It's customary to make the usual predictions ahead of a brand new Formula 1 season: who's going to win the title, which team is going to be the constructors' champion, yada and indeed, yada. In recent years, even a crystal ball from Temu would likely lead any clairvoyants on a budget to predict Max Verstappen would win the title, so there's not been much fun to be had in that area.
The 2025 season might be a bit different, but you can rest assured that our cast of journalists will scribble down - or indeed, declare on video - their tips for the title at some point this season.
Instead, we've decided to ask them some slightly different questions about 2025's proceedings - with a slightly different slant, just to test their imaginations. Here's what they said about F1's upcoming 75th season...
Contributors: Jake Boxall-Legge, Filip Cleeren, Haydn Cobb, Ben Hunt, Erwin Jaeggi, Alex Kalinauckas, Mark Mann-Bryans, Kevin Turner, Ronald Vording.
What will be this year's main technical controversy?
Ronald Vording: 2025 can become an interesting year for behind-the-scenes controversies. A lot of teams will look for loopholes in the 2026 regulations and probably accuse others of exploring them. But I think 2025 will deliver more of the same, with a first topic already there: the clampdown on flexi-wings and especially the timing of it. Extra checks of the front wings only come into play in Barcelona, and not all teams seem happy about the exact timings and that comes as no surprise. Teams with a front wing that didn't flex as much as some of its rivals are forced to follow if they don't want to have a disadvantage for eight races, before those investments can most likely go into the bin.
Alex Kalinauckas: Flexi-wings. Again. With the rules so stable and clarification already coming for the Spanish GP, the one area where it seemed several teams were gaining and others apparently losing up by not pushing the envelope quite has hard in 2024 as the potential to be a major bust up this time. Expect lots of social media ‘analysis’ of videos appearing to show wings deflecting at speed and subsequent technical director snark claiming it doesn’t show what anyone thinks it does.
Ben Hunt: Last season it was all flexi-wings and bibs. It has been a while since we have had a good, old-fashioned engine row. I am hope that we get something like that to see off this generation of power units.
Jake Boxall-Legge: I'm going to make the outlandish suggestion that someone's going to come up with something wild for 2025, on the basis that it's the last year of the current regs and if it gets banned, they can just switch focus to 2026. That being said, have we really heard the last of the purported ride-height device that Red Bull was said to have run - and can someone capitalise on that legally (or, alternatively, by surreptitious means)? Hopefully!
What will trigger another Horner/Wolff war of words?
Filip Cleeren: It looks like McLaren's Zak Brown has taken over from Toto Wolff stirring the pot and trying to prod Christian Horner, which I'm sure isn't coincidence when you see the constructors' championship table. So if another Horner/Wolff spat is coming, it'll likely coincide with Mercedes being reliably competitive again.
Alex Kalinauckas: The first time Max Verstappen and George Russell get anywhere near each other on-track – even in testing. Verstappen’s unyielding personality is not going to have grown any more cuddly after a year where his cynical racing tactics were severely questioned and Russell has been open in saying he hasn’t backed away from any of the point making he was doing in the 2024 Abu Dhabi finale while tucking in his no doubt calorie controlled Christmas dinner either. If they do collide, expect fireworks en masse.
Haydn Cobb: Max Verstappen - The courting of the Dutch driver isn't over, even if Wolff said it is. Both Mercedes drivers are contracted until the end of 2025 and nobody would turn down the chance to secure Verstappen's services. Assuming Antonelli doesn't throw it at the wall every race, the flirting won't be as strong as last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Wolff laced a few comments to keep the fire burning and Horner scowling.
Who will pick up the first swearing fine of the year?
Mark Mann-Bryans: Yuki Tsunoda - frustrated at being overlooked for the Red Bull seat in favour of Liam Lawson, the diminutive Japanese driver will be aiming to show that the wrong decision was taken. So let's be prepared for some strong racing on track and the potential for some strong language away from it should things not quite go Tsunoda's way.
Ben Hunt: For fuck's sake, is this still going on? I think it will be Verstappen, who let's remember is already walking a disciplinary tightrope. Could he become the first F1 driver to receive a race ban for swearing?
Kevin Turner: Isack Hadjar. If you thought Max Verstappen's and Yuki Tsunoda's radio messages were colourful, wait until the French rookie gets going! There is lots of pressure on rookies in modern F1 and Hadjar has previous from F2...
Erwin Jaeggi: This might double as my wildest F1 prediction for 2025, but I actually don’t think we’ll see any fines for swearing this year. It’s not like press conferences were ever filled with profanity to begin with, and when it did happen, it was usually accidental. These drivers spend much of their lives in a marketing-driven environment and are well aware they’re under constant scrutiny. With swearing now carrying even harsher consequences and F1 drivers — being intelligent individuals — and team PR staff likely keeping an even closer eye on it, I don’t think this will be as much of a talking point as it is now. That said, I do hope the stewards will show some common sense when dealing with the occasional slip of the tongue.
