports at the end of last season after 13 years working as a pundit for the broadcaster, since they won the rights to F1 in the UK in 2012.
Hill was critical of eventual world champion Max Verstappen last year, after the Red Bull driver was penalised for dangerous driving in battle with title rival Lando Norris.
The 65-year-old departed Sky after the Brazilian Grand Prix but has now announced his return to the paddock in Melbourne.
Damon Hill confirms return to F1 pundit role for Australian Grand Prix
Ollie Bearman: ‘You only get one shot in F1 – my ultimate goal is to be a world champion’
09:23 , Luke BakerAs foolish as it sounds, Ollie Bearman’s manager was actually cut off from the call which changed the life of his most precious client. Fortunately, the British teenager himself was not short of credit on his phone.
Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last March, Ferrari suddenly needed a driver after Carlos Sainz fell ill. Relaxing idyllically off the shores of the Red Sea fresh from securing pole position in F2, 18-year-old Bearman spotted Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur’s name on his phone and, right then, knew he was about to be given the opportunity of a lifetime.
Kieran Jackson chats exclusively to the British F1 rookie sensation:
F1 star Bearman: ‘You only get one shot – my goal is to be a world champion’
Max Verstappen told 'he doesn't have a chance' of F1 title this year
09:07 , Luke BakerMax Verstappen does not have “a chance” of a fifth straight F1 Drivers’ Championship win in 2025 according to former driver Ralf Schumacher.
Schumacher believes Verstappen delivered a “rescue” effort in a struggling Red Bull car last year but he won’t be able to do the same again.
McLaren’s Lando Norris is the favourite to win the title this season and Schumacher is adamant Verstappen will be powerless to stop the Brit and others at the front of the grid.
Speaking on the Sky Germany podcast, Schumacher said: “Last year it was clear. Red Bull was very strong at the start of the season, but then they couldn’t handle the car. Verstappen was the rescue.
“However, he will have to get used to everything coming to an end. I don’t think he has a chance.”
Lewis Hamilton’s Max Verstappen promise revealed ahead of Australian Grand Prix
09:01 , Luke BakerToto Wolff made a promise to Lewis Hamilton that he would not try to sign Max Verstappen while the British driver was still at Mercedes.
Wolff said on the latest series of Netflix’s Drive to Survive that he would have only moved for Verstappen after it was confirmed that Hamilton was leaving for Ferrari.
“I haven't spoken to him because I promised Lewis I wouldn't talk to him but I will have the conversation now.,” Wolff said.
Christian Horner scandal rehashed as Drive to Survive unearths new F1 villain
08:59 , Luke BakerLet’s start with the obvious: Christian Horner has been a dream for Drive to Survive since the show landed in 2019. The Red Bull F1 CEO has been front-and-centre of countless episodes in the past six seasons, gladly playing the role of F1’s pantomime villain, with numerous scenes filmed at his country mansion home in Oxfordshire, alongside Spice Girl wife Geri Halliwell.
Season seven is no different. The latest instalment, chronicling the 2024 season, begins with Horner at the wheel of his 4x4, locked in conversation with Geri about a record-breaking 2023 campaign, in which Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races.
With an air of inevitability synonymous with Netflix’s exquisitely curated narratives, Geri strikes a warning to her husband: “You never know what life’s going to bring.” In actual fact, we all know what’s coming next.
Horner scandal rehashed as Drive to Survive season 7 unearths new F1 villain
Cadillac potential is 'limitless', claims team principal Graeme Lowdon
08:59 , Luke BakerCadillac's ambitions for Formula One are "limitless", according to team principal Graeme Lowdon.
The long-anticipated entry of Cadillac - a division of American motoring giant General Motors - as an 11th team on the grid from 2026 was finally rubber-stamped last week.
Lowdon, former sporting director of the Manor Marussia team, knows there is plenty of hard work ahead, but maintains high collective goals are achievable.
"Everybody, both in the management and the ownership of this new team, is extremely realistic," Lowdon said.
"We have a unique mix in terms of ownership qualities and the experience of people within the team, people who spent decades in Formula One. We have utmost respect for the competition.
"You want to enter competitions that are difficult and competitive as well, so we have got no illusions about how difficult it is.
"But we are well backed, we are well positioned and therefore I think it is important to highlight that our ambitions are limitless."
