It was just over a year ago that I stood outside the Mercedes factory in Brackley live on Sky Sports News and delivered the breaking confirmation from inside the team that Lewis Hamilton was indeed joining Ferrari from the 2025 season.
The surprise of the news that day was only equalled by the emotion stirred seeing him standing outside Maranello for the first time this January, in a photo that has now become the most liked F1 post in Instagram’s history.
Enzo Ferrari once said “ask a child to draw a car, and certainly he will draw it red” and that statement is as true now as the day he said it, and so seeing the seven-time world champion finally turn the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car in a race is reason enough to be excited for this season.
But, luckily for all of us who love this sport, there are many, many more reasons to be tuning in too…
More chances for drivers to make the difference
The much-changed 2025 grid line-up at F1’s season launch event at The O2
2025 is the last year of the current regulations and, historically, this means the teams tend to converge on similar philosophies and designs on their current cars with only small upgrades or tweaks coming throughout the season as time, money and brainpower switches to the next year and the first season of new rules.
As such the development race tends to slow down somewhat compared to the preceding seasons. All this comes together in a way that sees the grid all bunch up with smaller performance gaps between teams, and as a result the drivers can make more of a difference.
So if ever there was a year for a driver to show what they can do, it’s this year.
There will be opportunities to snatch positions and points that maybe the car shouldn’t be achieving. When you hear the saying ‘he is outperforming the car’, that’s what we mean.
An uncertain pecking order
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Sky F1’s Bernie Collins looks at the race simulation pace from testing in Bahrain and suggests McLaren are the team to beat at the start of the upcoming season
We can see from Bahrain testing, with all the usual caveats applied of not knowing power modes or fuel loads, that some teams do seem to have found some answers for improved pace over the winter.
Williams finished ninth in last year’s Constructors’ Championship but don’t look like the ninth-quickest team right now, while reigning champions McLaren‘s long-run pace looks frighteningly good.
Yet this year we won’t really know who’s truly where until we are back in Bahrain for that race weekend in round four in April because the first three circuits on this year’s calendar – Albert Park, Shanghai and Suzuka – are all unusual in their own ways and won’t give us a true reading of the field.
That alone excites me as we will go into each weekend with so many unknowns.
Race pace is one thing but if your single-lap pace doesn’t get you to the front of the grid will your set-up allow for making your way through the field? Or will you have to make compromises to enable overtaking and lose some of your long run-edge?
For now behind pre-season favourites McLaren, Mercedes look very close to Ferrari but it was cooler than usual in Bahrain and their performance in higher temperatures – an Achilles’ heel in 2024 – hasn’t been tested yet.
Red Bull, though, are a bit of an unknown. Max Verstappen managed to pull out a decent lap the final day in Bahrain but the running overall was scrappy and issues needed to be overcome by the team.
Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache has said they have tried to address last year’s peaky performance issues which saw them lose ground to their rivals. Having re-evaluated the concepts of the car it may take some time for them to get all of the performance out of the RB21 but with Verstappen at the wheel surely his incredible talent can overcome a small deficit like that.
Lawson at Red Bull, Norris vs Piastri, Russell vs Antonelli – and more
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The F1 team give their predictions for the forthcoming season, including who will be world champion and their top rookie
Given the field looks incredibly close right now, then you have to look at the line-ups up and down the grid because the second driver in any team now plays an even more crucial role than ever. Can they optimise their opportunities and maximise their team’s potential?
Surely the driver with the biggest challenge on that front is Liam Lawson.
I still remember how brilliantly he drove in Singapore in 2023 in the then-AlphaTauri when he had nothing to lose. Since then he has driven his way into the seat alongside Verstappen, the reigning four-time world champion. Every driver goes into Formula 1 thinking they could be world champion one day but actually going up against one in the same equipment is a whole new ball game. I can’t wait to see how Lawson gets on.
Talking of world champions, how will losing out on last year’s title affect Lando Norris?
