The 2025 Formula 1 season was meant to be predictable, a period of stabilization under the ground effect regulations that promised close, yet dull, racing. Instead, the year delivered a drama-filled narrative, turning the grid into a true spectacle of highs and devastating lows. From the backmarkers pulling off incredible one-off performances to a three-way fight for the title, the season defied expectation. Now, a comprehensive and fiercely opinionated driver ranking from analyst “Formula Duck” has thrown gasoline on the fiery debate of who genuinely performed, and who crumbled under pressure. This raw, unfiltered assessment, which compares the analyst’s scores with a Google Form tally of fan averages, reveals a shocking disconnect between expert opinion and public perception, particularly regarding the season’s biggest names.
The core message of the analysis is simple: mere speed is not enough. Consistency, racecraft, and the ability to drag a “hot garbage” car into contention are the true measures of greatness. But the fallout from the rankings is anything but simple, sparking instant controversy with an astonishingly low placement for one of the sport’s icons and a deeply polarizing split over the champion himself. This is the definitive, no-holds-barred breakdown of the 2025 F1 grid, where heroes were humiliated and dark horses were crowned.
The Shadow Realm: Where Careers Go to Die
To properly appreciate the top performers, one must first confront the reality of the bottom-dwellers. The list begins in the “shadow realm,” where drivers seemingly vanished from contention. The unfortunate guest star, Jack Doohan, earned the lowest score (2.0), his season marred by costly mistakes early on, proving that potential means little when paired with a lack of consistent execution. While his pace was deemed slightly better than some historical slow-coaches, his inability to convert that into results made him expendable.
The highest-ranked member of the ‘actual’ worst full-time drivers was Guilápinto, who scored a meager 3.0. Driving a car described as “hot garbage” from the moment it hit the track, Guilápinto’s season was summarized with two damning words: “boring and slow.” Despite not crashing, his lack of impact meant he was simply “forgotten about,” a fate perhaps worse than a spectacular disaster. This leads into the harsh reality for Yuki Tsunoda, who, despite having a car capable of winning the title in the hands of his teammate, finished P17 in the standings. Earning a 3.5, his occasional flashes of pace—at tracks like Baku, Vegas, and Qatar—were dismissed as simply “an eighth of the season.” It was deemed “just not acceptable” to be so far adrift of the top, highlighting the ruthless pressure of the Red Bull family.
Lance Stroll, the analyst’s 18th pick, suffered from a different affliction: perpetual mediocrity. With a matching 3.5 score, Stroll was defined by his uncanny ability to hover in “Bumpfuck 15th,” consistently off the pace but too far ahead of the true backmarkers to generate any real narrative. He was a driver who simply “showed up, drove, and left,” doing “nowhere doing nothing.”
The Midfield Betrayal: Lewis Hamilton’s Hardest Fall
The rankings truly ignite with controversy around the middle of the pack, particularly at position 16. Esteban Ocon, plagued by questionable team strategy that left him “compromised,” scored a 4.5, with the analyst suggesting he “clearly still has the drive to perform” but needs team support. Pierre Gasly, the other half of the embattled Alpine duo, earned a flat 5.0, praised for “outperform[ing] the ever living s*** out of the Alpine” but simultaneously criticized for being “very sloppy” with accidents.
Yet, it is the placement of Lewis Hamilton at 15th, with a score of 5.5, that sent shockwaves through the F1 community. His debut season at Ferrari was categorized as his “worst season ever in F1.” While he still showed “glimpses of godly pace,” the SF-25’s inherent flaws “muzzled him,” and the pressure of switching teams after 12 years was immense. However, the true sting of betrayal came from the fan vote, where the audience placed him 17th with a 4.4 average. The analyst expressed incredulous rage at this score, questioning the “f*****g irony” of the low ranking. For a seven-time World Champion to be ranked below drivers like Ocon and Gasly by the fan base is a startling indictment of recency bias and the brutal short-term memory of F1 observers.
The Rookie Revolution and the Ferrari Enigma
The new blood on the grid provided some of the most compelling narratives. The analysis shines a spotlight on the battle for Rookie of the Year, ultimately crowning Isaac Hajar with an 8.0 score—a triumph that defied initial skepticism. Hajar was deemed a “desperate hire” by many, and his Lap Zero crash in Australia seemed to confirm the doom-saying. Yet, he became a “shining star,” consistently hauling in points and even delivering a podium in Zandvoort. For a rookie, his performance was deemed “just class.” Liam Lawson (6.0) and Gabby Bartaltto (6.0) were both recognized for their impressive pace, but criticized for their racing awareness and inconsistency, respectively.
