As the Formula One season is more than halfway done and the drivers have dusted off their helmets from the summer break, now is as good a time as ever to take a look at how all the rookies are doing after their first 16 races. 

After Lewis Hamilton shocked the world in February 2024 by joining Scuderia Ferrari HP after 12 years with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, the F1 world was brimming with anticipation to see who would fill that empty seat he left behind. It was later announced in August 2024 that then 18-year old Italian F2 driver Kimi Antonelli would join George Russell at Mercedes. With high expectations on the rookie to perform well for the championship contending team, Antonelli has proved that their trust in him was not misplaced. At just 18 years and 251 days old, he became the youngest pole winner after qualifying first during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race. Although he could not convert his pole position to a podium finish in Miami, Antonelli found himself in third after overtaking Oscar Piastri on the opening lap of the Canadian Grand Prix weeks later. He was able to maintain his position for a podium place finish, making him the third-youngest of all time to do so. Racking up 66 points over the season so far, it is no surprise that Antonelli has found himself eighth in the Driver’s Championship, highest among his fellow rookies. 

Another rookie that had lots of discourse surrounding their entry into F1 as a full time driver was Oliver “Ollie” Bearman. Bearman had previously been pulled up from F2 for a singular race after then-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had to sit out due to appendicitis last year. Bearman impressed everyone by finishing seventh after just one practice session with the car. His reliability showed through when later in the same season Bearman subbed in for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen, outqualifying his Haas teammate Nico Hülkenburg and scoring a point for yet another F1 team in the process. Returning to Haas as a full time driver for the 2025 season, Bearman has continued to show consistency, tying the all-time F1 record for most consecutive finishes in a position other than first by finishing in P11 for four straight races. The British driver is coming off of a personal best finish of P6 at the Dutch Grand Prix and totals 16 points, with room to improve for the rest of the season.  

Similar to Bearman, Jack Doohan also previously raced in F1 last season before becoming a full time driver for BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team. During the last race of the 2024 season, Alpine benched driver Esteban Ocon in favor of Doohan who was the team’s reserve driver at the time. Doohan’s grand prix debut gave him needed experience before the 2025 season, because as Doohan was promoted and given a seat, Alpine also signed a multi-year contract with Franco Colapinto who would become the team’s new reserve driver. Colapinto had raced for Williams in nine grand prix races in the 2024 season, giving Alpine the perfect backup candidate if Doohan couldn’t perform early on. 

Unfortunately, after only the first six races of the season, Doohan failed to score any points and crashed out twice. Alpine later announced on May 7, 2025 that Doohan would lose his seat to Colapinto, who would start in the seventh round. Many called the switch harsh, with his fellow rookies coming to Doohan’s defense saying, “It feels quite unfair, because six races in, he didn't have much time to show anything, and it's not that he had a rocket ship as well.” Despite an early exit, Doohan’s F1 career is far from over as he remains Alpine’s first choice reserve driver. 

Having never previously driven in an F1 car before, Gabriel Bortoleto’s rise into the spotlight came from his position as the reigning F2 champion in 2024 after winning the F3 championship just the previous year. Bortoleto joins good company as this feat had only been achieved in recent years by George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc — all of whom are in the top five driver’s standings as of now. Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber signed Bortoleto along with Hülkenburg for the 2025 season, pairing the experienced veteran to help guide a talented rookie. Bortoleto has surprised everyone though by outqualifying his teammate 10-6 and reaching Q3 a total of four times in the past six races in the car people call the “green tractor.” His good qualifying results have translated to promising race results too, with a personal best P6 in Hungary and gaining a total of 18 points. This upward trajectory shows a bright future ahead in F1 for Bortoleto. 

If superlatives were to be given out to all the drivers, the “most improved” award would definitively go to the last rookie on the list, Isack Hadjar. Hadjar, the F2 championship runner up to Bortoleto, found himself in a Racing Bulls seat after Oracle Red Bull Racing (the senior team to RB) driver Sergio “Checo” Perez left the team. In his maiden grand prix, Hadjar qualified the highest out of all the rookies, but during the formation lap, he spun off of the track into the barriers, resulting in a “Did Not Start.” Comforted by Anthony Hamilton, Lewis Hamilton’s father, after the crash, Hadjar was able to turn his disappointment around into a podium finish in the Dutch Grand Prix. 

In qualifying fourth, Hadjar was able to fend off Mercedes’ George Ruressell from behind, which put him in a prime position to benefit from Charles Leclerc crashing out and losing his P3 position late into the race, which was claimed and maintained by Hadjar for the rest of the race to earn his maiden podium and Driver of the Day. Scoring 38 points in the season so far, Hadjar comes in right behind Antonelli in the driver’s championship standing at ninth.

There are eight more rounds of racing in the 2025 season, and although the Constructor’s Championship and Driver’s Championship results may be decided already, there is still a lot more driving to be done, with a very competitive and fluctuating midfield.