The checklist for the current 2025 Formula 1 season already has one big tick – McLaren wrapped up the constructors’ championship at the Singapore Grand Prix, tying it up in a pretty bow with its 3-4 at the Marina Bay circuit.
From a financial standpoint, that’s the big one sorted. The drivers’ title comes with much more prestige, however, and the final quarter of the campaign will decide which one of Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, or Max Verstappen will hold the trophy at this year’s FIA prize-giving ceremony in Uzbekistan’s capital city Tashkent. Assuming they’re all history buffs, they’ll be looking forward to a day-trip exploring the blue-domed Timurid-era architecture…
There’s still further rewards to play for across the remainder of 2025, particularly in the constructors’ championship. With a difference of around $8-9 million in Column B payments, each placing has its reward.
The caveat is that wind tunnel time and CFD computing capacity is reduced, but try telling the sponsors that you’d prefer to finish lower down the standings on purpose for an extra few hours of simulation time. Every single employee in F1 is a competitor, and desperately wants to finish the year on a high.
Thankfully, plenty of key battlegrounds remain to keep things interesting throughout the grid – with some set to be more hotly contested than others.
The battle for second
Key competitors: Mercedes (2nd, 325pts), Ferrari (3rd, 298pts), Red Bull (4th, 290pts)
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
As it stands, second-placed Mercedes has a 27-point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. George Russell’s win and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s fifth in Singapore stretched the gap between the two teams, as the Silver Arrows moved back ahead of the Prancing Horse after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
After a series of middling races and no podium finishes since Belgium, Ferrari appears to be slipping back; its SF-25’s instability has been a recurring problem and there’s a sense among the two drivers that the team is failing to make the most of its chances at races. Recent inertia and a lack of progress versus Mercedes and Red Bull has left it in a precarious position; Ferrari has fallen away from Mercedes, and Red Bull is only eight points behind. If Maranello’s finest is going to beat either team to the punch, it needs to make a breakthrough.
In Red Bull’s case, its current form has emerged at the right time. Although effectively operating as a one-car team as Verstappen has scored all but 17 of the team’s tally, Red Bull has recently tapped into a well-obscured vein of performance with its RB21; recent updates and a renewed approach to simulation and set-up has allowed it to open its weekends with the car operating at a higher baseline. Less time has been spent dialling the car in through FP1 and FP2, meaning that it can use those Friday sessions for refinements.
Mercedes has also performed well in recent races, with a Baku podium and the Singapore win, but Austin will provide its W16 with a litmus test. The short, sharp corners at the two recent street circuits have mitigated its weakness with rear tyre overheating – even in Singapore’s perishing heat – and thus the combined approach to Austin’s clutch of longer-radius corners should offer the team more challenge in managing the rear tyre temperatures.
The battle for sixth
Key competitors: Racing Bulls (6th, 72pts), Aston Martin (7th, 68pts)
Outside bet: Sauber (8th, 55pts)
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Carlos Sainz’s podium in Azerbaijan arguably put Williams slightly too far out of reach, as the Grove squad seeks to annex its best constructors’ finish since 2017. It could still be vulnerable, if either Racing Bulls or Aston Martin profit from mixed conditions to secure a surprise podium finish – a la Alpine in Brazil last year – but Williams’ 30-point advantage may still be a touch too steep in the congested midfield battle.
Nonetheless, sixth would be a solid achievement for either Racing Bulls or for Aston. While the VCARB 02 has been the better all-rounder, Aston Martin has shaken off a ropey start to contend for a stronger constructors’ placing. One might argue that Fernando Alonso has collected his share of points in spite of the machinery at his disposal, making the most of the AMR25’s strength on slower circuits, although has frequently been a lone voice of frustration against some of the team’s strategy calls. Lance Stroll has also enjoyed strong days in adverse conditions, but usually suffers in races with limited variance.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls has offered a platform for Isack Hadjar to demonstrate his worth to the senior Red Bull team, and his podium at Zandvoort encapsulated an impressive performance in the Netherlands. If the laconic Frenchman can keep breaking into Q3 and holds his nerve with his final qualifying laps, he’s capable of bagging a few more hefty pay days. And, when the car is working nicely, Liam Lawson can also keep chipping away at the top 10 – when he qualifies well, he usually stays amid the points, but he’s been rather hit-or-miss on a Saturday. Sauber can still have a say in the battle, although it currently sits 17 points adrift of sixth.
The battle for eighth
Key competitors: Sauber (8th, 55pts), Haas (46pts)
(Very) outside bet: Alpine (10th, 20pts)
Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
After a dismal 2024, Sauber has thankfully laid the neon green shoots of recovery as it seeks to end its pre-Audi lifespan with a solid season. Its progression through the opening third of the year, through implementing a series of floor updates to widen the C45’s working range, produced a bountiful harvest of points (and even a podium) through the European leg of the year, although it has been a little more leisurely out of the blocks post-summer.
Azerbaijan and Singapore weren’t entirely profitable, but a return to more conventional circuits should present a bit more of an opportunity. But Haas cannot be discounted, and the American team is planning a final update for Austin with the hopes of snowballing that into a successful final run-in. Oliver Bearman appears to have found his feet and has been with a sniff of points on a consistent basis – although many of his performances have yielded results just outside of the top 10 – while Esteban Ocon has struggled for recent qualifying form.
If the new update can give Ocon a bit more confidence on a single lap, then he should be a more compelling prospect for top 10 finishes. Sauber, meanwhile, will hope the impressive Gabriel Bortoleto can resume his occasional forays into Q3 – and drag Nico Hulkenberg into the top 10 on the grid with him.
Alpine might be stone-dead last in the constructors’ championship and lacking hope of challenging for points, but one cannot forget its Sao Paulo heroics from last season. The French team’s 2-3 finish, plus a series of late-season updates, provided the springboard needed to catapult it from ninth to sixth in last year’s constructors’ championship. It was 32 points behind then-sixth placed Haas after the Mexico race, so the 35-point gap to Sauber this time around is not entirely insurmountable.
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