The 2025 season holds extra weight for Formula 1.
The motorsport series is celebrating its 75th anniversary and is throwing itself a big birthday bash in February. All 10 teams will converge in London at The O2 arena to reveal their liveries and celebrate the history of the series with music performances from some of the top artists in the world. Motorsport reports that when tickets went on sale in November, the event sold out in under 45 minutes.
Fans are eager to see how last year’s action carries over into the new season, which promises to be a thrilling one. There are six new drivers starting on the grid and some heavy hitters switching teams.
Last year, Max Verstappen furthered his case to be named among greats like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher by winning his fourth drivers championship. His dominance — and that of Red Bull Racing’s — slowed after making history when the team won all but one race in 2023. There were seven different drivers that won a race in 2024, something that hasn’t happened since 2012. Both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, were among the seven and the team edged out Ferrari for the constructors championship in a season that was anything but predictable.
F1 hopes that the experience is as rewarding as the racing. It continues to make partnerships with the best cultural tastemakers in the world. While traditionalists decry the commercial growth of the sport, it seems that the glitz and glam is not slowing down any time soon.
Testing is February 26-28 in Bahrain and then the season kicks off March 14-16 at the Australian Grand Prix.
Here is Kick The Concrete’s 2025 Formula 1 season preview:
Seeing Red: Lewis Hamilton’s mega move to Ferrari
There is no bigger news this season than Lewis Hamilton is now a Ferrari driver. The seven-time champion shocked the world last year when he made the announcement that he was leaving Mercedes, the team he won six titles with.
This is the second time Hamilton has switched teams in his career. After winning his first championship in 2008 with McLaren, he made the surprising move in 2013 to join Mercedes. Back then, Hamilton was looking forward to the challenge of bringing the struggling Silver Arrows to life. This season’s situation is different at Ferrari. They barely missed out on the constructors championship last year, losing to McLaren by just 14 points.
Hamilton and his new Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, are already friends. They’ve clearly bonded over being dog dads and shared a moment of frustration when they were both disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
After capturing eight constructors championships, Mercedes struggled with the major car regulation changes in 2022. Hamilton hadn’t won a race in more than two years before he won last year’s British Grand Prix. He was visibly emotional to be back on top.
That energy carried over into his introduction to Ferrari.
The Italian outfit pulled out all the stops when welcoming Hamilton to Maranello this week. The photo of him standing in front of the headquarters next to his favorite car, an F40, broke the Instagram record for most-liked F1 photo in the app’s history. The photo had seven windows open, perhaps symbolizing Hamilton's seven championships, and a door to the promise of his record-breaking eighth.
Hamilton said that being a part of the team, even after an already historic career, was a dream come true.
“There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Ferrari driver, is one of those days,” he said in the caption for an Instagram post of his first official photo at Maranello. “I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realise that dream today.
“Today we start a new era in the history of this iconic team, and I can’t wait to see what story we will write together.”
Same, Sir. Same.
Rookie Fest
There will be four true rookies on the grid in 2025. A big change from last season, which started with no fresh faces.
Gabriel Bortoleto will be making his F1 debut when he races for Stake. He’s carrying a heavy weight as the first Brazilian driver to have a full-time seat since 2017 when Felipe Massa retired from Williams.
Isack Hadjar is preparing to take the wheel at RB after coming up through the Red Bull junior system where he was known for his speed.
Jack Doohan made his debut at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where he finished 15th. Alpine wanted him to get his feet wet for the full-time position as Pierre Gasly’s teammate.
But true rookie 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli has the biggest shoes to fill because he is replacing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman have seen some action already, but haven’t had a full season on a roster, so they are technically rookies as well. Lawson replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB last season and has finished ninth three times. He will have to step up his game taking the Red Bull Racing seat alongside Max Verstappen. Bearman made history when he replaced Carlos Sainz for last season’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. At 18 years old, he was the youngest British driver to compete in a Formula 1 race and the third youngest in series history. He wowed everyone by finishing seventh for six points. Now, he’ll be at the wheel for Haas, who have been surging.
Fernando Alonso is the oldest, and most experienced driver at 43 years old. All six rookies weren’t even born yet when he made his F1 debut in 2001. It will be exciting to see how the kids make their mark on the sport.
Carlos Sainz brings veteran experience to Williams
One of the biggest sagas of last season was the question of where Carlos Sainz was going to sign after losing his Ferrari seat to Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard competed with a chip on his shoulder and landed nine podiums, including two wins. He won the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after having his appendix removed.
Would it maybe have made sense for Sainz to have a seat at one of the top teams? He could have swapped with Hamilton and replaced him at Mercedes. Instead, the Silver Arrows decided to boost George Russell’s confidence and give rookie Kimi Antonelli a chance. Perhaps Sainz could have filled Sergio Pérez’s spot at Red Bull, although that seat became vacant much later in the season and Sainz had already made his decision.
Williams ended up winning the lottery and nabbing Sainz because of the outfit’s history and promise of growth. The 30-year-old brings veteran experience to the team, which has nine constructors titles with the help of legendary names like Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell.
“I am fully confident that Williams is the right place for me to continue my F1 journey and I am extremely proud of joining such a historic and successful team, where many of my childhood heroes drove in the past and made their mark on our sport,” Sainz said in a statement when he signed a two-year contract. “The ultimate goal of bringing Williams back to where it belongs, at the front of the grid, is a challenge that I embrace with excitement and positivity. I am convinced that this team has all the right ingredients to make history again.”
