Latest news with #summershutdown
New York Times
3 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Times
2025 F1 midseason driver rankings: Oscar Piastri surges, rookies shine and a champion falls
After a hectic run of 14 races since March began, the Formula One paddock has a chance to breathe in the summer shutdown. With no racing until the end of August, when the Dutch Grand Prix will start the 10-race dash to the end of the 2025 season, all 20 drivers have an opportunity to digest the campaign so far. Advertisement McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris may be the drivers fighting it out for this year's world title, and with Red Bull's Max Verstappen not quite yet out of contention, but there have also been impressive displays from those further down the field. Given the summer break provides a natural time to review the season so far, The Athletic's experts Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman give their top-10 driver rundown. As always, let us know your thoughts on this ranking in the comment section below. Oscar Piastri has blossomed in his third F1 season, converting raw speed into pole positions (4) and race wins (6), and minimizing his mistakes. The year started on a sour note as he made a costly error and spun during the wet season-opener in Australia, but he really found his groove in Bahrain after winning in China. Bahrain was a race where he calmly commanded proceedings from lights out to the checkered flag. This was one of three consecutive wins that led him to the championship lead, which he hasn't relinquished since the Saudi Arabian race. Aside from Australia (P9) and Canada (P4), the Australian has stood on the podium every race weekend so far. Piastri holds a nine-point lead over teammate Norris in the drivers' standings, and the margins are fine as their title battle heats up. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told select media in Hungary earlier this month that one area the team felt Piastri needed to improve on during the winter offseason was qualifying – and he has done so, putting together stronger Saturdays on the back of solid practice starts and leading Norris 8-6 in qualifying. The average gap between the pair is just 0.042 seconds, with Piastri having the edge. The 24-year-old needs to maintain his calm demeanor and clean performances during the second part of the season as the pressure will continue to climb. Even without the best car on the grid, Max Verstappen has produced some miraculous performances so far in have been stunning battles, pole positions, podium finishes and wins, plus he's secured points even when the RB21's limitations are severely exposed. At Suzuka in April, Verstappen converted a P1 start to his first victory of the season, finishing over a second ahead of the McLaren duo despite race-long pressure. At Imola, he nailed a beautiful race-winning first-lap pass on Piastri that was the key to victory. Strategic errors and car set-up issues have all played a part in why Red Bull's dominance has ended. But the Spanish Grand Prix in June is the most notable black mark on Verstappen's personal 2025 record, as he crashed into George Russell and received three penalty points for the incident, putting him at risk of a race ban. The incident raised questions over whether the Dutchman should have been disqualified as many people thought it appeared a deliberate act, while he later acknowledged his move 'was not right' on social media. Verstappen is unlikely to secure a fifth consecutive drivers' title, but he has totally outclassed his teammates, holding an average qualifying gap of 0.540 seconds to Yuki Tsunoda (after starting the year against Liam Lawson). Verstappen's performances in a tricky car illustrate why he's a four-time world champion. George Russell's seamless transition into the team leader role at Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton's departure should surprise no-one. Working harder than ever off the track and in a contract year, Russell arguably has been performing his best yet in F1, scoring more podiums this season than anyone outside of the McLaren drivers. The Mercedes car just hasn't given him the chance to regularly fight for victories. His form was stymied by the updated rear suspension made after June's Canadian Grand Prix. But that weekend in Montreal, when conditions aligned to bring out the best in the Mercedes package, Russell flourished, winning from pole position ahead of Verstappen. Russell has been consistent and quick this season, grabbing opportunities that came his way and being unruffled by the arrival of a new teammate in Kimi Antonelli. A new Mercedes deal, long a formality, will be richly deserved if it arrives as expected post-summer break. All he needs to be a serious contender is a championship-challenging car. There was never any doubt over Lando Norris's speed heading into 2025, justifying his status as the preseason championship favorite. But a series of small, yet costly, errors have allowed Piastri to marginally gain the upper hand both in terms