2025 Formula One World Championship
Scheduled Formula One season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars which will be the 76th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship will be contested over twenty-four Grands Prix held around the world. It is scheduled to begin in March and end in December.
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Max Verstappen is the reigning World Drivers' Champion, while McLaren-Mercedes are the reigning World Constructors' Champions.
The 2025 season is planned to be the last year to utilise the power unit configuration introduced in 2014. A revised configuration without MGU-H but with a higher power output from the MGU-K will be introduced for the 2026 championship.[1] Drivers and teams are scheduled to compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion respectively. Max Verstappen is the reigning Drivers' Champion,[2] while McLaren-Mercedes are the reigning Constructors' Champions.[3]
2025 will mark the final year of the ground-effect generation of cars introduced in 2022 and the last year of the drag reduction system (DRS) introduced as an overtaking aid in 2011 as cars with active aerodynamics and moveable wings are being introduced from 2026.[4] It will also be the final season for Renault as an active engine supplier for its team Alpine, as the manufacturer plans to discontinue engine production post 2025.[5]
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The following constructors and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2025 World Championship. All teams are due to compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.[6] Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.[7]
Team changes
RB discontinued its use of the initialism and entered instead as Racing Bulls, thus changing their team and constructor name.[27]
Driver changes
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Oliver Bearman (top left), Andrea Kimi Antonelli (top centre), Jack Doohan (top right), Gabriel Bortoleto (bottom left), Liam Lawson (bottom centre) and Isack Hadjar (bottom right) are set to make their debuts as full-time drivers with Haas, Mercedes, Alpine, Sauber, Red Bull Racing, and Racing Bulls, respectively.
Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes after twelve seasons to join Ferrari, ending his record-breaking streak of the most consecutive seasons driving for a single constructor, as well as competing in his first season without a Mercedes power unit.[36] He will replace Carlos Sainz Jr., who left Ferrari after four seasons to join Williams on a multi-year deal. Sainz was initially set to replace Logan Sargeant, but Sargeant was replaced by Franco Colapinto part way through the 2024 season.[37][38][39][40] Hamilton was replaced by Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was promoted from Formula 2.[41][42] In January 2025, Colapinto left Williams to join Alpine as a reserve driver.[43]
Haas is fielding an all new line-up in 2025; Nico Hülkenberg departed the team after two seasons to drive for Sauber, with whom he last competed in 2013.[44][45] He was replaced by Haas's reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who will step up from Formula 2, having previously raced in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Ferrari, and in the 2024 Azerbaijan and São Paulo Grands Prix for Haas.[46] Kevin Magnussen also departed the team after seven seasons across two stints.[47] He was replaced by Esteban Ocon, who split from Alpine after five seasons with Team Enstone after the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.[48] Jack Doohan, who replaced Ocon for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, obtained the seat at Alpine for 2025.[49][50]
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both left Sauber after three years,[51] the former rejoining Mercedes as a reserve driver after having previously raced for the team from 2017 to 2021,[52] and the latter joining Ferrari as a reserve driver.[53] The vacant seat alongside Hülkenberg was filled by reigning Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.[54]
Despite a previously signed contract until 2026, Sergio Pérez left Red Bull Racing after the conclusion of the 2024 season.[55] He was replaced by Liam Lawson, who was promoted from Racing Bulls after five Grands Prix in 2023 under the AlphaTauri moniker, and six Grands Prix in 2024 under the use of the initialism RB.[56] Red Bull Racing reserve and Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar was promoted to Racing Bulls in his place.[57]
Calendar
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The 2025 calendar features the same twenty-four Grands Prix as the previous season.[58][59] The Chinese, Miami, Belgian, United States, São Paulo and Qatar Grands Prix are set to use the sprint format.[60][61]
Calendar changes
The Australian Grand Prix is planned to host the opening race of the 2025 season for the first time since 2019. It was the third round in the past three seasons, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, respectively, with those events being pushed back in 2025 to avoid a conflict with Ramadan.[62][63] The Russian Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2025 calendar.[64] However, the contract was terminated in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[65]
Regulation changes
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Technical regulations
Minimum weight changes
The minimum driver weight allowance has been increased from 80 kilograms (176.4 lb) to 82 kilograms (180.8 lb). As a result, the overall minimum weight limit of the car without fuel also increased from 798 kilograms (1,759 lb) to 800 kilograms (1,764 lb). The change was made in the interest of the well-being of the drivers, especially those either taller or heavier.[66][67][68]
Driver cooling
