Highlights, controversies and wishes for 2025 – The BBC team on the F1 season

Max Verstappen may have won a fourth consecutive drivers’ title, but it’s far from a predictable Formula 1 season.

McLaren won the constructors’ championship and they, Ferrari and Mercedes won 15 of 24 races between them – a contrast to 2023, when Red Bull won 23 grands prix.

The BBC Radio 5 Live F1 team have picked out their highlights – and lowlights – from 2024, as well as what 2025 could bring…

Favorite race?

F1 commentator Harry Benjamin: The moment for me has to be Silverstone: five cars in contention, mixed conditions and Lewis Hamilton taking victory in his final race as a Mercedes driver at the British Grand Prix. I’ve never been emotional before during a commentary, but this was something truly special to see.

Andrew Benson, BBC F1 correspondent: The British Grand Prix had everything. A fight for the lead between three teams, multiple overtaking maneuvers, strategy incidents, mistakes, changing weather, a massive crowd and a great atmosphere and a victory for Lewis Hamilton, who not only set a new record of victories on a single circuit, but also marked the end of a two-and-a-half year drought for the seven-time world champion. Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff described it as a “fairy tale” and he wasn’t wrong.

Presenter and journalist Rosanna Tennant: It’s hard to think beyond the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen started from 17th on the grid and battled through torrential rain and impossible conditions to the top step of the podium. It was a critical moment for his championship and I think the moment he felt Lando Norris was no longer a threat.

Presenter and journalist Jennie Gow: Max Verstappen in Brazil was an absolutely stunning and devastating demonstration of what he can do. This day proved how difficult it is to be at the top of your game when the weather is wet and the conditions are horrible.

Sam Bird, Formula E driver: Silverstone. Just an exciting race. The first 30 laps went by in a flash.

Former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley: The British Grand Prix. On a personal level. I was doing commentary on Saturday for qualifying and there was a real feel-good atmosphere everywhere. The England football team achieved an incredible result at the Euros on Saturday and it felt like it was now up to the British drivers to do their job. We had a British top three on the grid and Sunday’s race was a bit of the same, with some really good vibes.

The best time?

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer: My favorite moment is more of a moment: it was the on-track battles between two rivals for the title, Lando Norris and Max Vestappen. Whether it’s proxy wars in Imola and Barcelona or real all-out battles in Austria, Austin and Mexico, it’s great to see title rivalries playing out on track.

AB: The overtaking of Oscar Piastri to take the lead from Charles Leclerc in Baku. It was a decisive moment for victory, intuitive, improvised, daring, courageous and brilliant.

RT: Carlos Sainz wins the Australian Grand Prix. He had missed the previous race, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, due to appendicitis. Sure, Max Verstappen didn’t finish the race in Melbourne, but what an absolutely incredible feat for an F1 driver to find himself on the operating table one week and then on top of the podium the next. F1 drivers are on another level when it comes to high performance.

HB: The rise of the two Alpines to the podium in Sao Paulo was quite a moment, largely helped by the crazy race – red flag, wet conditions. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly kept their noses clean and the team that was last at the start of the year climbed the standings in a brilliantly executed race.

SB: Lando Norris’s first victory in Miami, ending Verstappen’s onslaught.

MP: Miami. As a former McLaren mechanic and employee, it was a great moment for the team. They were getting closer and closer. A lot of construction and work has been going on in the background for many years. It felt like all that hard work had finally yielded a good result. The feel-good factor this generated at McLaren was huge and of course from there they also achieved great things.

The biggest disappointment?

AB: A mix between Sauber’s lack of progress – Audi has so much work to do to be respectable when it enters F1 in 2026, and seems to have recognized it too late – and Lewis Hamilton’s final season for Mercedes. What happened to his qualifying pace? No one seems to have an answer.

HB: It has to go to Sergio Perez for me. Unfortunately, its poor performance is the reason why Red Bull slipped to third place among the constructors. It’s a real shame to see such a competent driver completely wiped out and unable to bounce back, or keep his head above water. The curse of Red Bull’s number two seat continues. It’s still not 100% confirmed if he’ll stay on for 2025, but it’s hard to piece together a pilot when you can clearly see his head is missing.

