1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill compares Max Verstappen's driving precision and mental fortitude to legends Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Hill states Verstappen sets the current benchmark in the sport, requiring rivals to have a significantly faster car to beat him, much like in Schumacher's era.
Oscar Piastri's 2025 season was a story of brilliance overshadowed by team strategy favoring Lando Norris. His third-place finish raises uncomfortable questions about McLaren's internal favoritism and whether Piastri can realistically fight for a title within the current team hierarchy.
Max Verstappen leads RacingNews365's final 2025 F1 driver ratings with an 8.4 average, just ahead of champion Lando Norris. The rankings, based on post-race scores, highlight Verstappen's peak performances, Norris's recovery, and Oscar Piastri's costly mid-season slump, while also showcasing George Russell's strong year and Charles Leclerc's resilience in a difficult Ferrari.
Ferrari sacrificed its 2025 season, halting development on the SF-25 early to pour all resources into its 2026 car. This high-risk strategy, born from a disappointing fourth-place finish, grants the team bonus wind-tunnel time but places immense pressure on its new-era project to succeed where the old one failed.
On December 14, 2007, Heikki Kovalainen was announced as Lewis Hamilton's new McLaren teammate, replacing the departed Fernando Alonso. His arrival brought stability after a turbulent season, but his two years were defined by a single victory and a significant performance gap to the future seven-time champion.
McLaren's 2025 title-winning MCL39 employed an extreme, Adrian Newey-inspired design philosophy with bold, hard-to-copy solutions like a radical front suspension. While this created a decisive performance gap, it also led to driver adaptation issues and a critical flaw that resulted in a double disqualification in Las Vegas.
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff is pushing back against rumors labeling his team as the 2026 engine favorite, warning that their biggest threat may come from customer teams like McLaren and emphasizing that a strong power unit alone is not enough for success.
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies says Ferrari's winless 2025 F1 season didn't surprise him, citing the sport's extreme competitiveness where success hinges on tenths of a second. The former Ferrari sporting director wished his old team well as it looks to rebound from a tough year.
Yuki Tsunoda says his only regret about his 2025 promotion to Red Bull is leaving behind the Racing Bulls VCARB 02, a car he helped develop and believes was a top midfield contender. Despite struggling to match Max Verstappen's results, he feels the performance gap was smaller than it appeared. Now without a 2026 seat, Tsunoda reflects on the emotional cost of abandoning a competitive project mid-cycle.
Mercedes F1 rookie Kimi Antonelli recently dominated a wet go-karting endurance race while competing under the pseudonym 'Henry Shovlin,' a tactic famously used by Max Verstappen. His blistering lap time showcased his skill away from the F1 spotlight, and he has publicly praised Verstappen's mentorship, calling him the 'dad of the rookies.'
Williams F1 Team Principal James Vowles won his class in qualifying at the Gulf 12 Hours sports car race in Abu Dhabi. Driving a McLaren GT3, he marked a successful return to racing, which he had postponed until he felt the Williams F1 team was stable. The result highlights his ongoing commitment to hands-on competition.
Liam Lawson opens up about the emotional difficulty of his mid-season demotion from Red Bull, calling it a "very sh*t time," as he looks to reset over the winter and build towards the 2026 season with Racing Bulls.