A driver cooling kit will be introduced for 2025. The system will only be mandated by the FIA in extreme heat conditions, with the minimum weight of the cars increased correspondingly when applicable. This is to avoid a repeat of driver overheating witnessed at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.[69] When the FIA predicts a temperature over 30.5 °C, a "heat hazard" will be declared. This will require teams to equip the drivers with their cooling systems, and the minimum weight will be raised by 5 kilograms (11 lb) to compensate for the equipment.[70]
DRS parameters
The slot gaps for the rear wing between the two modes of the DRS will be changed, with the minimum gap reduced. It will be shrunk from 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 in) to 9.4–13 millimetres (0.37–0.51 in); the upper boundary remains at 85 millimetres (3.3 in) with DRS open. The FIA will also tighten up the rules on the DRS modes, stating that there must only be two positions, and that ending the application of DRS must return the wing exactly as defined to the initial mode.[70]
New and more stringent deflection tests on the rear wing will be carried out from the opening round, while other tests on the front wing will be introduced from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards.[71]
Number of gearboxes
There will no longer be a limit on the number of gearboxes used by teams, as the reliability of current designs renders this restriction obsolete.[71]
Sporting regulations
Fastest lap point
The point awarded to drivers finishing in the top ten positions for setting the fastest lap in the race, which was reintroduced in 2019, will be abolished.[7][72][73]
Young driver free practice requirements
The requirements for fielding a young driver during free practice will increase from once per season per car to twice per season per car.[74]
Testing of previous cars
The sporting regulations will tighten the restrictions on the testing of previous cars (TPC). This will see a twenty-day limit imposed on TPC, and drivers competing in the championship will only be allowed to cover a maximum of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) over four days of testing. Testing will only be permitted at circuits that have featured on the calendar in the current or previous year. However, testing is not permitted on tracks which will host a race within sixty days of a test, nor “if the circuit is deemed, at the sole discretion of the FIA, to have undergone significant modification” since the last race.[75]
Qualifying contingencies
The sporting regulations will include specifically prescribed provisions for how the starting grids for sprints and Grands Prix should be set in the event that qualifying for these sessions is cancelled. The starting grid will be set according to the drivers' championship standings. Previously it was left solely to the discretion of the stewards to determine the starting grid order if a qualifying session could not take place. If the Drivers' Championship standings cannot be applied to determine the starting grid order, it remains at the racing stewards discretion.[7][76]
Starting grid formation
The protocol for closing up the grid when some cars do not make it to the start of a race was amended following the starting grid formation for cars withdrawn before the start of the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix. The final grid will now be determined one hour before the start of the race. Cars that are withdrawn up to 75 minutes before the start will not be included in the final grid, and the following cars will all move up the relevant positions.[69]
Regulation of public comments
Drivers comments are due to be subject to more stringent regulation, and stricter punishment. The issue had first come to light when Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile president Mohammed Sulayem said in an interview that he wanted to see less bad language in Formula One.[77] This was closely followed by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc both being investigated and punished for swearing in Formula One interviews.[78][79] The penalties for "driver misconduct" covers "language, [...], gesture[s] and/or sign[s] that is offensive, insulting, coarse, rude or abusive and might reasonably be expected or be perceived to be coarse or rude or to cause offense, humiliation or to be inappropriate", as well as assault and "incitement to do any of the above".[77] A first offense would incur a €40,000 fine, a second offense would see a €80,000 fine and a suspended suspension, with a third offense resulting in a €120,000 fine, a month suspension and a point deduction. The same penalty scale is set to apply to any "moral injury or loss" to the "FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers" or its values. The making of "political, religious and personal statements or comments" which contravenes the FIA's neutrality will also be subject to the same penalties, with the added caveat that drivers will be required to make a full apology and retract their statement.[77]
Mandatory pit stops
With the aim of promoting better racing for the Monaco Grand Prix, there will be an increase in the number of mandatory pit stops for this event.[71]
Season summary
Season launch
As part of the series' celebration of the sport's 75th anniversary, all ten teams took part in a collective season launch event called F1 75 Live at The O2 Arena in London on 18 February 2025. Each team unveiled their car liveries for the season while their drivers and team principals were interviewed in front of a live audience. Mixed in with other live entertainment and previews of the Formula One film, the event was also broadcast live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and ESPN in the United States, as well as Formula One's social media accounts.[80][81] On YouTube, the event surpassed Formula One's previous live event viewership records, with 1.1 million concurrent viewers.[82][83]
Pre-season
A single pre-season test will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on 26–28 February.[84]
References
External links
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