Meanwhile, the drama at Ferrari continued to unfold in the upper midfield. Carlos Sainz, the analyst’s 11th pick with a 7.0, was the beneficiary of miraculous late-season form. His beginning of the year was “rough,” plagued by crashes and breakdowns. However, his “post-summer break” form—which saw him on the podium and contesting for high qualifying positions—literally saved his season from being an “all-time stinker.” This transformation led to the highest fan controversy outside of the title fight: the audience, driven by sheer “recency bias,” voted Sainz the fifth-best driver of the year, a ranking the analyst views as highly distorted.
In stark contrast, Charles Leclerc, the fourth-best driver with an 8.5, was deemed utterly brilliant, but tragically underserved. The analyst argued that despite the Ferrari car having issues “in like every single nut and bolt on it,” Leclerc “always did the maximum and more.” He is described as a driver who “deserves a perfect car,” suffering the injustice of his vehicle’s flaws overshadowing his inherent talent. His ranking, however, was also a source of fan controversy, with the audience placing him surprisingly lower than Sainz, further highlighting the public’s baffling approach to assessing the Prancing Horse drivers.
The Ultimate Test: The Battle for the Top Three
The climax of the ratings focuses on the three drivers who truly defined the season: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and George Russell.
George Russell, the analyst’s number two with a flat 9.0, is lauded as “easily the best British driver on the grid.” His assessment is a passionate defense against what the analyst calls an “odd high standard” that the public holds Russell to. He is credited with “overperform[ing] the car by 5/10” and consistently being in the business of the top three, finishing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship with two wins despite Mercedes barely improving their vehicle. The core message is that Russell wins everything he possibly can, and yet, it is still “not enough” for critics, making his performance one of the most unjustly undervalued of the season.
Lando Norris, the 2025 F1 World Champion, secured the analyst’s third spot with a 9.0. While champion, his ranking is carefully weighted. He overcame early “bottling” tendencies, but his subsequent “internal and external changes” allowed him to drop the mistakes and start setting blistering times, culminating in his maiden title. He is declared a “100% deserving champion.”
The fan response to Norris was the biggest shock of the entire list. While the analyst placed him 3rd, the audience’s average score of 8.4 placed him behind his own teammate, Oscar Piastri (8.5), who the fans controversially voted second best overall. The analyst ranked Piastri fifth (8.0), noting his great start and 34-point title lead, but condemning his “biggest bottle of the year” at Baku and subsequent “indefensively bad” plummet in pace post-Monza. The fan choice to rank the former title leader—who suffered a massive public collapse—above the actual, deserving champion is cited as the most “ludicrous” example of emotional bias in the entire fan polling.
The undisputed king of the grid, taking the top spot with a 9.5 (and a 9.6 from the fans), is Max Verstappen. His dominance is deemed “unsurprising” and “inevitable.” The analyst’s highest praise is reserved for Verstappen’s sheer, demonic talent: “Give him a car that can sniff third and he will win that race.” The only asterisk on his season—and the only reason he was not champion—was his own uncharacteristic mistakes in Bahrain, Spa, Spain, and Silverstone. The terrifying conclusion is that despite these costly errors, he was only two points away from retaining the title, showcasing a level of performance that transcends the vehicle and the grid.
The Ironic End: A Season Defined by Chaos
The analysis concludes with a series of satirical “special awards.” The “Most Likely to Get Fired” was Nico Hülkenberg, a victim of rising F2 talent. The aforementioned “Biggest Bottle of the Year” went squarely to Oscar Piastri for his Baku blunder. Finally, in a nod to the chaotic nature of the sport, the “Highest Therapy Tab” was awarded to the entire Ferrari team—a reflection of the immense mental toll of driving for the most tumultuous outfit on the grid.
The 2025 F1 season, as viewed through this brutal set of rankings, was less about machine dominance and more about human frailty and incredible resilience. It confirms the champion’s pedigree while simultaneously questioning the critical standards applied to legends, leaving fans with a complex, emotionally charged debate: Did the champion truly deserve his crown, and when did Lewis Hamilton become so easily dismissed by the very audience he has thrilled for decades? The raw data and visceral commentary ensure that this debate will continue raging long into the off-season.