I say losing out because many in the F1 paddock believe he could have won it last year. While the points gap at the end of the season was 63 in favour of Verstappen, Norris had opportunities where had the situations reversed there was a feeling his title rival would have made more of them.
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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri say they have a ‘lot of confidence’ in themselves to fight for a F1 championship title this season
There was at times perhaps a ruthless streak missing which all world champions have. They may not start out with it but it develops as the seasons go on and they see what it takes to win a title. You only have to look back as recently as 2016 when Nico Rosberg realised the sacrifices he needed to make, the mentality he needed to adopt, if he wanted to add his name to the records.
One person who knows this only too well is a man who never won a world title, but saw his team-mate enjoy plenty of success – Mark Webber, the nine-time race winner who was team-mate to Sebastian Vettel when the German won all four of his world titles at Red Bull. Webber is Oscar Piastri’s manager and accompanies him to every race. A man who knows only too well about team orders and being in a number two role, he is determined the same fate doesn’t befall Oscar.
Oscar’s first challenge will be qualifying where Lando beat him 20-4 in the main sessions for the Grands Prix last season.
Secondly, Oscar took a while to understand the tyres last year and on occasion couldn’t extract the performance from the car that his team-mate could and that gave Lando breathing space. In Las Vegas, for example, in the cooler temperatures the McLaren struggled with the front tyres and while Lando successfully managed his, Oscar couldn’t match his team-mate.
But Oscar is a quick learner and fiercely determined with strong management in his corner guiding him all the way. If the McLaren is as good as it looked in pre-season testing then Lando’s biggest challenge this year may well come from a few feet away. How he handles it will be crucial and so I feel 2025 could be career defining for Lando.
It’s also big year for George Russell too with his contract at Mercedes expiring at the end of 2025. It may take Kimi Antonelli time to settle into F1 and, while his early laps were a little scruffy in testing, he solid looked on track and clearly took on board feedback to slowly improve with every stint behind the wheel.
Mercedes team-mates George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli
George will want to hit the ground running to establish his role as leader of the team and build on it because Kimi will be snapping at his heels by the end of the year, if not before.
Williams have a very a strong line-up to take this car into the season and help with development and feedback for their 2026 car. If you remember when Carlos Sainz left McLaren at the end of 2020, he said he could see they would soon be a championship-winning team but said he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to sign for Ferrari, so he knows what to look for.
The car seems to have improved but isn’t expected to challenge the top four, at least not for a while, however they could be one of the teams that takes its opportunity when others falter. Sainz and Alex Albon will put themselves in position to do that whenever possible and don’t be surprised to see plenty of double points-scoring results from them this season.
A talented rookie class
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Bernie Collins, Karun Chandhok and Ted Kravitz give their thoughts as to how each of the rookies will perform in their maiden Formula One season
Elsewhere, there are four other drivers in their rookie season in Formula 1.
Ollie Bearman will perhaps have the easiest entry into the sport in a Haas which appeared to be running heavy throughout the most of testing and is therefore a bit of an unknown heading to Australia and not expected to be troubling the top six as it stands.
As such it may give Bearman an easier baptism into the sport full-time as he will be out of the spotlight and an experienced team-mate in Esteban Ocon means he will probably only find himself in the headlines when he finishes ahead of him.
A Brazilian on the Formula 1 grid for the first time since Felipe Massa will no doubt garner interest but the Sauber didn’t look to have made a huge amount of progress at testing and so Gabriel ‘Gabi’ Bortoleto‘s introduction to the sport may be even more subdued.
But this will give him time to immerse himself into the demands of the highest echelon in motorsport before hopefully having a car to challenge with when Audi arrive next year.
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Jack Doohan gave a frosty response to any suggestion of ‘pressure’ coming from Franco Colapinto joining Alpine
Much of the winter was occupied with rumours and speculation around Jack Doohan and his seat at Alpine. He has waited patiently for his opportunity and been a useful reserve driver for the team working away hour after hour in the simulator and carrying out media duties and making himself available for interviews when it must have been incredibly frustrating not being one of the team’s drivers.
