Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari era begins, plus other key storylines as Formula 1 returns
Formula 1 cars hit the track Friday for the first practice session of 2025 as the new season kicks off this weekend with a race in Melbourne, Australia.
Anticipation is high after Red Bull’s dominance fizzled in the middle of last season and scrambled the field, creating a level of unpredictability the sport hasn’t seen in over a decade. This season could be a history-making thriller — with the potential to elevate a living legend or crown a new champion. It will also give fans a glimpse at the next generation of F1 stars.
2025 picks up where last season left off in December. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive championship, aided by a crucial early points cushion from winning four of the first five races. He fended off a late charge from McLaren star Lando Norris, but McLaren won the constructors’ championship, and Red Bull struggled so much it ultimately fell to third behind Ferrari.
Here are four storylines to watch in the new season.
Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari red
After a year of suspense, it’s finally here. Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, has donned his red racing suit to drive for F1’s most famous team after he executed the biggest driver transfer in the history of the sport to pursue a record-breaking eighth title.
The lure of the red car is powerful. In an interview last week, Norris alluded to Ferrari as “the team that everyone wants to be part of at some point in their career.” He said Hamilton winning would be the “icing on the cake” and “make him the best driver ever in Formula 1.”
But there’s no guarantee of glory. Ferrari haven’t won the drivers’ championship since Kimi Räikkönen took it home in 2007. Since then, Ferrari has signed decorated champions who left without new titles — namely Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
And across the garagefrom Hamilton will be Charles Leclerc, the favorite son of the Italian team, who enters his seventh season at Ferrari. Leclerc is arguably the faster driver over a single lap in F1 (a category in which Hamilton struggled last year), and he has his own title ambitions. To be champion, Hamilton, 40, will first have to beat his 27-year-old Monegasque teammate.
Will the Verstappen era come to an end?
After two seasons crushing the field, Red Bull finally showed its weaknesses last year, hitting a development ceiling midyear and falling behind rivals. Despite his vaunted talent for driving around his car’s flaws, Verstappen won only two of the last 14 races in 2024. And he doesn’t sound bullish to start the season, expressing doubts that Red Bull can win this weekend and telling reporters Thursday, “I know that we are not the quickest at the moment.”
That opens up a tantalizing range of possibilities for rivals, with drivers from McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all in the mix for wins — at least if their pace in preseason testing is any indication.
2024 was a season of breakout successes and excising demons for top drivers. Norris scored his first four victories and ended the season with a dominant drive that secured McLaren’s first championship since 1998. He told NBC News that he feels good about his car, especially its long-run pace, and that he is “confident” and “relaxed” about fighting for his first championship.
His young teammate Oscar Piastri showed his potential with two wins in his sophomore year. Leclerc broke the Monaco “curse,” finally winning at home and only narrowly losing out to Norris for second overall. At Mercedes, George Russell outperformed teammate Hamilton over the season, winning twice and establishing himself as the squad’s new leader.
Hamilton and Verstappen have won 10 of the last 11 world drivers’ championships. Will 2025 be the dawn of a new era?
The youth revolution
The 2025 grid features an extraordinary cast of six rookies — or in some cases, rookie-ish drivers who have raced in Formula 1 before but not for a full season.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 18, who’s replacing Hamilton at Mercedes, has been described as a prodigy.
“It’s amazing. Obviously it’s a dream coming true. I’ve been waiting for the moment for my whole life,” Antonelli said at a recent news conference. “Super happy to be here. I think it’s a special place.”
He said his goal for his first race is simply “a clean weekend, with a nice rhythm.”
There’s also Gabriel Bortoleto, 20, who joins the Sauber team after he won the Formula 2 championship. Isack Hadjar, 20, the runner-up for last year’s F2 title, will race for Racing Bulls. Oliver Bearman, 19, joins the American Haas team, a Ferrari customer. Liam Lawson, 23, will race for Red Bull, securing his dream promotion after having raced on and off for the junior team. And Jack Doohan, 22, will drive for Alpine.
Yet others are waiting in the wings to race as early as this year, most notably Franco Colapinto, whom Alpine tapped in the offseason to be a reserve driver, leading to questions about whether it’s vetting him for Doohan’s seat.
It’s an extraordinary turnaround after 2024 began with an unchanged grid from the previous season and no newcomers. This time, eight of 10 teams have changed their lineup. And it adds intrigue to intrateam battles. Eventual F1 world champions often show their potential early by matching or outperforming veteran teammates. Will any of these rookies pull that off?
A spicier ‘silly season’
This year’s “silly season” for the driver market will have two new dimensions. The first is the onset of new regulations in 2026, which will reset the pecking order. Nobody really knows which teams will get it right and which will flop, so driver moves ahead of such an event can have huge impacts on the sport. The second factor is the addition of an 11th team, Cadillac F1, built in partnership with Andretti Global, which will elevate the sport’s American presence.
Some high-profile drivers are out of contract, including Russell and Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls. And as recent years have shown, F1 contracts have a knack for being torn up if one or both parties aren’t happy. Verstappen, the hottest property in F1, has a contract with Red Bull through 2028, but paddock rumors continue to swirl that he’s eying his options if doubts about the team linger — and if a rival squad can persuade him it has a better package to fight for a title.
For some teams, 2026 is an opportunity to focus on nailing the next year’s car and scooping up a coveted driver. Aston Martin, which may struggle again this season, poached the legendary car designer Adrian Newey, who built title-winning machines for Williams, McLaren and most recently Red Bull.
And whom will Cadillac sign? There’s no shortage of interest, and it’s weighing options from within the F1 grid, veteran drivers who recently left the grid and racers from other series, like IndyCar.
“We are going to be quite busy talking to a few people. My phone certainly been busy, that’s for sure,” said Graeme Lowdon, Cadillac F1’s newly announced team principal, adding that the team is looking at signing “experienced, capable drivers,” including some who aren’t on the grid.
“There are easily half a dozen, if not more, candidates out there who offer extremely good credentials to be in Formula 1 — or to be in Formula 1 again,” he said. “The obvious question is whether we’ll have American drivers. Personally, I see no reason why an American driver can’t be selected on merit. It’s certainly something that fans would like to see. … But the overriding objective is merit.”
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports
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