Article by Lara Murakami
This year in Formula One, we had the pleasure of witnessing a flurry of passionate young rookies fighting to make their mark on the sport. They brought us tense emotional moments, compelling teammate pairings, and above all, absolutely HYSTERICAL laughter.
One could argue about the exact number of classified “rookies,” but I am going to define them as seven distinct drivers (organized by no. of points scored):
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
- Ollie Bearman (Haas)
- Liam Lawson (Red Bull to Racing Bulls)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- Jack Doohan (Alpine – dropped)
They had interesting journeys of varying degrees of success, you could say. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on each of their seasons.
Kimi Antonelli – 150 points
Racking up three podiums, two Driver of the Days, and a surprising sprint pole, this Italian teenager made Toto Wolff proud throughout a tumultuous season.
At his first ever race in Australia, he was the only rookie (including Fernando Alonso) to keep it on the track in the wild wet weather, scoring an impressive 4th place from 16th on the grid. In Miami, he became the youngest ever polesitter (in any format) in F1 history, at 18 years and 251 days old.
In Montreal (Canada!), Kimi joined experienced teammate George Russell on the podium, becoming F1’s third-youngest podium finisher (behind Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll.)
He faced a mid-season slump during the European leg of the year, amassing only 3 points throughout the 6 Grand Prix weekends following his maiden podium. He made rookie mistakes, taking out Max in Austria and Charles in Zandvoort.
But after a meeting with the team in Monza, Kimi brought out impressive performances for Brazil, where he was behind winner Lando Norris in every competitive session of the sprint weekend, and Las Vegas, where he made incredible pace for 48 laps on the hard tire.
Kimi Antonelli’s season fulfilled expectations for a young driver in a top team: rookie mistakes paired with flashes of brilliance. His Mercedes future looks terrifyingly bright.
Isack Hadjar – 51 points
Isack revealed himself as a qualifying star throughout his first season, holding the impressive statistic of the only driver to never exit in Q1 until the sixteenth round of the championship.
Personally, Isack was my pre-season favourite rookie, and my respect for him only flourished as I watched his talents (both in driving and as a social media SENSATION) develop throughout the year.
At the season opener, he crashed out in the formation lap, when he was memorably comforted by the father of his idol Lewis Hamilton. Isack’s ability to deal with pressure was put into question by Red Bull’s Helmut Marko (ew), causing the F1 community to unfairly scrutinize the Parisian driver.
Despite this negativity, Isack’s response was to produce a consistent tally of 5 points-scoring weekends in his first 10. Monaco, in particular, saw him achieve a strategically excellent 6th place.
However, the Racing Bull rookie’s stand-out moment was his maiden podium in Zandvoort, sparked by Lando Norris’s late engine failure that saw Isack take 3rd in his stead, and snatch a well-deserved DOTD. He became France’s youngest ever podium finisher with this phenomenal drive, and solidified his qualifications to become Max Verstappen’s teammate next year.
As a big Isack fan, I really hope that he is the one to break the Red Bull second-seat curse. The 2026 Red Bull car better suit Isack’s aggressive driving style, and the team radio should be ready for more legendary crash-outs like “OH NO I DESTROYED ZE CAR!!!”
Ollie Bearman – 41 points
At one point in the season, Ollie Bearman was the 18th best qualifier. His teammate Estie Bestie was crushing him 27-8 in the points battle before the summer break, and it seemed like Ollie didn’t have much to clap back with.
But the second half of his rookie season was a good surprise. In Zandvoort, he went from the pitlane to a very respectable P6. Haas underwent a huge Austin upgrade, which led to Ollie feeling much more at home in the car.
Mexico City led him to an incredible P4, which matched Haas’s best ever finish. He managed to beat Oscar Piastri in the McLaren rocket ship on pace and celebrated an emotional double-points finish with his team and family. He achieved a strong P6 the next weekend in Sao Paulo, confirming his huge potential.
In Vegas, Ollie became the first Haas driver to score at five Grand Prix in a row. He ended up outscoring Esteban in the Qualifying head to head 14-10, and the points battle 41-38.
An amazing comeback from an underwhelming first half of his rookie season shows how Ollie Bearman will only continue to master his racecraft, and I look forward to seeing much more from the lively Brit in the coming years.
Liam Lawson – 38 points
Demoted from Red Bull after just two lousy race weekends, Liam Lawson’s stint at Racing Bulls proved that his poor form was simply another casualty of the Red Bull second seat curse. (I’m hoping so hard that Isack overcomes it..)
