With the season opener just days away, here’s a grid recap to refresh your memory or even serve as a beginners guide for the first time watchers before the Australian Grand Prix!
Kick Sauber
Drivers: Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
Hailing from Germany, Hülkenberg has been part of the Formula One family since 2010, making his debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix with Williams after serving as their test driver from 2007 to 2009. He went on to race for Force India, Sauber, and Renault (Alpine) before his break from 2020 to 2022, during which he was replaced by Esteban Ocon. However, he remained involved in Formula One as a Test Driver for Aston Martin before making his full-time return with Haas in 2023. For the 2025 season, Hülkenberg is rejoining the Sauber family, with the team now known as Kick Sauber, while he awaits his Audi seat for 2026.
His teammate, Bortoleto, is one of the few rookies on the grid this year. He arrived in Formula One after back-to-back championship wins, claiming the Formula 3 title in 2023 and the Formula 2 crown last season.
Alpine
Drivers: Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan
Pierre Gasly made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso in 2014, replacing Daniil Kvyat at the Malaysian Grand Prix and racing until the end of the season. He later made appearances for Red Bull before spending the majority of his career at AlphaTauri from 2020 until the end of the 2022 season. In his time at Alpine, which began in the 2023 season, Gasly secured a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. He later achieved his first win in 2024 at the São Paulo Grand Prix, sharing the podium with his teammate, Ocon.
Doohan, the second rookie (and we’re not done yet), hails from the Alpine Academy. Originally set to make his official debut at Melbourne, his home race, he instead replaced Ocon towards the end of the 2024 season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes
Drivers: George Russel and Kimi Antonelli
After winning the Formula 2 Championship in 2018, Russell made his Formula One debut with Williams in 2019, driving alongside Robert Kubica. He got an early glimpse of his future with Mercedes when he replaced Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, before securing a full-time seat with the team two years later.
Antonelli, the youngest driver on the 2025 grid, has been part of the Mercedes Academy since 2019 and will be replacing Lewis Hamilton this season.
Racing Bulls
Drivers: Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda, a member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2019, made his Formula One debut with AlphaTauri (now rebranded as Racing Bulls) in 2021, driving alongside Gasly. He has remained with the team ever since, with his contract currently set to run through the end of the 2025 season.
Hadjar, also making his debut this season, finished second behind Bortoleto in the Formula 2 Championship last year. He took over Lawson’s seat after the Kiwi driver moved up to the Red Bull team to replace Sergio Perez for the 2025 season.
Ferrari
Drivers: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
After making his debut with Sauber in 2018 and impressing in his rookie season, Leclerc made a significant jump to Ferrari in 2019, where he has remained ever since. For the 2025 season, he will be racing alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is making the move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes.
Hamilton made his Formula One debut in 2007 with McLaren and won his first championship the following year, becoming the youngest champion in Formula One history at the time, surpassing Alonso’s record.
And that wraps up the first part of the grid recap, just in time for the season opener. Wishing you an amazing race weekend!
Written by Isha.
Featured Image Credit: bbc.co.uk
About The Author
Leave a Reply