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![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753380494_494_christian-horner-red-bull-raci.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe 2025 Formula 1 season may not have featured the most mind-blowing scenarios ever, but some of its events still raised eyebrows \u2013 and rightfully so.<\/p>\n
Here are those we identified as the biggest surprises of the year.<\/p>\n
Read Also:<\/p>\n
Red Bull sacks Christian Horner \u2013 Jake Boxall-Legge
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Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n
Christian Horner’s sacking and Red Bull’s subsequent revolution. That Horner had managed to cling on to his control over Red Bull following 2024’s scandal \u2013 in which he was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague \u2013 suggested he had weathered the storm, especially after he was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal investigation.<\/p>\n
Red Bull’s decline over the course of 2024 and into the early part of 2025 hadn’t necessarily raised any external alarm bells over Horner’s future; in fact, there were more questions over Max Verstappen’s movements following an inconsistent opening to the season. As it happened, Horner was disposed of following the British Grand Prix \u2013 much to the surprise of everyone at Red Bull, let alone those outside of the team.<\/p>\n
Now under Laurent Mekies, Red Bull is undergoing its most significant metamorphosis since it entered the championship in 2005. The architects of its previous successes \u2013 Horner, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, and now Helmut Marko \u2013 are all gone, and Mekies is empowering those within to step up into the key positions. Never change a winning team, they say, but there’s always a point where a winning team becomes stale.<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar<\/a> shines as a rookie \u2013 Ed Hardy Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls<\/p>\n Photo by: Mark Sutton \/ Formula 1 via Getty Images<\/p>\n At the start of the year I remember thinking that Isack Hadjar<\/a> was just there to keep the Racing Bulls<\/a> seat warm for Arvid Lindblad<\/a> in 2026. The Frenchman was the unexpected promotion, the man who failed to win a title at junior level and finished 14th in his rookie F2 campaign with his only win being the Zandvoort sprint.<\/p>\n None of that screamed a person who was cut out to compete at the highest level and more than hold his own in Formula 1. That feeling strengthened at the Australian Grand Prix when Hadjar crashed out on the formation lap and was subsequently on the receiving end of some harsh words from Helmut Marko for the way he cried in reaction to the retirement.<\/p>\n But the 21-year-old\u2019s response by producing a stellar campaign showed I was as wrong as I could have been about him. There were the five points finishes in eight after Melbourne, obviously the podium at Zandvoort, while dominating team-mate Liam Lawson<\/a> with a 21-6 record against him in qualifying<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hadjar has naturally received a Red Bull promotion for 2026, thus doing more with his F1 career than I ever thought he would. So fair play to him, most definitely the surprise of the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri<\/a> misses out on the title \u2013 Owen Bellwood Oscar Piastri, McLaren<\/p>\n Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n After just a handful of races, it seemed clear that McLaren<\/a> had one hand on the constructors\u2019 title for 2025 and its reach of the drivers\u2019 crown grew shorter after each passing grand prix. By the end of the Dutch Grand Prix, it seemed ridiculous to suggest that anyone other than Oscar Piastri<\/a> could clinch the crown after he won seven out of 15 grands prix up to that point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n By then, his lead over team-mate Lando Norris<\/a> had swollen to more than 30 points, and he was over 100 points clear of Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen<\/a> \u2013 who was all but counted out by the chequered flag in Zandvoort. Piastri didn\u2019t win another race after that, however, and his drop-off in form was seismic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crashes in Baku, Singapore and the Austin sprint saw his grip on the top of the standings falter and he fell behind Norris after the Briton won the Mexican Grand Prix. The unthinkable happened in Las Vegas, when Verstappen also passed the Australian after both McLarens were disqualified over excessive plank wear.\u00a0<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t the only issue for Piastri, however, as his confidence in his McLaren car fell off in the second half of the season. And while he managed to clamour it back in the final few races, it proved to be too little, too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fact that Piastri didn\u2019t hold on to the championship lead to take the win was surprising. The fact that he fell back to third by the time the chequered flag fell in Abu Dhabi was shocking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams<\/a> finishes fifth in the championship \u2013 Filip Cleeren Carlos Sainz, Williams<\/p>\n Photo by: Erik Junius<\/p>\n There was little doubt Williams was at least not going to go backwards this year after a woeful 2024 that started with a late and overweight car, which then led to a spare parts shortage as the damage bills mounted.<\/p>\n That’s all in the past, and there was a lot of other low-hanging fruit that would pay dividends for the Grove-based team, like its trackside operations. But with Williams overtly being focused on 2026 and barely giving its 2025 car wind-tunnel time this year, I wasn’t expecting Williams to secure fifth so emphatically.<\/p>\n Of course that is in part due to some of its peers not delivering, especially Aston Martin, but Williams really managed to use its resources efficiently to make its 2025 launch car solid enough to lay the groundwork for a successful campaign. Add the speed and expertise of Carlos Sainz<\/a> to match Alex Albon<\/a>, and you have an outstanding driver pairing to take the team into the future. There may have been some luck involved in Sainz’s two podiums, but he and the team were good value for them too.<\/p>\n We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Isack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/isack-hadjar-racing-bulls.jpg\")
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\n ![\"Oscar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766741892_639_oscar-piastri-mclaren.jpg\")
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\n ![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766741892_58_carlos-sainz-williams.jpg\")
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