Now he has that opportunity, but the rumours around the arrival of the Argentine Franco Colapinto as reserve driver for 2025, followed by the announcement of a partnership with Argentine ecommerce giant Mercado, will have done nothing for his confidence.
A company coming on board as a partner to a team to support a driver not in a full-time seat is a notable story, but should not detract from Doohan finally getting his opportunity in a race drive, however long that may last.
Hamilton vs Leclerc at Ferrari
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Karun Chandhok, Bernie Collins and Ted Kravitz debate whether Lewis Hamilton will finally win his eighth world title this season with Ferrari
Which all brings me back to where this article began and my most anticipated diver line-up of 2025 – Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc.
For me, the most heartbreaking quote of last year was Lewis saying “I’m definitely not fast anymore” after Sprint Qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix when he put his Mercedes only seventh as team-mate Russell made the front row.
Lewis suffered in the Mercedes when he would brake late for the corner but wasn’t able to carry speed through it, and the pick-up on exit was frustratingly slow because of the minimum speed through the corner.
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With Lewis Hamilton set to race for Ferrari for the first time this weekend in Australia, check out how other drivers have fared on their debuts with a new team in Formula One
In testing in the new Ferrari SF-25, though, it looked like he was driving how he wanted to and the car was responding. It looked like he could still brake late and reach the minimum-corner speed, meaning he could get on the throttle and pick-up earlier to get a good run off the corner. That bodes well for his qualifying struggles of last year.
Charles has shown how good he is on a Saturday but Lewis has lost none of his racecraft. If Charles can improve Sunday and Lewis find his quali mojo this will be one of the best intra-team battles for a long time.
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is in a buoyant mood during the final day of testing ahead of the new Formula One season
The potential for a mid-season title twist
One other big story this year is what happens from race nine – the Spanish Grand Prix – onwards. That’s because Barcelona will be the first race where the new regulations on flexi front wings come into force and it will be interesting to see who that impacts and by how much.
It’s no secret teams realised that this was a key area for development last year and some benefitted more from their front wing more than others. It became an area a lot of teams spent time and money on for their 2025 car. But will that work become all-but redundant come Spain and how will the rule clarification shake up the field?
And finally… Melbourne.
I don’t know why but it just feels right to start the season in Melbourne. Hopefully the weather holds out and we are standing in the paddock at Albert Park in glorious sunshine, ready to bring you the best sport in the world. I can’t wait!
Sky Sports F1’s live Australian GP schedule
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With the new Formula 1 season getting underway this week, check out what to look forward to in 2025 on Sky Sports F1
Thursday March 13
- 2.30am: Drivers’ Press Conference
- 5am: The F1 Show: Lights Out 2025*
- 9.45pm: F3 Practice
- 10.55pm: F2 Practice
Friday March 14
- 1am: Australian GP Practice One (session begins at 1.30am)*
- 2.55am: F3 Qualifying*
- 3.40am: Team Principals’ Press Conference
- 4.45am: Australian GP Practice Two (session begins at 5am)*
- 6.25am: F2 Qualifying*
- 7.15am: The F1 Show*
Saturday March 15
- 12.10am: F3 Sprint*
- 1.10am: Australian GP Practice Three (session begins at 1.30am)*
- 3.10am: F2 Sprint*
- 4.15am: Australian GP Qualifying build-up*
- 5am: AUSTRALIAN GP QUALIFYING*
- 7am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
- 9.55pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday March 16
- 12.25am: F2 Feature Race*
- 2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
- 4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
- 6am: Australian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
- 7am: Ted’s Notebook*
- 7.55am: Australian GP race replay
- 10am: Australian GP highlights
- 7pm: Villeneuve Pironi – Racing’s Untold Tragedy
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
