The Formula One season is coming to a close with them having just completed their 21st out of 24 races this past weekend. Over the last few months, with races in places like Italy and Singapore, the current and future grids have seen major changes. We were also able to watch one of the most eventful races taking place in Brazil with multiple crashes, penalties, and delays. These action-packed few months have shifted the standings of both championships in ways that were not expected when racing started back up in March.
Formula One and its fans are no strangers to mid-season driver swaps. Having seen drivers being swapped in and out all season, it is something that is always a possibility. However, this season we have seen two driver swaps which caused waves of emotion throughout the sports loyal fans. Logan Sargeant was the first driver to be swapped out this season. Starting on his second ever season in Formula One, Sargeant’s year had been less than ideal. Not gaining any points throughout the season and having a very costly crash in Holland seemed to be the final nails in the coffin for Sargeant. He was replaced before the Italian Grand Prix with Formula Two driver Franco Colapinto. In Formula Two he was standing in sixth position on the grid which was ahead of both Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli, both of whom are planned to make their Formula One debuts in the 2025 season. However, Colapinto has continued to exceed expectations having earned points in only his second ever race in Azerbaijan. With Colapinto continuing to impress, it begs the question of where his future lies as Williams has already announced their 2025 grid with Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz before Sargeant had departed from the grid.
The second, more polarizing and sorrowful switch happened to Daniel Ricciardo after the Singapore Grand Prix. Being a part of this sport since 2011, Ricciardo had gained many fans over the past 13 years. All of whom were extremely heartbroken over his sudden departure from the Visa Cash App team. There was speculation that it could be his last race in Formula One, but no one had truly believed that it could become a reality. However, Ricciardo’s mood had shifted over the race weekend leaving many fans with the certainty of his goodbyes. It was then announced that Liam Lawson, the Red Bulls reserve driver who had replaced Ricciardo last season for a brief period after a wrist injury, was back to replace him once more. Lawson’s contract was close to expiring, with clauses allowing him to leave if Red Bull did not find a way to place him on the F1 grid. Lawson had impressed the team last year and they were not going to let his talent slip away. However, this meant that Ricciardo would not get the farewell from the sport that was owed. This decision felt particularly cruel as it occurred before the Austin Grand Prix where Ricciardo’s support and love for the lone star state really shined through. Nonetheless, Formula One can be a cutthroat sport and these two swaps are just casualties to that ruthlessness.
In Formula One, your position is never a 100% guarantee. We often see drivers switch teams or leave the grid all together once the season has concluded. The current grid set up that we can expect to see come 2025 has some familiar and not so familiar pairings. Starting with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez driving for Red Bull. We then move to Ferrari who have secured Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. This comes as a shock as Hamilton has been a member of the Mercedes team for over ten years. This then left Carlos Sainz without a seat and he later found one alongside Alexander Albon in the Williams for 2025. This switch also left Mercedes with an open seat to be filled by one of the three new rookies we will see in 2025, Kimi Antonelli. We can see two teams keeping their driver lineups the same, which are McLaren with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and Aston Martin with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, but this is where the familiarity ends. Having been reports of hospitality between teammates in the Alpine team it was not shocking to see one member leaving the team. This being Esteban Ocon who has signed to the Haas team alongside rookie Oliver Bearman. The empty Alpine seat has been filled by Jack Doohan, the third rookie to make their debut in 2025. This just leaves two empty seats on the grid in both the Kick Sauber team who have confirmed Nico Hulkenberg and Visa Cash App who have confirmed Yuki Tsunoda. There are many different drivers both on the grid and up and coming rookies who are being considered for their spaces and we will just wait to see who fills them.
Over this past weekend, we saw the drivers race in the 21st race of the season and also, I would argue, the most eventful race thus far. Having started off qualifying Sunday morning as opposed to Saturday afternoon due to weather conditions, the race was already off to an action packed start. This being coupled with five qualifying crashes and only a few hours to fix them before the same day race left many teams scrambling. Four out of the five teams were able to bring their cars back to the grid except for Alexander Albon in the Williams who had to sit that race out due to the state of his car. Once the race was set to start and drivers were starting their formation lap, Lance Stroll was the first car to have crashed during the race. But definitely not the last. Once the grid was back in formation, Lando Norris led half of the drivers onto what Max Verstappen reported to be an “aborted start” where Norriss had started to drive away before given the all clear. Nico Hulkenberg then spun out around lap 27 which caused a virtual safety car to be deployed. This slows down the pace of the race and can benefit drivers who want to change tires and lose less time. However, when the first and second cars went to change their tires, Hulkenberg had gotten his car back moving and they were stuck in the pit lane having lost valuable time.
This sting was made even more apparent by the subsequent crash of Franco Colapinto only a few laps later which knocked out both Williams, but also deployed a red flag where all drivers had to stop, but could also change their tires with no penalties. Had the first and second place cars stayed out for a few more laps they would not have lost their positions. Carlos Sainz also ended up crashing around lap 39, which meant another safety car. The most shocking part of the entire race was Max Verstappen’s unbelievable climb to first place. Starting from 17t on the grid, Verstappen did not seem to have much of a chance, however by the first 15 laps he had already overtaken 10 of his competitors and was not stopping anytime soon. The safety cars played into his favor allowing for him to continue to overtake his competitors until it landed him in first place and his first win since the Spanish Grand Prix. This was filled by Esteban Ocon and Peirre Gasly who got second and third place.
The first double podium for the year which pushed them to be 6th in the drivers championship. The dangerous conditions of this past weekend’s race was exemplified through the major crashes that occurred. There were many moments where it seemed too risky to continue racing, but the drivers did truly show the scope of their skills.
