2025 Formula One Season Thread

[JustinePaula]

Not the most exciting, I doubt the pedal was actually as bad as the meat in seat made out, if it was, he would have put it in the kitter litter or the hedge..
My point about the sprint and who won, is that no one should care, it is such a non event, really sprints are the as as E Prix, no one cares, it has no real use.. The only usefulness out of sprints is... there is none...

As was pointed out in commentary, the fastest lap is points, you pay the FIA on the points you earn, so why would the FIA take away income??? Did they forget that points=payments??

 

[Glideslope]

Ferrari let Lewis down again….

Plank too thin. DQ. Unbelievable.

Charles DQ. Car too light....

Edit: For Charles

 

[headlessmike]

Ferrari let Lewis down again….

Plank too thin. DQ. Unbelievable.

Lewis, Charles, and Gasly all disqualified. Sainz and Stroll up into the points.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Just unbelievable. Feel sad for Charles and Lewis when the team drops the ball like that.

 

[CWallace]

Just finished the race and turn on YouTube to see a triple DQ.
A horrible race for Racing Bulls, Ferrari and Alpine.
Sainz super lucky to be in the points. Have to admit I expected more, but it is early days. Albon appears to have raised his game in the off season.
Haas having a solid race with both drivers. Bearman looked racy on the Mediums.

 

[CWallace]

In other news, rumors swirling that Tsunoda and Lawson will swap seats at Suzuka. Horner and Helmut both saying nothing to dissuade such rumors.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Interesting race.
A damaged front wing gives Charles a faster car.
Lewis has to concede the place. With his extra tyre stop he has no chance.
Then with the weight and plank disqualification, engineers left scratching their heads again!

McLaren doing everything right again. Brake issue might have been a godsend in the end. Kept them from racing each other at the end.

Max making his car perform better than it should. Lawson not looking like an upgrade on Perez. Probably wishing they had stuck with him and his sponsors.

 

[Apple fanboy]

In other news, rumors swirling that Tsunoda and Lawson will swap seats at Suzuka. Horner and Helmut both saying nothing to dissuade such rumors.

I think in Japan that makes a lot of sense.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Another strong performance by McLaren. Zak is going to have a management nightmare a bit later on this season if they continue to trade wins and he has to make a choice. Got a feeling he’s closer to Lando due to working with him for years though. Oscars a great talent and thoroughly deserved the win today in what was an immensely dull race.

Lewis disqualified at yet another Grand Orix with excessive plank wear, not a good day at the office after what was a strange strategy also.

 

[Glideslope]

In other news, rumors swirling that Tsunoda and Lawson will swap seats at Suzuka. Horner and Helmut both saying nothing to dissuade such rumors.

Helmut tripping over himself in post race giving Yuki the old attaboy seems to point this direction. I'm mixed on this. I understand the career move aspect. I just hope he can drive the beast. That being said he is for all practical purposes driving an RB20 currently. I'd expect some familiarity.

 

[m..]

1/3 in I was hoping the race would have an interesting race with a mix of with a variety of tyre strategies. But they all went one stop. Except for Lewis Hamilton, when it was already obvious it wouldn't be enough to make a difference.

It seems that this years champion will come down to who is the most consistent qualifier out of Oscar Piastri or Lando Noris. But it is a long season so hopefully another team dose what McLaren did last year and make it more interesting.

 

[m..]

In other news, rumors swirling that Tsunoda and Lawson will swap seats at Suzuka. Horner and Helmut both saying nothing to dissuade such rumors.

Lawson has been terrible so far. But it seems very fast to swap them this soon.

 

[Glideslope]

Lawson has been terrible so far. But it seems very fast to swap them this soon.

I would agree if it weren’t for Marko drooling praise in the post race.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I don’t get the instant criticism for Lawson and it was after one race in the Red Bull seat. The guy can’t be expected to be finishing directly behind Max straight away and only has about 13 races in total under his belt. I think if by mid season he’s not performing where expected, that’s a different story but we’ve had one chaotic race where even Alonso couldn’t keep it on the island and a track he’s unfamiliar with. I say give the lad some time.

