Formula 1 driver ratings: The 2025 scores for the grid so far at summer break and interactive rater

Formula 1 in 2025 has given us an inter-team battle for the World Championship between McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with a title race that could go down to the wire.

Piastri leads Norris by nine points at the summer break in a season which has provided plenty of drama so far, so it is a good time to look at which drivers have starred and who is struggling before we resume racing at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 29-31, live on Sky Sports F1.

And we want your say too! Read on for Nigel Chiu’s assessment and ratings for the 20-driver grid so far and use the rater tool below to give each of the field – plus their teams – your own mark out of 10.

So running through the field in current Drivers’ Championship order, we have…

Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 9/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-6 / Points vs team-mate: 284-275

The big question mark over Piastri coming into 2025 was his raw speed after he was beaten 20-4 by Norris last year. However, he has turned that around this season with four pole positions and has been the cleaner of the McLaren pair.

Since his costly error at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where he spun on home soil, Piastri has largely been on a roll.

He won a hat-trick of races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami to take the championship lead, which he still holds, albeit by nine points.

Even though Norris has won three of the last four rounds, Piastri has still shown great race pace and his calm demeanour will surely play a role as the title race intensifies, according to Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.

Lando Norris, McLaren – 8.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-8 / Points vs team-mate: 275-284

If not for some small mistakes at key points of the weekend, Norris could have been leading the championship during the summer break – Qualifying in China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Canada all spring to mind when, under the ultimate pressure, Norris pushed a little too hard.

With that being said, for Norris to only be nine points adrift of Piastri with 10 rounds remaining just shows his campaign has not exactly been a poor one, far from it.

He showed his class in the rain in Australia, demonstrated he can deliver the perfect qualifying lap in Monaco and came out on top in the three serious on-track battles the McLaren duo had in Imola, Austria and Hungary.

The 25-year-old will rue his clumsy Canadian collision with Piastri but he has been flying since then.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 9.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 12-0 / Points vs team-mate: 187-10

Max Verstappen has silenced the critics who said that he can only win in the best car over the last 15 months. Aside from a dramatic moment when he drove into George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix, it feels like Verstappen has got everything out of his Red Bull this year.

He stunned the McLarens with pole in Suzuka, which he converted into victory, without having the best car, then qualified first again in Jeddah, Miami and Silverstone when few expected him to compete on the front row.

His first-lap overtake on Piastri in Imola must go down as one of the greatest moves in recent memory as he danced around the outside of his rival on cold tyres, then went on to win.

The Dutchman is highly unlikely to match Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive drivers’ titles but is still driving like a champion.

George Russell, Mercedes – 9/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 13-1 / Points vs team-mate: 172-64

George Russell says he is “driving better than ever” and you can see why with six podiums, including a win in Canada when Mercedes have had their only realistic chance of victory in 2025. Don’t forget how he fended off Norris in Bahrain to take second place, despite losing all telemetry on his car in the closing stages too.

Following Lewis Hamilton’s departure, Russell has taken on and owned the team leader role with a dominant record against rookie Kimi Antonelli.

The 27-year-old does not have a contract for 2026 and is in a very strong negotiating position to push for a multi-year contract, should he see his medium to long-term future being at Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari – 9/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 10-4 / Points vs team-mate: 151-109

Charles Leclerc has consistently had the upper hand over Hamilton at Ferrari and, similarly to Russell, has been getting the most from his machinery.

Leclerc has taken all five of Ferrari’s podiums this year and delivered some stunning laps to get onto the front row in Bahrain, Monaco and Austria, then took a shock pole position in Hungary.

No one can doubt his one-lap speed and Leclerc is definitely the finished product now as he has the race pace to go with it.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 4-10 / Points vs team-mate: 109-151

For all the hype about Hamilton to Ferrari, fighting to reach Q3 and being off the pace compared to Leclerc was not in the planning.

Hamilton himself said he was “useless” after going out in Q2 at the last race in Hungary, which followed eliminations in the first part of Sprint Qualifying and main Qualifying in Belgium.

As Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson said, you naturally lose an edge of outright speed when you get older and that appears to have happened to the 40-year-old Hamilton.

He is up against one of the best drivers on the grid and showed the quality is still there with a brilliant Sprint pole and win in China. Can he fire back after the summer break? Or will the current generation ground-effect F1 cars continue to trouble him until the new regulations in 2026?

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes – 6.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 1-13 / Points vs team-mate: 164-72

There was also plenty of excitement surrounding Kimi Antonelli pre-season but it has not quite transformed onto the track.

Antonelli took a stunning Sprint pole in Miami and actually started the season reasonably well, just a few tenths behind Russell on average over one lap, and finishing in the top six for the opening three races.

However, since Mercedes brought a new suspension to Imola, Antonelli has struggled with successive failures to reach Q3 at the Emilia Romagna and Monaco Grand Prix, plus eliminations in the first part of Qualifying and Sprint Qualifying in Belgium.

Along with Hamilton, Antonelli needed the summer break to reset after a mixture of misfortune and a dent to his confidence put him on a poor run of form following his maiden F1 podium in Montreal.

Alex Albon, Williams – 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-6 / Points vs team-mate: 54-16

Alex Albon has continued his upward trajectory at Williams by having the upper hand over Carlos Sainz when many expected the Spaniard to be the team’s leader.

He scored points in seven of the opening eight races, including fifth place in Miami and Imola – the latter he was in contention for the podium until forced wide by Leclerc at the first chicane towards the end of the race.

The British-Thai driver suffered a hat-trick of retirements in Spain, Canada and Austria but bounced back with points in Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber – 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-8 / Points vs team-mate: 37-14

The other midfield star of the year is Nico Hulkenberg, who has paved the way at Sauber and shown great racecraft on Sundays to score crucial points.

