Formula 1 correspondent Daniel Moxon was on duty for all 24 F1 race weekends in 2025 and has now confirmed his awards, from the best driver and team to ‘numpty of the year’
Another Formula 1 season is in the books and the 2025 campaign proved to be one of the most competitive on record. Except for Alpine, who were objectively rubbish, every team was pretty much always in the hunt for points, while McLaren dominated the constructors’ championship and Lando Norris took the drivers’ title.
Though both he and Oscar Piastri were always under threat from the likes of Max Verstappen and George Russell who also took multiple race wins each. And there were plenty of star performances from those who weren’t in contention for race wins and championships, too. Having gone back through the archives, here are our 2025 F1 end-of-season awards.
Driver of the year – Max Verstappen
Blunders of others let him back into the battle, but for the Dutchman to beat one McLaren driver and finish just two points behind the other was outstanding. His eight Grand Prix wins better the totals of both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and, though his reign has ended, Verstappen remains the best in the business.
On the podium – George Russell, who won twice for Mercedes in his best F1 season to date, and champion Norris. who showed great mettle to beat team-mate Piastri.
Team of the year – McLaren
Their rise is remarkable, just two years on from starting the 2023 season miles off the pace. And now they have won back-to-back constructors’ titles, this time sealing the deal in early October and finishing the year 364 points clear of their nearest competitor.
On the podium – Williams, who went from just 17 points scored in 2024 to 137 and a comfortable fifth-placed finish this term, and Mercedes, who won a very competitive battle with Red Bull and Ferrari for second place.
Race of the year – British GP
Silverstone always delivers, especially when there’s rain, and this year was no different. Changeable weather meant strategy blunders, plenty of crashes and some thrilling racing at the British Grand Prix, capped in the end by Norris delivering for 500,000 fans and also Nico Hulkenberg finally getting that first F1 podium.
On the podium – Australian GP, also rain-soaked and chaotic, and Bahrain GP, with lots of close fights behind Piastri who won with one of his best F1 performances.
Overtake of the year – Verstappen on Norris at Zandvoort
I still don’t know how Verstappen didn’t put his Red Bull into the wall as he went around the outside of Norris at turn two, suffering a snap of oversteer before not only regaining control but still keeping the place ahead of the McLaren.
On the podium – Verstappen on Piastri in Imola, which prompted one of the loudest gasps I’ve ever heard in an F1 media centre, and Piastri on Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne, a particularly gutsy move around the outside at the high-speed chicane.
Rookie of the year – Isack Hadjar
A tough category but Isack Hadjar just pips it for how he responded to crashing on the formation lap of his debut in Melbourne. It would have crushed most youngsters but the Frenchman consistently qualified well, was almost always a points threat and produced a stunning drive to the podium at Zandvoort. Best of luck against Verstappen in the main Red Bull team in 2026.
On the podium – Kimi Antonelli, who had a rough European season but started and ended his debut season in superb form, and Oliver Bearman, who took time to bed in but really found his groove after the summer break.
Flop of the year – Lewis Hamilton
A dreadful debut season for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari is surely the biggest disappointment in all of British sport this year, perhaps rivalled only by the current capitulation England’s cricketers Down Under in a grim Ashes series. For all the understandable pre-season hype, his Shanghai Sprint win in March was one of very few highlights and feels a long time ago. The seven-time champ was left begging for the season to end and more such misery next term would be a desperately painful end to a glittering career.
On the podium – Yuki Tsunoda, who was hampered at Red Bull but being outscored by both drivers in the junior team is embarrassing, and Alpine, who put all their development focus on 2026 and their shocking results this year showed it.
Most improved – Carlos Sainz
He took a while to bed in at Williams but a maiden podium in Baku kick-started a strong run to end the season. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that Carlos Sainz would end it with two Grand Prix podiums while Hamilton, for whom the Spaniard was booted out of Ferrari, managed none?
On the podium – Bearman, who showed Ferrari he’s ready to take over from Hamilton with a strong late-season run, and Antonelli, who overcame a mid-season wobble to push team-mate Russell hard.
Numpty of the year – John Elkann
Nothing better demonstrates how far removed from reality Ferrari’s top brass are than chairman Elkann’s claim in November that everything is fine at Maranello, other than the drivers who should “focus on driving and talk less”. F1’s grand old team will win nothing while the heads of its leaders remain buried in the sand.
On the podium – FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, whose political manoeuvring reduced last week’s FIA presidential ‘election’ to little more than a farcical coronation, and the marshals on the track in Mexico, who ran in front of Liam Lawson’s car under racing conditions.
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