Here are our F1 team rankings following the seventh race of the 2025 season.
The rankings are based on the currently expected levels of the cars. Performance could vary from track to track – and in different conditions – but these are our overall rankings.
1. McLaren
The McLaren is by far the fastest car of the year. It will be difficult for the rivals to catch up. The constructors’ championship should be a lock, but they may have to select one lead driver if they want to win the drivers title against Verstappen. Based on the early races, they should lean toward Piastri.
2. Red Bull
In the hands of Verstappen, the Red Bull looks great and is certainly capable of competing for wins. But how much of that is due to the driver’s skill? Every other driver seems to struggle in the second Red Bull. Verstappen is challenging for wins, while Tsunoda (a decent driver) is still way off on pace. The truth is that it’s a fast, but difficult car to drive; tailor-made for Verstappen’s handling style.
3. Mercedes
Not much to say about Mercedes. The W16 car appears to be solid, although not spectacular. Russell and Antonelli will probably fight for occasional wins but not enter the title challenge. Their early strategy seems to be accumulating as many points as possible without taking big risks.
4. Ferrari
With a completely new car, there are some question marks around Ferrari’s performance. Leclerc and Hamilton were both off the pace in Australia, but the car could improve eventually. The prancing horse was disqualified in China but appeared to be faster than Red Bull. In Japan and Bahrain, the Ferrari seemed almost at Mercedes-level. Leclerc beat the Silver Arrows in Saudi Arabia, but we still need more proof before we rank Ferrari ahead of Mercedes.
5. Alpine
Alpine looked solid in testing. The French team then had some disappointing performances in the opening races, before taking a huge step forward in Bahrain. It could be the best car of the midfield in terms of pure pace. They have to work on their strategies, though. Colapinto is probably not a huge upgrade over Doohan and crashed the car his first weekend. But the car is fast enough.
6. Williams
There’s no doubt that Williams is more competitive than last year. Albon has had a great start to the year, and now Sainz is starting to impress too. With two good drivers, they can maximise their haul of points, and infrastructurally, the team is also on the up.
7. Haas
Not an outright fast car, but it performs well in races, perhaps due to the way they set it up for race pace. The drivers can maintain long stints on the tyres. Haas is currently under good management, so if they maximise their points haul, they could compete for sixth in the WCC.
8. Racing Bulls
Racing Bulls probably has a car that’s faster than Haas, but due to horrible strategies and driver mistakes, it’s unlikely that the Red Bull B-team can finish ahead of its main competitors. It also seems like Racing Bulls set up the cars for qualifying. The drivers almost always fall back in the race as they shoot themselves in the foot time and time again. Hadjar seems quick and sometimes overcomes the team’s unprofessionalism.
9. Aston Martin
Aston Martin appeared relatively slow in winter testing, although not horrible either. This year probably doesn’t matter to them as Adrian Newey is focusing fully on 2026. There’s a chance they could make some improvements this year, but most likely they will scrape the bottom and then surprise a lot of people next year. Hopefully, Fernando Alonso has enough patience. They had a great qualifying result in Imola but couldn’t follow up in the race.
10. Sauber
Not as bad as we thought; they are not always last. Bortoleto advanced to Q2 in Australia, which was the first good sign, and Hülkenberg was competitive enough to score points in the race. Sauber is still a bit behind the other midfielders. Lack of development could place Sauber as the clear backmarker as the year progresses.