MP: It must be Sergio Perez. We’ve known he’s been no match for Max Verstappen for some time, but the level at which he’s disappointed this season has been quite dramatic.

The biggest controversy?

AB: Two obvious contenders here. The sexual assault allegations against Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and the current chaos at the FIA. Horner has always denied the allegations and has been cleared by two internal investigations, but there may well be new developments, even if the story has been kept quiet. And the FIA ​​controversy continues to fade, with multiple dismissals, questionable governance and widespread unease in F1 over the conduct of President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

HB: It’s hard to look past the driver guidance fiasco that’s started popping up around Austin. Nobody wants to see unfair racing, but at the same time we want drivers to fight on the track and for the results not to be decided once the checkered flag is raised. Clear rules need to be communicated and for now it looks like things are set for 2025.

JG: I will go with Hungary when team orders were everywhere for McLaren. Looking back, they didn’t quite understand, but when they look back on this season, I think they will grow after this incident. For them, this was not the right way to handle things and it caused a lot of unease within the team.

RT: Before a wheel even turned, Red Bull Racing was making headlines with team principal Christian Horner. These were allegations made against Horner by a female employee, allegations he has consistently denied and which two internal investigations have dismissed. However, this is an ongoing subplot during the season that I’m sure has been a distraction for Max Verstappen. At the first round of the championship in Bahrain, people in the paddock were beginning to wonder whether Horner should stay in position and whether it was better for the team if he retired; he didn’t do it. Verstappen obviously managed to stay focused and won his fourth title, but I’m sure he would have preferred a season with less noise behind the scenes.

SB: Overtaking rules. We started to see some misdemeanors with Max Verstappen forcing Lando Norris off the track first in Austin and then in Mexico. None of the drivers were particularly happy with the rules and regulations. Max, according to the letter of the law, was doing nothing wrong, but drivers quickly tried to change that and in fact this rule has now been changed by the FIA.

The biggest surprise?

RT: Lewis Hamilton has announced that he will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 F1 season to join Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton is in the twilight of his career, so it would surely be too late if he waited any longer to make a move. Who knows what will happen next year, but after such a disappointing end for Hamilton at Mercedes, he surely needs a fresh start right now.

HB: We were all slowly waking up from the slumber of our winter holidays, then boom, Lewis Hamilton is announced as joining Ferrari in 2025, still having to race one more season with the Silver Arrows before moving on to the scarlet red car. This will be one of the most intriguing years in Formula 1 yet. Honorable mention also goes to Williams for choosing Franco Colapinto to replace Logan Sargeant mid-season. I don’t think anyone saw this coming.

MP: How well McLaren was able to capitalize on the Miami result to truly become the strongest team in F1, by some margin in many races during the second half of the season.

In F1 in 2025, I would like to see…

HB: An absolute dogfight for the world title. Most teams are now at the upper limits of upgrading the current generation of cars. We will have a natural convergence regarding the hierarchy, because there will be no major regulation change for next year, but for 2026. So I want to see eight drivers in the mix – both at McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are fighting for the title, with the usual chaos in the midfield.

JP: A battle of drivers that goes all the way, with hopefully more than two drivers still in the running.

AB: A four-way title fight between McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.

RT: I would like to see more people fighting for the championship title. It’s fantastic to have had seven different winners this season, but wouldn’t it be great if there could be a continuous, sustained battle between more than two drivers for the ultimate prize in F1. I would also like to see fewer team orders. Obviously teams do this to protect themselves in the constructors’ championship, but it sometimes leaves fans of the sport and even other drivers wanting more pure racing.

SB: McLaren is fighting for the Constructors’ Championship again, Lando Norris is fighting for the World Drivers’ Championship and a fast and happy Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari red.

MP: More of the same, please. I would like to see McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull all hit the ground running and start the season where they left off in 2024, which is very, very close. If that happens, we could be set for a 2025 championship that could go down in the history books as one of the greatest.