of points and pace. At his best, Norris has been very hard to beat. He started perfectly in Australia, winning from pole in tricky conditions, and was in total control of the Monaco weekend, which resulted in a significant victory. He struggled for total comfort in McLaren's 2025 car, especially over a single lap, before a suspension geometry tweak was introduced. Then there were mistakes such as running into the rear of Piastri in Canada, or his qualifying crash in Jeddah. None helped his cause. Although he's generally fought back, it's often been a recovery that should not have been required in the first place. But heading into the summer break with three wins in four races was an important statement. Norris had the edge in Austria, made the most of Piastri's penalty at Silverstone, and then held on superbly in Hungary after a poor start moved him onto a one-stop strategy. The outright pace is still there for Norris to win the 2025 title. But in a year where fine margins are decisive, he can't afford more mistakes through the final stretch to Abu Dhabi. The Ferrari spotlight may have been on Hamilton after his blockbuster winter move, yet Charles Leclerc was always going to be a presence at the front given the right car. But Ferrari failed to maintain its late 2024 momentum, instead falling back from McLaren. This left Leclerc and Hamilton struggling with a car that needed 'extreme' setups, to quote Leclerc, to achieve the best speed through most of the season's opening chunk. Leclerc's natural one-lap pace, his calling card from across his time in F1, wasn't as easy to unlock. Yet Leclerc was often able to maximize what Ferrari could do and this was seen no clearer than in Hungary, with his magical run to pole. The rear suspension update introduced at Spa is a positive step that should give him more chances to fight for podiums through the closing stages of the season with more orthodox setups. That Leclerc has only twice trailed Hamilton on a Sunday points to him still being Ferrari's leader, as does his qualifying advantage. Though Hamilton may have got closer as the season progressed, Leclerc has proved why he's the man Ferrari has long seen as integral to its future success. In his sixth F1 season, Alex Albon has exceeded expectations and extracted the maximum performance from Williams' FW47. He scored points in seven of the first eight weekends, finishing a season-high fifth three times – his best since joining Williams in 2022. Three consecutive DNFs followed, with a crash in Spain, a power unit issue in Montreal and another car issue in Austria, but of Williams' 70 points, Albon has scored 54. He's rarely misstepped in competitive sessions. Albon's impressive performances come at a time when the intra-Williams battle is closer than in recent years. Albon had outqualified former teammate Logan Sargeant 14-0 by this point last season, but Williams newcomer Carlos Sainz has closed the qualifying head-to-head gap as the season has gone on. Albon still has the edge, 8-6, but the average gap is just 0.072 seconds. Sainz is the Albon's toughest teammate since he was at Red Bull with Verstappen in 2019-2020 and if it wasn't for reliability issues, Sainz would likely have more than his current 16-point haul. But Albon has made a statement so far this year that can't be ignored — he's a consistent top 10 contender. Pierre Gasly has been a constant for Alpine and the Frenchman has scored all of the team's points so far. While there was a driver swap in the other car, with Franco Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan after Miami, Gasly has taken a difficult car into Q3 seven times. And Alpine's highest qualifying position so far was Gasly's fifth in Bahrain. He holds an average qualifying gap of 0.256 seconds over Colapinto and was 0.362 seconds quicker than Doohan on average. He's scored points four times in grand prix races (plus the Miami sprint), with his best finish coming in the wet thriller at Silverstone in early July. Alpine's poor car has prevented Gasly from being consistent, whether it be tire management issues or the car just lacking competitive pace. Meanwhile, both of his crashes this year happened with Tsunoda – with their Jeddah collision deemed a Lap 1 racing incident and Gasly at fault for the Monaco chicane shunt. Aside from these incidents and colliding with Sainz in Hungary, Gasly's race craft has been relatively clean. He's generally done all you can ask from a driver, extracted the maximum from his car and got his elbows out to fight for points. The thought of Nico Hülkenberg ending his 15-year wait for an F1 podium seemed fanciful early in 2025. Since his full-time return to the F1 grid two years ago, 2025 has proved to be another chapter in the veteran German's revival. Although he's been matched for pace by rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, when the opportunities for big points have arisen Hülkenberg has seized the moment. His day in the sun (peeking through the rain clouds) at Silverstone stands as a career high-point – the sort of shock F1 result