2025 Formula One midseason report cards
Only one team receives failing grade as summer approaches
Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor |
13 races and one Brad Pitt movie into the 2025 Formula One season, fans have been treated to some of the most thrilling races of all time. From Ferrari’s constant up-and-down performance cycle to a miraculous podium finish for Nico Hulkenberg and every incredible Max Verstappen drive in between, the final year of the ground-effect era in F1 has been nothing short of historic. However, with just 12 races to go and McLaren being the clear-and-away Constructors’ Championship favourites, how do all the other teams stack up in their contest for “best of the rest?”
Victory tastes like papaya
McLaren: A+
McLaren earned an easy A+ on their report card for their undeniable dominance in the Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship Races. Oscar Piastri is one of only two drivers to score in every race this season and has claimed six race wins for a total of 266 points. Teammate Lando Norris has racked up six pole positions and four victories of his own to tally 250 points, giving him 65 more points than Verstappen in third place.
Combined, McLaren’s 10 race wins and 516 points put them 268 points in front of second-placed Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. The MCL39 racecar has proven to manage its tires better than any other car on the grid, and its flawless aerodynamics combined with its Mercedes-sourced drivetrain give it speed that few other cars can compete with, let alone pass on the track. The only question for McLaren is about which of their two drivers will win this year’s Drivers’ Championship.
Best of the rest
Ferrari: B
Ferrari have been their usual dramatic selves all season, but hold the second-most points in this year’s Constructors’ Championship. Their fans have ridden euphoric highs, like Lewis Hamilton’s win at the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race and four podiums for Charles Leclerc, but also experienced tragic lows like their double-disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix Main Race and Hamilton failing to secure any podiums despite scoring at every race this season.
Both drivers have complained about inconsistency in the SF-25 racecar, and Ferrari continues to make strategic errors that compromise huge points-scoring opportunities. Despite this, the raw talent of their drivers and the high potential of the car, when set up correctly, has netted them 248 points this season – much less than McLaren’s 516 but 28 more than third-placed Mercedes-AMG.
Leclerc (139 pts) and Hamilton (109 pts) hold the fifth and sixth spots in the Drivers’ Championship, respectively, and if the team can continue to improve their strategic decisions and optimize their car’s performances, they should hold onto their second-place position in the Constructors’ Championship. P2 is a noble position to be in, but nothing exceptional, and therefore deserves an unimpressive “B.”
Mercedes-AMG: B+
With eight Constructors’ Championships since 2014, expectations are always high when it comes to the Mercedes-AMG Formula One team. However, most fans expected that the team would have its share of struggles this season, considering that George Russell would be entering his first year as a lead driver and 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli would need time to adjust to driving an F1 car.
That being said, both drivers have had excellent seasons. Antonelli posted the fastest qualifying time at the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race just six races into his young career and finished P3 at this year’s Canadian Grand Prix on his way to 63 points, ranking seventh in the Drivers’ Championship. Meanwhile, Russell has earned three podium finishes of his own and displayed a new level of maturity and composure on his way to 157 points this season, good for fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Silver Arrows have scored 220 points this season, trailing second-place Ferrari by just 28 points. However, with new regulations looming next season and lower-ranked teams being granted more research and development time in the offseason, Mercedes-AMG could look to hold onto its third-place ranking and invest in next year’s car. Still, with Russell reaching new heights in his driving career, Antonelli developing his talent rapidly, and a car with podium potential almost every weekend, Mercedes-AMG have been a force to reckon with and deserves a strong “B+.”
Red Bull: C+
Having the best driver on the grid has been Red Bull’s saving grace this season as they struggle with matters on and off the track. Off the track, the team has hired its second principal ever, firing Christian Horner and promoting Laurent Meckies from their junior team, Racing Bulls, to replace him. On the track, the second-driver controversy, which I wrote about earlier this season here, has made Verstappen the team’s lone point scorer at all but three races this year.
