2025 predictions thread

[BrettMRC]

We've now hit the 2024 summer break, a season that looked like a nailed-on Redbull clean sweep has seemingly been turned on it's head.

Based on this, how do we think 2025 could pan out?


I have a feeling we will see a four way fight for the constructors in the 2025, with McLaren being the dominant force. Redbull, Mercedes will be too close to call, and Ferrari will be best of the rest with the odd flash of brilliance.

Norris to be the 2025 WDC.

[HTP99]

I think Hamilton will wipe the floor with LeClerc who will consistently over drive to try and put a marker down, he'll have a mare of a season.

If any of the McLaren drivers were to become world champion next year it'll be Piastri, Norris is struggling at the moment, he is making mistakes and being too self critical, you can see his head isn't in the right place, this is definitely a weakness of his which is becoming apparent, Piastri just seems calm level headed and unflappable.

I honestly can't call who I think will be world champion next year though.

Red Bull continues to implode, Max loses his st regularly, making too many mistakes.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

HTP99 said:

Red Bull continues to implode, Max loses his st regularly, making too many mistakes.

Agreed, I have a sneaky feeling that Max will have had enough and will be signed by Mercedes for 2026. George only has a contract for 2025, I have a feeling he won't be resigned for 2026.

All depends on whether Antonelli is the other driver for 2025 and if he is actually any good.

[kambites]

Its very hard to tell isn't it?

McLaren undoubtedly have the best overall car at the moment, but Mercedes seem to have found the right path, are working better at an operational level, and are closing the performance gap fast. Verstappen will be a force to be reckoned with unless Redbull completely implode, although I don't think they'll have a second driver strong enough to compete for the WCC unless their car jumps well ahead of the rest of the field again.

Ferrari will arguably have the strongest driver lineup (although McLaren's runs it pretty close), but on current form don't look to have the understanding of the car to quite complete at the front.

[sandman77]

Red Bull will be a spent force by next year. We have all seen the effect that Adrian Newey leaving has had on this years in season development. Next years car, without his input, will be a dog.
Norris will not be able to handle the increasing pressure that is coming from his teammate and will have a very public meltdown.
Ferrari will continue to be a organisational disaster and cost both their drivers wins.
Mercedes will plug away and sweep up all the point the other teams leave on the table.
Piastri or Russell for the title.

[kambites]

I wonder just how bad the rest of this season would have to go for Redbull for Verstappen to seek an exit clause and go to Mercedes for 2025.

[Martin315]

kambites said:

I wonder just how bad the rest of this season would have to go for Redbull for Verstappen to seek an exit clause and go to Mercedes for 2025.

I don’t think Mercedes would want him and his father bringing their toxicity and behaviour to the team.

[kambites]

Martin315 said:

kambites said:

I wonder just how bad the rest of this season would have to go for Redbull for Verstappen to seek an exit clause and go to Mercedes for 2025.

I don’t think Mercedes would want him and his father bringing their toxicity and behaviour to the team.

I wouldn't if I was them, but Wolff seems to think otherwise and he knows a lot more about managing an F1 team than I do!

[Rotary Potato]

Normally I'm 100% on board with a wild, speculative punt on the future of F1. However, I don't have a bloody clue, and that excites me. To be at the mid-point of the year and not know which of the 4 leading teams will have the upper hand for the remainder of the year - let alone into next year, is amazing and long may it continue.

Red Bull seem to be on a downwards trajectory ... whether that's as a result of personnel losses, the FIA "clarifying" the rules, disruption caused by internal divisions, or just hitting the development ceiling of their car concept ... I don't have the first clue. But whichever it is (or a combination of), they don't seem to be rushing out too many solutions. Maybe most likely to continue on their current path without a strong shake up through the second half of the season. Max continues with Red Bull for 2025, but very quickly announces he's off the Merc for 2026. Surely whatever Whatsapp messages of Horner's that Sergio has aren't enough to save him for 2025, and so he's binned off for one of the B team trio.

