2025 has seen plenty of shocks, changes of the guard and DRAMA…and we’re only halfway!
Climb the ladder with me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lawvs
Surprise podiums and unexpected championship leaders to teams struggling at the back of the grid, the first 12 races of the Formula 1 2025 season have given fans plenty to talk about. Oscar Piastri is leading the charge in only his third season, while George Russell’s leadership at Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg’s long-awaited podium have turned heads across the paddock. Alex Albon’s comeback at Williams and Isack Hadjar’s rise for Red Bull are good in my book. On the other hand, Lando Norris is hanging on in the title race despite a rollercoaster year
The other end of the spectrum is full of tough luck and tough questions. Carlos Sainz’s move to Williams isn’t paying off, Alpine is stuck at the back with a car that refuses to cooperate and even Fernando Alonso felt the pressure so far this year. Max Verstappen, despite flashes of brilliance, is finding wins hard to come by in a struggling Red Bull team. Who else won, lost or did…meh?
Can’t watch the ladder? HEAR it instead as a podcast.
RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/lawvs
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6hcmgaNHAcU5AHjUITTXS8
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/tt/podcast/lawvs-the-ladder-man/id1720160644
The Winners and Losers of the F1 2025 Season SO FAR
00:00 The Rules
00:42 The Winners
10:30 What to do with this one…
12:51 The Meh
21:21 The Losers
#f1 #formula1 #formulaone #f12025 #wnl #winnersandlosers #maxverstappen #oscarpiastri #landonorris #redbullracing #mclarenf1
Brand new PO BOX now open: LawVS, PO BOX 437, WALLINGTON, SM6 6EZ, UK
Wear a piece of F1 history on your wrist with Mongrip: https://mongrip.com/?ref=mxyyVz7corTaLG
Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, “fair use” is allowed for things like criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is when a copyright law lets you use something in a way that would otherwise be against the law. In some scenes, race footage from the Formula 1 calendar is used whose rights belong to FOM. Other photos and news items are only used to help the original content.
Oh yeah, we’re doing this, folks. We’re doing this because I am mathematically forced to because if I did this next week, it would be a little weird. I don’t think I did one of these last year in any shape or form. Last year’s version of me was the loser and I still am. We all know the drill here. Who’s Shawn? Who’s the side down? And which have uh existed? For the purpose of the first 12 races, there is an element of fortune or lack thereof to consider for each placing two. And also to provide some sense of tension, I’m not including every single driver here. It’s going to be the five biggest winners, the five biggest losers, and the five most. Okay, Oscar Pastri starts off the list. And I already sense that you might be calling me out for bias because he’s my boy. But if you’re leading the championship into the second half of the season in only your third season of F1, that is a pretty big achievement. Look, even if Oscar doesn’t win this year, his first world championship, at least he gave it a good old college try. This is something that he can easily be proud of after him just crossing the 50 Grand Prix barrier. This is something to still be really proud of what he’s been able to do almost touching upon records within McLaren that were worthy of Alan Prost and Senna. Now, of course, the illusion that we got regarding calmness, precision at all times has been wobbly a bit the last few races, but nevertheless, this is a kind of person who does very much have the instinct in being a very discreet and calm world champion. I would say very much, especially with his unassuming nature, he will maybe go on to emulate champions like Prost indeed. Maybe Jim Clark because I could easily imagine that Oscar is not the kind of person who would want to go out to parties. He would just like to keep himself to himself ideally. I would certainly say that 2025 has been the season where we have started to see what the article of Oscar Pastry will be going forward. There will be more refining as experience comes on, but I still think that Oscar Pastri that we see now will be the Oscar Pastri that we’ll see in 10 years time. And with so many wins to his name, he’s on the cusp of breaking Daniel Ricardo’s record, the most recent Australian heartthrob and mainstay in terms of talent. Still, there are so many things to be proud of for this kid. And also performances which make it very simple to call him a winner. I don’t really need to say much more because we need to move on to the next winner. And that is definitely George Russell because it’s quite clear that George was gagging to become the team leader of Mercedes with a car that could mostly do what he wanted it to do. And I would certainly say that his dragging his failing W16 around Bath Rain as it was begging to be put out of its misery, fending off a recovering Norris to boot. That has been one of the standout drives of the