The end of a Formula 1 season is not merely a time for celebrating champions; it is the moment for the annual, fever-pitch debate over who the truly best drivers in the world are.

This year, one set of 2025 F1 driver rankings has thrown the established order into a state of utter chaos, delivering a crushing demotion to a seven-time World Champion while controversially elevating a younger rival into the undisputed elite.

The analysis, which judges drivers on a weighted average of their performance over the last two full seasons, is a seismic statement on where true talent lies, unearthing hidden gems and exposing the heartbreaking truth of careers on the precipice.

From George Russell’s contentious leap to the very top to the spectacular, painful drop of Lewis Hamilton, this tier list is set to ignite the most emotionally charged F1 discussion of the year.

The Elite Tier: Breaking the Best of the Best

The highest tier in any F1 ranking is usually reserved for a single name, and Max Verstappen’s presence in the Best of the Best category remains utterly unchallenged. He is the generational benchmark, a driver whose performance has only seemed to sharpen as his Red Bull car has wavered mid-season. His legendary status and consistent excellence need no further justification; he is the gold standard against which all other talent is measured.

However, the drama begins with the two drivers controversially placed alongside him: Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

The Tragedy of Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc’s inclusion in the absolute top tier, on Max’s level, is a move that acknowledges pure, unadulterated talent often held hostage by inferior machinery. The analysis paints a tragic picture of the Monegasque star, whose performance in the “awful” 2025 Ferrari has been nothing short of phenomenal. The team’s disappointing season, described as a potential “tractor” for most of the year, underscores Leclerc’s brilliance. Despite key mistakes, such as the widely criticized weekend at Silverstone, his overall body of work has been so good that the pundit feels “sorry for him.”

The core argument is one of heartbreaking potential: if Leclerc were in the dominant Red Bull or the newly competitive McLaren, the expert is convinced he would be contending for or even leading the World Championship. He is rated as a “better driver than Lando Norris” and “a better driver than Oscar Piastri at the moment,” making his current plight in a struggling Ferrari a monumental waste of championship-calibre skill. His ranking is a powerful emotional plea for one of the sport’s greatest talents to finally get the equipment he deserves.

George Russell’s Controversial Elevation

Perhaps the most shocking entry into the Best of the Best tier is George Russell. The assessment of Russell over the past two seasons is overwhelmingly positive, highlighting how he has “done everything right” as the leader of the Mercedes team in Lewis Hamilton’s final year. He is credited with cleaning up the mistakes that plagued his 2023 season, winning a number of races, and dominating his rookie teammate, Kimi Antonelli.

The pundit’s hesitation—a struggle that almost saw him drop Russell out—reflects the magnitude of the statement: putting him on the same tier as a talent like Verstappen. Yet, the final decision affirms that Russell, like Leclerc, is held back only by his equipment. He possesses the speed, the mentality, and the refined racecraft of a champion merely waiting for the right car. This controversial elevation is a stunning vindication for Russell, marking him as a champion-in-waiting and a future superstar of the sport.

The Borderline Champions: The Pain of Demotion

If the top tier was about dramatic ascension, the Borderline Champions category is defined by the agony of a legendary fall. This is where the rankings deliver their most brutal, emotional blow.

Lewis Hamilton’s Crushing Demotion

For many years, the seven-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, has sat comfortably in the highest tier. His drop to Borderline Champions—a stunning demotion for a driver of his caliber—is the headline event of these rankings. The move is attributed to a combination of factors: his rough start to life at Ferrari, driving what may be the worst car of his career, and critically, a stark inconsistency that has seen him “solidly outqualified by Leclerc.”

The unforgiving statistic is 15-5 in the head-to-head qualifying battle with his younger teammate, a deficit that has undeniably dented his reputation. While the expert acknowledges that “peak Lewis” moments are still present, the lack of consistent speed and the overall struggles at Ferrari have tipped the scales. This demotion is a painful yet honest assessment of a legend enduring a challenging transitional phase, suggesting that while he remains a superb driver, he is no longer operating at the undisputed Max-and-Leclerc level of perfection.

