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The 2025 F1 season is going to feature some brilliant talent on the grid, with as many as 6 drivers competing in their first full season. To add to this, these drivers are not the only ones that add quality, as there are three world champions on the grid already, with two drivers having been runner-ups in a title fight.
What makes the grid brilliant is the fact that the concept of 'pay driver' is more or less over. We do not have a scenario where that particular branch of drivers is still a part of the sport. With some highly rated talent making its way to the grid this season, the competition is only going to improve as well.
With that being said, what is the one key weakness of each of the F1 drivers on the 2025 F1 grid? Let's take a look.
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McLaren
Lando Norris
A major weakness Lando Norris has to work on is his ability to have a strong start to a race. The British driver has been notoriously poor when it comes to race starts, and this was arguably something that cost him a lot in terms of what could have been a pretty strong championship campaign.
Oscar Piastri
For Oscar Piastri, it has to be the consistency. The fact that the Australian has shown that he can at times be as good and even better than Lando Norris shows that while his peaks are impressive, he hasn't hit them often this season.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
For Charles Leclerc, it's his decision-making and racecraft in the wet weather. The Monagasque driver is rapid in almost all conditions, but a standout result in the wet weather is something that's been missing from his resume.
Lewis Hamilton
Ideally, looking at Lewis Hamilton's F1 career, one wouldn't really claim that the driver is poor at adapting to different cars, but that's something that stands out a lot after 2024. It might just come down to the motivation of the driver after all, but heading into a new season with Ferrari, adaptability is surely a concern.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
It can become very hard to nitpick something about the best driver on the grid, but one thing that does stand out is the red mist that engulfs Max Verstappen often when things get heated. This could hurt the driver if the championship is as close as many expect it to be.
Liam Lawson
One problem that has been glaring with Liam Lawson has been the fact that he has the tendency to rub his fellow F1 drivers the wrong way. This season he did that with Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Franco Colapinto as well.
The Kiwi is still very new to the sport, however, and we will discover more layers of him as he continues to race.
Mercedes
George Russell
It might not be as glaring a weakness for George, but the fact that Lewis Hamilton, who was probably not as confident in the Mercedes, was still able to match him and many times beat him in terms of race pace was slightly alarming.
Whether that's just Lewis being the stunning talent that he was or whether it's a more inherent problem is a question we'll get an answer to this F1 season.
Kimi Antonelli
Well, it's got to be a lack of experience for the young Italian. While it appears that Kimi Antonelli has the talent to be in F1, at the same time, he hadn't fully found his feet in F2 before he got promoted. This is something that we could see being a hindrance in 2025.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
It is safe to say that Fernando Alonso can lash out at his team from time to time if things don't go well. That was something that could happen if Aston Martin does not show the kind of improvement it needs to get better and maybe challenge the front in 2026.
Lance Stroll
At this stage, one might have to question why Lance Stroll has not shown the kind of evolution that we tend to see from drivers who have been in F1 for close to a decade now. The Canadian is still the same driver he was when he first made his debut with Williams, and that's something that does look even more glaring when Alonso is in the other car.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Gasly's biggest issue might be the fact that the driver tends to drop his shoulders when the car's performance goes for a toss. The French driver had a bit of it early in 2024 as well, where his F1 teammate Esteban Ocon made things very one-sided in terms of performance.
Jack Doohan
A lack of F1 running means we might have to look back at Doohan's F2 run, and one thing that is probably a bit of a weakness is his racecraft. The Aussie is maybe someone who plays things safe while driving and won't be someone who's very ruthless in wheel-to-wheel battles, something that's a hallmark for a strong midfield driver.
Haas F1
Esteban Ocon
The biggest weakness for Ocon is his insecurity. One can argue that a driver who's come out of the depths of financial desperation in life knows all too well that things can very quickly be taken away from him. Even though Esteban is in a far more secure place on the F1 grid right now, next to a young upstart, he'll need to keep his calm and play the long game.
Ollie Bearman
One thing that stands out with Ollie Bearman is that the driver's peaks can be stunning, but at the same time, there's been a weakness from the Brit, where he's maybe lacked consistency in F2. Whether that trickles down to F1 or not is still something that we have yet to see.
RB
Yuki Tsunoda
The Japanese F1 driver's biggest weakness is something that has been detailed by Helmut Marko himself, where the Austrian said that the driver had to be more consistent and keep his emotions in check. If he continues to do that, then Tsunoda could be someone that teams could keep an eye on for 2026.
Isack Hadjar
From what we've seen until now, Hadjar's temperament is something that has been a topic of discussion for a few. If the French driver can keep that in check, at the very least he won't be featured on live television for the wrong reasons.
Williams F1
Alex Albon
It does appear that Albon gets rattled a little too easily when challenged by a strong teammate. This was a feature for the Thai driver when Max was his partner at Red Bull, and this was a bit of evidence when Franco Colapinto started challenging him.
Carlos Sainz
Arguably one of the weaknesses could be the driver putting himself above the team. This was something that happened a few times at Ferrari when Charles Leclerc was in the other car.
Sauber
Nico Hülkenberg
It has to be Hulkenberg's inability to clinch the crucial moments. Whenever a strong result has been on the table, there have been moments where the German has maybe not been able to make the most of them.
Gabriel Bortoleto
For the Brazilian, it's still the fact that he's very raw in terms of talent. There might be a few things that we've not uncovered yet about Bortoleto, but we will find out as his first F1 season unfolds.
