The summer break offers the perfect opportunity for reflection, but also for predictions. With 10 races remaining and so much to play for, there is still plenty of drama to unfold before the champions are crowned and the paddock packs up in Abu Dhabi.

Express Sport’s F1 Correspondent, Harry Smith, stakes his predictions for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.

A new champion is crowned 

With Max Verstappen now 97 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, what appears to certain is that we will crown a first-time world champion in 2025. Who that will be remains to be seen.

The safe money appears to rest with Piastri. The Australian has the stronger qualifying record, six wins to his team-mate’s five, and has generally shown a more consistent performance level. However, Lando Norris’ run through July and August showed he is not going to roll over and take the hits.

With the duo rarely giving up more than seven points at a time – McLaren have scored four successive one-two finishes – this title will be decided through a combination of consistency and damage limitation work, and on that basis, it is hard to look past Zak Brown’s Australian marvel, Piastri.

The battle behind McLaren 

Behind McLaren, it’s anyone’s game. Let’s get the obvious out of the way – Lewis Hamilton will not retire from F1 mid-season, or at the end of the year, for that matter, and you can expect the seven-time world champion to bounce back with a podium finish before the curtain drops in Abu Dhabi.

The most compelling battle is for third place in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Verstappen has scored just one podium in his last seven Grand Prix starts, while George Russell is on the rise after notching a win and a podium during that period. The duo are split by 15 points as things stand, and, taking Mercedes’ trajectory into account, he is likely to surpass his rival before the end of the year.

Driver changes and new faces

While much of the focus will be on the top end of the grid, most of the driver market action will unfold outside of the top four teams. The big talking point on this front revolves around the futures of two drivers: Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda.

Both have been assured that they will see out the 2025 season, but the former could become the latest victim of Flavio Briatore’s return to the paddock, with Paul Aron waiting in the wings and established veterans Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas on the sidelines.

Tsunoda should see out the year with Red Bull, but is unlikely to stay beyond then. If the current trajectories continue, I expect to see Isack Hadjar alongside Verstappen, with Liam Lawson and Formula Two prodigy Arvid Lindblad driving for Racing Bulls.

As for Cadillac, they are leaning towards Perez as their team-leading veteran, but are known to want a rookie alongside him. Felipe Drugovich has been rumoured and deserves his shot at the big time after years on the sidelines at Aston Martin. However, a different name could tempt new boss Graeme Lowdon: Formula Two title contender and McLaren junior, Alex Dunne. Could the Irishman follow in the footsteps of Gabriel Bortoleto and step onto the F1 grid from Zak Brown’s young driver programme? He certainly has the speed to do so.

This all comes full circle to Alpine and Colapinto. Should the Cadillac door close, Bottas would be an attractive prospect, and his experience could help right the ship if the incumbent driver continues to struggle.