year. Now, of course, he’s not going to be going after the championship this year. He is very much behind Lando and Oscar at this point. Max is quite close to him. That’s probably his target this year. Sure, it is still susceptible at times to high temperatures in all regards at various departments of the machine. But nevertheless, it still has picked up in terms of outright pace, which was something lacking with the W15. With George at the top of driver development side of things, it’s all come good that maybe Mercedes can finish this regulation cycle on a good note, get some closure perhaps. With Mercedes and George, it’s trending upwards, albeit rather jaggedly. We are seeing the best of this man right now, and I really want to see him near the front running track for a good few more years. I do think there might be a world championship in him. And it would be a crime if all of that was to be potentially taken away with him because Toto like Papa Stroll like shiny objects. Maybe that’s why they’re good friends. And you might call this next one recency bias, but a podium, man. Sabba’s first in almost 13 years. Nico’s first ever. That alone is deserving of being called a winner. A long time coming. But the reason why I have chosen Nico above other drivers who might be deserving of the winner’s accolade is simply because of what he’s been able to do with Salva after just a few short months. Because I remember last year when it was confirmed he would be going to Sala, many people thought, well, that’s that then. And there have been many other examples throughout the first half of 2025 which proved that this guy is very much deserving of remaining in Formula 1, that he’s still got plenty to offer. And he said so in interviews after his P3 at Silverstone that he knew he had more left in the tank. It was just a matter of unlocking it and showing it to the world in a meaningful way instead of just saying it. You doing stuff which is very much what Nico has been doing. Doing stuff burns from the stern. You’ve only got to look at the standings and you go, “Wow, Nico’s almost got 40 points in a salar.” Uh yeah. And with him bringing good times to Salva, it makes you think that Hulenberg brings as much to a team as Carlos Science has historically done. That he comes to a team, he does his part, and he leads them in a better condition, albeit not quite as spectacularly as it has been with Carlos. But seriously, we all talk about Alex Albon having a stellar season. Don’t worry, he is coming up next. But Nico, come on. This is probably one of the feel-good stories of the year, if not the most feelingest of goodest. Because with Nico as the de facto leader with his rookie sidekick, this has proven to be a remarkable lineup with a team which is really going places. They finally got leadership which isn’t all about trying to grasp power from Germany. No, they’re all unified under one goal. Make sure Audi’s debut season gets off to a good start. Although I would personally argue that 2025 has been Audi’s first season because, well, they own the Sala name outright. This is just them getting to grips with things, albeit with a different badge. But that’s what I say and I’m sticking to it. So yeah, more please Nico because we believe that you can do more. And of course, Alex deserves kudos here too. Granted, a podium hasn’t come his way in 2025 unlike Hulenberg, but he has plenty of standout performances to be proud of, including some top five finishes to be happy about. I also recall his Miami comments where he was salivating, licking his lips at the prospect of maybe challenging for a podium if things went his way between Russell and Vstappen. He could actually see them in front of him. And no, he hadn’t just been lapped. He was on the same lap. This was fighting potentially for position. And for Alex, that meant the world to him. Yes, Carlos has been very much embattled with many misfortunes for his team. And Alex has had to wait the clock for three good years. Many people questioning whether he was right for Formula 1. Could he actually provide Williams enough? And then after what Colipinto was able to do in his tenure with Williams, is Alex a fraud? Yeah, I got convinced by that. But this year, no. This has been a winning year for Alex because he’s proven many of the doubters wrong because that prospect of a podium, the last time that Alex had that was back at Red Bull 5 years ago. And sure, he’s had his fair share of poor reliability, free power unit related DNS in a row, and he has been banging his head against a wall still regarding team communication. But this has been the perfect response to many people saying that he wasn’t cut out for the job. The TIE drivers making his move. He’s answered many questions and now he can get onto the business of starting to score even more points and maybe getting some more podiums. Or maybe if Williams completely nail it, they might be able to make Toto regret his decisions even more in providing other teams power units because Wolf has actually come out saying, “Ah, yes, me giving McLaren Mercedes power units wasn’t the most intelligent of calls.” And then he was also