that feels increasingly rare. And he had to fight for that third place, passing Lance Stroll and outpacing Hamilton's Ferrari in the race's second half. It's not just Silverstone that gets Hülkenberg into our top 10. He kept his head through the chaos of the wet race in Australia to finish seventh in what was then clearly F1's slowest car and grabbed P5 through the late drama in Spain – after Sauber had significantly developed the C45. He's failed to net points in nine out of 14 rounds, but when he has scored they've been significant hauls. He was also eighth in our 2024 mid-season ranking. Isack Hadjar's F1 career may have started in heartbreaking fashion after he spun out on the formation lap on his Australia debut, but since then it's been very positive. Hadjar's qualifying pace has been there from the get-go, as he's made it past Q1 at every race so far and he's regularly popped up in Q3. The forgiving nature of Racing Bulls' car this year has certainly helped the rookie, yet it took Lawson time to adapt once he was back aboard. Hadjar said at Spa he had surprised even himself with his qualifying form, as he's outpaced the slightly more experienced Lawson by 0.150 seconds on average. Although that's not translated into points of late amid some struggles with race execution and car reliability, the latter being costly in Belgium last month, he's unquestionably been one of 2025's brightest rookies. That Australia mistake was a big one, and there'll be a desire to get back to regular points-scoring form after the summer break, but Hadjar has plenty to take pride in so far. After Gabriel Bortoleto finished sixth in this month's Hungarian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, who is part of the Brazilian driver's management team, told Spanish broadcaster DAZN, 'He's the best rookie of this generation.' Earlier this season some fans may have doubted such a claim, but Bortoleto has been on an upward trajectory since Austria in June and is in the conversation for best rookie of the season. He headed into the break having scored points in three of the last four weekends. Bortoleto's junior category accomplishments before he joined Sauber for 2025 matched some of the most successful F1 drivers of this era: He won the Formula Three title in 2023 and secured the Formula Two championship after just a year in each championship. But moving from F2 to F1 is still a big jump. He had a quiet start to the season and has made mistakes, such as his first-lap spin in China or his early exit crash at Silverstone. In the updated Sauber, Bortoleto found his stride and the team secured what is so far its only double points finish with Bortoleto eighth and Hülkenberg ninth in Austria. Although not reflected in the race results earlier in 2025, Bortoleto has an impressive edge on the rapid Hülkenberg in qualifying, with the average gap between the pair currently at 0.059 seconds. If Bortoleto can continue to improve, his F1 future appears very bright. (Top images: Mark Thompson/Jayce Illman/; Illustration: Will Tullos/The Athletic) Spot the pattern. 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New York Times
08-08-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
F1 midseason grades for all 10 teams: From A+ to D, with a lot of B's in between
Formula One's annual summer shutdown is here — the two-week stretch where the paddock recharges and no work is done on the cars. But the drivers and teams will be reflecting on their respective performances so far in 2025 before we head to Zandvoort in a few weeks for the Dutch Grand Prix. McLaren nailed its car development this season, finding tweaks and upgrades that elevate performance and create a substantial gap to the rest of the grid. Its closest competitor, second-placed Ferrari, is 299 points behind in the standings. McLaren looks set to secure a second consecutive constructors' championship several races early if the team continues to maximize its points as it did in the weekends before the summer break. Advertisement Some midfield teams, like Sauber and Williams, have improved or built on last year's challengers. But the rest of the grid has faced more puzzling questions. The dilemma is that the car design regulations are changing in 2026. So how much will any team invest in car development with only 10 grands prix and three sprint races left in this current era? We'll start to find out when class resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31. For now, The Athletic's experts Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman have reviewed team performances so far in 2025. They took into account strategy calls, car development and other factors across the campaign. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. McLaren has hardly misstepped this season, and has a nearly 300-point gap to the next closest challenger. The only setbacks are occasional questions around its strategy calls and how it will balance running two drivers contending for the world championship. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have secured seven 1-2 finishes and have shared the podium 11 times. Only the Canadian GP lacked a McLaren driver in the top three. Norris made an ambitious move on Piastri, leading to contact and ending Norris' race, though the team was already out of victory contention. A moment like that was bound to happen with how free this pair is to race each other, and it likely won't be the last. McLaren's strengths this year range from its car's tire management and degradation control to the MCL39's ability to maintain consistent performance across a variety of circuit types. And while it has a well-balanced driver lineup with Piastri and Norris, there is the potential for intra-team tension when one driver benefits from a different strategy. McLaren needs to manage these battles carefully and prevent that competitive nature from reaching a boiling point. Williams' eyes may be on 2026 and beyond, but its growth over the past seven months has been impressive. It ended the 2024 campaign ninth with just 17 points and changed its driver lineup for this season, opting for more experience in pairing Alex Albon with Carlos Sainz. Now, it's fifth with 70 points and on pace for 120, with Albon leading the way with 54 of those points. Williams last scored 70-plus points in 2017 and 120-plus in 2016. The car has seen improvements in areas like its balance, though some issues have also emerged, like cooling and reliability issues on Albon's car. At Imola, Williams finished in the top five on pure pace and Albon battled the McLaren and Ferrari drivers on merit. But since Williams has been working on its 2026 design since early January, it was only a matter of time before momentum shifted in favor of its rivals as they continue to develop their current cars. The points haul across the first seven race weekends gave Williams a significant gap over the rest of the midfield, which it has largely maintained, although this has closed from 31 to the current 18 points. The car also seems to have a wider operating window than previous Williams designs. While there are concerns about the car's issues, Williams should take pride in what it has accomplished this year so far. It gives hope for the seasons to come. If the ground effect era since 2022 has taught F1 anything, it's not to expect a huge year-over-year jump in performance from Mercedes. That makes its solid start to this year a success. George Russell has easily stepped into Hamilton's shoes as team leader, consistently picking up podiums and masterfully winning from pole in Canada. Kimi Antonelli's rookie season has featured flashes of the pace that justified Mercedes' bet on him, seen best when he took the Miami sprint pole. But Antonelli struggled since Imola, where Mercedes' updated rear suspension diminished his confidence and also caused Russell issues. The team has decided not to use it again, with team boss Toto Wolff saying in Hungary the part would be put 'in a bin.' This isn't the Mercedes that ruled F1 from 2014 to 2021, but it's a team moving in a positive direction at the start of this new, post-Hamilton chapter. If it can find consistency with the older specification of suspension through the second half of the season, then it should be able to properly fight Ferrari for runner-up honors in the constructors' championship. This time last season, Sauber was in no-man's land, and we gave it an F. The car was poor, and the team had yet to score a point. But, 12 months later, Sauber has improved its car to become much more competitive force, assisted by some strong strategy decisions and a better aerodynamic package. A big upgrade back in Spain included a new floor (among other components) and led to a significant performance uptick. Over the next six race weekends, Sauber scored points, including Nico Hulkenberg's first podium. As new team principal Jonathan Wheatley said in Austria, 'What's encouraging is that the work that (Sauber COO) Mattia (Binotto) started nearly a year ago now is starting to bear fruit. The tools are starting to correlate with each other. The pieces we're putting on the car so far seem to have been going in the right direction. The drivers have more confidence.' It's been a season of change thus far for Racing Bulls, thanks to events that promoted Yuki Tsunoda and team principal Mekies to the senior Red Bull squad. But that hasn't appeared to destabilize Racing Bulls. It has arguably the most well-rounded car in the midfield, with a wide and forgiving performance window that has benefitted rookie Isack Hadjar and helped the returning Lawson rebuild his confidence. Rarely has a weekend gone by without Racing Bulls being in contention for points, as it has largely avoided the big swings of its midfield rivals. For what is still effectively a junior team with an inexperienced line-up, it should take confidence from this season to date. But another step is required if it is to truly break through and top F1's midfield. A season ago, Ferrari narrowly missed out on its first constructors' title since 2008. That positive trajectory set it up to welcome Lewis Hamilton with