The Fresh Faces of F1: A Deep Dive into the 2025 Rookie Class
The 2025 Formula 1 season promises a significant injection of fresh talent, with a host of rookies joining the grid as all but two teams shake-up their driver pairing from last year. This year marks a particularly significant influx, with six rookie drivers set to make their mark – the most in over a decade. This vibrant cohort, featuring Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar, and Liam Lawson, are all aiming to impress against more experienced hands in the toughest prospect any of them will ever have faced. Let’s take a comprehensive look at these young guns ready to roar onto the Formula 1 stage.
A Season of Opportunity and Pressure
The sheer number of newcomers signals a period of transition and opportunity within several teams. While some rookies are seen as vital building blocks for the future, others will be under immediate pressure to perform. For fans, it offers the exciting prospect of witnessing the emergence of potential future stars and the dynamic interplay between established veterans and hungry newcomers.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes: The Heir Apparent
Perhaps the most talked-about rookie, 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli, steps into the formidable shoes of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Antonelli is Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s golden boy, signed as a junior in go-karts and elevated to the F1 race team at a remarkably young age.
His junior career speaks volumes of his potential. Antonelli secured championships in German F4 and Italian F4 in 2022, followed by victory in FRECA in 2023. In 2024, he finished 6th in Formula 2 with two wins. While his F2 standing might not seem dominant on paper, it’s worth noting the shake-up effect of the new F2 car on the 2024 competitive order, which left his team-mate Ollie Bearman in 12th.
Antonelli’s stunning raw speed and wet weather prowess have impressed in the junior categories. At Silverstone, in the rain, he was a second a lap faster than the rest. His junior career also included a first-place finish in the 2020 FIA European Championship. He made his F1 race weekend debut at the Italian Grand Prix, subbing in for Hamilton during FP1, where he impressed by heading through the Ascari chicane 7mph quicker than anyone else. However, this debut also highlighted an area for improvement, as he then crashed hard on only his second flying lap.
Finding the workable limit will be crucial for Antonelli. His FP1 incident at Monza last year showcased both his promise and the inherent risks of pushing too hard too soon. While early-career testing crashes are expected, continuing such incidents deep into the season would hurt both team and driver.
Mercedes recognises the magnitude of the task facing Antonelli, asking him to replace an icon. Toto Wolff is aware of the ‘risk’ with Antonelli, acknowledging that his eye-catching raw pace needs to be ‘conditioned’. Wolff has tried to take the pressure off his young prodigy, stating that expecting him to be on pole in Melbourne and immediately compete for the championship carries a high risk. Instead, Mercedes sees 2025 as a transition year and wants to prepare him for 2026. However, with 9,000 testing kilometres in preparation, there will still be expectations of a competitive start.
Going up against George Russell will be a key test for Antonelli, and even being close to Russell early on would be a hugely encouraging sign given the Brit’s record against Hamilton in 2024. The Silver Arrows have rushed him through the junior ladder for a reason: they believe they have an Italian Verstappen on their books. Antonelli will need a faster start than in previous junior seasons to keep the pressure at bay.
Oliver Bearman – Haas: The Proven Performer
Oliver Bearman, the British driver originally from Chelmsford, Essex, is another highly-rated talent who will be racing full-time for Haas in 2025. Bearman is notable for being the driver who started this new influx of rookies when Fred Vasseur put his faith in him to replace Carlos Sainz in Jeddah 2024. He remarkably backed up that belief by delivering points on his debut, finishing seventh after qualifying eleventh with just a single practice session. This performance made him one of the F1 grid’s biggest stars in 2024.
Bearman has long been highly-rated by Ferrari. His Formula 1 promotion with Haas can be attributed to the fortuitous timing of the Jeddah race and Sainz’s appendicitis. Prior to his F1 debut, Bearman had an eye-catching F2 campaign in 2023, winning three feature races and finishing sixth in the championship. He was later announced as Ferrari’s F1 reserve for 2024.
Interestingly, the new car in Formula 2 for 2024 upended the traditional front-running teams, meaning Bearman finished outside of the top 10 in a championship year where a top-three finish was seen as a given. Despite this, later 2024 Formula 1 substitute appearances for Haas showcased his strengths. Bearman has extremely quick qualifying pace, as proved when he out-qualified the super-quick Nico Hulkenberg twice in Brazil, and impressive race craft to score points in Baku when others were caught in accidents. He also won sprint races in F2 in Austria and Monza.
