F1 experts predict who they think will win the 2025 championship and next season’s driver changes

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The second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season will get underway this weekend in Zandvoort, and our writers have shared their opinions on how the rest of the season could shape up.

The Dutch Grand Prix will kick off the last 10 races of the year, with drivers returning well rested from the three-week summer break.

McLaren look set to continue their dominating run, with both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris locked in a tight battle for the drivers’ title.

The constructors’ championship is almost guaranteed for the Woking-based team heading into the last half of the year, with McLaren able to take the title at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 21st September.

Here’s what our writers had to say about how the rest of the season will shape up.

Will Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris take championship glory in Abu Dhabi?

McLaren look set to take their first drivers’ championship victory since Lewis Hamilton took the title in 2008. After taking the constructors’ victory in 2024, the team are undoubtedly going to claim both titles at the end of 2025, after an impressive run this season.

The fight remains between Norris and Piastri heading into the last 10 races, with the Aussie leading the championship by nine points.

Rory Mitchell: Out of the two McLaren drivers, the one who has been the most convincing has been Oscar Piastri. There were signs last year that he was destined for title success, notably his defensive drive against Charles Leclerc in Baku or the assertive start in Hungary which secured him his first Grand Prix victory, even if it was after McLaren had to barter with Lando Norris over team radio.

Much like his seasons in Formula 2 and Formula 3, this has been methodical from Piastri. He’s got a great team around him in the form of Mark Webber, who knows how to handle a title challenge. He handles pressure better than Norris and if it wasn’t for some unlucky penalties, Piastri’s title lead would be greater than 40 points by this stage.

Shay Rogers: Lando Norris’ experience is going to pay dividends, the more this championship is dragged out. Eventually, his wealth of knowledge from over six years spent at McLaren will help him get the edge over Oscar Piastri. He went into the summer break with all the momentum, and I expect that he will continue to build on it as the European leg of the season draws to a close.

Which driver will be the biggest disappointment during the rest of 2025?

David Comerford: Max Verstappen. Red Bull hit a new low at the Hungarian GP before the summer break as Verstappen finished ninth. They may think it’s an aberration, but development will now cease ahead of 2026, which means even the four-time world champion may be in a few more weekends, scrapping at the lower end of the points

Kyle Archer: Lewis Hamilton has suffered a sorry first season as a Ferrari driver. The seven-time champion has penned his worst points total through the first 14 rounds of a year since F1 introduced its current point-scoring system in 2010, with only 109 in his account in 2025.

The 40-year-old is also still without a Grand Prix podium after the first 14 rounds of a term for the first time in his 19-year career. Hamilton suggested Ferrari “need to change driver” and that he was “useless” at the Hungarian GP, as well, after qualifying and finishing in P12.

It is hard to imagine his life in red being any more disappointing during the final 10 rounds of the 2025 F1 season than it has already proven to be. But Charles Leclerc scored Ferrari’s first pole of 2025 in Hungary, and he was also in the fight to win before his race unravelled.

If Leclerc now goes on to finally deliver Ferrari’s first Grand Prix win of 2025, Hamilton will need a huge response to rescue his season. But it remains to be seen if the Stevenage-born star can finally click with the SF-25 and build any optimism ahead of F1’s 2026 regulations.

Could Max Verstappen face another new teammate heading into 2026?

Tyler Rowlinson: Red Bull are in a difficult position where they have a seat next to Max Verstappen that no one wants in 2026, due to how poor the car has been this year.

Yuki Tsunoda is almost guaranteed to leave, while Liam Lawson looks to be staying at Racing Bulls after his demotion this year. It is too soon to promote Arvid Lindblad straight into the main team, leaving Isack Hadjar as their only realistic option.

But even Hadjar is hesitant about the Red Bull seat after seeing his Racing Bulls teammate struggle in it in 2025. The new technical regulations, as well as Laurent Mekies as team principal, could help change the state of the second car and get it fighting alongside Verstappen.

Red Bull’s interest in Alex Palou seems unrealistic. While it would make for incredible entertainment to see the IndyCar star next to Verstappen, Red Bull are known for primarily sticking with their talent, meaning Hadjar may have to bite the bullet and step up for 2026.

David Comerford: Isack Hadjar is reluctant to drive for Red Bull so early in his career and a Lawson comeback isn’t realistic, so I think Laurent Mekies will give Tsunoda another year. There seems to be a greater acceptance that the problems aren’t driver-specific

Will Flavio Briatore be forced to make another driver change ahead of the new year?

Kyle Archer: It is surely only a matter of time before executive adviser Flavio Briatore opts to make another change to Alpine’s driver line-up and replaces Franco Colapinto. The true question is when the Argentine is replaced, having failed to secure a point in eight rounds.

Colapinto has seen two possible replacements go elsewhere, with Cadillac signing Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez after Alpine explored their services. But Briatore might now allow Paul Aron to debut in F1 and show Alpine why he should be in their driver line-up in 2026.

Colapinto has always known that Aron could replace him at Alpine since Briatore gave the Buenos Aires native Jack Doohan’s seat back in May. And, given the low bar that Colapinto and Doohan have set, Aron might only require one point-scoring finish to retain the drive.

Ashley Hambly: Franco Colapinto has been given more time than Jack Doohan to prove his worth and, despite showing glimpses of potential last season with Williams, has looked out of his depth at times.

Aron boasts a much more competitive record in feeder series than the Argentine, and with the regulatory overhaul that’s coming in 2026, it would be the perfect time to put a rookie at the wheel to help alleviate some of the teething issues whilst the rest of the grid also get up to speed.

David Comerford: Paul Aron has a shot at the Alpine drive, but the Argentine is the biggest winner of the Perez/Bottas news. Colapinto’s vast network of sponsors makes it contractually tricky, and expensive, to remove him, and Flavio Briatore will have more options in next year’s market anyway.