hopes of improving in 2025, and Charles Leclerc also in the drivers' title hunt. But it quickly became clear the SF-25 wasn't going to be a world-beater car. Hamilton's pole and sprint race win in China was a glimmer of hope, but that result has looked increasingly anomalous in a tricky season for Ferrari. The ride height problem that led to the double disqualification in the China race has continued to hamper Ferrari — Leclerc said 'extreme' setups were required to get the car into a window where it was quick enough to compete for podiums. While a rear suspension update helped, he still felt that Hungary was the team's only remaining chance of winning this year after losing to Norris at home in Monaco. But Leclerc fell dramatically at the Hungaroring, from first to fourth. For Hamilton, his dream move toward a potential eighth title turned into a rollercoaster, hitting a low in Hungary when he called himself 'useless.' This year has fallen short of expectations, despite Ferrari's limited recent progress and Leclerc's displays (he has claimed all of its podiums so far). The 2024 near miss should've been the lay-up for Ferrari to finally end its title drought. But that goal has only grown more distant. Watching Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman fill out the last row of the grid in Melbourne, six-tenths off advancing to Q2, was a big shock to Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu. It was a concerning sign suggesting a fundamental issue with the team's car, raising fears of a very long, frustrating season. But F1's smallest team responded well. Ocon took fifth in China thanks to various disqualifications ahead, but he'd still been seventh home on the road. By round three in Japan, Haas had understood its high-speed issues. On a perfect weekend, Haas can be a solid points scorer, as is true for many of the teams in F1's tight midfield. Its Imola upgrade provided a performance step forward — such in-season development historically hasn't been a Haas strength, although this built on solid 2024 development work. Bearman has largely matched the more experienced Ocon for pace, even if the Frenchman has scored over three-quarters of the team's points. Haas remains in the midfield battle and doesn't seem like escaping it anytime soon. Aston Martin's focus is on 2026, laying the foundation to fight for wins and championships with Adrian Newey now aboard. But that hasn't prevented this season from being a challenging and, at times, frustrating experience for the green team. No two races better summarize the season than Spa and Budapest just prior to the summer break. Aston Martin went from a double Q1 exit in Belgium to getting both cars in Q3 and within 0.15 seconds of pole in Hungary. It was undoubtedly helped at the Hungaroring by the high downforce track characteristics that suit its car's main strength, but Fernando Alonso admitted post-race that the team was a bit unsure why things turned out so well. The updates brought to the AMR25 have generally worked, bucking the trend from last year, where it struggled to make progress. Alonso remains a fierce competitor, even if there have been a surprisingly quiet couple of weekends this year. He's 14-0 up in the qualifying head-to-head with Lance Stroll. But the Canadian has snatched some tidy hauls of points this year, despite his rather public criticism of Aston Martin's car post-race at Silverstone, where a potential podium faded into P7. Failing to bridge the gap to the 'big four' again is disappointing for Aston, but there are a handful of bright spots that'll provide encouragement before its next big chance comes in 2026. Red Bull's dominant 2023 season is a distant memory with the state of the team's affairs today. The RB21 has a narrow operating window from which only Max Verstappen has so far been able to extract the maximum performance. Its balance issues remain, and the team has also struggled with tire management. Hungary exposed this with its many low- and medium-speed corners, and nothing the team tried to improve the car worked. Heading into the summer break with 194 points, Red Bull is slipping into no man's land: Far behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes but still well ahead of the midfield teams. It's 42 points behind third-place Mercedes but 124 points ahead of fifth-place Williams. And 96 percent of Red Bull's points have come from Verstappen. The fact that Red Bull is essentially a one-car team is hampering its ability to challenge rivals with a strong driver lineup. But Yuki Tsunoda did just receive the same spec floor as Verstappen during the Belgian GP weekend, and the qualifying gap between them was closer in Hungary. With the regulations changing from 2026, Red Bull likely won't be able to revert to its 2023 form. But steady steps, like improving communication with Tsunoda and closing the gap between the drivers, would be a step in the right direction. The team is also getting used to working under Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner as team principal. Alpine is in a similar