All this is bad news for Lewis Hamilton, whose first season has been weighed down equally by his own struggles adjusting to his new team as well as Ferrari\u2019s patchy campaign.<\/a><\/p>\nTarget for the rest of the season<\/p>\n
To defend second in the standings, at least allowing Ferrari to save face while arguing 2026 was always the target anyway. Getting Hamilton onto the podium \u2014 retaining his career-long streak \u2014 will be a crucial milestone in the Englishman\u2019s acclimatisation; failing to do so will pile on unhelpful pressure for next year.<\/p>\n
Ferrari has taken a step backwards in 2025. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
HAAS: C<\/p>\n
Championship: 9th, 35 points (this time in 2024: 7th, 27 points)<\/p>\n
Best finish: 5th (1)<\/p>\n
Best qualifying: 8th (2)<\/p>\n
Average gap to pole: 1.168 seconds (last five races: 1.010 seconds)<\/p>\n
Development trend: improving by 0.442 seconds<\/p>\n
What\u2019s gone well<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman have settled into their roles at the team well, with the Frenchman playing the dependable experienced driver and the latter the fast but unfinished rookie. They\u2019ve combined to give the team a decent haul of points that could see it finish eighth in the championship. That would be a significant turnaround on expectations after its disastrous first race in Melbourne, where the car was far slower than pre-season testing had suggested, forcing significant work at base to save the season.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s not<\/p>\n
The car has been an inconsistent performer, bouncing around from being fifth fastest in Silverstone to slowest at a handful of other venues. While Bearman has been quick enough to challenge Ocon every week, he\u2019s been scrappier than expected at times \u2014 he\u2019s already picked up two red flag infringements that have proved massively costly personally and in terms of points.<\/p>\n
Target for the rest of the season<\/p>\n
To finish eighth in the championship. While this would be stagnation after last year\u2019s eighth-place finish, it would be a decent result considering where the team started this year and given the focus directed at the 2026 car. It will require greater consistency from both drivers, however, and in particular Bearman to achieve it.<\/p>\n
Haas has shown glimpses of promise this year. (Photo by Clive Rose\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
RED BULL RACING: D<\/p>\n
Championship: 4th, 194 points (this time in 2024: 1st, 408 points)<\/p>\n
Wins: 2<\/p>\n
Poles: 4<\/p>\n
Average gap to pole: 0.276 seconds (last five races: 0.415 seconds)<\/p>\n
Development trend: degrading by 0.421 seconds<\/p>\n
What\u2019s gone well<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s recommitment to the team has ensured that its most performant part will remain for at least another season. The Dutchman has continued performing at an extremely high level, winning in Japan when he shouldn\u2019t have done and taking three other unlikely poles. His victory in Imola was also extremely impressive.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s not<\/p>\n
The design office without Adrian Newey at the helm clearly hasn\u2019t understood the development issues that became clear last year. It\u2019s raised doubts about the design office\u2019s ability to bounce back under new rules next year, which in turn has led to the wavering of faith in the Verstappen camp that could result in the ultimate vote of no confidence next year. RBR\u2019s difficulty fielding a competitive second car has hit a new low this year, with just seven of the team\u2019s 194 points scored by Yuki Tsunoda. The sudden axing of Christian Horner by head office in Austria also raises questions about how the team will be run in coming years.<\/p>\n
Target for the rest of the season<\/p>\n
To prove it still knows how to be competitive. That means getting more out of this year\u2019s car without compromising development for 2026 and, crucially, helping Tsunoda find form in the sport\u2019s biggest career-killing role.<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen\u2019s title defence never really got going. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
ALPINE: E<\/p>\n
Championship: 10th, 20 points (this time in 2024: 8th, 11 points)<\/p>\n
Best finish: 6th (1)<\/p>\n
Best qualifying: 5th (1)<\/p>\n
Average gap to pole: 0.981 seconds (last five races: 1.009 seconds)<\/p>\n
Development trend: degrading by 0.219 seconds<\/p>\n
What\u2019s gone well<\/p>\n