saying, “Nah, putting Kimmy in the car and Monzeri one that was the most intelligent of course.” Yeah. Uh, so uh, yeah, Toto, you don’t very much make intelligent calls recently, do you, buddy? But hey, accepting Alex ultimately, albeit with major concessions and him cutting off Rebel entirely, that’s probably one of your more intelligent calls than actually going along with it because look at Williams right now. And in regards to him responding to James Val’s Spanish heartthrob, I think Alex has responded maturely. There’s been no drama yet and he’s managed to bring home some good points. That’s a good win for Williams. Now, you might be a little bit dubious with this next take. you might be getting your foams at the ready. But considering how I perceived this particular rookie at the beginning of the year and to where he is right now, I absolutely have to eat my own words because Isaac Hajar, yeah, he is a winner here. Cuz if you haven’t watched Formula 2, many people had little or no opinion of Isaac Hajar. But look where we are just a few months later. Not only has he actually proven his worth in terms of scoring Racing Bull’s valuable points in the Constructors ever, because they are still in it, albeit slipping a little bit, sixth place in the Constructors, which would be Fan Debbie Dozy. But he’s also managed to gain the hearts of millions simply for just being Isaac. After his headline grabbing moment in Melbourne, he manages to net over 20 points in a midfield machine. And people give a damn about him. No, they adore him. He’s got character potential in spades. A definite beacon of hope for Formula 1, Red Bull and also plenty of gossip and drama which will very much please Liberty Media in the midst of Maxen maybe forsaking that particular team. Red Bull have got a rather feisty and tenacious youngster with growing appeal and charisma. So maybe if Lauren Mecky’s can recognize this, this might be the beginning of a fruitful working relationship at the senior team in the next year or two. It really depends on how Red Bull goes forward. Maybe next year, ideally, they keep the same lineup in both teams for stability and continuity, real stability and continuity. And then 2027, you go from there. We’ll just have to see where the potato chips lie. Because one thing’s for sure, Lon, the new team principal of the top team, understands Isaac’s abilities completely as a rookie. And if it means that they have to promote him and then Yuki stays next year, Max goes elsewhere, having Isaac and Yuki back together at the main team, that would be a very much big reunion that many people were loving in their first few races at Racing Bulls. Yeah. Okay. He has had a fair share of mistakes. And Liam has shown him up a couple of times this year. But nevertheless, where he was at the beginning of the year to where he is right now, it’s only been upwards. It’s been quite smooth. He’s been quite consistent at points, getting some very good results for a team that many people thought at the beginning of the year wouldn’t really be scoring that much. I don’t think anyone’s questioning his suitability for F1 anymore. Now, okay, I’m going to have to make a new category for this particular driver because I just simply couldn’t make up my mind. I I I didn’t really think he uh done enough to become a full-blown winner, but nor did I think he was deserving of nothing because there had been a decent rebound in recent races. So, in the end, I would have to describe the first half of 2025 for him as solid. So, it’s above me, but below winners, so it’s in its own space. Okay, you might call this a copout in me not being able to make up my mind and having to shoehorn him into something else. But look, I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and call Lando an absolute loser after all he’s been able to do in the first half of the year, cuz he’s not. He’s still within single figures of Oscar Pastri when all is said and done. The only reason I can’t call him a winner is because had he not had those really big high-profile gaffs, he probably would be comfortably ahead of the Australian and therefore really dictating where McLaren goes, making their, you know, stressful situation well much easier to deal with or maybe non-existent. He has learned from the school of Max Fappen in some ways in just keeping going, keeping his head down and ignoring what the media says. And what has that resulted in? Well, look where we are right now. It’s all still to play for and the momentum as of now is coming back to him after all. We all, myself included, worry he had lost some room in McLaren, but if he could just get some more wins and solid performances like we saw in Austria and Silverstone, the team are not going to be abandoning him or leaving him to his doom. That has worked out for him and that should be a godsend for the second half. Yes, we have seen some very good performances and dominant wins like in Australia, Austria and him being very much picking up the pieces of Pastria Silverstone which is crucial in a championship battle being able to steal up your resolve. But then again, there have been moments where you can easily describe