Whether fair or not, eyebrows were raised at Bearman’s outstanding Formula 1 performances versus his somewhat lacklustre Formula 2 campaign. If Bearman is to continue to satisfy Ferrari’s expectations, he must work with and not be phased by Esteban Ocon, a notoriously tricky team mate to have in Formula 1 terms – especially for a rookie. However, Bearman has the speed and adaptability to regularly score points in Formula 1 if the Haas equipment in 2025 is similarly competitive to 2024. Out of all six rookies, Bearman arguably looks most likely to hit the ground running.
Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber: The Reigning Champion
Gabriel Bortoleto arrives on the F1 grid with Sauber as the reigning Formula 2 champion. His championship victory came after a season where traditional front-running teams and other highly-rated Formula 1 prospects faltered. Bortoleto showed a brilliant racing mentality and capacity behind the wheel, allowing him to triumph in the championship’s most unpredictable season. Being a back-to-back rookie F3 and F2 champion puts the Brazilian in a rare club with George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Oscar Piastri.
He simply does not know when he is beaten. After a rookie error in Monza qualifying, he turned around his championship hopes with an extraordinary last-to-first race performance. That he went into the race believing this was possible speaks volumes about his mentality. Along with his talent, Bortoleto also benefits from the canny management of Fernando Alonso, which has helped him rise rapidly through the motorsport ranks.
However, Bortoleto will need to work on his overall race pace. Two race victories across the entire F2 season is a lower return than other members of the F3 and F2 back-to-back title club. Furthermore, his two wins came after the pole-sitter stalled in Austria and a crucial Safety Car intervention in Monza, raising questions about his core pace in more straightforward races. Formula 1 will not be as consistently unpredictable.
Given his pedigree as a back-to-back champion, Bortoleto should have the race craft to be effective in the middle of the pack, but his core pace will be instantly tested by the experienced qualifying master Nico Hulkenberg across the other side of the garage. Out-qualifying the vastly experienced German would give Bortoleto a shot of confidence in what could be a difficult rookie season if Sauber are unable to find their competitiveness. It is incredibly challenging for a rookie to extract performance from a bad car. Despite the expected challenge with Sauber’s performance, team boss Mattia Binotto sees Bortoleto as a vital building block for the future Audi F1 team, highlighting his impressive attitude and potential to be a leader.
Jack Doohan – Alpine: Under Pressure from the Start
Jack Doohan is the first Alpine academy driver to be promoted to the F1 team – or at least the first one who took them up on the offer. The son of five-time motorcycle champion Mick Doohan, the 21-year-old from the Gold Coast in Australia has grown up around motor racing circles his entire life. His family made a key move to switch him from the Red Bull junior set-up to the Alpine junior academy, ensuring he was able to secure his F1 seat.
Doohan has shown strong pace in all the machinery he’s ever raced and has been given this opportunity primarily on the back of superb private testing form with the team across the last two seasons. This testing has allowed Alpine to directly compare him to F1 race drivers in fairly contemporary F1 machinery. He made his Grand Prix debut in Abu Dhabi and will race full time for Alpine in 2025.
At the circuits where Jack was comfortable, he would often dominate when taking victory in his junior career. The aim will have to be to raise the ceiling at circuits that do not naturally suit his driving style. He achieved 3rd in Formula 2 in 2023 with three wins, and 6th in Formula 2 in 2022, also with three wins, after finishing 2nd in Formula 3 in 2021.
While Doohan has shown more than enough across his junior career and reserve running for Alpine to merit this chance, he will start his season already under pressure. The signing of Franco Colapinto as reserve driver on a multiple-year deal with Alpine points to virtually no room to fail. Some reports even speculate that Doohan will compete in only six races, after which Alpine’s executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, will decide whether to keep him or put Colapinto in the seat. If Doohan is to see out the season, he’ll have to be close to Gasly in qualifying and score points early. Disappointingly for the Aussie, it appears Doohan’s future may have already been decided at Enstone before he has even begun his first full Formula 1 season.
Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls: Raw Speed and Temperament
Isack Hadjar joins the F1 grid with Racing Bulls, having won the most races in Formula 2 last season. For many parts of the campaign, he looked to be the championship’s fastest driver. However, a mid-season slump across four key races saw him fail to score a single point, allowing Gabriel Bortoleto back into contention. Despite losing the title at the final race, he became the final name to be confirmed on the 2025 grid, a seat he deserved based on the speed shown in both F2 and F3. In F2 2024, he secured second place with four wins, following a 14th place finish in 2023 and 4th in Formula 3 in 2022.
Hadjar’s raw pace is superb and he impressively continues to show this in every car he progresses to – including the Red Bull in the post-season test where he impressed Christian Horner by outpacing new team mate Yuki Tsunoda. Prior to his F2 success, Hadjar had also turned heads with third-place finishes in the 2020 French F4 championship and the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship. In 2024, he had several free practice outings for both Red Bull and RB.
However, Hadjar’s radio manner will have to be dampened down. Some of his F2 outbursts made Tsunoda’s previous efforts look tame and measured. While it might be entertaining for viewers, if early results don’t materialise, this will be used as a criticism against him.
Isack Hadjar has the core speed to cause Tsunoda trouble on occasion, and he’ll be aiming to forge a close-knit bond with his engineers like he had with Campos in F2. If he can build that camaraderie quickly and keep the number of accidents he has in his rookie year to a minimum, he may be able to thrive in the most unforgiving of driving stables. Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies is excited to have Hadjar, bringing a new and fresh dynamic to the team, and has confidence in his ability to adapt quickly and make a significant impact.
Liam Lawson – Red Bull Racing: The Ultimate Test
Liam Lawson makes this list because, despite just 11 races under his belt, the Kiwi is still considered a full-season rookie. The fact that he will be with the senior Red Bull team at the start of that year is remarkable. Lawson was well deserving of his permanent promotion to Formula 1 but now he is being asked to succeed in potentially the hardest role in the championship: being Max Verstappen’s team mate.
Lawson’s junior career includes 3rd in Formula 2 in 2022, 9th in Formula 2 and 2nd in DTM in 2021, and 2nd in Super Formula in 2023. He also holds the uncanny record of winning on the first race weekend of every single-seater category he had entered (before F1). However, it was his performance as a reserve in 2023 that truly turned heads at Red Bull. After Daniel Ricciardo’s injury, Lawson was handed the AlphaTauri seat with just one hour of practice before qualifying. He started 19th but finished 13th in challenging weather conditions. He continued to impress, finishing 11th in Italy, ninth in Singapore (where he also out-qualified both Red Bulls), 11th in Japan, and 17th in Qatar. Despite this, he was initially overlooked for a full-time seat in 2024 but returned later in the season, scoring points in the US and Sao Paulo Grands Prix and consistently running close to his temporary team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Lawson has already displayed a fearless mentality going wheel-to-wheel with many of the sport’s big hitters, even attracting the wrath of Fernando Alonso. His all-round adaptability behind the wheel could help him when trying to locate the specific driving style required for Red Bull’s recent cars.
His qualifying pace will need a step forward. Lawson was out-qualified 6-0 by Yuki Tsunoda during their time as team-mates, and the margin to Verstappen over one lap is always a crucial metric for Red Bull. Lawson is trying to succeed where proven quality drivers like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez have failed. If he can hold his own against one of the greatest drivers in F1 history, he will ensure a long Formula 1 career. His naturally strong mentality will be a massive advantage, but ultimately, his first season will be judged on results and whether he can help Red Bull back into constructors’ championship contention. Red Bull’s Christian Horner sees a character and robustness in Lawson to deal with the pressure of being Verstappen’s team-mate, drawing parallels with their nurturing of talents like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. However, he acknowledges the immense scrutiny Lawson will face.
Conclusion: An Exciting Chapter Begins
The 2025 Formula 1 season is poised to be a fascinating one, with an exceptionally talented group of rookies stepping onto the grid. From the highly anticipated arrival of Antonelli at Mercedes to Lawson’s daunting challenge at Red Bull, and the proven racecraft of Bearman and Bortoleto, each driver brings a unique blend of talent and potential. Doohan and Hadjar face immediate pressures and opportunities to establish themselves within their respective teams. While their journeys will undoubtedly be filled with challenges, the emergence of these six wunderkinds promises a thrilling and unpredictable season, potentially shaping the future landscape of Formula 1 for years to come.
