Divebomb Power Rankings - August 2025
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Welcome to DIVEBOMB's Power Rankings, a popular segment from our team which ranks the best motorsport performances of the month, taking machinery out of the equation. Here are DIVEBOMB's 10 choices for the month of August.
1st - Oscar Piastri (Formula One)
There may only have been two Formula One Grands Prix in August, with the races in Hungary and the Netherlands falling either side of the summer break, but it was still a thoroughly productive month for championship leader Oscar Piastri.
The Australian lost out to teammate and title rival Lando Norris in Hungary, with the Briton's one-stop strategy and measured defensive driving taking him to victory.
It was in the Netherlands, however, where Piastri really shone. In some ways, Norris' headline-grabbing retirement from the race did Piastri no favours, because it rather detracted from what was otherwise an absolutely flawless weekend.
The Australian gradually built up his pace throughout the weekend, with Norris surely feeling he had pole position in the bag before Piastri pipped him in Q3.
Come race day and the Australian simply drove off into the distance - not just once, but after each and every safety car restart. Truthfully, Norris was never likely to get anywhere near him, as Piastri achieved his first-ever career Grand Slam - Pole position, leading every lap, fastest lap and race victory.
He is now firm favourite for the World Championship title.
2nd - Álex Palou (IndyCar)
August was officially the month where Álex Palou wrapped up a fourth IndyCar championship in five seasons as he continues to establish himself as one of the modern greats of the series.
A third-place finish in Portland was enough for Palou to become the first driver in 24 years to wrap up the title with multiple rounds still remaining. That third-place finish was remarkably Palou's worst finish on a road course this season.
His challenge would truly come at the closing two ovals at Milwaukee and Nashville where Palou struggled to make an impact last season. This season he proved that he is amongst the very best on ovals in the series.
He dominated proceedings in Milwaukee, taking a magical pole position and leading effectively from start-to-finish until Christian Rasmussen's own masterclass late-on left Palou helpless on older tyres. He had managed traffic superbly and would have been a deserving winner. In Nashville he displayed exemplary side-by-side racing with Pato O'Ward in the early stages until he picked up a puncture early on. That did little to affect Palou as he recovered to take second place in the season finale - his 13th podium in 17 races.
Palou's results in August also sealed him the unofficial oval championship as he claimed the most points on both road/street courses and ovals in 2025. His August was like all his other months in 2025 - he was the pick of the field wherever IndyCar visited and showed no chinks in his armour.
3rd - Ryan Blaney (NASCAR)
Keyword of the month for Ryan Blaney? Consistency. It was a heck of an August for Ryan Blaney, with his month starting off with a quiet but calm performance down in Iowa, where we saw the No.12 secure top-five finishes in the stages one and two, then closing off the weekend with a finish in fourth place.
A visit to upstate New York saw Blaney secure a sixth place finish, while his entry to Richmond yielded a third place finish. His highlight of the month came in from Daytona, where he surged from the midfield of the pack to the front in the span of half a lap, then beating multiple drivers to the chequered flag as they came around to finish four-wide.
He slightly disappointed in the final race of the month, finishing in 18th place in the opening race of the playoffs at Darlington. Nonetheless, it was a successful month for Blaney, who finally came around to pick up another win.
4th - Christian Rasmussen (IndyCar)
Although Christian Rasmussen overstepped the mark in IndyCar races in both Portland and Nashville in August, his drive to claim a maiden victory at the Milwaukee Mile will live long in the memory for IndyCar fans.
There's been no secret that Rasmussen has been electric on ovals, known for his fearless approach and aggressive driving style but Milwaukee saw that level of aggression combined with a mightily impressive level of execution.
It had been crazy day for Rasmussen - who had been sent to the back of the field after an infringement in pitlane and had to make his usual crazy moves to proceed through the order. But when the heavens opened with 25 laps to go, Rasmussen switched onto new tyres and he came alive.
Whilst others couldn't turn the tyres on, Rasmussen could. He stormed through the field to take one of the ultimate underdog victories with his usual on-the-limit style of racing. His spotter had advised him to roll it back but he was never going to listen! It was a performance that will be shown in the highlight reel for years to come.