Who will take the first DNF of the season?
Filip Cleeren: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Melbourne after banging wheels in Turn 1 on the first lap. Not because I harbour any ill feelings against either driver, but just because it would be fun, especially off the front row.
Mark Mann-Bryans: Lewis Hamilton - I just have a feeling life at Ferrari might be difficult for Hamilton to adjust to, especially up against a strong and Maranello-established team-mate in Charles Leclerc. He will get it right eventually and I fancy him to have an enjoyable first season with Ferrari - but I cannot shake the idea of him struggling in Australia.
Kevin Turner: Andrea Kimi Antonelli or Lance Stroll. Antonelli will be fast and is clearly an exciting talent, but he will surely have a few incidents as well. Aston Martin will probably be focusing its main efforts on the regulation change for 2026, so the AMR25 may be mired in the midfield and Stroll is, well, please see the 2024 Brazilian GP.
Ronald Vording: This can be anyone, but my educated guess would - for multiple reasons - be Isack Hadjar. Driving for Racing Bulls he'll most likely start in the midfield in Melbourne, and chaos is never far away in the opening stages of that race. One of the main tasks for him this year, as Helmut Marko rightfully pointed it, is to keep his cool. That's not an easy task for any newcomer in F1, but especially not for Hadjar when we take his hot-headed radio comments into account. Having said that, a DNF at his debut wouldn't be a disaster at all. Rookies should get time to learn and Hadjar probably has the pure speed to succeed, so the moments of learning that 2025 will inevitably bring are all part of the game.
Ben Hunt: This is complete guesswork of course, but I would say Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber.
Who will have the worst livery in 2025?
Haydn Cobb: Red Bull - Only because it will be the same as every year and even for iconic teams that gets boring. Look at the subtle but effective tweaks Ferrari and Mercedes have made lately.
Alex Kalinauckas: Sauber. Going by recent team social media posts that totally undermine the point of the F1 75 Live event in London next week, we already know what a swathe of the grids liveries are going to look like in terms of their main colours, with the (mainly) Swiss-based team part of this. And, based on what we’ve seen so far, 2025 is going to be a repeat of the lurid Live and Kicking meets Microsoft Paint approach of last year. Hopefully there will be a little more of the Las Vegas squiggles, as the standard paint job somehow made neon green dull. Or maybe that was just the car’s pace…
Ronald Vording: This is probably a close call between Haas and Sauber. Haas liveries aren't usually the most exciting ones on the grid and I don't think 2025 will be an exception. The Sauber colours are more striking, but personally I wasn't a fan of their 2024 look. This season will probably be more of the same, although you can't blame them for going down this route. Stake brings in the much-needed money, especially during these transitional years of the team, which means they have to accept any colour scheme. Anyhow, the Sauber-Stake partnership won't lead to any classics when it comes to F1 liveries...
Mark Mann-Bryans: You would like to think all 10 teams will be pushing the envelope this year, given they will be unveiling their liveries all under one roof at London's O2 Arena on February 18. The chances are, however, at least one of those 10 squads will make an error and overdo it. So on that basis I'll go for the team that aims to be cool and, using a saying not heard in 30 years, down with the kids. So for me, Racing Bulls is my pick.
Which circuits will we lose from the calendar at the end of 2025?
Alex Kalinauckas: Barcelona. The rest either have contracts or excellent Formula One Management links (its own event in Vegas just isn’t going anywhere) and it’s hard to see how the Montmelo track keeps its place with Madrid’s arrival in 2026. In many ways it’s a shame to lose the best overall test of car designs. But the many race processions won’t be missed, nor what can be a patchy fan experience at best and an parched one at worst.
Erwin Jaeggi: I have a deep love for the Emilia-Romagna region — I'm actually planning to spend my summer holiday there — but I fear Imola won’t make it onto the 2026 calendar. With F1 aiming to expand its global reach, maintaining two races in Italy seems increasingly difficult. That said, there’s hope that Imola could return in the future as part of the rotation system F1 is looking to introduce.
Ben Hunt: Aside from Imola, I do wonder if Mexico will renew its deal now that Sergio Perez is no longer on the grid. It will be interesting to see what impact his departure from F1 has on ticket sales.
Jake Boxall-Legge: We will lose at least one if F1 is sticking to a maximum of 24 races, and I'm probably one of the few people optimistic about Madrid (if nothing else, it'll be a nice weekend away!) joining the calendar. I love Imola, but that seems like the smart money option, while Ben's suggestion of Mexico also makes sense in a post-Perez era. Maybe both go, and Kyalami fills the 24th spot given South Africa's latest push for a race? Stranger things have happened.
