Record chasers, glory hunters and female history makers, these are F1’s talking points

A new season of Formula 1 brings a raft of storylines for the year ahead.

The 2025 cars will be on track over the next three days for F1’s official pre-season testing in Bahrain.

This is the first real sense teams, drivers and fans will get of who may feature at the front of the grid this season.

From drivers chasing records to one woman making history, here are the key storylines heading into the 2025 F1 season.

1. Hamilton in Ferrari red

The dream match-up is upon us.

The greatest driver by statistics that F1 has ever had, teaming with the sport’s most famous and storied team.

Lewis Hamilton will drive for Ferrari in 2025, chasing a record-setting eighth drivers’ championship.

It is a big move for the Italian team as well, who have not enjoyed any world title since claiming the constructors’ championship in 2008. That year, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was denied the drivers’ championship by one point to Hamilton, driving for McLaren.

Fans have already seen Hamilton driving around the team’s test track in Italy, and he is saying all of the right things ahead of the new season.

“From seeing the passion, everything under one roof, which I’ve never experienced before, this team has absolutely every ingredient to win,” he said.

“But we’re also aware we have to continue to work. We have to improve and elevate everywhere — not everywhere but in certain areas, and I have no doubt that we can do that.”

Anything Hamilton does in a Ferrari this year will be newsworthy. If the Brit can achieve an early win this season, fans of the Scuderia will find it hard to contain their belief that the team will once again rule the roost in F1.

2. Max hunts five-in-a-row

The Max Verstappen era of Formula 1 has been thrilling, breathtaking, and at times, scarcely believable.

He has won four drivers’ championships in a row and could retire now and forever be in the conversation for the best driver there has ever been.

In 2025, he hunts an achievement only ever conquered by Michael Schumacher — five titles in a row.

Like Verstappen, Hamilton (2017-2020), Sebastian Vettel (2010-2013) and Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957), all achieved four consecutive titles.

However, only Schumacher for Ferrari from 2000 to 2004 was able to win five on the bounce.

If last season is any indication, Verstappen will have his work cut out for him.

At times he was arguably in the fourth fastest car in 2024, relying on a blistering start to the season and some clutch late-season podiums to secure the title.

But Red Bull is one of F1’s most successful teams and it would be hard to believe they have not made improvements for their car in 2025.

3. Doohan on the hot seat from day one

Australian Jack Doohan made his F1 debut in the final round of last season.

After Alpine announced mid-year that he would be a full-time driver in 2025, the French team decided to bring forward his maiden race.

Now with a full pre-season to prepare, Doohan, son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick, has his chance to cement himself in F1. But he does not have much time.

Alpine signed Argentine Franco Colapinto as its reserve driver for 2025 after an impressive stint for Williams during the second half of 2024.

Colapinto was widely praised for his performances in 2024. The 21-year-old did have a few too many crashes during his stint, but overall, his two top-10 finishes from nine starts impressed many.

If Doohan has a slow start to the season, there is a good chance his job will be under threat.

4. Piastri and Norris free to fight

McLaren’s rise to the top of Formula 1 in 2024 was brilliant to watch.

Lando Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri both achieved their maiden grand prix victories and finished second and fourth in the drivers’ championship respectively.

Piastri was asked during the season to sacrifice his own ambitions for Norris, who was Verstappen’s only true challenger for the title.

However, there were moments where Norris played the team game for Piastri’s benefit as well.

But in 2025, the ambitious drivers will be free to race each other.

“I’m really looking forward to next year. Winning will be the goal from day one,” Piastri told ABC Sport.

“It is going to be a fight, for sure. The top teams are top teams for a reason, and they will all want to come back at us in 2025.

“I helped out Lando and the team when I was asked towards the end of the year. I know that if the roles are reversed, I will be helped too.

“Next year, we will be free to race each other.”

5. Laura Mueller becomes F1’s first female race engineer

Laura Mueller will make history with the American team Haas in 2025.

Mueller has been announced as the race engineer for driver Esteban Ocon, the first woman to be given that job in F1.

The race engineer plays a vital role in any team, essentially being the link between the team and the driver.

The race engineer speaks to the driver during a race. Trust between a driver and race engineer is crucial to success.

Mueller’s appointment is a glass-ceiling moment for the sport that has been diversifying over the past decade.

“When she sees a problem, she digs deep, and she doesn’t stop at the first answer. Some people, when they find the answer, first answer, they stop there. They think, ‘Oh, great, I found the solution, move on,'” Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said.

“She has a good work ethic such that when she finds the first solution, she knows that there’s 10 things, now you’ve got new questions to answer.

“Her determination is the one that impresses me the most.”

6. Mercedes without Lewis and with a rookie

For the first time since 2012, Mercedes does not have Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes-Hamilton partnership is statistically the greatest F1 has seen.

Hamilton won six of his seven world titles for the Silver Arrows, while the team achieved a record eight consecutive constructors’ championships from 2014-2021.

But Hamilton is with Ferrari and now George Russell leads the team with rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The 18-year-old Italian, more commonly named Kimi Antonelli in the media, is a genuine prodigy.

He has won Formula 4 championships in Italy and Germany, a host of karting titles, and claimed two race wins in his lone Formula 2 season in 2024.

Antonelli has been in the Mercedes driver program since 2019 and appears to have been prepared for this moment.

Mercedes needs to make improvements if it wants to regularly challenge for wins this season, but it has a very exciting driving pairing who will be closely watched by fans.

7. F1 looking to new countries

As F1’s popularity continues to grow, more countries want to be part of the global circus.

While some circuits, including Melbourne, have agreements in place for many years to come, some historical tracks are feeling the pinch.

Zandvoort in the Netherlands, which hosts the Dutch Grand Prix, will be taken off the calendar at the end of 2026.

Belgium’s legendary Spa-Francorchamps, one of F1’s most famous and storied locations, has signed a multi-year extension with F1 but on a rotation basis. That means the Belgium Grand Prix will not be held every year.

More and more countries and cities are campaigning for their case to host a Formula 1 weekend, and Africa could be the next location.

Africa is currently the only continent (excluding Antarctica for obvious reasons) that currently does not host a race.

This could change in the near future for Rwanda and South Africa.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been pushing the case for an F1 race in his country for some years. He officially announced last year, during the FIA Awards Ceremony which was held in his country, that Rwanda was pitching to host a grand prix weekend.

South Africa has also been touted as another potential location for an F1 race.

The last South African Grand Prix was held in 1993 at Kyalami, near Johannesburg.

Other locations in South Africa have also been reported as potential bidders.

8. Cadillac readying to become F1’s 11th team

It is not set in stone — but it is very close.

Formula 1 could have 11 teams on the grid in 2026 if General Motors (GM), under the banner of Cadillac, can finalise an agreement with administrators.

F1 and GM reached a principle agreement in November last year to support Cadillac’s joining the grid in 2026.

GM has announced the formation of a new company that will build its own powertrains in a bid for Cadillac to be a full works by 2030.

If it is to be admitted in 2026, it will be using power units and gearboxes purchased from Ferrari.

One way or another, there will be an announcement on GM/Cadillac at some point this year.