Can F1’s 2025 Rookie Class Make a Sophomore Leap?
The 2025 F1 season featured six rookie drivers, the largest number in 15 years. For the most part, the new arrivals proved to be a competent group over their first season. Jack Doohan’s early struggles at Alpine were not met with grace. Six Grand Prix weekends were all he was allotted. For the other five, there was time to work through growing pains and put in plenty of strong performances.
At a glance, Kimi Antonelli’s debut season sounds stellar. He scored the most points of any rookie in history, finished on the podium three times, and qualified on pole for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race. However, the Italian teenager certainly had some rough patches. His first podium in Canada was in the middle of a seven-race stretch with six pointless finishes. The volatility of his season was on display again when first corner contact with Oscar Piastri squandered his chances at victory in the Miami Sprint Race. Antonelli would find himself involved in more incidents as the season progressed, earning him a reputation as reckless. Antonelli entered the sport as the third youngest driver ever, so a season of highs and lows can easily be attributed to inexperience. In recent comments, the Mercedes man stated that those moments of adversity helped him mature. He also mentioned the importance of mindset and focus going into a session. Mercedes’ W17 and its controversial power unit have some worried about another era of dominance for the Silver Arrows. If the car lives up to the speculation, and Antonelli continues the strong form shown towards the end of the 2025 season, we could see an Italian on the top step of the podium for the first time in 20 years.
Oliver Bearman, the fourth youngest driver to start a F1 Grand Prix, finished 2025 with a similarly strong run of results. The high point was the Mexican Grand Prix, where Bearman held off championship contender Piastri to secure a fourth-place finish. The British rookie finished the season ahead of his experienced teammate, Esteban Ocon. Despite a stylish livery, expectations for the 2026 Haas car are tempered. Early concerns about reliability and a new potential rival in fellow American outfit, Cadillac F1, may mean that points-scoring opportunities will be at a premium for Bearman in 2026. On the subject of new, Gabriel Bortoleto will drive for debutant Audi F1 in his sophomore season. Starting his career with 10 straight finishes outside of the points meant the Brazilian had early critics. He would eventually settle in and show good pace. The qualifying head-to-head with Nico Hulkenberg ended in a draw. Borteleto needs to improve his racecraft to close the gap on Sundays, however.
Isack Hadjar is the only rookie to change teams after the 2025 season. He will occupy the infamous second Red Bull seat as Max Verstappen’s teammate. Hadjar impressed often last year, even achieving a podium finish at Zandvoort. If the Frenchman can keep pace with his four-time champion teammate at his new team, race wins should be on the cards. Liam Lawson knows all too well how difficult a task that is. The Kiwi enters 2026 having rescued his F1 reputation. He was consistently outperformed by Hadjar, but the gap was rarely significant. Another chance with the senior team is unlikely for Lawson. His assignment for 2026 is to outperform rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad and secure a seat for 2027. Success will look different for each of the remaining members of F1’s 2025 rookie class. We will see on March 6th, when the drivers arrive in Australia, which F1 sophomores are ready to live up to expectations.
