{"id":8167,"date":"2025-07-20T10:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/8167\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T10:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:17:12","slug":"f1-news-whos-making-the-biggest-impact-in-f1s-2025-rookie-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/8167\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: Who\u2019s making the biggest impact in F1\u2019s 2025 rookie class?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/RookieHalfwayPoint.jpg\" alt=\"Who\u2019s making the biggest impact in F1\u2019s rookie class?\"\/>How do the rookies stack up at the halfway point of the 2025 F1 season? Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n<p>Antonelli, handed one of the grid\u2019s most high-pressure seats at just 18, has delivered a composed and consistent opening campaign, collecting 63 points, triple the total of the next-best rookie, Hadjar.<\/p>\n<p>He remains the only first-year driver <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-canadian-grand-prix-oscar-piastri-lando-norris-crash-george-russell-wins-results-highlights-video-reaction\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to stand on a Grand Prix podium<\/a>, has reached Q3 nine times, and also claimed a <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-miami-gp-grand-prix-sprint-qualifying-quali-results-report-antonelli-doohan-details\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">famous sprint pole at the Miami Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet despite the promise, Antonelli is still searching for his first win over teammate George Russell, with the Italian down 0-12 in races and 1-11 in qualifying. The raw pace is clear, but the benchmark within his own garage remains out of reach for now.<\/p>\n<p>Hadjar, meanwhile, has built an equally compelling case in less competitive machinery.<\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman has scored 21 points for RB and holds a dominant 10-2 head-to-head lead against his teammates in races and 9-2 in qualifying.<\/p>\n<p>Since round three, when <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-red-bull-liam-lawson-announcement-yuki-tsunoda-replacement-official-confirmation-reaction-details-japanese-grand-prix\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Liam Lawson was demoted from Red Bull and swapped with Yuki Tsunoda<\/a>, Hadjar has taken firm control of the intra-team battle, with a 0.183s average qualifying advantage over the Kiwi and 58 percent of the team\u2019s total points to his name \u2014 the highest share of any rookie.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tWin a trip to the GC500 valued at $5,000 \u2014 or take the cash! <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/fastdeli\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Click here<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Lawson\u2019s 2025 season, meanwhile, has been a rollercoaster.<\/p>\n<p>Initially promoted to Red Bull in place of Sergio Perez, the New Zealander lasted just two bruising outings alongside Max Verstappen before being replaced. His average qualifying gap to the Dutchman was nearly nine tenths.<\/p>\n<p>Back at RB, Lawson has struggled to regain momentum, scoring just 12 points and trailing Hadjar across every meaningful metric.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-996025 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/XPB_1356847_HiRes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Isack Hadjar has had the edge over both his 2025 teammates at RB so far. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n<p>At Haas, Ollie Bearman has quietly pieced together a solid rookie campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The Ferrari junior has banked six points and, crucially, is holding his own against experienced teammate Esteban Ocon.<\/p>\n<p>The qualifying battle is deadlocked at 6-6, and although he trails 4-8 in race results, Bearman has kept his average qualifying gap to Ocon to just 0.057s \u2014 the second-smallest margin among all rookies.<\/p>\n<p>While six Q1 eliminations point to some inconsistency, the underlying pace has been promising, especially for a driver still learning the rigours of full-time F1.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel Bortoleto has shown similar promise at Sauber.<\/p>\n<p>With four points and one Q3 appearance, the Brazilian has had to contend with a difficult car and a seasoned teammate in Nico Hulkenberg, but has matched him 6-6 in qualifying and has a commendable average qualifying deficit of just 0.051s \u2014 the third-best among all rookies.<\/p>\n<p>While he trails 4-8 in races and has the most Q1 exits of any rookie (seven), Bortoleto\u2019s one-lap pace and calm racecraft show glimpses of a driver building a strong foundation for the future, <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-lando-norris-edges-oscar-piastri-win-austrian-grand-prix-mclaren\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">particularly during his strong drive to eighth in Austria<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At Alpine, the rookie seat has been the source of much debate.<\/p>\n<p>Jack Doohan began the year alongside Pierre Gasly but <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-colapinto-doohan-sacked-official-confirmed-dumped-promotion-update-latest-details\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was dropped after just six races in favour of reserve driver Franco Colapinto<\/a>, a move that didn\u2019t sit well across the paddock.<\/p>\n<p>Though he failed to score, Doohan was reasonably competitive against Gasly, with a 2-4 race and qualifying record and an average deficit of 0.288s.<\/p>\n<p>Since his promotion, Colapinto has put in similar numbers \u2014 2-4 in both races and qualifying, with a 0.303s average gap \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/speedcafe.com\/f1-news-2025-colapinto-doohan-comparison-alpine-switch-valtteri-bottas-replacement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">but hasn\u2019t shown a clear performance edge over the man he replaced<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the overall numbers, Antonelli leads the rookie pack, but Hadjar\u2019s consistency, maturity, and ability to extract performance in midfield machinery arguably make him the most well-rounded newcomer of 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Bearman and Bortoleto may lack big points hauls, but both have held their own impressively against vastly more experienced teammates, showing promising pace and racecraft as they settle into their first full F1 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Lawson\u2019s stock has taken a hit following a brief and challenging Red Bull stint, and Alpine\u2019s rookie seat remains unsettled after Doohan\u2019s midseason replacement by Colapinto failed to yield a clear performance edge.<\/p>\n<p>But with 10 races still to run, the story of the 2025 rookies is far from over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How do the rookies stack up at the halfway point of the 2025 F1 season? Image: XPB Images&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,1802,7695,10114,2045,10115,3352,806,805,803,804,10116,6490,85],"class_list":["post-8167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-franco-colapinto","tag-gabriel-bortoleto","tag-isack-hadjar","tag-jack-doohan","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-liam-lawson","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-ollie-bearman","tag-slot3","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8167","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=8167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}