I thought Mercedes were dead and burred for this entire rules cycle only 5-6 weeks ago, but here they are - rising like Lazarus - somehow on bit of a roll. It's almost like Lewis' leaving has helped them focus on what needed to be done to start heading back to the pointy end of the grid. Could James Allison actually be the thinking man's Adrian Newey? I was all for them using 2025 as a season to bed in AKA, when I thought they were going to have a meh-field car for 2025 ... but if they're genuine challengers, do you really want a rookie having a fairly average F2 season thrown right in to that sort of environment? I fancy George to do OK against whoever he's up against, but that the constructors may take a hit having a completely unproven rookie in the second car.

Ferrari are probably the most predictable here. Design a good car, have it be run by a team of Coco the Clowns, and watch it slowly fade away as the year goes on. So far, so cliched. I think they will turn up next year with a promising car, and a combination of willy waving from the drivers trying to lay down a marker on their teammate along with a side portion of questionable team calls will mean they squander the best of their advantage and are rapidly overhauled by at least a couple of the other teams.

McLaren seem to be the most consistent team recently. They've been there or there abouts all year, and you could make a strong case for them being best placed to carry that on through 2025. Lando's an odd one - almost like he's developed a case of the yips since getting his first win. He's obviously a very talented young man, but does seem to be his harshest critic at times. I'm not sure what he needs to do to get back in the right headspace, but if he manages it, I believe the best Norris beats the best (2024) Piastri. However, Oscar is a very calm, consistent driver - nothing so far has phased him. If Lando can't shake these persistent little errors, then I have no doubt Oscar will be there to capitalise.

So with that wild speculation complete, a rub of my crystal balls throws up:

2025 WDC:
Lando
Oscar
George
Lewis
Max
Red Bull #2
Charles
Merc #2

2025 WCC
Mclaren
Red Bull
Ferrari
Mercedes

[Jayho]

Rotary Potato said:

Ferrari are probably the most predictable here. Design a good car, have it be run by a team of Coco the Clowns, and watch it slowly fade away as the year goes on. So far, so cliched. I think they will turn up next year with a promising car, and a combination of willy waving from the drivers trying to lay down a marker on their teammate along with a side portion of questionable team calls will mean they squander the best of their advantage and are rapidly overhauled by at least a couple of the other teams.

I'd probably say that Ferrari's team tactics will seem like they're improving through the year, but that would be down to Hamilton forcing their hand. Maybe a couple of dodgy early calls for Hamilton before he starts bringing in the strategist and his race engineer and do some pre race planning and maybe invoke his own mid race changes. We'll see CLC continuing to listen blindly to the Ferrari pit lane wondering why he isn't able to win / be on podium as much as Hamilton. He might have a Eureka moment and start forcing his own tactics, but I'm not convinced. Hamilton however knows how to win a race and has that determination to make it happen for himself if the team aren't helping him enough.

I've got a slight feeling that we'll see Williams improving by quite some bit and maybe get a couple of podiums throughout the season. Nothing to really worry the Top 4 on, but enough to create a gulf between them and the rest of the teams. I'd say that Carlos might even place higher than some "Second drivers" of the top teams, mainly Perez, possibly CLC and whoever takes that second Mercedes seat.

I think McLaren will do really well, but will struggle in the WDC with Piastri picking up many podiums, but not enough wins, and Norris picking up the wins but when he's not winning he's not on the podium kinda vibe.

Max will DNF as many races as he wins or finishes as he'll really show his lack of clean wheel to wheel racing, and other drivers will be less willing to yield to his grey area of acceptable driving. Hopefully no major injuries or worse to anyone resulting from these clashes.

[DanielSan]

Martin315 said:

kambites said:

I wonder just how bad the rest of this season would have to go for Redbull for Verstappen to seek an exit clause and go to Mercedes for 2025.

I don’t think Mercedes would want him and his father bringing their toxicity and behaviour to the team.

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

[kambites]

DanielSan said:

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

I think the odds of Antonelli being anywhere near Russell if he gets parachuted into the Mercedes seat for 2025 are pretty slim, which is part of the reason I don't want him to get the seat. I could easily see him joining Mercedes in 2025, then Verstappen deciding he's had enough of the Redbull implosion and going to Mercedes for 2026. If Antonelli isn't competitive with Russell in '25 (which one couldn't reasonably expect him to be after going FR -> F2 -> F1 in consecutive years), Mercedes would have every reason to decide to keep Russell alongside Verstappen in which case Antonelli might lose his seat after just one season through no fault of his own. Historically, very few drivers have managed to come back to a successful career having been dropped after one season in their initial stint.

