Is This His Year? Examining the Preseason Chances of First-Time WDC Hopefuls
It’s about time a new driver was crowned “Champion of the World,” don’t you think? After a nail-biting 2024 season, the rumor mill has been flowing with he-said, she-said claims of faster cars, hardened mentalities, and turning tides of driver luck. However, will 2025 be when the Formula One World Drivers Championship goes home with someone new? Let’s examine four drivers with their sights set on their first championship: Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and George Russell.
Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari HP
The Monegasque driver had a phenomenal 2024. Leclerc finished third in the drivers’ standings and helped lead Scuderia Ferrari to a second-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship. Leclerc finished out of the points in only two of 24 races this season and earned 10 podium finishes. This was his second-best season finish after placing runner-up in the 2022 Drivers’ Championship standing.
Moreover, Leclerc took home three stunning wins in 2024: the United States Grand Prix in Austin, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Ferrari’s home race, and most notably, the Monaco Grand Prix in his hometown of Monte Carlo. The latter win was a career highlight for Leclerc, as he finally broke what fans and pundits called his “Monaco Curse.” In years prior, Leclerc had terrible luck at home, having two DNFs and zero podium finishes at the circuit until last year. His win at Monza was a highlight not only for Leclerc but for Ferrari fans, the Tifosi, in general. It was the first time in five years a Ferrari driver saw the checkered flag first.
Perhaps this lifted weight will be what Leclerc needs to win his first championship in 2025. He also has the privilege, or burden, of being paired with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton for the next two seasons after a tumultuous final year with current Williams driver Carlos Sainz. On an episode of F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, Leclerc stated, “With Lewis joining the team, he will definitely be a benchmark, so it will be very important for me to be on my top level.” Both Hamilton and Leclerc have expressed how impressed they are with their teammates’ skill and desire to push each other to the limit.
Though “Il Predestinato” has not been perfect, he has shown massive strides towards a championship mentality. After years of bad luck, underdeveloped cars, and unprepared teammates, Leclerc seems ready to roll into his prime year. Maybe after we see the results of preseason testing, there very well may be glimmers of potential for a 2025 Championship for Leclerc. The real question is, though: What about Hamilton?
Lando Norris, McLaren
“Almost” could be the word Lando Norris uses to describe his 2024 season. After a rollercoaster of on-track battles with 2024 Champion Max Verstappen, as well as several dominant wins in an equally dominant MCL38, Norris conceded. Norris fought until the very last moment, but in the end, it was the Red Bull veteran who eeked out a championship win in Las Vegas. However, in the wake of what could be a second Constructors’ Championship season for McLaren, Norris has warned his fellow drivers that he’s ready, set, and not backing down without a fight.
It took six long years for Norris to win his first race in Formula One, but after climbing to that top step in Miami, he hit the ground running. The British driver finished outside of the points only once after his Floridian victory and took home three more wins at Zandvoort, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi. Each win showed the progress Norris had made as a driver, but also the feat of engineering that was the MCL38. His win in Singapore, for example, was the closest Norris had come to a grand chalet. He barely missed out on the fastest lap thanks to Visa Cash App RB driver and former teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
However, forces, both external and internal, seemed to be working against the Brighton native. After team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown doubled down on the team’s commitment to having “two number one drivers” and the dreaded “papaya rules,” Norris’ mindset going into each race dwindled quickly. He has opened up to the press about his struggles with mental health in previous seasons and how self-inflicted and outside pressures got to him during his title fight with Verstappen. However, Norris seems to have turned a new leaf walking into 2025. The question is, will his teammate turn the same one?
Oscar Piastri has been Norris’ teammate for the past two seasons and has already taken the Formula One world by storm. He earned his first career win in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race before five-year veteran Norris had ever won, he was consistently putting up top-tier performances, and he challenged Norris hard enough that it took until the 2024 Constructors’ Championship was all but clinched for Stella and the McLaren team to make Norris their number one driver. It is no secret that Norris and Piastri were the driver pairing who were closest in skill in 2024. For Norris, 2025 is about turning those hesitant “ifs” into definite wins. Perhaps the papaya will rule once more.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Cool, calm, collected, champion? 2025 could be the year where all of these words apply to the Australian driver. Oscar Piastri has had the privilege of joining a McLaren that was on a meteoric rise to the top, and his assured yet assertive driving style no doubt helped them reach new heights. Though Norris trumped Piastri in each category of head-to-head racing, such as qualifying results and fastest laps, Piastri has shown that he will do whatever it takes to win, when he’s allowed to, of course. As mentioned previously, the “papaya rules” set by McLaren team principal Stella and CEO Brown meant that each McLaren teammate was kindly pushed to not race each other for wins but to maintain position to secure the Constructors’ Championship. Fortunately for McLaren, it worked. Unfortunately for Piastri, it worked.
Piastri is notably managed by former Red Bull driver and fellow Aussie Mark Webber, who was involved in the now-infamous “Multi-21” incident. Webber’s then-teammate Sebastian Vettel disobeyed the “Multi 21” team order, passed car number two, Webber, and won the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. It has been said that McLaren’s hesitance to declare a number one and number two driver was influenced by Webber’s desire for the young Aussie to not repeat the past. Will Piastri have his own “Multi 21”? Or will his confident yet humble racing style speak for itself in 2025? Only time will tell what Piastri and his MCL39 will bring against Norris this season.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Petronas
In 2022, four-time World Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel was asked, “Who is the next World Champion not named Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen?” His answer? George Russell. 2024 was a year of ups and downs for the British driver. After a sluggish start to the season, Russell earned his first pole and podium in Canada, finishing the race in third. He earned his first win in Austria after a controversial crash between championship leaders Verstappen and Norris. However, the King’s Lynn native did not seem to mind taking the win in the face of their defeat, telling F1TV, “You’ve got be there at the end to pick up the pieces, and that’s where we were.”
Russell has also gone toe-to-toe with former teammate Hamilton for the duration of the time they shared at Mercedes, even out qualifying the seven-time World Champion during the 2024 season. However, as Hamilton turns red, Russell’s new teammate, 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, has been touted by Formula One media and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff as “the new Verstappen.” This is ironic, considering Russell and the Dutchman are no longer on speaking terms after a nasty feud driven by treatment from FIA stewards. Antonelli has shown promise in his nearly 9,000 kilometers of Mercedes test driving, despite a major crash in his first FP1 appearance.
It may be time for George Russell to fully embrace his “villain” era and step up to the plate against new rival Verstappen and former teammate Hamilton. He has shown fans and experts alike that he has that “killer” mentality that every champion needs to smite their teammates and rivals. Combine that with Russell’s new role as Mercedes’ number one driver, and this very well may be the perfect storm Russell needs. Mercedes has shown confidence in their 2025 development, and perhaps this may just be the year when the WDC returns to the place it became comfortable in, just with a new owner.