spot to last season. By 2024's summer break, the Enstone-based team had just 11 points after overhauling its car concept heading into a season that featured much management and driver instability. The team changed again early in 2025, swapping Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto after Miami and former team principal Oliver Oakes suddenly resigned from the team around the same time. But it has at least upped its points tally to 20, not the eight it held at this stage in 2024, even if it's now last in the 2025 standings. Alpine's car hasn't been stellar. While Pierre Gasly has advanced to Q3 multiple times and scored all the team's points (his highest finish being sixth at Silverstone), the car is inconsistent and suffers tire management struggles. The focus has already shifted to the 2026 car. Next year, Alpine will drop team owner Renault's engine and switch to Mercedes power units. This should help some with performance — but won't address the management issues. Top images: Mark Sutton, Joe Portlock / Getty Images; Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
What is F1 summer shutdown?
The summer shutdown, implemented by Formula 1's governing body the FIA, is a mandatory 14-day consecutive period where all competitors and their staff are prohibited from working. During the two weeks, teams cannot carry out any work related to the car performance - this includes design, development, production of parts and use of simulators - so no-one gets an unfair advantage. Emails, phone calls and meetings about performances are also forbidden, and costs are kept in check due to the pause. Teams must notify the FIA of their intended shutdown period during the summer break, which this year falls between the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August and the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the month. Teams tend to opt for the middle two weeks, which allows time to debrief after the previous race and prepare for the next. Repairs to "seriously damaged" cars can be carried out during the shutdown, with approval from the FIA. Anyone breaking these rules during the shutdown will receive a penalty. However, departments not directly related to the performance and development of the car - such as marketing, finance and legal - can continue to operate as normal during this period. There is a second shutdown of nine consecutive days at the end of a season, starting on 24 December. How long is the F1 summer break? The summer break in F1 is just under four weeks long, usually taking place between the end of July and end of August. For the 2025 season, it began after the race in Hungary on Monday, 4 August. It will last until the Dutch Grand Prix weekend begins on Friday, 29 August. Ten races remain after the summer break. This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions. We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do. The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits. We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events. Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... What is the format for F1 sprint races in 2025? What is DRS in Formula 1 and what's coming next? What are penalty points in F1 and how do they work?
BBC News
06-08-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
What is F1 summer shutdown?
The summer shutdown, implemented by Formula 1's governing body the FIA, is a mandatory 14-day consecutive period where all competitors and their staff are prohibited from the two weeks, teams cannot carry out any work related to the car performance - this includes design, development, production of parts and use of simulators - so no-one gets an unfair phone calls and meetings about performances are also forbidden, and costs are kept in check due to the must notify the FIA of their intended shutdown period during the summer break, which this year falls between the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August and the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the tend to opt for the middle two weeks, which allows time to debrief after the previous race and prepare for the to "seriously damaged" cars can be carried out during the shutdown, with approval from the breaking these rules during the shutdown will receive a penalty. However, departments not directly related to the performance and development of the car - such as marketing, finance and legal - can continue to operate as normal during this is a second shutdown of nine consecutive days at the end of a season, starting on 24 December. How long is the F1 summer break? The summer break in F1 is just under four weeks long, usually taking place between the end of July and end of the 2025 season, it began after the race in Hungary on Monday, 4 will last until the Dutch Grand Prix weekend begins on Friday, 29 races remain after the summer article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... What is the format for F1 sprint races in 2025?What is DRS in Formula 1 and what's coming next?What are penalty points in F1 and how do they work?
