Written by Jann Erin Castro, Edited by Meghana Sree
After countless breaking news announcements, the Formula One grid is finally set for the 2025 season, with six drivers in their first full season ready to put the pedal to the metal.
The 2025 season will see six full-time rookies come into Formula One, one shy of the record of seven, back in 2001.
Many already consider next year’s rookies as the strongest lineup of Formula One rookies in history, with three out of the six having already entered a Grand Prix or two to fulfill their role as a reserve driver.
All six rookie drivers have also been trained and taught by their respective driver academies, which reflects in the way they drive and compete on track.
The rookies’ Team Principals have already given their votes of confidence in the young drivers and are keen on seeing how their new driver-pairing dynamics — a mix of youthfulness and experience — can redefine energy and speed in their teams.
To get a better idea on the youngsters who will be proving their skills and talents in the top level of single-seat open-wheel racing, here’s the round-up of the basics that you need to know about them.
Kimi Antonelli
Full Name: Andrea Kimi Antonelli
F1 Team: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Junior Team: Mercedes Junior Team
Age on Debut: 18 years old
Nationality: Italian
2025 Driver Number: 12
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has proven to be a talented young driver time and again. He prides himself in being the title winner of multiple championships over the past two years, including the ADAC F4 2022 and Italian F4 2022, and in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA)and the Formula Regional Middle East Championship (FRMEC) 2023.
Antonelli’s racing career saw him swiftly rise through the ranks when he was announced to drive for the Prema Team in the Formula 2 2024 Championship alongside Oliver Bearman, a fellow 2025 Formula One rookie, immediately after his campaign in FRECA.
Ever since Antonelli started competing in the single-seater level, Prema has been the team supporting and guiding him through his junior career.
As a testament to his skills and talent, he was awarded the Dallara Award for Best Overtaking Manoeuvre during the FIA F2 Prize Giving Ceremony for his overtake on Franco Colapinto in the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race.
Antonelli’s commitment to the move going up Eau Rouge in rainy and difficult conditions was nothing short of brave — a nifty move that had viewers holding their breath in suspense.
Mercedes CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff has also commended Antonelli for his consistent show of talent and speed.
Wolff is confident in pairing Antonelli with F2 2018 Champion George Russell because, beneath their strength and talent, both drivers are graduates of the Mercedes Junior Team. Fans have already taken to social media to label the pair as “Juniorcedes.”
The team warmly welcomed Antonelli into the family. Now, senior driver Russell promises an equal partnership between him and Antonelli, having experienced the same treatment from Lewis Hamilton, and expects great ideas from the 18-year-old.
Following his last race with Mercedes, Hamilton left a handwritten note for the young driver, wishing him luck and saying: “...If you care for them, they'll care for you because they're a great team.”
Antonelli will become F1’s third youngest rookie — following Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll — when he debuts in March at the age of 18 years and 203 days.
Fans will not only be looking out for this driver on track, but they can also expect tidbits of fun facts and survival techniques for a zombie apocalypse — a topic that Antonelli is always more than excited to discuss.
Ollie Bearman
Full Name: Oliver James Bearman
F1 Team: Moneygram Haas F1 Team
Junior Team: Ferrari Driver Academy
Age on Debut: 19 years old
Nationality: British
2025 Driver Number: 87
Following Antonelli into Formula One is his F2 teammate Ollie Bearman. This fan-favourite has been likened to the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for the many parallels in their careers, but Bearman is undoubtedly paving his own shining path in the sport.
Making his Formula One Grand Prix debut with Scuderia Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian round to fill in for Carlos Sainz following an appendectomy, Bearman became the youngest driver in Ferrari history. With all eyes on him, he further impressed everyone by scoring points after finishing P7, and was even voted Driver of the Day.
It is for his exceptional performance in the Saudi Arabian GP weekend that he was awarded the Pirelli Highlight of the Year. Bearman also deems his debut weekend as one of the highlights of his life.
The British driver went on to enter two more Grands Prix — the Azerbaijan GP and the São Paulo GP, both in fulfillment of his reserve driver duties for Haas in place of Kevin Magnussen.
Driving alongside Nico Hülkenberg, Bearman went on to score a point for Haas in Baku finishing P10 and was not far off the points in a rainy and chaotic race in Brazil where he finished P12.
