F1 2025: Graduates-turned rookies gear up for first taste of Formula One
F1 2025: Graduates-turned rookies gear up for first taste of Formula One
A new year has rolled in, bringing fresh opportunities, new challenges, and, more importantly, the promise of change. This holds true for the ever-dynamic world of Formula One, which churned out one of its most memorable seasons last time around.
With major rule changes set to take effect from 2026, F1 enters a pivotal high-stakes year that marks both a fresh start and a final shot for the 10 teams, which hope to capitalise on certainties before bracing for the unknown.
As another 24-race spectacle fast approaches, the line-up of 20 drivers will include plenty of familiar faces — some with teams they last raced with, and others behind the wheel of new ones.
This season will also witness the addition of six drivers from Formula Two, a crucial feeder series that has consistently shone the spotlight on young up-and-coming talent.
While half the lot have added one race to their belts, there are three who are gearing up to get off the mark. As they prepare to take on world champions and competitive drivers, these rookies hope that they can secure their futures in the pinnacle of single-seater racing.
Entering F1 following a less-fancied feeder series title win, Gabriel Bortoleto has ensured that a considerable set of eyeballs will be fixated on him as he wades through his maiden season.
He was only the fourth driver in history to win the F3 and F2 titles in consecutive years. Looking at how his predecessors — Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri — have already etched their names in history as multiple race winners, Bortoleto will be hoping for a similar script.
His emergence has rekindled the spirit in his home country, Brazil, which has been yearning for a national star since Felipe Massa, who retired in 2017. The 20-year-old also sports an Ayrton Senna-inspired helmet and need not look much further than the legendary three-time champion for inspiration.
The Brazilian, though, will have his task cut out at Kick Sauber, the team that had the slowest car on the grid in 2024.
As it gears up for a transition into the Audi factory setup in 2026, the upcoming season could be seen as a one-off dead rubber as far as results are concerned.
The former McLaren junior was ‘Mr. Consistent’ during his time in F2 but will have an able rival in teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who has been one of the midfield superstars since returning to the sport.
Red Bull’s junior academy is one of the most competitive setups in the world of motorsport, with an ever-increasing band of drivers and limited seats on offer due to the senior team’s success. Isack Hajdar will be the 19th driver from the stable to be promoted to F1 when he partners Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls.
The path has been trod upon by many race winners in the past, including Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo, although a vast majority of the promoted drivers have now faded into oblivion.
Hajdar’s entry into the big leagues comes after a closely fought F2 season, where he stretched Bortoleto to the very end, eventually finishing as runner-up. Hadjar, who is of French-Algerian descent, will be hoping he can put pressure on Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull seat, which had seen continuous rotation before Sergio Perez’s four-year-long stay.
La Petit Prost (The Young Prost), a term given to him by the French media, will hope to outperform his much more senior and consistent Japanese teammate. One thing is for sure: the Racing Bulls race engineers are in for some fiery radio exchanges in the upcoming season.
Kimi Antonelli may be the youngest driver on the 2025 grid at 18, but his journey to the top tier attests to the fact that age is only a number. The Italian is one of the few drivers to have taken the shortcut route to F2, skipping the preceding F3 league and joining the likes of Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll.
It was seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s exit that triggered an earlier-than-planned move for Antonelli to Mercedes. Team principal Toto Wolff said on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard, “I didn’t want to miss out on him [Antonelli] like I did with Max [Verstappen] back in the day, [when] I didn’t have a car [for him]; so that is all falling into place,” said
Antonelli might have wanted his entrance to unfold differently, as it came on the back of a maiden F1 practice session that lasted only a disappointing 10 minutes. Taking eventual teammate George Russell’s car out for a spin, his brief appearance showed some eye-catching pace before he lost control.
Finishing sixth in his first F2 season, he bagged two victories, three podiums, and four fastest laps but kept his head high amid tough competition. Although Mercedes does not have a track record for handing its car out to newbies, the Brackley-based team might have seen some unearthed potential raring to break through.
Among his first few tasks will be: making the most of a fluctuating Mercedes, keeping up with Russell, and not giving in to the pressure of filling the large shoes of Hamilton.