 

[Glideslope]

I don’t get the instant criticism for Lawson and it was after one race in the Red Bull seat. The guy can’t be expected to be finishing directly behind Max straight away and only has about 13 races in total under his belt. I think if by mid season he’s not performing where expected, that’s a different story but we’ve had one chaotic race where even Alonso couldn’t keep it on the island and a track he’s unfamiliar with. I say give the lad some time.

Horner was trying hard to advocate for Liam in Post Race, however he came back to “the time pressure in F1” more than once.

He looked uncomfortable, although that could be residual from Ted’s “is this what you paid off Checo for?”

 

[Woodcrest64]

I wonder if Daniel would be a better replacement for Lawson than Tsunoda. The likelyhood of this happening is unlikely but it has me thinking.

 

[pachyderm]

​

I don’t get the instant criticism for Lawson and it was after one race in the Red Bull seat. The guy can’t be expected to be finishing directly behind Max straight away and only has about 13 races in total under his belt. I think if by mid season he’s not performing where expected, that’s a different story but we’ve had one chaotic race where even Alonso couldn’t keep it on the island and a track he’s unfamiliar with. I say give the lad some time.

Agreed.​

​

FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN CHINESE GRAND PRIX 2025 - RACE RESULT​

1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	56	1:30:55.026	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	56	+9.748s	18
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	56	+11.097s	15
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	56	+16.656s	12
5	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas Ferrari	56	+49.969s	10
6	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	56	+53.748s	8
7	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	56	+56.321s	6
8	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	56	+61.303s	4
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	56	+70.204s	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams Mercedes	56	+76.387s	1
11	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	56	+78.875s	0
12	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	56	+81.147s	0
13	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	56	+88.401s	0
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	55	+1 lap	0
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	55	+1 lap	0
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	55	+1 lap	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	4	DNF	0
DQ	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari		DSQ	0
DQ	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari		DSQ	0
DQ	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault		DSQ	0

WOW! Both Williams and Haas drivers into the points!

 

[TheIntruder]

Having one of the twenty most coveted seats in racing comes with a lot of pressure.

It's already tough enough for a young driver, especially when your teammate is a generational talent, but the team doesn't help by acting the way Red Bull has, and that's entirely on the team, and particularly Marko and Horner. Their focus should be on doing everything possible to retain the one thing that keeps the team respectable, and gives them greatest, if not only, chance of success -- Max.

Putting your driver in position to fail, not putting unconditional support behind him, and doing little if anything to stem the public chatter is not a recipe for success, for any driver. If/when Yuki gets the call, he'll be run through the same gauntlet, and must prove that he's better prepared for it.

Lawson should be given more time, but he doesn't help himself with his own public comments, including those about Yuki. Get on with the job, control what you can control, and stay out of the public fray.

 

[danny842003]

I don’t get the instant criticism for Lawson and it was after one race in the Red Bull seat. The guy can’t be expected to be finishing directly behind Max straight away and only has about 13 races in total under his belt. I think if by mid season he’s not performing where expected, that’s a different story but we’ve had one chaotic race where even Alonso couldn’t keep it on the island and a track he’s unfamiliar with. I say give the lad some time.

The problem is Bortaletto with no races and driving a Sauber is outdoing him.
Lawson at this point is as experienced as any rookie is ever likely to be. He’s had experience across two seasons and has done a hell of a lot in the sim for red bull.

I think it’s too early to punt him but he’s massively underperforming.
He also has made a bit of a rod for his back the way he carried on with regards to Perez last year.

 

[headlessmike]

The problem is Bortaletto with no races and driving a Sauber is outdoing him.
Lawson at this point is as experienced as any rookie is ever likely to be. He’s had experience across two seasons and has done a hell of a lot in the sim for red bull.

I think it’s too early to punt him but he’s massively underperforming.
He also has made a bit of a rod for his back the way he carried on with regards to Perez last year.

Checo's and Lawson's stuggles with the cars really highlight a problem with the team though. While neither are at the level of Max at his best, as racers they aren't that far off either and they are definitely skilled. Yet, since the middle of last season it seems impossible for anyone but Max to have a successful race weekend. There must be a fundamental problem with the behavior of their car that just happens to suit Max. If Red Bull continue to struggle for another season or two I wouldn't be surprised if Max moves on, and imagine how the team would perform without him...

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The problem is Bortaletto with no races and driving a Sauber is outdoing him.
Lawson at this point is as experienced as any rookie is ever likely to be. He’s had experience across two seasons and has done a hell of a lot in the sim for red bull.

