Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were getting excited for the opening round of the 2025 F1 season and now we’re two rounds in? How quickly time flies, especially when you’re an Aussie F1 fan and you are tasting success so early on in the season.
Shades of 1998 emerging as McLaren dominance gets scary
Back in 1998, McLaren was the most dominant team in F1. They had emerged with by far the best car of the new rules introduced that season, and opened the season with two dominant 1-2 finishes.
In 2025, the team has shown similar dominance, albeit with the lack of a 1-2 from Australia (which should’ve happened), they have started the season as perfect as you can.
In no way am I predicting that we are set for a single team dominance this year, but it has to be said with all the talk of four teams going for race wins and the closeness of the field, only one team have shown that they are likely to win so far in 2025.
And just like 1998, it’s the team that is looking very good right now to claim both Championships and bring McLaren fans a big smile come the end of the season.
The challenge from behind will come
In a quick contradiction, I do believe that this season remains even.
We know how F1 works, and we know how quickly things can, and do change.
Ferrari, well off the pace in Australia, managed to sneak through for a sprint pole and win in China.
Mercedes looked solid, as George Russell claimed a second consecutive podium and nearly took pole for the main race.
And Red Bull, in the hands of one of their drivers at least, look ever close to springing through a decent result.
Let’s just hope that challenge will come soon so that we can live up to the hype this season has had for quite some time.
Hamilton + red + winning = visual stimulation
Speaking of Ferrari sprint wins, how great was it to see Lewis Hamilton celebrate a win in red?
All the hype. All the promise. It delivered by that simple visual of him raising his fists in celebration following his sprint win on the Saturday.
It wasn’t the main win he would’ve wanted, and his solid performance on the Sunday came to nothing with the disqualification for him and teammate Charles Leclerc. But it was still enough to bring a bit of joy to us Ferrari fans who expect to see lots of that in the years to come.
Baby steps…
The Liam Lawson debacle
Another year, another Red Bull driver debacle.
Liam Lawson has had an absolute stinker of a start to the year. Two races, two woeful qualifying performances mixed with two horrible race performances. This definitely wasn’t the plan when it came to the Kiwi driver getting the promotion and replacing Sergio Perez.
Speculation about his future has picked up speed with reports suggesting the Formula One team have decided to replace the New Zealander with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda.
Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and De Limburger reported Honda-backed Tsunoda would swap seats with Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate from next week’s Japanese Grand Prix after a Red Bull meeting in Dubai.
The reports said an official announcement was expected later in the week – but is it really that vital to move on from him so soon?
This isn’t 2024. Red Bull as of now aren’t going to be in the hunt for the Constructors’ Championship, meaning the role of that second driver isn’t maybe as important as it has been the last few years.
Not to discount the importance of both drivers performing, it just seems somewhat rushed if they were to dump him after two races.
There is also the fact, outside of many of his issues in the car so far, that he had never driven around both Albert Park of Shanghai before. Suzuka on the other hand, the next race, is a track he is very familiar with.
Surely that is a real test of his skill and ability in the car to really get a gauge of where he is with the team?
It also perhaps goes to show there is far more to that second seat at Red Bull than is let on. Having one or two drivers struggle there is perhaps a sign of driver issues. Having four drivers struggle, something has to be looked at deeper within that team that simply the fault of the driver.
Let’s not panic so quickly and have this conversation in a few more races.
The great wall of Stroll
Quick last note on my man Lance Stroll.
For pretty much all of the sprint race, Stroll held an incredible line of defence against the much faster Lando Norris. It looked likely he would hold on for eighth and one point, but in the end Norris got past him and Stroll finished ninth.
He then drove a solid main race on an alternative strategy to the rest of the field, making a long stint on the hard tyres work in an attempt to finish in the points. It didn’t work, but after three disqualifications it did, with Stroll finishing the race in ninth place.
Three races, three top ten finishes. Meanwhile in the other car at Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso has failed to finish two races and finished behind Stroll in the sprint.
Not bad for a driver who many think is only there because his dad owns a team.
Round 2 F1 team power rankings: Orange dominance as the lower end of the grid gets shuffled
This championship was meant to be close right? Well so far it hasn’t exactly sprung many surprises, as McLaren continue to dominate and the teams behind try to find answers.
How will that change the power rankings?
5. Racing Bulls (-1)
Seem to have so much pace early on in the weekend, before strategy calls and race pace let them down on the Sunday. Once they get everything together, should be the best of the rest by far.
4. Red Bull (+2)
Well at least one driver is able to make this team look good right now. When you have Max Verstappen at the wheel, that is always going to happen.
3. Mercedes (-)
Mercedes feel like they are just there right? They come along, get a nice bit of pace, hide around in the race and somehow end up with a podium and solid points. They’ll definitely take that this early in the season.
2. Ferrari (+3)
Get the jump up to second based on their sprint performance and solid race performance before their unfortunate disqualification. Need to find something more come Japan and beyond if this title challenge is to materialise.
1. McLaren (-)
Dominant is the word to best describe them right now. Should really be three from three and three from three 1-2s as well. But they still have shown why they are the team to beat in 2025.
Round 2 F1 driver power rankings: Doing the Papaya shuffle as a tight pack emerges behind
Two race wins for two different McLaren drivers make the top two a fairly straightforward battle, but how are things shaping up behind the Papaya pair?
5. Lewis Hamilton (+7)
Seeing Hamilton in red and winning is just a joy to see. Drove a solid race on the Sunday too, and unfortunate to get disqualified for it. More of the Saturday visuals moving forward please.
4. George Russell (-1)
Shows up, does what he needs to, ends with another podium. He’s doing exactly what is expected of him and getting rewarded for it.
3. Max Verstappen (-1)
Another mix of showing how bad that Red Bull perhaps is and how good Max Verstappen is. Gets the maximum out of a bad situation and somehow leaves only eight points behind in the Championship. How very Verstappen.
2. Oscar Piastri (+2)
A near perfect weekend for him. First career pole. Third career win. Nearly another sprint victory. Keep this up Oscar and we’ll be talking more about you and the Championship later in the season.
1. Lando Norris (-)
Fought his way back from a bad start in the sprint to scrape a point before doing what he could with a bad situation in the race to get second. Driving much more mature and looking very much like a Championship contender.
What do you think of this list? Which order would you currently rank the teams and drivers in? Let me know your thoughts below!
