F1 2025 Mid-Season Review - Which Drivers Have Work To Do?

The end of summer break is just around the corner and it won't be long until we see F1 cars back on track aroudn Zandvoort. After going through the drivers that have impressed the most during the first half of the season, I'm looking at the drivers that might have a little more work to do when F1 starts back up.

Lewis Hamilton

It's been a tough start to the season for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion is yet to step foot on a podium and is struggling to get to grips with his Ferrari. Many people expected a much quicker adjustment period for Hamilton, the team included, but that hasn't been the case.

The last race before summer break was a particularly difficult one for Hamilton, who said after qualifying that the team should find a different driver. There have been bumps in the road for Hamilton, Q1 exits that hadn't been expected and times where he hasn't made it into the points. It hasn't all been bad though. The Chinese sprint qualifying and sprint, saw him take pole position and the win. But since then, Hamilton hasn't been able to find any more sparks on track. Both driver and team are going to be hoping for a much better second half of the the season.

Average statistics:

Qualifying	Race	Sprint Qualifying	Sprint
8.1	6.5	8.7	6.3

Kimi Antonelli

The most talked about rookie driver coming into this season, Kimi Antonelli has not had it easy. A string of DNFs and race finishes outside of the points meant that his rookie season has been slightly underwhelming. Confidence in the car seems to be a big issue for Antonelli, who can't always predict what the Mercedes car is going to do. But there have been some flashes of brilliance from him: his podium in Canda and sprint pole in Miami showed us what he's capable of doing.

Hopefully, with some more experience under his belt and a better understanding of the car, Antonelli might find some more consistency in his performances. So far though, Antonelli has some work to do to try to catch up with his more experienced teammate.

Average statistics:

Qualifying	Race	Sprint Qualifying	Sprint
9.2	8.6	9.3	10.3

Franco Colapinto

There was some disappointment and the end of last season when F1 had to bid farewell to Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian driver had replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, with Sainz taking over the seat this season. But it wasn't long until the rumour mill had started up again, and five races into the 2025 season, Colapinto was brought into Alpine to replace Jack Doohan, but there have been no heroics from the driver so far. Doohan didn't have much luck in the F1 car and hadn't scored a point in the opening races. Alpine had thought that bringing Colapinto in, who had a little more experience in an F1 car, might help them battle with other teams, but that hasn't been the case.

Instead, Colapinto has been himself qualify at the back of the field and he hasn't managed to make it into the points at all, leaving Pierre Gasly to do the heavy lifting for the team. More rumours are swirling around about whether Alpine will want to keep him for another season. As things look right now, it doesn't seem very likely.

Average statistics:

Qualifying	Race	Sprint Qualifying	Sprint
16.4	15.0	19.0	19.0

Yuki Tsunoda

It was all looking positive for Yuki Tsunoda during the first two races of the season. He picked up from where he left off in 2024 and seemed completely in control of the VCARB car. After a to move to Red Bull for the Japanese Grand Prix, however, things started to go downhill. Tsunoda has faced the same curse as the previous second Red Bull drivers before him and can't seem to extract the most out of the car the same way that his teammate Max Verstappen can.

Tsunoda has only scored a handful of points for his new team and his qualifyings have been painful to watch at times with a string of Q1 exits behind him. The first half of the season hasn't brought him any results that have wowed RTed Bull. But with Laurent Mekies now Team Principal, is there hope that Tsunoda might have the support he needs to help him fly?

Average statistics:

Qualifying	Race	Sprint Qualifying	Sprint
12.4	13.2	12.7	7.7

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz's move from Ferrari to Williams was far from an upgrade. A driver who had been taking pole positions and race wins with his old team was moving to one that was fighting in the midfield on a good day. But Williams hired him with the hope that both he and Alex Albon could help the team fight closer to the front. And whilst the car has looked significantly better this year, Sainz hasn't been able to match the performance of his teammate. Sainz is a driver that is used to swapping teams though and has been with a number of different engine manufacturers over his F1 career, so hopefully it won't take him much longer to get used to his new team.

Average statistics:

Qualifying	Race	Sprint Qualifying	Sprint
11.9	11.3	11.3	14.0