Bearman and Antonelli, beyond their brother-like bond, share a lot of similarities in their career. In 2021, Bearman won the championship in the Italian F4 and in ADAC F4.
He has also long been a loyal Prema Team driver since his rookie campaign in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2022 where he finished third in the driver standings, even being one of the title contenders had the final race in Imola not ended prematurely due to a red flag.
By the time of his F2 campaign, Bearman had already made his mark and was given the opportunity to become a test driver for Ferrari and Haas.
It was also in his rookie F2 season that he made F2 history with a clean sweep throughout the whole 2023 Azerbaijan GP weekend, topping all of the sessions from FP1 all the way to the Feature Race.
Founder and chairman of the Haas F1 Team Gene Haas shared his joy in seeing Bearman grow and his excitement for the young Brit to deliver further as a F1 driver.
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu also shared that Bearman has “matured under the guidance of the Ferrari Driver Academy” and foresees a long-term and positive relationship for them through the years.
Isack Hadjar
Full Name: Isack Alexandre Hadjar
F1 Team: VISA Cash App RB
Junior Team: Red Bull Junior Team
Age on Debut: 20 years old
Nationality: French-Algerian
2025 Driver Number: 6
Isack Hadjar is yet another young driver who has made his mark in Formula One as one of the upcoming talents to keep an eye out for. Following a historical title fight with fellow 2025 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the last races of the 2024 F2 Championship, Hadjar was able to go home as Vice Champion.
Hadjar’s sophomore campaign in F2 with Campos Racing was nothing short of impressive and determined.
He was also awarded the Aramco Best Performance for his stellar drive in Melbourne, wherein he rebounded a disqualified Sprint Race victory on Saturday to a Feature Race win on Sunday — his very first win in his F2 career.
The French driver’s F2 campaign only skyrocketed from there as he went on to bag three more wins alongside the title fight.
Prior to his massive F2 career, Hadjar also finished third in the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship (FRAC) and was given the opportunity to drive in two Formula One Free Practice sessions in 2023 for AlphaTauri and Red Bull.
VISA Cash App RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies has praised Hadjar for his consistently outstanding and impressive results.
While some fans hoped for Hadjar to take his seat alongside Max Verstappen in Red Bull for his rookie season, the 20-year-old is more than excited to start his Formula One career in VCARB, sharing:
“I feel like I’m stepping into a whole new universe, driving a much faster car and racing with the best drivers in the world. It’ll be a huge learning curve, but I’m ready to work hard and do the best I can for the team.”
Hadjar’s focused determination and goal-oriented grit makes him a lot like reigning World Champion Verstappen, a true testimony to him being a Red Bull Junior.
Fans can not only look forward to his skillful speed on track but also to his very animated team radios, much like his teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Gabriel Bortoleto
Full name: Gabriel Bortoleto Oliveira
F1 Team: Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
Junior Team: McLaren Driver Development
Age on Debut: 20 years old
Nationality: Brazilian
2025 Driver Number: 5
While fans can look forward to how the brotherly bond of Bearman and Antonelli will unfold next year, they can also look forward to how F2 2024 title rivals Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto could continue their showcase of skills and talent on track.
Brazilian driver Bortoleto takes much pride in his back-to-back championship wins in F3 and F2 over the past two seasons. The Alonso protege is yet another young driver who’s career climb up the ladder has been impressive having competed in F3 in 2023, F2 in 2024, and already driving in F1 in 2025.
Bortoleto is a generational talent whose championship record is further proven when he was awarded the 2024 Anthoine Hubert Award, the FIA Rookie of the Year Award, and the Mecachrome Outstanding Win.
He is the first driver to be awarded the Mecachrome Outstanding Win for his exceptional drive in Monza where he went from last to first in the Feature Race, and the second driver to be awarded the Anthoine Hubert Award for the highest placed rookie, after McLaren racer Oscar Piastri.
Following his post-season test with Sauber in Abu Dhabi, Bortoleto shared his excitement to join his new team for 2025:
“Today marked my first day as a Formula 1 driver—it’s an amazing feeling… I put my focus on adapting to the car, learning as much as possible, getting used to the engineers, to the mechanics, everyone in the team.
“F1 cars are so much quicker, it’s definitely very different from Formula 2 obviously, but I’m looking forward to this new chapter. I am even more proud to be part of this team now and excited to see what we can achieve together next year.”
