Ranked: The F1 2025 driver line-up pairings from weakest to strongest

All but two teams have made changes to their line-ups for 2025 – but has the strongest team and who has the weakest?

What do you make of our just-for-fun rankings? Let us know where we have it right and where we haven’t!

Ranked: The F1 2025 driving duos after big changes

10.) Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan – Alpine

Pierre Gasly ended the 2024 season in fine form but that is not enough to pull Alpine up this order.

Jack Doohan has been waiting patiently in the wings but his promotion seemed one of convenience rather than Alpine giving him the full backing, not helped by rumours that his contract was only for a small number of races.

The Aussie has a lot to prove in his early career but Gasly is no slouch.

9.) Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber

When Nico Hulkenberg opted to swap Haas for Audi, it looked like a smart career move but the two team’s trajectories have gone in widely different directions since then.

Haas, mostly through Hulkenberg’s performances, rose up the table while Sauber scored just four points all season.

With Audi not arriving until 2026, there is every suggestion that it will be another terrible season for the Swiss outfit and even the experienced German may struggle to make that car go quickly.

As for Gabriel Bortoleto, he arrives as the F2 champion but may suffer the same fate as Zhou Guanyu if his car is not good enough.

8.) Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls

Red Bull may not rate him but Yuki Tsunoda continues to get the job done at VCARB. In what may well be his final season with the team, you would back the Japanese driver to once again get the better of his team-mate, this time in the form of Isack Hadjar.

The 20-year-old is the latest Red Bull academy graduate and the Racing Bulls engineers may be reaching for the volume dial considering both drivers’ reputations for angry outbursts.

7.) Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman – Haas

Of the four rookies arriving on the grid in 2025, Oliver Bearman has shown the most of what he can do with some impressive drives in 2024.

Missing the hype of Antonelli, Bearman looks all the part of an F1 driver in the making and a full season at a team away from the spotlight will only help to improve his skills.

Esteban Ocon is a downgrade from Hulkenberg but still a safe pair of hands for Ayao Komatsu’s team.

6.) Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin

As we will see with other teams, it is the strength of one driver that lifts Aston Martin away from the foot of the table.

Fernando Alonso was counting down the days until the 2024 season was over but finishing P9 in an underwhelming car was a reminder of the Spaniard’s talents.

Lance Stroll continues to frustrate and Aston will never be considered as one of the best pairings on the grid with the owner’s son still in the seat.

5.) George Russell and Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes

If this ranking was done on hype then Mercedes may well be top given the expectation placed on Kimi Antonelli.

Billed as the second coming of Max Verstappen, it is Toto Wolff’s hope that the 18-year-old will be a generational talent but there is no question that putting such a young driver in the car is a risk.

It worked for Verstappen and Red Bull and Wolff is gambling lightning will strike twice.

As for George Russell, he is a very consistent driver if not in the upper echelon.

4.) Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz – Williams

If this was a ranking of car performance, Williams would be much lower on this list but James Vowles’ luring of Carlos Sainz has given them one of the strongest pairings on the grid.

Anyone but Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and it is hard to see how Ferrari would have dropped the in-form Sainz and ever since his departure was announced, he has stepped it up a gear to become one of the six best drivers on the grid.

Which makes it a shame for Sainz but quite the coup for Williams that he is heading to Grove for 2025.

As for Alex Albon, he wrestled back control after being initially outshone by Franco Colapinto but Sainz will provide the toughest test since Verstappen for the Thai driver.

3.) Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson – Red Bull

The sheer strength of Max Verstappen means Red Bull always have to be in the top three but Liam Lawson is perhaps the biggest unknown quantity they have ever had in their car.

While Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon had experience at Toro Rosso, Lawson has driven just 11 times in F1 and is now being asked to do one of the hardest jobs in the sport – keep pace with Verstappen.

Time will tell whether he rises to the challenge but Red Bull will be up there again if only because of Verstappen.

2.) Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari

On paper, a duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton is easily the strongest on the grid but it comes with the big question mark of which Hamilton will we see?

His form to end 2024 was more than just alarming and had some seriously questioning whether his magic had run out but that could all reverse in 2025. An atmosphere change, at a team he idolised, may provide the breath of fresh air needed for a return to his best or equally he could be swallowed up by the Ferrari machine.

As for Charles Leclerc, he is approaching the peak of his powers and brought much needed consistency in 2024. If Ferrari give him a title-contending car, he has the skills to dethrone Verstappen.

1.) Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – McLaren

One of just two teams with an unchanged lineup and that consistency makes McLaren the strongest pair on the grid right now.

While already being incredibly talented drivers, the good thing for McLaren is that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are still young and improving.

2024 was a coming of age season for Norris while Piastri continued to look far more experienced than he is. If the two kick on a gear again in 2025, it is hard to see how the Constructors’ title will go anywhere but back to Woking.

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