The Dutch driver has driven his RB21 to five podiums, including two race wins, and has scored in every race he has finished this year to rack up 185 points. Liam Lawson failed to score in his only two races at Red Bull at the beginning of the season before being replaced by Yuki Tsunoda, who has only scored in three races. The Japanese driver finished ninth at the Bahrain Grand Prix and tenth at the Miami Grand Prix and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix for a total of four points as a Red Bull driver.
As a result of their one-sided performances, Red Bull Racing have only scored 192 points in total this season, over 96 per cent of which come at the hands of Verstappen. 28 points behind Mercedes-AMG for third place and 122 points clear of fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, they’ll likely shift their focus onto their strategy for the 2026 season. However, with the best wheelman on the grid and two race wins to their name, they remain a passing team and receive a “C+” grade.
The midfield
Williams: A
Since James Vowles took over Williams Racing in 2023, the team has been on a steady rate of progression, improving their operations and developing one of the fastest cars on the grid in terms of top speed. Before his influence, the team was a routine backmarker, but Williams is now well on its way to reviving its incredible historic reputation as one of F1’s premier teams.
Alex Albon has continued to be Williams’ brightest star, scoring in nine races this season and ranking eighth in the Drivers’ Championship with 54 points. After being replaced by Hamilton at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr. has struggled to adjust to the FW47 racecar, but has still managed to score in six races this season and has racked up 16 points this season, good for 16th in the Drivers’ Championship.
With 70 points, Williams is too far behind Red Bull Racing to make a bid for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. However, to hold fifth place, they will still have to fight off Kick Sauber, who are just 37 points behind them. As Albon continues to put in great results and Sainz Jr. adjusts to the team, though, they are only going to improve as the 2025 season continues. Overall, the team has shown real development since Vowles’s takeover and deserves an “A” grade.
Kick Sauber: A-
Audi’s purchase of the Sauber team meant that 2025 would be its final season under its current name, Kick Sauber. Most fans predicted they would hold up the back of the grid in preparation for their 2026 debut as Revolut Audi F1 Team. They started the season scoring in just one of their first eight races, but have now scored in five consecutive races and entered the midfield battle.
Hulkenberg owns the most impressive performance of these points-scoring instances, earning his first podium at the British Grand Prix after 239 race starts – an F1 record for the most starts without a podium. The German ranks ninth in the Drivers’ Championship with 37 points, while his Brazilian co-driver, Gabriel Bortoleto, has scored twice in the last three races to total six points, placing him 19th in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ranking sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with 43 points, Kick Sauber has definitely exceeded expectations, and Hulkenberg’s podium is easily the moment of the season so far. The team’s car development has been impressive to watch, too, but until Bortoleto can prove to be more consistent as a qualifier and point-scorer in the C45 racecar, they fall just short of a perfect grade and justifiably receive an “A-.”
Racing Bulls: B
Red Bull’s junior team has encountered adversity as a direct result of its parent company’s dysfunction. However, they have been rescued by the impressive rookie season of Isaac Hadjar, who, after crashing his car on the formation lap of his first race in Australia this season, has scored in five races this season, totalling 22 hard-earned points.
After being fired from the main team, Lawson has made a decent recovery in the VCARB 02, scoring in three races and contributing 16 points to the Racing Bulls team. A few crashes have made him slightly vulnerable to replacement ahead of the 2026 season, but his strong midseason performances have kept the team interested in his talents.
Combined with Tsunoda’s three points before being promoted to Red Bull Racing, Racing Bulls have racked up 41 points this season, just two points behind Kick Sauber in sixth but only five points in front of Aston Martin in seventh. Hadjar’s impressive driving is a huge reason for their “B” grade, but their success hangs on Lawson’s ability to produce in the second half of the season.