Liam suffered a few poor races at the junior team before re-igniting the strong race pace that had gotten him the Red Bull seat to start with. He started to match Isack and fight for points often.
The best finish of his season came in Baku. Amidst a strange Azerbaijan Qualifying session, he drove excellently to qualify his VCARB 3rd, behind only Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz; both seasoned, talented drivers. With eventual world champion Lando Norris behind him on the track, Liam drove a very controlled race to achieve a career-best of P5.
However, I would argue that his best drive was in Brazil. While fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out (what a disappointing home race..), Liam ran 52 (!) laps on medium tyres, holding seven cars behind him in a lengthy DRS train. At a circuit as intense as Interlagos, his calculated P7 finish deserves to be celebrated.
Next year, Liam faces the novel challenge of being the more experienced driver in a team, as Arvid Lindblad takes Isack’s place. An impressive rookie campaign with Racing Bulls shows us that Liam has what it takes to succeed in F1, but he must learn to handle the pressure of a top team if he hopes to get to one soon.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 19 points
After being, frankly, absolutely terrible in 2024, Kick Sauber was not expecting to have the season it did. But by bringing on back-to-back F3 and F2 rookie champion Gabriel Bortoleto, they hoped to have a fighting chance.
And with Nico Hulkenberg’s maiden podium, 3 driver of the day wins, and plenty of points finishes between the German and the Brazilian, Sauber’s last year representing a Formula One team was an extremely successful one.
Gabriel Bortoleto, managed by Fernando Alonso and friends with Max Verstappen, just has the essence (and allies) of a future champion in waiting. Maybe I’m biased because we’re both Brazilian, but I truly think he would be unstoppable in a competitive car.
Nico Hulkenberg, his teammate, is an experienced driver, often starring in Qualifying. Gabi managed to tie him in the Qualifying head-to-head 12-12, despite not having raced at half of the circuits.
His European leg of the season was excellent, particularly his performance in Hungary. He made it to Q3 and was able to attain a career-best Qualifying of P7, just ahead of Max Verstappen. Gabi maximized his qualifying brilliance to claim a respectable P6 on Sunday, which is, as we know, where the points are.
However, the second half of his rookie season was not as strong, especially with him feeling uncomfortable on the unfamiliar circuits. He lost control in big moments, leading to a huge crash at Interlagos, his home race. He should have calculated the risks of his actions, for both his safety and the safety of the other drivers.
All in all, I expect big things from Gabi’s future, especially after how fiercely he pushed the seasoned Nico Hulkenberg all year.
Franco Colapinto – 0 points
In any other team, 0 points would have been an abysmal effort, but Alpine’s tractor of a 2025 car gives Franco room to breathe after not scoring in his 18 races.
I would say both Franco and Jack were cheated by Alpine this year. The French team had no intention of keeping Jack the whole year, and despite knowing this, they gave Franco 0 pre-season testing before his debut with Alpine.
Without having a competitive car, we can really only evaluate a driver against the results of their teammate. And race-winner Pierre Gasly is arguably one of the most talented drivers on the grid, making it all the more impressive that Franco out-qualified him 5 times, even if he couldn’t make it to Q3 for the life of him.
I am holding out hope for Franco next year with the regulation changes, as I’m sure his enormous fanbase is also doing. However, I can’t comment on much else with how underwhelming the Alpine car was this season.
Jack Doohan – 0 points
Like Franco Colapinto, I can’t say much for Jack Doohan, who was booted by Alpine just 6 races and 2 months into the season.
At the dawn of the new year, the entire F1 community was just holding their breath for Jack to be removed from the sport. His home race at the season opener in Melbourne was nothing to write home about, as he faced an unfortunate DNF on Lap 1 in the wet conditions.
He suffered several other incidents in Formula One, and seems to not be having much success now in Super Formula either, where he recently crashed 3 times in the SAME Suzuka corner.
I do feel sorry for him, as hardly anyone was supporting his Formula One career, just waiting for Alpine to replace him with Franco Colapinto.
We might never know if Jack Doohan’s story was simply one of what-if, but his performance in 2025 did not demonstrate any signs of potential excellence.
Conclusion
My overall thoughts on the 2025 rookies are that they were a breath of much needed fresh air in the Formula One community. In a space that is often infested by unwarranted hatred and negativity, it is refreshing to watch young, eager talent who want to make a positive legacy on the sport. I yearn for the end of the winter break so I can see what this 2025 lot can do in 2026!
The Formula 1 edit 
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