Lando making his job a lot harder than it needs to be. What happened in Jedha, what happened in Bahrain by the false start and dropping even more places. And then of course Montreal giving points away to Oscar and again making this challenge a little bit more challenging. But in the end he’s come back to the party and that is all people were asking of him just to come back fighting and give us a show. Well, I think Lando’s done just that. But I wouldn’t call this show a very very clean one. It’s been very rough. I do think though it might go all the way to the end. Now we get to the meh section. And wait l you said Kimmy was doing great yesterday. What’s with the meth rating? Well, I’m not going to be calling him loser. That’s for damn sure. Because in my mind, Kimmy has done nothing wrong as a rookie in terms of his application to the task at hand. Because, as I said in my video yesterday, the technical team of Mercedes like him, the fans like him, and his teammate George Russell likes him. No one’s got a bad word to say about the young Italian. He’s applied to himself admirably, in my honest opinion, and he is fully accepting that the first half of the season has not been ideal. The reason why I’m not going to call him a loser is because you got to look at all of the results he’s been able to manifest. 63 points in his debut season is still something not to be sniffed at. It’s not that far away from Oscar Pastry’s tally. Sure, you might be arguing, well, Oscar had an absolute tractor for the first half of the season, whereas Kimmy has had a fairly solid machine so far and will continue to do so. That is perfectly valid, but points mean prizes at the end of the day, and you got to be in it to win it. McLaren was very much not in it at the beginning of the year through necessity. And I’m not just going to mention Sprint Pole in Miami or the Podium in Canada. We’ve all talked about that already. There have been many other standout performances which have really shown Kimmy acts more maturely than his age gives him credit for. You’ve really got to look back at the Melbourne result of him getting P4 at a track and Grand Prix where all the other rookies were fighting for their lives or not even finishing the race. Then you get Kimmy not that far away from a podium. And also, Fortune has not really been on the Italian side with him bearing the brunt of the W16’s fragility. Whereas George Russell, he has finished every single race, whereas Kimmy has had his own fair share of mechanical maladies. But he finds himself in a precarious place right now that you’d be thinking that the team would be having all the patience in the world for the successor to Lewis Hamilton. And I would still call his first half of the season as okay. And I would say, well, I don’t think his place in Formula 1 is going to be in jeopardy or going to be sent into a state of flux. Well, if anything is to go by with where the news headlines are going, that’s exactly where it’s going to go because now there are rumors that are starting to grow at a pace. I thought it was just a theory where he could be carted off to another team to learn away from the main team. So that means Max Stafen can come in because shiny object and considering that he would have started off top-notch technical staff and very other highly regarded personnel at Mercedes and then goes to Alpine of all places. That is a major climb down and Kimmy being used as a bargaining chip. Now, okay, I’m digressing. We’re talking about the actual results. Again, 63 points in 12 races is still a very good tally and there are 12 more races to go. If Mercedes can provide him a more reliable car and give him the assurances that his job is not at risk, give him as very few reasons to be sad as possible, then we could see a transformation and I could easily see him breaking the 100point barrier. And then Charlotte Cla is a meh. His season’s been a case study in frustration. He’s in the top five and consistently ahead of Hamilton so far, yet Ferrari still hasn’t won a race. And while he’s the only one bringing home podiums, overdriv and tactical misfires, they do continue to haunt him, especially in wet conditions where he was borderline anonymous, save for going across the grass a couple of times. There’s not really much else to say about Charl. He’s just in the middle of an internal power struggle as to where Ferrari goes into 2026. Is he still the golden boy of Ferrari, or are the team starting to look toward Lewis and taking him more seriously? It’s an uncertainty, an unknown that the Monagas surely doesn’t like. Time is ticking for him and I’m not sure whether his patience will last out. It really depends whether or not the suspension tweak that Ferrari tested out in Mello recently means that they definitely are able to go for more podiums and maybe a win or two. And then indeed we move to Lewis and you might argue that he is a loser but the dream move to the Scooter came up short. I would disagree. In terms of points scored, he is only a few points behind where he was in round 12 last year. And had it not been for 2024 Silverston win, his Ferrari debut year would actually have