Top storylines in F1 2025 with 10 rounds to go
- Meghana Sree
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
The 2025 Formula One season saw a riot of action in the races leading up to the summer break, and with the final10 rounds kicking off this week, the rivalries are set to return in dramatic fashion. Here’s a roundup of the key stories you need to watch heading into the second half of this F1 season.
Piastri vs Norris reaching a tipping point
The hottest topic this so far has been the inter-team Drivers’ Championship fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, both young drivers competing for their maiden title.
With the Constructors’ title ostensibly wrapped up by McLaren, leading with a mammoth tally of 559 points collected in 14 rounds, only the Drivers’ title’s fate remains to be seen.
Both Piastri and Norris have had their fair share of triumphs and trials this year. However, the Australian’s consistency and the advantage of having one less DNF than Norris who crashed out at the Canadian Grand Prix gives him a buffer of nine points to his teammate.
Norris’ advantage meanwhile lies in his momentum heading into the final rounds. Scoring three wins across the last four rounds, he’s slowly but surely been chipping away at Piastri’s lead.
While this is the closest points gap as of the summer break since 2021, this year’s title fight between the Papaya pair has been rather placid so far. But with pent up tension simmering right below the surface, things are bound to become much uglier in the last few rounds.
Expect dramatic moments that will leave the community divided for days after the flag falls and tension until the very last lap. Both Piastri and Norris have everything on the line in this all-or-nothing year – because who knows if they’ll get another shot at title contention?
Ferrari’s elusive 2025 win
The Italian outfit’s early 2025 honeymoon phase with Lewis Hamilton’s much anticipated arrival to the team has quickly frozen over, as they continue this season on a winless streak (exclusive of a sprint victory in China).
Ferrari’s rude awakening arrived early on. Pre-season testing and the first few rounds revealed that the team had dropped the ball in the development race, and McLaren were much further ahead than expected.
Hoping to contend for the title this year after coming 14 points short in 2024, they’ve had to settle for clinging on to the runner-up position. Currently, their goal is to defend from Mercedes, who will be ready to snatch a consolatory second-place too should Ferrari have more disastrous weekends.
Despite having two star drivers headlining the team, Ferrari has been weighed down by a peaky car, strategy blunders, missed opportunities and pure misfortune.
While upcoming tracks like Monza, Baku and Singapore have been historically successful for the Scuderia, whether they can pull off a perfectly clean weekend to deliver Grand Prix victory is questionable, especially given McLaren’s dominance.
The upcoming run of races will be Ferrari’s final chance to salvage an underwhelming year after being burdened by their own expectations.
The mid-field melee
Now in the final year of the current regulations, the gap between the mid-field teams has come down to a hair’s breadth.
While Williams leads the fray in fifth, 18 points ahead of Aston Martin, a late season resurgence from any of the teams below or a shock result akin to Alpine’s double podium in Brazil last year could dramatically upend the standings.
While all eyes will inevitably be on the title fight between Piastri and Norris, this equally high-stakes battle has been 14 rounds in the making.
With Sauber one point away from sixth, Racing Bulls a further six points behind and 10 points separating Haas from the Faenza base, any team could grab the best of the rest accolade.
Even Alpine can’t be counted out just yet, 15 points adrift of Haas and plumb last in the standings. As Murray Walker famously said: “anything can happen in F1 – and usually does.”
Red Bull’s fate under new management
After enjoying a historically dominant run, Red Bull crumbled under the pressure to build on their 2023 success in the latter half of 2024, paving the way for McLaren’s purple patch.
After high-profile exits, including those of Adrien Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, messy driver management, and now the sacking of Christian Horner after a 20-year tenure at the Milton Keynes outfit, Red Bull are entering a new era while nursing the wounds of a fall from grace.
Moreover, the media frenzy around Red Bull’s internal politics and the buzz of speculation that their star driver Max Verstappen might jump ship to Mercedes have largely overshadowed the team’s 2025 campaign.
Currently fourth in the standings and Verstappen’s target of claiming a fifth consecutive Drivers’ title dimming, Red Bull can only hope that their season doesn’t further collapse.
Quite appallingly, without Verstappen’s 187 points, Red Bull would be rock bottom in the Constructors’ Championship – with a meagre total of seven points, and 13 points behind Alpine.
The once well-oiled machine of Red Bull has become a one-man show, that too with an unpredictable car. Whether Laurent Mekies can reverse their fortunes and take both Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda to the front of the field will be a key story in the final stages of this championship ahead of the new regulations.
Confirmation of 2026 lineups
As we inch ever closer to the upcoming regulatory change, Cadillac’s official entry into the sport also looms ahead, opening two new spots on the grid.
Recent reports suggest Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez as top contenders for Cadillac’s debut F1 lineup, with the official announcement expected anytime after the summer break.
Meanwhile, six other seats also remain unsettled on the grid.
Mercedes’ 2026 lineup awaits confirmation, with both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s contracts expiring this year. Renewals for both drivers are likely to be announced over the final stage of this season.
Over at Red Bull, after Verstappen’s declaration of his commitment to the team for 2026, the second seat is still open. Tsunoda’s struggles during his short stint with the senior team thus far have done little to improve his chances, and so the remaining 10 rounds will be the Japanese driver’s opportunity to secure his future at the team.
It’s a similar case at Alpine. Pierre Gasly has buoyed the team to 100% of their points so far, while Franco Colapinto is on a race-by-race contract with the team. The Argentine continues to flounder his way through race weekends after replacing Jack Doohan earlier on, and chances of a 2026 seat rest on his performance over the upcoming rounds.
Racing Bulls too has an unclear future ahead, however, they seem to be satisfied with the performance of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson – two drivers in their first full-time F1 season. Hadjar has particularly impressed, so much so that the idea of being promoted to Red Bull was floated recently.
With all these contracts and storylines yet to be resolved, a flurry of activity can be expected as we jump into the latter half of the 2025 season for a thrilling finale to this F1 era.