I think it’s too early to punt him but he’s massively underperforming.
He also has made a bit of a rod for his back the way he carried on with regards to Perez last year.

He is a bit outspoken I agree for someone with limited experience, but Lando is also like that. He was digging Lewis before he'd even won a Grand Prix which was incredible. Must be this generation lol. I wouldn't be surprised by Monza, if he continues to perform the way he is, to see him seat swapped with Yuki. Red Bull aren't known for giving a lot of support and probably regret parting ways with Albon in hindsight. They seemed to give him a lot more time than Gasly, but to see how he's progressed at Williams, has really demonstrated how good a driver he is. Albon did a podcast somewhere where he explained the handling of the cars he had at Red Bull and how they tended to suit Max but not him. I'd imagine this is an issue Perez also faced for most of his time there too.

Checo's and Lawson's stuggles with the cars really highlight a problem with the team though. While neither are at the level of Max at his best, as racers they aren't that far off either and they are definitely skilled. Yet, since the middle of last season it seems impossible for anyone but Max to have a successful race weekend. There must be a fundamental problem with the behavior of their car that just happens to suit Max. If Red Bull continue to struggle for another season or two I wouldn't be surprised if Max moves on, and imagine how the team would perform without him...

Indeed, Max is one of the few drivers who can adapt most of the time, Lewis used to be the same when he was in his prime, same with Alonso. Although towards the middle of last season even Max looked to be struggling at times. I agree its a problem at Red Bull as a team needs a car that both drivers can extract the maximum out of, not just one driver. This is the reason they lost the constructors last season as McLaren have a car both its drivers are capable of winning in. It is definitely a situation to watch as you can be sure Newey is now working hard on Aston's 2026 car under the new regs and I think he's a source Red Bull are starting to miss dearly, maybe next season more so.

 

[pachyderm]

I fear that Carlos is my new "Jarno Trulli"...

Although Carlos has more wins than Jarno...

 

[CWallace]

The problem with waiting to swap in Yuki is he is likely gone at the end of 2025 with Honda (since Honda is supporting his seat). So the deeper into the season they wait to put him in, that just means they have less time to find someone else to replace him for 2026.

Also, the longer Red Bull keep Liam and he continues to languish in the back, their Constructors Cup position just continues to fall down the order. Ferrari should get their act together soon enough and Mercedes seems to have finally found pace in the current regs, so Red Bull is looking at best being 4th.

For me, putting Yuki in now makes the most sense. If he works out, then Red Bull fortifies their position in the CC. And if he does not, Liam and Isaac both have a full season to find their feet at Racing Bulls. And in either case, whomever is the best Racing Bulls driver gets promoted into Red Bull for 2026.

 

[PlayUltimate]

I don’t get the instant criticism for Lawson and it was after one race in the Red Bull seat. The guy can’t be expected to be finishing directly behind Max straight away and only has about 13 races in total under his belt. I think if by mid season he’s not performing where expected, that’s a different story but we’ve had one chaotic race where even Alonso couldn’t keep it on the island and a track he’s unfamiliar with. I say give the lad some time.

I agree that it is a bit premature. And, the comparative results of the many rookies on the grid makes it tough to support Lawson.

 

[Glideslope]

The problem with waiting to swap in Yuki is he is likely gone at the end of 2025 with Honda (since Honda is supporting his seat). So the deeper into the season they wait to put him in, that just means they have less time to find someone else to replace him for 2026.

Also, the longer Red Bull keep Liam and he continues to languish in the back, their Constructors Cup position just continues to fall down the order. Ferrari should get their act together soon enough and Mercedes seems to have finally found pace in the current regs, so Red Bull is looking at best being 4th.

For me, putting Yuki in now makes the most sense. If he works out, then Red Bull fortifies their position in the CC. And if he does not, Liam and Isaac both have a full season to find their feet at Racing Bulls. And in either case, whomever is the best Racing Bulls driver gets promoted into Red Bull for 2026.

I'm curious if Yuki sees this move as a promotion if it happens given the Honda situation? I don't see him at AMR in 2026 with the Works Honda. He would benefit from the positive accolades in the Racing Bull.

Can he turn it down from a contractual view?