provided more points. It’s been more consistent, more chances of top five maybe P6 finishes than it was with the W15. But equally, it wasn’t the ideal start that he may have wanted in that he gets to sip champagne other than his sprint win in China or something. It’s not been a first half of the season which has emulated Fernando Alonzo, Sebastian Vettle, his former rivals and buddies where they could win either on debut for Ferrari or within a couple of races. No, that dream and opportunity is gone. It’s going to be very much its own thing. And it would be especially gling considering what the SF24 was able to do last year where it could easily be in contention for wins on a regular basis even with a mid-seasonal slump. That mid-season slump would have provided Lewis hope that yeah, if Ferrari get themselves in a bit of a rut, they can quickly get themselves back out again. However, you can easily start to see that Lewis’s endgame solidity is very much still there. And if Ferrari can actually tailor this car and Lewis is able to adapt to the Ferrari model of doing things, then we might start to see more P4s, more P5s, more consistent top five finishes, and maybe breaking in for a few P3s along the way. I don’t think wins are going to be coming. Lewis’s way this year. It would be very difficult for Shaw to be able to do that. The truth is though is that it’s been very much a difficult start full of miscommunication, frustrations that he thought left behind at Mercedes. It’s not been great and it surely dented Lewis’s confidence, but you do start to sense that they are starting to take him more seriously and there is an opportunity for him to wrestle control from Charl, albeit in the back rooms instead of on the track. It’s going to be a lot more discreet where he goes from here, but I would still call him I wouldn’t call him a loser. He’s certainly been able to show something. And then we got Max Vstappen. Let’s be real, Max wouldn’t call himself a winner here at all. Winning only twice after doing nothing but winning the last few years, that’s a climb down in itself and not something he’s pleased with. And despite that though, the fact he can get anything out of a very inadequate RB21, that’s an achievement, too. I think it’s proven that Max is definitely a generational talent without question. And also in the midst of all of his struggles, I’m starting to sense a shift in terms of the overall general perception of him amongst the average Formula 1 fan. Because when I went to the British Grand Prix for qualifying and when Max took a surprise poll in the UK, it was nothing like it was at the beginning of the year. They clapped him. They clapped him when he got pled. When he got the win at Emila, there were applause, people cheering him, people chanting, doing the D thing. No, that was a mark of respect for a champion. Sure, very much a belleaguered champion, but it very much established that the achievements of the past were acknowledged and they would be continued to be acknowledged. So, you could call that a little win for Max in of itself, that people might start to get off his back a little bit. But that’s not the main thing that Max wants this year. He wants to know that the team he’s at right now going into the second half will be having his back and actually listening to him. The team is fourth in the constructors and are only now just getting over the turmoil laid out by her now that he’s been purged from the job. There might be some opportunities to regenerate in a more technically minded operation instead of one built on Discord and media hype, but it’s very much a question mark for another video. Then there’s Esban Okon. a switch to house looked like career limbo going from one midfield team to another. People kind of wrote him off, were keen to forget him. He was just no longer in the zeitgeist. But the truth of the matter is though is that Esaban has far more points than Pierre does and he’s actually equaled his tally from last year already. Only 12 races in at not bad. You also notice that Estban is so much happier. You’ve got the sense of that at Goodwood, the vlog coming out tomorrow, by the way, that he and Oliver were in a good place where they could have fun, where they could have jollies and shenanigans with just finding out who could shred a set of wet tires the most. That indicates to me a person who’s very content with their lot. Even though admittedly why they’re a me that the ceiling of H right now does not mirror that of aons. I don’t think he’s going to be getting a podium this year. It’s very much going to be H trying to bag themselves more P7s, P8s, maybe a top five if they’re lucky. But that is something to give him credit for. That P5 in China, fantastic stuff. There are plenty of opportunities to be had for Esban. It’s just they are going to be few and far between. But I don’t think he cares right now. But yeah, he’s no loser. A loser indeed is Ben Lawson. He began the year as Vstappen’s teammate and then shunted to racing balls after two pointless outings near the back. Yeah, I call that automatic loser credentials. Granted, he has regained confidence at a team which