With the 2025 Formula 1 season seeing the most rookies on the grid in 15 years, who’s impressed so far and who is yet to make their mark on the grid?
Isack Hadjar: A (Season Rating: 6.8)
The 20-year-old Frenchman has been, at times, the clear best rookie on the 2025 roster and has hugely impressed for Racing Bulls.
Runner-up in just his second season in Formula 2, Hadjar has wasted no time in showing his potential after promotion to F1.
A poor error in his debut weekend in Melbourne saw him crash his car on the formation lap, but he quickly put the error behind him to regularly accrue points.
His standout performance has been on the streets of Monte Carlo, where he finished sixth, with the aid of some team play from team-mate Liam Lawson.
21 points so far sees Hadjar just outside the top 10 in the Drivers’ Championship, a strong showing indeed.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: B (Season Rating: 6.7)
Unlike the majority of the 2025 rookies, Antonelli was not placed into a midfield machine for his first season in the sport, instead being thrown in at the deep end with Mercedes.
And despite the 19-year-old’s fast-tracked journey through the junior categories, it seemingly hasn’t affected him too badly.
Despite being knocked out in Q1 in Australia, the Italian would storm through in the wet weather to just miss out on a debut podium in fourth place.
From that moment on, Antonelli would continue to shine, becoming the youngest driver to lead a race in Suzuka, as well as the youngest to take a pole position in Miami.
He would back all this up with a first trip to the rostrum, also on a track he’d never previously driven this time in Montreal, becoming the third youngest podium finisher of all time.
Antonelli has been on the rough side of quite a few mechanical failures so far this season, and has retired in three of the last six races due to circumstances outside of his control.
The only real blots on the copybook so far include a crash in qualifying in Monaco and a clash on the opening lap in Austria with Max Verstappen.
63 points and a rather lonely seventh place in the Championship is nothing to be scoffed at, although with rumours swirling around Mercedes of Max Verstappen joining in 2026, Antonelli’s future has become a little more uncertain.
Oliver Bearman: B (Season Rating: 6.5)
Having already impressed for both Ferrari and Haas in 2024, it is no surprise that Bearman was given a full-time racing seat for 2025.
The Briton has had a rather up-and-down season so far, with some impressive drivers amid some silly mistakes leading to unnecessary penalties.
On multiple occasions has Bearman stormed from the back of the grid towards the top 10, most notably in the Chinese Grand Prix, where he went from 17th on the grid all the way to an eventual eighth-place finish.
However, twice this season he has picked up avoidable 10-place grid penalties in FP3 sessions, in Monaco and most recently at Silverstone.
The latter penalty was the most costly as he would have started his home race in a strong eighth, but instead had to fight his way from 18th instead, ultimately missing out on points.
Six points so far is nothing to be concerned about, as long as he can eliminate the silly mistakes and penalties and find a little more consistency in the second half of the campaign.
Gabriel Bortoleto: C (Season Rating: 6)
Bortoleto’s season can be described as a slow burner so far, flying under the radar for the majority of the 2025 campaign.
The 2024 Formula 2 champion has settled in well with the Sauber team, and while not setting the world alight, has been competitive from the off, out-qualifying his vastly more experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg on multiple occasions, including on debut in Australia.
However, the Brazilian would come out of the shadows at the Austrian Grand Prix, storming to his and the team’s first Q3 appearance of the season, in a strong eighth, a result he would match on race day for his first ever F1 points.
If the Sauber team can continue its upward trend in momentum, then there should be more opportunities on the horizon for Bortoleto to repeat his Spielberg stand-out.
Liam Lawson: D (Season Rating: 5.6)
Having been given his dream of a deserved promotion to the top Red Bull team for 2025, it has been a season of struggles for Liam Lawson.
Given just two weekends at Red Bull, a harsh demotion back to Racing Bulls will have done no good to the New Zealander’s confidence.
However, as the F1 circus entered the European part of the calendar, it seems as though Lawson may have put his demotion demons behind him.
A first points finish of the season in Monaco with eighth was backed up by a career best finish of sixth in Austria, where he was the highest finishing Red Bull-backed car.
Lawson finally seems to have his confidence back and will want to prove himself in the second half of the campaign to secure his place on the grid in 2026.
Jack Doohan: U (Season Rating: 4.3)
The cards seemed to be stacked against Jack Doohan from the very beginning.
Reportedly only given a six-race contract for 2025, the increased pressure to perform clearly took its toll on the Aussie as he failed to impress the rather impatient Alpine management.
His only real standout weekend came in Bahrain, where he just missed out on a Q3 appearance, and was running well in the top 10 before slipping to an eventual 14th finish at the flag.
While it looks like his six outings are all he will see in 2025, who knows what’s around the corner for Doohan, especially if replacement Franco Colapinto continues to match his struggles.
Honourable Mention – Franco Colapinto: E (Season Rating: 5)
Despite having nine races under his belt from the end of 2024, Colapinto is, in the same way as Liam Lawson is, a full-season rookie and receives an honourable mention.
Drafted in to replace the aforementioned Jack Doohan, the Argentine has so far failed to make much of an impression in the Australian’s place.
Two finishes of 13th are the best he’s offered so far, and he hasn’t done too much in lowering Alpine’s damage costs either.
And with Flavio Briatore openly stating, “If Colapinto is performing he’s driving the car. If not, we’ll see”, the future is just as uncertain for Colapinto as it was for Doohan.
It’s been a mixed season so far for the 2025 rookies, with some incredible performances as well as some classic rookie mistakes. What does the second half of 2025 have in store?
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