The 2025 F1 season has come to a close, with Lando Norris and McLaren triumphing. As we move closer to next season, it’s time to review the predictions put forward by WHS students in March (some of which were certainly closer to wishes than predictions).
World Drivers’ Champion
In a form with twenty-three responses, 30.4% of people predicted Max Verstappen, 26.1% predicted Lando Norris, and 21.7% predicted Charles Leclerc. Therefore the majority did not predict the correct champion.
World Constructors’ Championship
For the World Constructors’ Championship, 52.2% voted for McLaren and 39.1% voted for Ferrari. Much to the dismay of tifosi around the globe, McLaren did indeed win the championship. For this one, the WHS student majority were right with their predictions.
Race Winners
Participants were also to select all drivers they thought would win a race in 2025. 100% of people believed Max Verstappen would win a race and 95.7% thought that Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri would hit the top step of the podium. The next most popular choices were George Russell with 73.9%, and Kimi Anontelli with 30.4%. The only anomaly here was Carlos Sainz, who was voted to win a race by an optimistic 52.2%. The Spaniard did finish the season with two podiums, so perhaps it wasn’t too unrealistic.
In the 2025 season there were only four race winners: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and George Russell. Therefore some of the predictions came true, but WHS students were overly hopeful when it came to the Ferrari pairing.
The Rookies
Media coverage throughout the 2025 season focused heavily on the crop of rookies. 23 respondents answered the question, “Which rookie will perform the best?”. Of these, 43.5% said Ollie Bearman, while 39.1% said Kimi Antonelli. Every rookie had a brilliant season, with Bearman and Antonelli excelling, but standout races also came from the 2024 F2 champion and vice champion Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar. The FIA did not award their Rookie of the Year award to any F1 driver; instead handing the prize to Rafa Camara, who won the Formula 3 World Championship. Autosport, the UK’s most read motorsport magazine, held their own vote for rookie of the year. Hadjar received 51% of votes, Bearman 32%, Antonelli 9% and Bortoleto 7%. F1 drivers and team principals also voted for the rookie they thought had the best season, with Bearman emerging as the winner. So, WHS students were correct in crowning Bearman as Rookie of the Year.
Open-Ended Questions
Only the predictions that came true are listed here: a British driver winning at Silverstone (Norris), Antonelli earning a podium, Norris outperforming Piastri, and Carlos Sainz “bringing Williams back”. While some of the more unlikely predictions, such as Max Verstappen switching to Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton winning his eighth title, did not come true, there’s always time in 2026. The most remarkable prediction of this category was that Nico Hulkenberg would get his first podium, an unlikely event which turned out to be one the highlights of the season. Additional accurate predictions were: Alonso continuing to race in 2026, Leclerc outperforming Hamilton, and Lawson changing teams. One participant predicted a podium without Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari. While this didn’t come true, Carlos Sainz and Isack Hadjar both reached the podium at some point in the season, highlighting that the season wasn’t all about the frontrunners.
