2025 Season Review

The End of an Era?

So much of what we do as fans is argue.

• "Max is only fast because of the car."

• "Lando choked the mid-season."

• "Ferrari are a disaster (again)."

We need a better way to measure this. My good friend Shlok has been crunching the numbers. We've merged our ratings to create a definitive ELO adjustment for every driver. It takes into account everything

• Qualifying pace

• Race craft

• The machinery underneath them

Lets see who went up, who went down, and why.

The Titans (Top 3)

These are the guys fighting for the big shiny cup.

Max Verstappen

1867 -> 1854

The King Bleeds. He won 8 races. He took 8 poles. But he lost the title. The ELO system punishes you heavily when you are expected to win and don't. The RB21 was tricky, sure, but Max couldn't quite drag it over the line this time.

Lando Norris

1804 -> 1801

The Reluctant Champ. He won the title, but his rating dipped slightly. Why? Because with the MCL39 being the clear class of the field, the math says he should have wrapped this up way sooner. Consistency wobbles in the early-season cost him rating points.

Charles Leclerc

1794 -> 1794

The Constant. Ferrari was a mess. The car was inconsistent. But Charles? Charles was Charles. Beating Hamilton 19-5 in qualifying kept his rating perfectly stable. He is the benchmark.

The Chasing Pack

The ones who could have won if things went slightly differently.

George Russell (1768 -> 1768)

No Change. He destroyed Kimi in qualifying. He won two races. He maximized a Mercedes that wasn't quite there. He did exactly what the model expected of a top-tier driver. Solid.

Oscar Piastri (1764 -> 1761)

Down slightly. He led for 15 rounds! He was a robot! But he fell apart slightly at the end. The near-collision with Lando in Abu Dhabi and losing the title fight by 13 points suggests he's still got a tiny bit of "rookie" volatility left in him.

The Veterans & The Midfield

Carlos Sainz (1711 -> 1707)

Down. He moved to Williams to lead. He ended up losing the points battle to Albon (64-73). He's safe, he scores points, but he wasn't the "Super Team" leader we expected.

Fernando Alonso (1704 -> 1703)

Stagnation. He whitewashed Stroll 24-0. But the car was awful. It's hard to gain rating when you are fighting for P10. The slow bleed of a legend trapped in a bad car.

Nico Hulkenberg (1681 -> 1683)

UP! The man finally got a podium! P3 at Silverstone! After 200+ races! The model loves breaking records like that. He dragged that Sauber to places it had no business being.

The Kids are Alright (Mostly)
Oliver Bearman

1654 -> 1659

Up. He nearly got a race ban (10 penalty points!). But he also finished P4. The model values raw speed over clean licenses. Fast but scary.

Isack Hadjar

1640 -> 1645

Up. The breakout star. A podium in Zandvoort in a Racing Bull? That is serious pace. He earned that Red Bull seat.

Kimi Antonelli

1617 -> 1619

Up. Replaced Lewis. Crashed a bit. But 3 fastest laps and a podium in Canada says the speed is real.

Franco Colapinto

1580 -> 1601

Big Jump. Okay, he destroyed two chassis in Brazil and Vegas. Expensive. But when he wasn't crashing, his telemetry must have been lighting up the model. Raw pace is hard to teach.

The Rest of the Grid

Alex Albon (1648 -> 1648): No Change. He beat Sainz. He scored P5s. He is the benchmark for the midfield.

Pierre Gasly (1639 -> 1655): Up. Look at that jump. He dragged the worst car on the grid (Alpine, 22 pts) to respectability. A heroic season in a tractor.

Lewis Hamilton (1632 -> 1643): Up. Wait, what? He had his worst season ever? Yes. But the model likely sees the SF-25 was a "nightmare" and credits him for not retiring on the spot. Even a bad Lewis is better than most.

Esteban Ocon (1623 -> 1638): Up. Quietly competent. P5 in China. Beat the rookie when it mattered. Solid job.

Liam Lawson (1589 -> 1592): Up. Demoted after two races? Harsh. Came back and scored P5 in Baku? Redemption.

Gabriel Bortoleto (1580 -> 1590): Up. P6 in Hungary for a rookie in a Sauber is gold dust.

Yuki Tsunoda (1557 -> 1562): Up. He got destroyed by Max (22-0). He got dropped. But the ELO went up? The model probably thinks the Red Bull was harder to drive than we thought, and 33 points is... something.

Lance Stroll (1510 -> 1528): Up. He went 9 races without points. He got beaten 24-0. But he's still here. And the ELO thinks he improved relative to the car's terrible performance. (Or maybe it's just pity points).

Jack Doohan (1495 -> 1500): Up. He showed up. He drove 6 races. He didn't crash too much. He left. A standard participation trophy bump.