5th - Sébastien Ogier (World Rally Championship)
The eight time WRC champion has an eye on a ninth world championship which initially looked unlikely. Ogier started the month in third place at Rally Finland, he only won one stage across the rally, a show of high consistency as he vouched to drive clean as others faced trouble.
Ogier’s month improved when he finished in the top spot at the Rally del Paraguay, winning nine of the 19 stages. Ogier’s performance has put him only two points behind of Kalle Rovanperä and nine points behind Championship leader Elfyn Evans.
Despite only racing part time this season, Ogier is now a favourite to win a nail biting championship with four rounds remaining.
6th - Ayumu Iwasa (Super Formula)
Every realistic shot Iwasa had at a win this season only resulted in heartbreak, and the cause of this heartbreak was always something out of his control. His maiden win was always a question of when, not if, and what a way to get it.
In a qualifying session that saw most of the title contenders fail to perform, Iwasa put his car on pole and by more than two and a half tenths at the shortest circuit on the calendar.
In the intense wet weather race that followed, he led every lap, defended against an impressively fast Sacha Fenestraz, pulled off some of the most impressive safety car restarts in recent memory, barely used his OTS (OverTake System), and, to top it all off, also set the fastest lap.
When it comes to maiden wins, it just doesn’t get better than that. If that wasn’t enough, this win bumped him up two places in the standings into second place, only five points off the lead, putting him firmly in the title battle.
7th - Isack Hadjar (F1)
From tears in Melbourne to triumph at Zandvoort, Isack Hadjar's rise this season is something to behold.
In just his fifteenth Grand Prix (and just his fourteenth start, bearing in mind Australia), the young Frenchman can already call himself a podium finisher.
Following a career-best fourth place in Qualifying in the Netherlands, "le Petit Prost" fended off Charles Leclerc and George Russell, even at one stage challenging Max Verstappen ahead of him, in doing so defying the expectations of a team who expected him to drop back through the field.
Yes, he may have inherited a podium finish because of Lando Norris' DNF, but it is impossible to begrudge such a moment to a young man who has overcome his Melbourne mishap to build surely the best rookie campaign of the season.
8th - Chase Briscoe (NASCAR)
Prior to the weekend of Darlington, if we were asked to put a NASCAR driver on the power rankings, Chase Briscoe's name would not even come across our mind even once. Albeit securing top-five finishes in Iowa and Watkins Glen, his performance in Richmond and Daytona did not paint a picture of a driver worth making the top-ten.
However, Briscoe came around and dropped the performance of the season at the bottom of the ninth. Starting off the weekend with a second place in qualifying, Briscoe led 309 laps of the 367 laps in the race and did not face much competition from fellow drivers. He swept the stages en route to one of the most dominant victory of his career, alongside his first playoff victory.
9th - Scott McLaughlin (IndyCar)
It has been a disastrous 2025 for both Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske but they ended 2025 with strong momentum as McLaughlin took consecutive podiums at Milwaukee and Nashville to round out an otherwise miserable season.
McLaughlin started the month with a quiet run to seventh in Portland before another quiet run to third in Milwaukee. He was unfortunate to be passed by the hard-charging Rasmussen late-on after being the second-quickest car all day to Palou.
Maybe McLaughlin's best showing of 2025 would come at Nashville where Penske's usual form finally returned. McLaughlin had looked set for a first victory of the season until he got high into Turn 2 - although escaped without damage. He battled superbly with Kyffin Simpson in the closing stages in the fight for the final podium spot which McLaughlin prevailed in - and noted it was the best battle he has had on an oval in his career.
In what has been an underwhelming year, McLaughlin at least took home two further pieces of silverware from August.
10th - William Byron (NASCAR)
Unlike the aforementione Briscoe or Blaney, William Byron started the month strong, but faded towards the end of the month. However, that does not diminish the good work he has done at the start of the month. The race at Iowa saw the lead shuffle between Byron, Briscoe, Blaney and Brad Keselowski, but Byron ultimately came out on top with 141 laps led to pick up his first win since Daytona 500 at the start of the season.
Byron secured another top-five finish at Watkins Glen, and two other top-20 finishes at Richmond and Daytona. His end of the month performance at Darlington did not justify a higher position, but he ended the month with the regular season championship, the first of his career.