has his back in racing balls. He has got new personal best finishes in the top 10 with his Austria efforts being thoroughly appreciated, especially cuz he was the highest scoring Red Bull driver that weekend. And he has got 12 points. He is now in double figures. But he still trails Isaac Hajar by that little bit. But there may be some opportunity for him to catch up in the second half. I do think the momentum is slowly coming back toward him because we very much mured around Silverson. He was just the passenger there. But the fact of the matter is though is that Red Bull, where they are right now, is still a bit of a question mark. Arvid Limblad is still not going to run in F2. Those questions are not going to be entirely going away. The first half of the year has been brutal. No questions there. He was brought up to Red Bull far too early, the earliest out of any previous Red Bull Junior, and the result showed it, and they started to regret it. But nevertheless, the damage was done. It’s been a year full of hardship, reality checks, and him not having that many friends. And no, I I I I don’t feel like making the quip today. You do it in the comments. Go on. And then there’s Yuki Cenoda. I don’t really need to say much else about him that I hadn’t said about Liam, albeit it’s been a bit more protracted. In fact, you could arguably say that it’s been even more tragic for Yuki than it was with Liam. For Liam, it was a slap in the face. But for Yuki, it wasn’t just a slap in the face. It was continual slaps in the faces and then him even just questioning his own existence. He thought that he had the understanding of the RB-21 and then realized, oh no, he had no clue whatsoever that the team really didn’t have his back properly. And had Hornet continued in the job, I wouldn’t be surprised that they would have reneeded on their promises of no more driver swaps in 2025 and just got rid of them towards season’s end. If Honda got mad at them, oh, what would it matter? You know, they’re going to be going away to Austin Modern anyway. Let’s just give it a go with Isaac. Hey, well that’s not going to happen, my friend. The only saving grace now going forward is that he’s got a very friendly face in that of Laura Mecky’s, the new team principal. Even helmet Marco has cooled his jets a bit toward the Japanese driver. In fact, actually being quite benevolent and supportive and patient and kind. Yeah, but points in Yuki’s name at Red Bull Racing, far too few to be comfortable with. Again, unfortunately a loser. And then Carlos Science is one, too. So much for my revenge arc, then. Haha. Yeah, I get it. But sometimes arcs like this have very low lows, and that’s what makes the highs all the more satisfying. But nevertheless, Williams were probably not expecting to be this juicy already to make this even more profound. You know, since James noted that they were very much going for the lowhanging fruit at the beginning of the year to maybe make Williams not last place. Well, they’re not last place. They are very much in fifth place. Albeit their advantage to SA now in sixth. Remember Sala sixth. Last time we saw that was back in 2022. That is still a bit of a wakeup call and a reality check maybe. And if it does continue to fall away again, even though Williams are promising a small update for Spar, I don’t know how small it’s going to be, but you never know. Science may not have a leg to stand on and may have no opportunities to score big points like Alex was able to do at the beginning of the year. It might be too little too late for Carlos to be able to rebound. But it is going to be the promise of James to focus on the Spanish driver a little bit more to provide him a little bit more of a lift because this first half of the season has very much been defined by lost opportunities and that everything that could go wrong has indeed it has been full of reliability issues, unfortunate circumstances and placements in Q1 which sees him being eliminated. not a full understanding, a consistent understanding of the car and far too many instances where there is damage given to his car through no fault of his own or maybe examples of the team going over the radio. Hey Carlo loss buddy, you mind giving Alex a bit of a solid here? He kind of needs your help. Oh, will you? Oh, thank you. And uh yeah, having to play second fiddle sometimes. Yeah, I I don’t think he wants to be the butt monkey of Williams here, matey boy. I think he wants to be equal number one with Alex because right now I think he feels like he’s the number two. Growing pains have been rife for this team and Carlos has had to bear most of them. Aston Martin’s early season optimism has dissolved into just 16 points for the Spaniard and radio rants up the wazoo with him going pointless for longer than he would have liked to and a streak of poor results that were worthy of his McLaren days the second time around or even his Manardi rookie year. Now, of course, Fernando has insisted that this slump is different to what it was at McLaren because, well, Adrian knew he’s right there. He can see the light at the end of the tunnel, whereas at McLaren, there wasn’t really