Season Wrap-Up | Formula 1® 2025

We always knew 2025 was going to be fascinating. The McLaren Formula 1 Team was defending its constructors’ championship and had a real chance of winning the driver’s title with Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri. But with Max Verstappen behind the wheel, anything could happen. 

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton had swapped Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team for an underachieving Scuderia Ferrari HP, and the Tifosi was hopeful that he and Charles Leclerc could be the dream combination. George Russell was joined by 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. 

A Season Watched Together

2025 saw another amazing year for Formula 1® with it's popularity continuing to rise and the release of the F1® Movie where our London team were excited to host BBC Radio 1 Breakfast as Greg James interviewed the stars of the F1® Movie.

When the lights went out every race Sunday, our guests were treated to even more excitement at our watch parties. This has undoubtedly been one of the most thrilling seasons in F1®, and we’ve loved having you over to enjoy every unmissable moment with us, whether you’re a seasoned fan, a newcomer to the sport, or just a friend tagging along.

It has been an honour to continue to host these fantastic celebrations of motorsport, with guests lapping up our cocktails, delicious food and immersive gaming experiences.

Season Overview: High-Octane Headlines

On the track, 2025 was a season of two halves. Going into the opener at Melbourne, the assumption was that McLaren Formula 1 Team would dominate and Lando Norris would be the one fighting for the title. With his win in the Australian rain, where Oscar Piastri only managed 9th, those assumptions seemed solid.

But Oscar Piastri hadn’t read the script. He would go on to win four of the next six races, (with Max Verstappen winning the other two) and grinding out a championship lead by the fifth race. Lando Norris would have to wait till the eighth race (Monaco) to take his second win of the year. Now, it seemed, the driver's championship was Oscar Piastri’s to lose. 

After Monaco, however, Lando Norris found some consistency, and started racking up more points than his teammate, and after race 16, Lando Norris regained the championship lead.

But just as Oscar Piastri had started fading, Max Verstappen, 104 points in arrears, started a charge. Zandvoort (race 15) was Oscar Piastri’s last win of the 24-race season, and marked the moment when Lando Norris and Max Verstappen became the main title contenders. However, McLaren Formula 1 Team sealed the constructor’s championship with six races left – an incredible achievement.

By the season finale at Abu Dhabi, it was mathematically possible for any of these top three drivers to take the title. With his lead, Lando Norris could secure the title by finishing 3rd, and that’s exactly what happened, finishing behind Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, but taking the driver’s championship by just two points over the Dutchman, and 13 points ahead of his teammate. 

Driver Standings & Team Performance

Top 3 of the Constructors Championship:

1. McLaren Formula 1 Team – 833 points

2. Oracle Red Bull Racing – 469

3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team – 451

The 2025 drivers’ top 10 looks like this:

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 423 points

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 421

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 410

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 319

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 242

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 156

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 150

8. Alexander Albon (Williams) – 73

9. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 64

10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 56

Despite crashing out of his first race on lap 1, Isack Hadjar had a truly impressive season, outperforming his teammate in every metric, landing a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing 12th, and earning himself a seat at Oracle Red Bull Racing for 2026.

Kimi Antonelli proved that his success in other formulas was no accident, and cemented his position at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team by finishing 7th in his rookie season.

Race Highlights: The Moments That Mattered

A season this close was always going to have controversies and thrilling moments. Perhaps the most talked-about race was Monza, where Lando Norris outqualified Oscar Piastri (who was 34 points ahead in the championship), but then suffered a long pit stop that was not his fault. The team ordered Oscar Piastri to let his teammate pass, which meant the Aussie finished third, behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. 

Silverstone hosted a wild weekend of typical British weather, which local boy Lando Norris managed to skilfully win. It also gave us perhaps the most heartwarming story of the year, when veteran Nico Hülkenberg got his first podium after 239 races, with a third-place finish. There was also a bombshell announcement a short while later, when Oracle Red Bull Racing sacked its team principal, Christian Horner after their bad start to the year.

The season came to a fitting crescendo at Abu Dhabi, with its rare three-way fight for the driver’s title. We can report that every F1® Arcade was swinging between nail-biting and cheering as the race unfolded! While 3rd was enough for Lando Norris, you just never know what will happen in this sport. Mechanical failures, badly timed safety cars, slow pit stops, and high-pressure errors can snatch success from any driver, so drivers and fans alike were on their toes until that all-important third place was in the bag.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Well, that’s a wrap for a thrilling year of wheel-to-wheel racing. 2026 is going to be a wholly different beast, with some major technical changes coming to the sport. Nobody knows for sure how the teams will cope with the challenge, and we could end up with a season like 2009, when relative minnows Brawn GP interpreted the rules like no one else and won convincingly. 

Whatever unfolds, you know there’s only one place to watch it if you’re in London or Birmingham – and that’s at your nearest F1® Arcade, where gaming meets dining, cocktails, beers, and watching the greatest sport on earth.