by F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Formula 1's 2025 campaign saw several individual storylines play out against the backdrop of long-term shifts in the sport's landscape. McLaren supplied the defining arc by sweeping both championships for the first time since 1998, with Lando Norris emerging as Britain's newest world champion with a cocktail of blistering pace and nervous indecision. Teammate Oscar Piastri forced the issue early with a run of wins that put him on top of the standings before a late-season slump consigned him to third in the standings.
Max Verstappen spent the early season wrestling with his capricious Red Bull, but clawed his way back into contention with a run of heavy scoring after the summer break, ultimately finishing the season just two points shy of Norris. The Dutchman won more races than anyone else, and though he may have narrowly missed out on a fifth consecutive title, few would contest his claim as 2025's most complete driver.
Ferrari's year ebbed and flowed around Charles Leclerc's peaks of form, while Mercedes leaned on George Russell as it waits for F1's technical reset in 2026. Lewis Hamilton endured the most subdued season of his career, with his much-vaunted move to Ferrari proving a major disappointment as the seven-time world champion frequently appeared bewildered by his lack of pace.
Off track, the grid quietly shifted shape. Sauber bowed out at the end of the year as the team made its full transition to Audi, drawing a line under a presence that had stretched back to 1993. Red Bull, meanwhile, surprisingly sacked long-serving team boss Christian Horner mid-season, and with advisor Helmut Marko retiring and a new engine partner in Ford, there are many unknowns on the horizon at Milton Keynes.
Turning to feeder series, Leonardo Fornaroli did his burgeoning reputation a world of good by winning the Formula 2 championship in his debut year with two rounds to spare. With F2 champions barred from competing in the series again, and no open race seats in F1, the Italian has joined McLaren's driver development program for 2026 onwards, and will serve as the team's test and development driver.
The 2025 F2 championship will at least feature one representative on the 2026 F1 grid, with Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad set to make his debut with Racing Bulls. He replaces Isack Hadjar, who moves to Red Bull to replace the axed Yuki Tsunoda.
A further step down the ladder to F1, the year's Formula 3 championship was won by Brazil's Rafael Camara, who graduates to F2 for 2026, taking Fornaroli's vacated seat at Invicta Racing.
In the World Endurance Championship, Ye Yifei became the first Chinese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the event's 102-year history, emerging victorious in his AF Corse Ferrari 499P alongside Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson.
Ye and his teammates would go on to finish second in the overall 2025 WEC classification, with fellow Ferrari drivers James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi taking the series title, and the Italian marque sealing the manufacturers' championship.
The 2024-25 Formula E drivers' title was won by Nissan's Oliver Rowland, whose strong start to the season was just enough to fend off a late charge from Jaguar's Nick Cassidy, who won the series' last three races. Meanwhile, Porsche took the teams' championship despite scoring only a single race win all season, as drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa consistently picked up enough points to seal the crown for the German marque.
In U.S. motorsport, Alex Palou shrugged off a contract dispute with McLaren to dominate the 2025 IndyCar championship, taking his fourth title in five years. The Spaniard also won the Indy 500 for the first time, reaffirming his status as the series' standout driver.
In NASCAR, Kyle Lawson took his second Cup Series title after a third-place finish in the season-ending Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. ■