The standout moment is undoubtedly the end of his 239-race wait for a maiden podium which came in mixed conditions at Silverstone, where Hulkenberg nailed every strategy call.

His experience will prove invaluable for Audi before they join the grid in 2026 and Hulkenberg is helping team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto to also shine.

Esteban Ocon, Haas – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-6 / Points vs team-mate: 27-8

Most drivers who changed teams over the winter have struggled but not Esteban Ocon, who has been slightly quicker and more consistent than Oliver Bearman.

When points have been up for grabs, Ocon has taken them with a brilliant fifth in China, eighth in Bahrain and seventh in Monaco as the headline results.

He is quietly having a strong campaign and is much happier at Haas compared to the disappointing way he left Alpine last year.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 14-0 / Points vs team-mate: 26-26

After failing to score points in the first eight rounds, Fernando Alonso has been back on it since the team brought a major upgrade to Imola in May.

He showed great battling qualities on his way to seventh in Canada and Austria, then made the most of Aston Martin’s strong pace in Hungary to achieve a season’s-best fifth.

Like Verstappen, he also holds a perfect record in main qualifying compared to team-mate Lance Stroll.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 0-14 / Points vs team-mate: 26-26

Stroll started the season strongly with a sixth and ninth but four consecutive Q1 eliminations made his life difficult to score more points in April and May, which coincided with a lack of car performance at Aston Martin.

The 26-year-old pulled out of the Spanish Grand Prix due to pain in his hand and wrist which required surgery but showed his class in mixed conditions with seventh at the British Grand Prix.

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 9-3 / Points vs team-mate: 22-20

There was little expectation on Isack Hadjar’s shoulders but he has arguably been the most impressive rookie. He demonstrated great character after crashing out on the formation lap at the first race in Australia and pulled through excruciating pain in qualifying in Suzuka to start and finish in eighth – scoring his maiden points.

The Frenchman has asserted himself as the lead Racing Bulls driver alongside Liam Lawson for much of the season and is being considered as Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull in 2026.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine – 7.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-2 / Points vs team-mate: 20-0

It is hard to judge which team has the slowest car in 2025 but Alpine would be in the conversation. Considering that, Pierre Gasly has impressively scored points four times and is well on course to continue beating all his team-mates in F1, aside from Verstappen at Red Bull.

The pick of the results has to be the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend where Gasly qualified fifth and hung onto seventh.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-9 / Points vs team-mate: 20-22

Lawson was thrown into the Red Bull deep end but chucked back out after two races and demoted to Racing Bulls. It may have been a blessing in disguise for Lawson, who has earned himself a reputation of being a hard racer and, before the summer break, had momentum on his side as he started to regularly beat Hadjar.

The 23-year-old was hooked up all weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix in June on his way to a season’s best sixth and has been flying since.

Carlos Sainz, Williams – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-8 / Points vs team-mate: 16-54

The biggest surprise of the year on the track might be Sainz’s underwhelming results at Williams. Sainz is yet to finish a race in the top seven but has been very unlucky with strategy or car problems.

That said, Sainz has not had the flashes of brilliance we expected and is currently being outshone by Albon.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber – 7/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-6 / Points vs team-mate: 14-37

If Hadjar is not your rookie of the year so far, Bortoleto must be. The F2 champion took his time to adapt to F1 but since reaching Q3 for the first time in Austria, he has repeated that feat in Belgium and Hungary, converting all three qualifying performances into points.

Bortoleto has got some serious speed and could vault up the standings in the final 10 rounds.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 0-12 / Points vs team-mate: 10-187

I won’t blame you for forgetting Yuki Tsunoda started the season by qualifying fifth in Melbourne for Racing Bulls and followed it up with ninth in Shanghai, albeit he was unable to score any points.

Many people wanted to see what Tsunoda could do in a Red Bull but he unfortunately had found out why being Verstappen’s team-mate is the toughest seat on the grid.

Five Q1 eliminations and an ongoing run of seven points-less Sundays mean the pressure will be on Tsunoda to retain his seat for 2026 when F1 returns from the summer break.

Oliver Bearman, Haas – 6/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-8 / Points vs team-mate: 8-27

Bearman has not consistently hit the heights which got him a full-time Haas seat after starring in his three 2024 appearances.

After three consecutive points finishes early in the season, small mistakes from Bearman such as practice red flag infringements in Monaco and Silverstone ruined his weekend – and he actually needs to be a little careful as he is on eight penalty points. Should he reach 12 before his next points come off in November, Bearman will be banned for a race.

The British driver had an unwanted run of four consecutive 11th places and Haas have been inconsistent themselves, so Bearman’s points do not fully reflect his season.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine – 4/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 2-6 / Points vs team-mate: 0-20

Having impressed at Williams last year, Franco Colapinto was signed up as Alpine’s reserve driver and given a full-time seat from the seventh round in Imola onwards.

However, it has not gone well as Colapinto has found himself fighting towards the back and not got close to reaching Q3 or scoring any points.

He was originally announced on a five-race deal but Alpine look set to keep Colapinto for the remainder of the year.

Jack Doohan, Alpine – 4.5/10

Qualifying vs team-mate: 1-5 / Points vs team-mate: 0-6

Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan who showed more promise in his six race weekends compared to Colapinto. Two big crashes in Australia and, more prominently, during Friday practice in Japan, ramped up the pressure on Doohan, whose seat felt under threat even before the season started.

He actually outqualified team-mate Gasly in his final qualifying in Miami but his short F1 career appears to have ended in the wall after being hit by Lawson in the Grand Prix.

Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 29-31, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime