Mid-season Mayhem

We’re five months and twelve grand prix into a 24-race run, with everything still up for grabs, the 2025 F1 season has the potential to be a classic. With that in mind, and three weeks before the next Martin Brundle grid walk, here’s everything you might have missed.

WORDS: NOAH COLE

Ins:
Roscoe (Lewis Hamilton’s bulldog), red umbrellas, artisan coffee, rookies in the hot seat, rain, custom livery’s, leaf blowers, forced pit stops, José Mourinho.

Outs: ‘VIP’ Influencers, Drivers’ licenses (Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli doesn’t have one), Christian Horner, Flat Caps, Drive to Survive (sorry we’re bored), Piss flavoured energy drinks.

After years trailing Red Bull, Mercedes, and sometimes Ferrari, McLaren now sits comfortably at the top of both championships. Nine wins in 12 races, the MCL39’s revolutionary brake ducts and weight efficiency (the car weighing somewhere around 800kg) has been the thing to set the Papaya’s apart. The second half of the season promises to be tasty with the two drivers just eight points apart – following a collision in Canada, and 10-second penalty at Silverstone – it’ll be ‘getting on’ that keeps Andrea Stella’s team top of the tree.

Nico Hülkenberg (now 39 points) shattered F1’s longest podium drought with his third-place finish at a slippery Silverstone last weekend, His drive from P19 marking Kick Sauber’s best result since 2012. And after 5,593 days in the saddle, he was handed a lego trophy for his efforts. Available at all good toy stores.

Max Verstappen (165 points) fights alone as Red Bull’s dominant quadruple-winnig era looks likely to end. The RB21’s chronic understeer and Honda PU reliability issues (three DNFs) pale next to off-track grumblings: With Laurent Mekies now team principal and Verstappen’s contract exit clause looming, the once-dominant squad risks free fall –especially with rule changes coming to 2026.

Despite holding second in the Constructors’, Ferrari’s flaws persist. Charles Leclerc (119 points) remains winless, while Lewis Hamilton (103 points) looks bereft in red. A Miami strategy disaster and Silverstone tire gamble exposed old ghosts, with Vasseur’s leadership comes mounting pressure.

Newey-designed chassis have won 12 World Constructors' and 14 World Drivers' Championships, but the AMR25’s flawed floor upgrades have left Fernando Alonso (16 points) with middling results at best, and Lance Stroll (20 points) also trailing. Alonso’s public criticism, "We took two steps back" sums up a team losing its way. Despite still being the best looking on the grid.

The next race is Belgium on July 25, before another break in August. It’ll be the second half of this season where things likely liven up, this fallow period an opportunity for the grid to reach parity with those in McLaren orange.

Round 12 in Pictures…