Next generation of Formula 1

We've seen many young drivers step up into Formula 1 and be unable to hold onto the tough responsibility of being a full-time racing car driver, and drop out of the series. There are many examples of successful young drivers in our era making a name for themselves in Formula 1 like Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and George Russell. There are also the unfortunate ones like Antonio Giovinazzi, Nyck de Vries, Mick Schumacher and Logan Sargeant.

We have a slight idea of how the current young drivers perform, but we have a completely new batch of rookies that will be entering the series next year, and the batch is huge.

Next season is the last season of the current 2022-spec Formula 1 cars, as Formula 1 will be going through a regulation change for the 2026 season. This makes 2025 an important season for the teams to evaluate which rookie adapts to the cars better and which rookie performs better. There are many 1-year contracts handed out for 2025 and we might be able to witness absolute contract chaos at the end of next year.

Gabriel Bortoleto has signed a contract with the Sauber F1 Team, which is also the team that's going to be rebranded as the Audi Formula 1 team in 2026. Audi wants Bortoleto racing for them as the Brazilian showcased excellent racing skills in feeder series, currently leading the Formula 2 championship.

He's a McLaren Driver Development Programme driver and is foreseen to be racing for McLaren F1 after one of the current drivers either retire or switch teams.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the prospect of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and is sitting in the Mercedes seat for 2025, replacing the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who is out for a drive with Scuderia Ferrari.

Kimi is the youngest of the new batch of rookies, and he could have made an early debut in Formula 1 if it weren't for his age, which prohibited him from replacing Logan Sargeant in Williams for the 2024 season at only 17 years old.

Toto Wolff expects the Italian to be a world champion material given his young age, and he's proud of his pick as he once missed out on the chance of signing a young talent who became a world champion years later, Max Verstappen.

Oliver Bearman is Scuderia Ferrari's future. The British F2 driver did a lot of Formula 1 race weekends in the 2024 season for both Scuderia Ferrari and Haas F1, replacing ill drivers. He's currently sitting at 18th place out of 23 in Driver Standings with 7 points, which is incredible as he only raced only 3 weekends in Formula 1. He's ahead of experienced full-time drivers like Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, and other drivers who had early season exits like Logan Sargeant.

He'll race for Haas F1 for the 2025 season alongside Frenchman Esteban Ocon. Once the British world champion's stint with Scuderia Ferrari is over, he'll likely replace Lewis Hamilton.

Jack Doohan is making his Formula 1 debut with the Alpine F1 team. He's currently Alpine F1's reserve driver and the rookie had been driving in feeder series such as Formula 2 for the Alpine Academy already. Jack Doohan is the son of 5-time MotoGP world champion Mick Doohan. He'll be one of the two Australian drivers in Formula 1 next year, the other one being Oscar Piastri.

Even though Jack Doohan has a contract set in place to drive for Alpine F1 next year, his drive is currently under threat as Flavio Briatore, the Alpine F1 Supervisor, set eyes on Franco Colapinto, the Argentinian who replaced Logan Sargeant in Williams F1 for the last couple races of the 2024 season and performed well.

Liam Lawson's fate is unknown, but he's expected to be racing for one of Redbull Racing's two teams in Formula 1, Redbull Racing F1 or Racing Bulls F1, formerly Visa Cashapp Racing Bulls. The Kiwi driver is currently competing in Formula 1 for Visa Cashapp Racing Bulls F1 team, having replaced Daniel Ricciardo who had an unfortunate season. He's performing well against his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, and is in a battle with the Japanese driver for the second seat of Redbull Racing F1.

Lawson has also raced in series like DTM, showcasing good pace and racecraft. Even though his upcoming team is still not decided, he's surely getting a drive for the 2025 season under the Redbull umbrella.

Another rookie with an unknown fate is Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian absolutely shocked everyone with his performance, giving his experienced teammate Alexander Albon a hard time despite having little experience. The Williams junior's future is cloudy as Williams is in negotiations with Redbull, trying to get as much gain from this deal as possible, requesting 25 million dollars and Isack Hadjar who is a Redbull Academy junior. The original deal consisted of a 20 million dollar payment to Williams.

If negotiations go well for both sides and an agreement is made, Franco Colapinto is most likely to be racing in Racing Bulls F1 next year, although there have been rumors of Franco Colapinto jumping straight to the Redbull F1 Team, replacing Sergio Perez and decreasing the chances of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda getting a drive with Redbull F1 in the future.

Franco Colapinto also has another possibility of securing a drive in the 2025 season, having attracted Flavio Briatore's interest in himself. We could see the Argentinian drive for Alpine F1 next year, replacing Jack Doohan before the season even started.