Pierre Gasly continues to squeeze improbable performance from a car that\u2019s often not been up to scratch. The Frenchman has made Q3 at half the races so far and has racked up 20 points across only five scoring weekends, sparing the team some of its blushes.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s not<\/p>\n
Just about everything else. The car has been wayward and uncompetitive for most of the year and at three weekends this season has been the outright slowest. Results haven\u2019t been helped by the fruitless driver change after six rounds, dumping the improving Jack Doohan for the cashed-up Franco Colapinto. While the Argentine looks like he might finally be turning a corner, one wonders how many points have been wasted through blooding a new driver unnecessarily \u2014 and rumours continue that Colapinto could be turfed anyway for an experienced alternative. The team\u2019s off-track turmoil continues with the loss of another team principal, Oliver Oakes, in sudden and unusual circumstances, bringing the controversial Flavio Briatore further into the spotlight.<\/p>\n
Target for the rest of the season<\/p>\n
To not finish last in the championship. Alpine represents Renault, one of the biggest manufacturers in the world with a long and decorated Formula 1 history. Being comprehensively beaten by so many independent teams would be embarrassing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McLaren\u2019s domination of the season so far has ensured its fellow frontrunners are enduring a rougher campaign than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2074,2620,51051,43116,2095,51027,12295,1724,64,63,689,18503,3159,16196,2071,51033,51034,51020,33127,2065,51056,4971,33102,13275,10905,1199,18241,51039,51054,51025,51032,2055,2075,51017,51030,21779,9239,11301,51022,2057,51035,817,51036,845,51040,2755,813,816,51031,51059,3875,2105,51053,28271,939,51037,51015,51047,51057,2045,21764,941,34866,51049,2082,825,51052,647,5140,18896,51026,51024,10864,51038,51045,2041,2067,677,51016,51050,51042,25593,2054,2119,14224,51043,29962,51048,51046,16205,51055,24123,51018,51023,3595,2020,85,22784,51058,51021,13773,51029,33096,51044,51019,51041,38445,21760,2614,660,2062,51028,9657],"class_list":["post-63795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-adrian-newey","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-alex-bierens-de-haan","tag-alex-jacques","tag-america","tag-anaemic-points-haul","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-driver","tag-austria","tag-average-gap","tag-belgium","tag-best-of-the-rest-position","tag-beteween-title-rivals","tag-breakthrough-podium","tag-budapest","tag-canada","tag-career-killing-role","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-championship-table","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-chasing-pack","tag-christian-horner","tag-clive-rose","tag-closest-challenger","tag-consistent-car","tag-consistent-points-threat","tag-consistent-scorer","tag-constructors-championship","tag-design-office","tag-development-issues","tag-development-trend","tag-drivers-championship","tag-eastern-asia","tag-eastern-europe","tag-eighth-place-finish","tag-europe","tag-european-campaign","tag-f1","tag-familiar-issue","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-fifth-quickest-car","tag-florida","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-fourth-fastest-car","tag-frontrunner-drive","tag-george-russell","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gulf-beteween-title","tag-head-office","tag-hungary","tag-improbable-performance","tag-inconsistent-performer","tag-independent-teams","tag-italian-end","tag-jack-doohan","tag-james-vowles","tag-japan","tag-joe-portlock","tag-key-failures","tag-mark-thompson","tag-max-verstappen","tag-meaningful-pace-metric","tag-melbourne","tag-miami","tag-midseason-break","tag-midyear-review","tag-misfiring-series","tag-news-stories","tag-next-best-team","tag-non-mclaren-entry","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-off-track-contributions","tag-off-track-turmoil","tag-oliver-oakes","tag-penultimate-lap","tag-performant-part","tag-pit-talk","tag-points-scored","tag-pre-season-testing","tag-rapid-rise","tag-red-flag-infringements","tag-rougher-campaign","tag-rule-changes","tag-rumoured-three-year-contract","tag-ryan-pierse","tag-scoring-weekends","tag-shock-backmarker","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-sprint-pole","tag-standout-drives","tag-team-match","tag-team-principal","tag-team-rankings","tag-teenage-rookie","tag-thin-scoring-record","tag-three-year-contract-extension","tag-title-decider","tag-title-defence","tag-title-fight","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-western-europe","tag-will-pile","tag-zak-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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