that much light to be had. Even in 2018 when Zack Brown was starting to get his act together, Sidle was coming in and Norris was coming in. Maybe there could be something for next year because Fernando has said that he will walk at the end of 2026 if Aston Martin don’t provide some sense of improvement or at least the hope of improvement because remember Aston Martin, Honda, they can improve the engine over time. It’s not frozen anymore after 2025. So, the majority of the reason why he’s in the loser category right now is for that really bad first stint before the IML upgrade because after the IML upgrade, Fernando has begun to consistently score points. He would have overtaken Lance Stroll had it not been for his car bugging out on Moran Monaco when it looked like he was going to be getting eight points to his name. Yeah, Fernando does have harsh things to say about the team, but then he does add the caveat saying, “Because I know you can do better. I believe in you people. Let’s do better together.” Whereas Monstrol has harsh things to say. That’s the end of the sentence. And for anyone in an Alpine, I would describe it as a sentence of a prison kind. And yeah, I can understand why you’d quibble this because no, that’s three drivers in one, stupid. But right now, it feels like a collective over there because they’re all in the same boat for different reasons. The team sits last with 19 points, all from Pierre, by the way. While rookies Colip Pinto and early season standard Dan have failed to trouble the scorers at all despite trying their damnedest, both men being no slowpoke by the way in their junior careers. You look back to preseason and testing where Alpine looked not exactly fast but looked okay. Certainly better where they were in preseason testing in 2024 and you just go, “What the hell happened? I thought they were actually going to be good or at least okay, scoring points fairly regularly.” But with Pierre’s comments of P6 feeling like a podium, that’s pretty telling. Ambriator’s been really really flaky as to his estimation of Pierre. Sometimes thinking he’s really great, sometimes he thinks he’s a loser. And there’s no telling that the Mercedes gamble next year will actually benefit them in a meaningful manner where they’re back to where they were a few years ago, fourth and fifth. The A525 is draggy, slow, fragile. Franco’s been denied rebounding efforts thanks to persistent problems with the drive shaft. Dan also was not quite sure where he was. You just get the sense that everything there is just noise as Gastly described with more drivers being moved around and that they should focus on next year and then maybe try and avoid the team’s worst finish in their entire existence since back when they were Tolman. 2016 for Renault was terrible, but at least they were ninth. They weren’t last or 10th. The last time that happened was back over 40 years ago. Clearly Alpine’s dragging themselves through the mud, as is indeed Kimmy, with him probably being carted off to said team to make way for Max if Toto maybe has his way. To find out why this story’s gotten sudden traction and why I think it’s absolutely unfair, probably even more unfair than with George, watch this video next straight after this one.
36 Comments
Can't watch the ladder right now? HEAR it instead!
https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/lawvs
(also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more)
Climb the ladder with me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/lawvs
My socials: https://linktr.ee/lawvs
Your George Bias is sooo clear
Personal opinions (* is for argument to be made)
Piastri – winner
Norris – ehhh… winner* (can go down)
Mclaren- winners
Max – meh
Yuki – loser
Redbull – loser
Charles and Lewis – meh
Its a Ferrari – its a shitbox
Russell – winner
Kimi – winner* (can be meh, but he's a rookie)
Mercedes – winner
Stroll – meh (can be winner*, he is the one that has scored well for AM)
Alonso – loser* (due to all the DNFs, not his faukt)
Aston Martin – loser* (maybe meh, but with all the Alonso DNFs…)
Albon – meh* (winner if we exclude the DNFs)
Sainz – meh
Williams – winners
Ocon – meh (good race, bad qualifying)
Bearman – meh* (good-ish qualifying, bad race or penalties)
Haas – winner* (car is mid or bad, but strategy is great)
Gasly – winner (from that shitbox of a french car, getting 6th is great)
Doohan and Colapinto – losers (and honestly interchangable just looking at results. They should swap again tbh, just to see)
Alpine – losers
Hadjar – winner (* potential to get Redbull second seat)
Lawson – loser (not his year)
Racing Bulls – winners
Huuuuuuuulkenberg – winner
Bortoleto – winner* (could be meh, but this year is not super important for him)
Sauber – winner (we did expect a tractor). Audi – winner
Checo – WINNER
How would PIASTRI and AUDI go together, just a thought.
Red Bull’s wobble makes 2025 way more fun.
as it stands right now Law- who do you have winning this year? or should we wait to see results after the next two races?
16:11 Golden Boy?? Ferrari f*cked up last year by keeping him over Carlos! Carlos and Lewis would be a much better and more effective team!