Williams needs some stability after a whirlwind ride trying to make things work with Logan Sargeant and then bringing some fanfare with young Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto. Alex Albon hopes to build on his success. He’s finished as high as third place in his career, which includes a stint in the Red Bull system. Since joining Williams in 2022, he’s finished in seventh place three times, including at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year. He scored 43 of Williams’ 53 points in his three years with the team.
Sainz will bring tenure, confidence and much-needed grit to Williams. And the team is having fun with the prospect of a brighter future. Fans are brainstorming clever names for the tandem. Bonsai is our favorite.
Haas’ Laura Mueller will be first woman race engineer in F1 history
Formula 1 has been intentional about encouraging women to participate and creating a welcome environment for them in the sport. The series has supported women through F1 Academy the past two seasons. The 2025 season will be historic because Laura Mueller will be Esteban Ocon’s race engineer at Haas. She is the first woman in F1’s 75-year history to hold the position, one of the highest in the garage. She was promoted from her role of performance engineer after joining the team in 2022.
Team principal Ayao Komatsu said the decision to elevate Mueller was not based on her gender, but on her abilities.
“She's a pretty determined character,” he said in a statement. “And then she's very hardworking. Her work ethic is really, really good. … What matters is work. How you can fit into the team, how you can maximise the performance. I believe it is the right choice.”
Mueller is a lifelong Formula 1 fan and gave a glimpse of her journey in an interview for Haas’ celebration of International Women In Engineering Day last year.
“My interest in engineering wasn’t really an interest in engineering, but it was always an interest in motorsport,” she said. “Because cliché, I’m German, I love Michael Schumacher. So from being a child, I always watched Formula 1, so I never really studied mechanical engineering to work in car production or something. I always admired the field of motorsport just because it always looked more interesting and passionate than designing an indicator.”
Haas finished seventh in the constructors championship last season with 58 points, a massive leap from their last-place, 12-point finish a season prior. It was their best finish since 2018 when they captured fifth place with 93 points. This year, they will have an all-new driver lineup with rookie Ollie Bearman joining Ocon, who comes to Haas from Alpine.
McLaren has no signs of slowing down
McLaren disrupted the whole game when they won the constructors championship last year. It was their first team title in 26 years (since 1998). It was a long journey from when Zak Brown’s squad struggled to adjust to the new regulations in the 2022 season. While Lando Norris has been heralded as the next torch bearer, Oscar Piastri has stormed in like he doesn’t care that the Brit has more experience or might be considered the No. 1 driver. The Aussie won the Qatar Sprint his rookie year in 2023. Last season, both drivers got their maiden victory — Norris at the Miami Grand Prix and Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 2024 season was marred with some communication issues, which forced Norris to give up the lead late in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and then led to a poor performance by both drivers in Brazil.
McLaren is one of only two teams on the grid who are returning with the same driver lineup as last season. The other team is Aston Martin. The duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll scored 94 points last year. Compared to McLaren’s 666 points in 2024, Aston Martin doesn’t pose much of a threat to the title chase in 2025.
The offseason, and the high of winning the constructors championship, should give McLaren time and motivation to iron out any wrinkles. And it’s not like the car needs any major changes. Norris won the DHL Fastest Lap Award last season with a series-high six fastest laps across the campaign. Piastri added one of his own, giving the team seven fastest laps, the most of any constructor.
No more Rolex crown photos
For 11 years, Rolex served as the official timepiece partner of Formula 1. The crown logo provided iconic moments where Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo and others were perfectly aligned under the promotional branding. TAG Heuer, as part of a deal with luxury group LVMH, replaces Rolex. Gone are the fun photo opps.
Although TAG Heuer’s logo — a pentagon — isn’t as exciting as Rolex’s crown, and there might not be a fun song lyric like “Rollie with a dab of ranch” about the watch company, it has a rich history with F1. It was the official timepiece of the series from 1992 to 2003 before the dawn of social media. TAG Heuer has also partnered with Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull Racing in the past. So they are in familiar territory with this new opportunity to bring their own flair to the digital marketing game.
More Gordon Ramsay goodness
Gordon Ramsay has been a longtime fan and supporter of Formula 1. He’s presented the fastest lap tire and is a major supporter of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he hosted the Ramsay’s Garage culinary experience at last year’s race. Now, his presence will be felt more throughout the season. F1 announced a partnership with the iconic chef via the F1 Garage. The exclusive experience located in the paddock will feature a menu curated by Ramsay that incorporates local ingredients and reflects each race’s culture.
“My passion for F1 is well known but it’s the complexity and pace of the cars, and the talent of the many people building and controlling them, that appeals so much,” Ramsay said in a statement. “In many ways F1 is like a high performing professional kitchen, so this is the perfect partnership for us.”
Ramsay’s F1 Garage experience will hit 10 races starting at the Miami Grand Prix. It will then travel to the Canadian race, Ramsay’s hometown British Grand Prix, then the Italian, United States and Mexico races. It will return to Las Vegas, stop in Qatar and celebrate the season finale at the Abu Dhabi race.
Brad Pitt brings F1 to silver screen
In case a typical Formula 1 season isn’t enough action, fans can see the new movie, which is uncreatively titled “F1,” in theaters June 27. The film has been hyped for a few years now with producer Lewis Hamilton saying he’s making sure the action and drama is authentic. Fans have been hesitant to buy into it all, especially after seeing things like this clip where Brad Pitt dramatically fell on the track. “F1” touts a Hollywood cast (Pitt stars alongside Damson Idris as teammates) and scenes from actual races, but the real star of the film that everyone is excited about is... Guenther Steiner, of course!
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