Jack Doohan
Full name: Jack Doohan
F1 Team: Alpine F1 Team
Junior Team: Alpine Driver Academy
Age on Debut: 22 years old
Nationality: Australian
2025 Driver Number: 7
This Aussie driver is in for a treat as he will officially begin his career as a Formula One driver right at home in Melbourne.
Jack Doohan may have racing running through his blood with his dad, Mick Doohan, being a five-time MotoGP champion, but he’s carving his own path in F1.
Doohan is the very first Alpine Academy Driver to graduate from the programme to a full-time F1 seat. Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes confides his confidence in Doohan, having seen how he works behind-the-scenes.
Oakes also shares that Doohan is a committed driver with raw talent and potential, making him their best investment as they begin a new chapter in a very exciting season in Formula One.
While Doohan enjoyed some time being a guest commentator in post-race shows for F1TV over the past season, he also has racing credentials under his belt that prove his talent leading up to the pinnacle of single-seater racing.
In 2021, Doohan finished his sophomore campaign in F3 as Vice Champion which later got him his place in the Alpine Driver Academy in 2022. Doohan went on to become an Alpine Reserve driver in 2023 and finish third in the F2 2023 Championship.
Doohan’s commitment to the team and determined patience eventually led him to take up Esteban Ocon’s seat in the final race of the F1 2024 season in Abu Dhabi.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Australian driver shared: “I’m very pleased with our work, we sampled the 2025 Pirelli tyres with lots of interesting data and feedback to give.
“Thank you to the whole team for making the transition as smooth as possible. It was fantastic to get back racing, I have learned a lot and gained a lot of experience.”
Liam Lawson
Full name: Liam Lawson
F1 Team: Oracle Red Bull Racing
Junior Team: Red Bull Junior Team
Age on Debut: 23 years old
Nationality: Kiwi
2025 Driver Number: 30
After a long week on the merry-go-round of guessing who will be taking the empty seat in Red Bull, Liam Lawson was finally hailed as the driver who will be racing alongside four-time World Champion Verstappen.
Like Hadjar, Lawson is a graduate of the Red Bull Junior Team where he has made exceptional contributions to the team while patiently racking up on experience in junior categories.
Before becoming the Red Bull and AlphaTauri/VCARB reserve driver in 2022, Lawson finished a stint in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) 2021 as Vice Champion with Red Bull AF Corse. In the following year, he finished third in the F2 Championship.
2023 became a busier year for Lawson. He finished the Super Formula 2023 Championship as Vice Champion and filled in for Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri seat for five races in Formula One following an injury sustained in Belgium.
Although Ricciardo returned to the team to finish the 2023 season and continue on to race for the 2024 season, Lawson made a comeback in F1 after a surprising decision to let Ricciardo go following the Singapore GP.
Lawson finished the last six races of the 2024 season, totalling his Grand Prix entries to 11 races since 2023.
Finally, after the dismissal of Sergio Pérez, Lawson will be starting a Formula One season from the get-go and this time with the more senior Oracle Red Bull Racing where Horner believes in the 23-year-old’s capability of delivering strong results, and deems him as a “real racer” for his courage to get in the mix with more senior drivers.
After the announcement confirming his seat, Lawson shared his enthusiasm over being teammates with Verstappen: “I am super excited to work alongside Max and learn from a World Champion, I have no doubt I will learn from his expertise. I can’t wait to get going!”
Six rookies bringing in their own raw skills and hunger for victory will surely make for an interesting season in 2025. On top of it all, their Gen Z humour and wits will capture the hearts of F1 fans worldwide as they bring more entertainment both on and off-track.
As they write a new chapter of their story as Formula One drivers, their history follows them through. Will Bearman and Antonelli’s relationship turn out the same way as Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s did?
Do Hadjar and Bortoleto have unfinished business they’ll see through next year? Can Doohan redeem himself after his first race in Abu Dhabi? How will Lawson fare in Red Bull next to Verstappen?
After years of fuelling their passion for even an inch of an opportunity to prove their worth in driving alongside seasoned champions, race winners, and podium sitters, these six rookies will most certainly be motivated to make the best out of an opportunity that comes few and far between.
Remember their names — Antonelli, Bearman, Hadjar, Bortoleto, Doohan, Lawson — and place your bets, because this new generation of drivers are here to stay.