You can't look at Lando's season as a whole so far and see it as meh at best. If not a definite lose. He is the senior driver with twice the experience of his teammate and after countless mistakes he is trailing Oscar in the championship. This was THE year that Lando had to put it all together and so far he has failed. The sporadic glimpse of what could have been doesn't equal a winning first half of a season by what should have been the lead driver in the leading team.
After how he treated the Hulk on the podium, “your boy” is now on the looser side of my list. Same with Norris!
Verstappen is not a shiny object. He is currently the best driver on the grid so any principal worth their salt should be taking the opportunity to nab him.
George has no contact?
Winner Laurent Mekies, he gets to sack Tsunoda and its the sweetest karma of all.
I'll say it again. Fernando has earned the teams respect and has the right to provide his criticisms. Lance Stroll just whines.
georgle had a horrible run of form of late
They need to get rid of this summer break, and alot of these stupid safety rules, track speed and corners rules, and set stewards rules on what really counts as an infraction that needs a penalty.
Did I misunderstand you? Or did you actually suggest that had Horner stayed at Red Bull Yuki would be swapped? You seem to take your feelings towardsm Horner driecty from Jos.Marko was always the one making the driver decisions. That was confirmed in 2023 when Horner had to plead with Marko to get his favourite driver back in to a race seat.
Hot Take:
I think this years McLaren is the most dominant car in history, even more so than the '23 RB, however it's drivers don't maximise it every time. I think if Max was in this car, he would have won ever race this season so far.
Nico WDC 2026 LFG
Crazy how Law a piastri fan can be so unbiased in Piastri related stuff but Tommy from P1 sees piastri 15pts behind Lando in the championship and is like "He's the championship favourite"
Lando is criminally underrated
I think you're being harsh with Carlos. The car has failed him a few times, but when the car is just OK, he has good performance… Williams can afford some more time to make the car work, and they have potential
When was Williams last podium?
Isack Hadjar is a fully deserved winner. With zero F1 testing, he’s jumped straight in and outperformed Liam Lawson not just in qualifying 9–2 head-to-head, but also across race days. His consistency, calm under pressure, and raw pace make him one the most standout rookies of the season and a revelation .
The mclaren boys are stil childs..
love how kick and stake paid tons of money for naming rights, yet everyone just calls them sauber or audi anyways
Took him like a whole minute to say Lando’s name after starting to talk about him
Lando has 3 wins in the last 6 races. Had won every wet gp this season and have been let Down by the team cause he didnt like the suspension which is why he have the new suspension that have given him more confidence on the breaks.
Antonelli to Audi?
This was just weirdly off in so many ways. The contexts provided seems like the wrong stuff. Meh.
I've been watching F1 since the Schumacher Benetton days, always been a McLaren fan first, and when they re-emerged Mercedes second, but what I will say is that after all that time, seeing Hulk get his podium ranks right up there in the best watching experiences. So happy I stayed up to the 2am race start to see it happen live!
Great commentary Law ~ thanks!!
Albon doing so good and Sainz doing so meh makes me really sad for the fact that Colpainto may be out of F1 by the end of the year rather than probably becoming one of the sensations of the grid if he had the chance to stay at Williams this year. Him being close to Albon and putting him under pressure was real not a fluke I feel, since you can still see the potential in the kid when he actually managed to set up the car right this year, like Canada or Spain.
Alpine burning through the careers of two rookies the same year would be such a shame.
Personal winners as of rn:
Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris
George Russell
Nico Hulkenberg
Kimi Antonelli
Issac Hadjar
Don't know where to genuinely put/Alright/Mid:
Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton
Lance Stroll
Fernando Alonso
Alex Albon
Pierre Gasly
The Mehs:
Oliver Bearman
Esteban Ocon
Carlos Sainz
Gabriel Bortoleto
Sorry but bad list:
Yuki Tsunoda
Franco Colapinto
Liam Lawson
Jack Doohan
This guy is such a max hater lol. Lando losing to his team mate in his 3rd year is ahead of max outperforming his team mates by over a second and dragging a shitty Red Bull to wins
I wish we lived in the timeline where Oscar didn't get stuck in the grass at Melbourne
I feel bad for Russel, hevthought he gotva sratvin,the championship winning car, turned out not really.