Plot twists, penalties & papaya dominance, F1's 2025 season is pure chaos in motion

The Print

4 days ago

While Formula One is traditionally centred around pole positions, tyre management and strategy, the 2025 season has produced some viral and memorable moments.
New Delhi: With its mayhem and chaos, Formula One in its current season has felt less like a motorsport championship and more like a reality TV show with viewers clutching as if they were witnessing Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive in real time.
First, McLaren, dubbed the team in papaya, caused a stir when Oscar Piastri bounced back from a disappointing Australian Grand Prix by converting pole position into an assured victory. Then, Lando Norris followed up by clinching a podium just nine seconds behind Piastri.
Real drama unfolded when Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified from the race as their cars failed to clear post-race technical checks. Leclerc's car was found to be 1 kg lighter than the minimum weight requirement, while Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive wear on the skid block—the same issue with the wooden plank beneath the car that had previously cost him a second-place finish at the 2023 United States Grand Prix when he was driving for Mercedes.
Alpine's Pierre Gasly finished 11th but was also disqualified for failing post-weight check-ins.
If Shanghai was the opening act, Bahrain was the ultimate plot twist. One of the highlights was when McLaren's rising star Piastri clinched pole position at the onset and converted it into a spectacular win at the Bahrain Grand Prix. His teammate Norris, who ascended from sixth to third position, quite literally planted his flag and dipped.
Meanwhile, Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and Williams' Carlos Sainz were caught in a minor collision, which forced Sainz to retire from the Grand Prix, a race he later admitted had been 'frustrating'.
Also Read: The F1 movie is visually revolutionary. That still can't make up for a weak storyline
F1 never stays quiet for long
Bahrain delivered the chaos, Miami brought the heat and then Monaco added the glitz.
Drama unfolded at the Miami Grand Prix where Red Bull's Max Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release into the path of Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes. It wasn't just messy, but also shattered the momentum with Verstappen being dropped down the order and injecting fresh chaos into an already volatile midfield.
Monaco in May delivered its trademark glitz but fell short on fireworks. Norris claimed pole and handled the race start with clinical precision, reaffirming that McLaren's resurgence wasn't just a flash in the pan.
While practice saw its share of drama–including crashes from Hamilton and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar–race day played out with surprising restraint.
Up front, it was a clean shuffle among the usual suspects: Leclerc, Norris and Verstappen held onto formation like chess pieces on a million-dollar board. No wild overtakes, no rain curveballs, just textbook precision on Formula One's most unforgiving circuit.
The Austrian Grand Prix came in hot–or rather locked up and reckless–as Antonelli ploughed into Verstappen at Turn 3 of the first lap. It wiped both of them out and an early safety car was triggered.
Verstappen was fuming over the team radio but attempted to keep it cool after the race. Antonelli took the blame upon himself and Red Bull's golden weekend ended before it even began.
Then came Silverstone, or the British Grand Prix, where rain, with penalties and redemption arcs arrived in dramatic fashion. The first shakeup came when Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was spun at turn 11 following a clumsy collision with Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, prompting a safety car that bunched up the field.
A record was broken and Norris claimed a home win. Meanwhile, Piastri was slapped with a 10-second penalty for safety car infringement.
There was no end to the excitement. Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg finally landed his first-ever podium after 239 starts in Formula 1, the longest any F1 driver has had to wait for a podium result. He celebrated it with a LEGO trophy, which looked straight out of a toy aisle.
However, the F1 world was shaken later in the week with the sudden departure of Christian Horner, who acted as the team principal for Red Bull Racing. He led the team for nearly 20 years.
Apart from this the latest speculation surrounded Verstappen leaving Red Bull to join Mercedes for the upcoming Formula One season. Pushed on whether he would set a deadline for Verstappen to decide, Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff confirmed 'conversations behind closed doors' were ongoing.
George Russell, the Briton who drives for Mercedes, claimed that he has not been given a new Mercedes contract beyond the current season due to the team having 'ongoing talks' with Verstappen.
So far, this season has been 30 percent strategy, 70 percent storyline and 100 percent unpredictable. Drivers are switching teams, penalties are flying and fans are hanging on to the drama by a thread. And the best part? We're only halfway done.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: As F1 world grapples with Red Bull boss Christian Horner's exit, fans have one question—why