Where will Lawson finish in the championship - and how many races will he win?
Filip Cleeren: Like many, I am still not sure what Liam Lawson's ultimate potential will be. But I do follow Red Bull's reasoning that he will be up for the challenge and won't wilt easily under the pressure. I'll put him down as fifth, within a sizeable but respectable distance of Verstappen, and I can see a scenario in which he nicks an opportunistic debut win.
Ronald Vording: Sixth, with zero race wins - a lot depends on the RB21 and if Red Bull can solve the balance issues. Since Miami, Red Bull didn't have the fastest car and faced both balance and correlation issues. Verstappen held onto his championship lead, but one look at his team-mate is enough to see how special that performance was. Perez struggled, although the data shows that his deficit compared to Verstappen wasn't much bigger than in years before. It just became more painful as other teams caught up and eventually passed Red Bull. Together with a very unpredictable car it proved a mountain to climb. Lawson will face the same challenge - well, hopefully for him without the balance issues - and probably has to listen to Helmut Marko's advice to succeed. Lawson shouldn't look at Verstappen too much and just focus on himself.
Kevin Turner: Seventh. He will be closer to Max Verstappen than Sergio Perez was and could beat Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the standings. But Red Bull probably won't be as strong as it was at the start of 2024 and the focus will be on getting as many points and wins as possible for Verstappen. So, no wins and seventh for Lawson, which won't necessarily be a disaster if he can be closer to his team leader than what we saw at Red Bull last year.
Which rookie will impress the most over 2025?
Ben Hunt: I am excited to see how Oliver Bearman develops at Haas and I think he will be impressive, even if the results do not stand out. I think the one who will impress the most will be Andrea Kimi Antonelli. It will be a steep learning curve but I believe that, in Russell, he has the right teammate who can help him develop quickly.
Haydn Cobb: Oliver Bearman - If he can keep his nose clean in the tightly-fought midfield there is a good opportunity for him to bag headline-grabbing results like he did in 2024. Plus, given the trajectory of the teams the other rookies have landed in (ignoring Lawson as a rookie in this scenario) Haas has a strong chance of leading the charge to try to catch Aston Martin in fifth.
Jake Boxall-Legge: Antonelli should impress; he's got raw speed by the bucketload. But he'll disappoint in equal measure, as he attempts to find the limits of F1 machinery and knocks the rough edges off his game. I'm going to say Bortoleto, because I think he's been utterly brilliant in his F2-F3 career so far. He's fast, consistent, and I think he'll put Hulkenberg (who remains a class act) under pressure at Sauber. The car might not be all that, but I reckon he's on for a couple of big paydays once he's adapted to the rigours of the championship.
What’s your wildest 2025 F1 prediction?
Alex Kalinauckas: In an era of constantly wild moments, F1 is frustratingly arranged to minimise these in its own sphere. F1 teams utterly hate the unpredictable, while fans crave it. And is a Williams or Haas victory prediction actually that wild? There’s plenty of paddock life wildness discussed in F1 – I hadn’t heard the phrase ‘Love Rhombus’ pre-2024 – but for everyone’s sake it’s unprintable. So, why not Lawson flipping off Oscar Piastri in an spectacular intra-antipodean Melbourne battle to the delight of the home crowd (assuming the McLaren driver still comes out on top). I couldn’t have predicted he’d do it to Perez in Mexico after all, but perhaps doing likewise to Verstappen at Zandvoort would be wildly unwise…
Erwin Jaeggi: We’ll head into the final race in Abu Dhabi with three drivers still in contention for the World Championship. Max Verstappen is going to secure his fifth title, finishing narrowly ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Haydn Cobb: Andrea Kimi Antonelli won't be the youngest driver on the F1 grid by the end of the 2025 season - as that will go to Arvid Lindblad when he makes his grand prix debut later in the year.
Filip Cleeren: On a recent podcast I jested Williams' Alex Albon is technically a world championship contender at this point, such is the wonderful array of pre-season possibilities before a wheel has been turned in anger. But I'll just double down on it and say either he or Carlos Sainz will somehow win a grand prix for Williams. Just don't ask me how!
Mark Mann-Bryans: Haas pulled off a bit of a coup landing Esteban Ocon for 2025 - so I'm going to go for the Frenchman delivering the team's first-ever F1 podium. Roman Grosjean's fourth place at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix is the closest the squad has come so far, but Ocon knows what is required to get onto the top three steps and, with a bit of luck in the weather or with reliability, he could break this particular duck for the American outfit.