The back of the pack
Aston Martin: D-
Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has steadily stepped up his investment in the Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes F1 team, going so far as to build them a $250 million factory and poaching famed aerodynamicist Adrian Newey from Red Bull (read more about him here). Yet, despite the huge capital investment and talented staff, Aston Martin has been anything but competitive this season and has arguably been this year’s most disappointing team.
With a driver core consisting of two-time Drivers’ Championship winner Fernando Alonso and Stroll’s son, Lance, the team has racked up 36 points this season. Alonso has struggled to acclimate to the AMR25, but has scored in four races this season to tally 16 points, while Stroll is having a career-best year with 20 points.
However, with one of the slowest cars on the grid, the big-budget outfit has clearly underperformed in 2025 and seems almost entirely focused on their 2026 campaign, which will see them begin their exclusive engine supply contract with Honda and gain more influence from Newey. With one driver having a career year and the other being one of the most legendary names in the sport, it’s difficult to give them an “F,” so a “D-” will have to suffice. Still, they can improve before the end of the season as they only trail seventh-place Racing Bulls by five points. They must stay focused to stop themselves from falling behind Haas, though, who are just one point behind them in ninth.
Haas: D
The only American team on the grid has had a rough year littered with a few bright moments in 2025. After replacing Drive to Survive fan-favourite team principal Guenther Steiner with Ayao Komatsu, receiving investment from Toyota and investing in young, talented drivers, the team has managed to capitalize on two double-points finishes this season and scored 35 total points.
Twenty-seven of those have come from Esteban Ocon, who spent a controversial year with Alpine in 2024 and has revived his career with some impressive drives for Haas in 2025, including a fifth-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix. The other eight points have come from rookie Oliver Bearman, who has scored in three races this season and finished 11th four times in his last four races – missing out on the points by just one position.
Haas finished seventh in the Constructors’ Championship last season, but currently occupies the ninth position this season. Still, Bearman being a great rookie driver and multiple double-points scoring finishes save Haas from an “F” grade, but that doesn’t earn them anything better than a “D” grade. The American outfit will look to catch up to their British rivals, Aston Martin, who are just one point ahead of them for eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship, while holding off Alpine-Renault 15 points behind them in last place.
Alpine-Renault: F-
Does “F-” even exist? If it did, it would perfectly befit the French racing team’s performance this season. From their re-hiring of one of the sport’s most controversial figures, Flavio Briatore, to their juggling of drivers between long-time reserve driver Jack Doohan and hot-shot prospect Franco Colapinto, the team has fallen to the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship standings.
Pierre Gasly has been Alpine’s only saving grace, ranking 12th in the Drivers’ Championship and scoring all of his team’s 20 points, thanks to four top-10 finishes. However, he has not been able to mask the issues caused by the team’s short leash on its secondary driver and one of, if not the worst, cars on the grid. At the beginning of the season, Alpine endorsed Doohan, but dropped him after just five races. To be fair, the Australian failed to score in all five races, but his replacement, Franco Colapinto, has yet to do any better as he is scoreless in six races.
On top of that, Briatore brokered an engine-supply deal with Mercedes-AMG, shutting down the team’s partnership with Renault, the largest automotive brand in France, which caused strikes at the company’s engine plant. With problematic off-track decision-making and only one positive driver on the rack, Alpine deservedly receives the lowest possible grade on their midseason report card, an “F-.”
The final moments of an era
With just 12 races to go before the end of the ground-effect era, plenty can still change in the races for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. McLaren may be able to coast their way to a Constructors’ Championship victory, but the competition between Norris and Piastri for the Drivers’ Championship title is sure to keep fans glued to their screens. Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG are gearing up for a fight to the death over second place, while Verstappen looks to continue driving his RB21 into better positions than it belongs in as he carries the weight of Red Bull Racing. Behind them, Williams, Kick Sauber and Racing Bulls are fighting for their share of prize money as less than 30 points separate the three teams. At the back of the grid, Alpine and Aston Martin are fighting to save themselves from disappointing seasons, while Haas is improving every race as they look to become a legitimate midfield team.