Lando Norris: The Almost-Man

Lando Norris’s inclusion here, alongside Hamilton, paints the picture of a driver hovering just outside the ultimate elite. Norris has arguably had the equipment to seriously challenge for the title over the last two seasons, yet he has failed to truly seize the moment. The key criticism is his inability to “push Max as much as he should have” during the 2024 season, coupled with inconsistencies in 2025.

The analysis firmly states that Norris “is not on the same tier as Max Verstappen” and even suggests that Leclerc would beat him in equal machinery. Norris is viewed as a champion-in-the-making, a driver who has all the tools, but who is currently lacking the final, ruthless edge of consistency and championship mentality required to enter the elite tier.

The inclusion of Fernando Alonso in this tier is a testament to his ageless brilliance, still performing at a world-class level despite being in his mid-forties. However, the inability to properly benchmark him—due to his teammate, Lance Stroll,—makes his true form difficult to gauge, leaving him to settle just below the very best.

Midfield Mavericks and Rookie Revelations

The middle and lower tiers reveal a grid brimming with unfulfilled potential and surprising rookie excellence. The Quality Midfield Drivers tier is a solid group of dependable points scorers, featuring Nico Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon.

The most notable movement here belongs to Carlos Sainz, who suffers a severe drop from Borderline Champions to this midfield tier. His demotion is a stern critique of his performance, citing “key crashes” that hindered Ferrari’s 2024 title hopes and a disappointing, inconsistent start to his life at Williams in 2025. Despite his race-winning quality, the lack of consistency and momentum at pivotal moments has seen his stock drop dramatically, proving that consistency is the most brutal metric of F1 success.

The Rise of the Rookies

The Solid but Replaceable tier is perhaps the most exciting, containing a host of incredibly talented new faces: Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Ollie Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, and the standout rookie, Isaac Hadjar.

Hadjar is unequivocally named the standout rookie of the 2025 season. His phenomenal composure and speed, particularly his performance at Zandvoort, have surprised even the Red Bull leadership, namely Helmut Marko. This excellence is the primary reason for a predicted, and somewhat inevitable, power play: Hadjar is forecasted to be promoted to Red Bull, replacing Yuki Tsunoda, who has had a “massive disappointment” of a season against Verstappen. Tsunoda’s drop to this tier is a harsh reality check, highlighting how merciless the F1 world is to drivers who cannot convert potential into immediate, relentless results.

Gabriel Bortoleto also receives high praise as the “most underrated rookie of the season,” silently delivering strong performances against the highly rated Nico Hülkenberg. This crowded tier of young talent shows that the current F1 grid has never been deeper, setting the stage for ferocious midfield battles for years to come.

The Bottom Line: Something to Prove

Finally, the Something to Prove tier houses drivers who simply have not delivered the required evidence of their worth. This category is dominated by drivers whose futures are tenuous, including Liam Lawson, Jack Doohan, Franco Colapinto, and critically, Lance Stroll.

Stroll’s placement is based on his career-long inconsistency, peppered with “ridiculously bozo moments,” and the unforgiving reality of being whitewashed by Fernando Alonso in qualifying (an 8-0 head-to-head deficit at the time of recording). Stroll’s inability to even get close to his elderly teammate underscores the constant question marks over his continued presence on the grid, highlighting a gap in performance that no amount of privilege can erase.

The Verdict: A New Order

This 2025 driver ranking is a raw, emotional statement on the true currency of Formula 1: sustained excellence. It is a world where legendary careers can be demoted in an instant, where raw talent can be championed despite a poor car, and where the next generation is already lining up to take the seats of established veterans.

The debate is simple, yet explosive: Is George Russell truly on the same level as Max Verstappen? Has Lewis Hamilton’s time at the absolute pinnacle finally, tragically ended? And which of the astonishing rookies—Bearman, Hadjar, or Bortoleto—will survive the cutthroat environment? The answers, laid bare in these rankings, are set to fuel the fires of discussion until the lights go out on the very first race of the new season.