IMO picking up a one-year "number-2" driver to both give Antonelli more time in F2 and see what Verstappen wants to do in 2026 makes a lot more sense for everyone involved.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

kambites said:

IMO picking up a one-year "number-2" driver to both give Antonelli more time in F2 and see what Verstappen wants to do in 2026 makes a lot more sense for everyone involved.

Agreed, Bottas anyone? I am sure he would love to go out in a blaze of glory with a final year at Mercedes.

[MustangGT]

DanielSan said:

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

My bold - if this is truly the case why has he not won any of the last 4 races?

In my view Max is one of the fastest drivers out there, but has yet to prove he is a racer. The best drivers have both abilities.

[cuprabob]

MustangGT said:

DanielSan said:

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

My bold - if this is truly the case why has he not won any of the last 4 races?

In my view Max is one of the fastest drivers out there, but has yet to prove he is a racer. The best drivers have both abilities.

Also it's pretty common knowledge that even if Toto wasn't considering signing Max, he would publicly say he was to try and disrupt Red Bull and annoy Horner.

[anyoldcardave]

BrettMRC said:

Norris to be the 2025 WDC.

He makes too many poor decisions and poor starts, I think Piastri is learning quicker than Norris but neither are ready yet, and will take points off one another.

2024 is not over yet, another season, MV could be under pressure, and even lose the WC,plenty of points available, but they are getting shared, it would probably take a couple of DNF, and none for the others, MV is surely not going to implode completely.

Would love an LH swansong in a Ferrari, cannot see that either.

Hard too look passed GR if the Mercedes keeps improving, and they get it right from the start for 2025, he should be getting No1 driver treatment.

Cannot see any others that are consistently good enough, and GR is not really yet, but I think he will be if the car is good enough.

[MustangGT]

cuprabob said:

MustangGT said:

DanielSan said:

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

My bold - if this is truly the case why has he not won any of the last 4 races?

In my view Max is one of the fastest drivers out there, but has yet to prove he is a racer. The best drivers have both abilities.

Also it's pretty common knowledge that even if Toto wasn't considering signing Max, he would publicly say he was to try and disrupt Red Bull and annoy Horner.

Agreed.

[DanielSan]

MustangGT said:

DanielSan said:

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

My bold - if this is truly the case why has he not won any of the last 4 races?

In my view Max is one of the fastest drivers out there, but has yet to prove he is a racer. The best drivers have both abilities.

Alonso hasn't won a race in 10 years, it doesn't mean he isn't still one of the best drivers on the grid.

[MustangGT]

DanielSan said:

MustangGT said:

DanielSan said:

If he interferes too much Jo's will find himself very quickly unwelcome in the Mercedes motor home or garage. Toto isn't talking so publicly about Verstappen for the fun of it, right now he's the best driver in F1 and things look more and more like he'll become available on a long term deal.

Russell is the top tier driver most in danger of losing his seat next season as things stand. If Antonelli comes in and gets close to him straight away without even having had the time to start learning F1 properly that's going to be a big problem for him if a deal can be done with Verstappen.

My bold - if this is truly the case why has he not won any of the last 4 races?

In my view Max is one of the fastest drivers out there, but has yet to prove he is a racer. The best drivers have both abilities.

Alonso hasn't won a race in 10 years, it doesn't mean he isn't still one of the best drivers on the grid.

He is indeed. Max though has not yet proved he can actually race. All indicators point the other way, therefore he cannot be considered a great driver, and certainly not the best driver of the current peer group. I would rate him as somewhere in the bottom half of the top 10.

[TheDeuce]

HTP99 said:

I think Hamilton will wipe the floor with LeClerc who will consistently over drive to try and put a marker down, he'll have a mare of a season.

If any of the McLaren drivers were to become world champion next year it'll be Piastri, Norris is struggling at the moment, he is making mistakes and being too self critical, you can see his head isn't in the right place, this is definitely a weakness of his which is becoming apparent, Piastri just seems calm level headed and unflappable.

I honestly can't call who I think will be world champion next year though.

Red Bull continues to implode, Max loses his st regularly, making too many mistakes.

^^^ I second all of this.