It\u2019s been a busy first half of the 2025 Formula 1 season, with driver changes, on-track clashes, breakthrough results and off-track dramas all featuring. As the summer break takes hold, F1.com runs through five of the craziest storylines from the year so far \u2013 and how they all came about\u2026<\/p>\n
Red Bull\u2019s seat swap after two races<\/p>\n
Liam Lawson<\/a> achieved a childhood dream when he was promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2025, taking Sergio Perez\u2019s place alongside Max Verstappen<\/a> after impressing across stand-in spells with their sister team \u2013 but the New Zealander would be out of the seat just weeks later.<\/p>\n Following Q1 exits and no-scores at the first two rounds of the campaign in Australia and China, Red Bull made the call to send Lawson straight back to Racing Bulls for the Japanese Grand Prix and beyond, with Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> going the other way.<\/p>\n Some backed Red Bull\u2019s decision, while others sympathised with Lawson\u2019s situation<\/a>, particularly given his compromised pre-season, the fact he had been racing at new venues, and the well-documented challenge of driving recent Red Bull cars.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed time, and I wasn\u2019t given it,\u201d Lawson told F1.com in an exclusive interview<\/a> last month, taking a moment to reflect on his whirlwind few months.<\/p>\n While Lawson still has a seat, one driver who lost theirs altogether is Jack Doohan \u2013 the Australian starting the year at Alpine but being dropped after six races<\/a> in favour of 2024 Williams super-sub Franco Colapinto.<\/p>\n Oakes and Horner vacate their roles<\/p>\n Doohan went from Alpine race driver back to a reserve after May\u2019s Miami Grand Prix weekend, which also marked the final event for team boss Ollie Oakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oakes, who had joined the Enstone-based operation in July 2024, resigned with immediate effect a couple of days post-race \u2013 Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore noting that \u201cthe reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature\u201d.<\/p>\n A couple of months later, another managerial reshuffle would send shockwaves through the paddock, with Red Bull confirming that long-time CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner had been replaced<\/a> by Racing Bulls\u2019 Laurent Mekies midway through the season.<\/p>\n Horner, who started out as a driver before transitioning to a team boss role in Formula 3000, led Red Bull Racing into their first F1 season back in 2005 \u2013 becoming the sport\u2019s youngest team boss in the process at just 31 years of age.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a privilege being part of and leading this epic team and I am so proud of our collective accomplishments,\u201d wrote Horner in a social media post<\/a>, before Red Bull began their new era at the Belgian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Verstappen and Russell\u2019s own \u2018silly season\u2019<\/p>\n Horner\u2019s dismissal came amid plenty of speculation over the future of reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who only confirmed he will be racing for Red Bull in 2026 \u2013 when new regulations<\/a> come into play \u2013 last time out in Hungary.<\/p>\n Despite holding a contract through 2028, Verstappen had been linked with a shock move away given Red Bull\u2019s fluctuating form, a much talked about performance clause, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff openly showing his interest<\/a> in the Dutchman.<\/p>\n That in turn raised questions over the futures of Silver Arrows pair George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli, who are both out of contract at the end of 2025. \u201cObviously [if] you have a Russell\/Verstappen line-up, that\u2019s Prost\/Senna I guess, no?\u201d Wolff said, pointing to his \u201cfar-fetched\u201d ideas.<\/p>\n With Verstappen verbally pledging his immediate future to Red Bull, Russell and Antonelli look set to continue at Mercedes through 2026 \u2013 Wolff heading into the break saying \u201cI want to stay with Kimi and George as it stands\u201d.<\/p>\n This, of course, played out following Russell and Verstappen\u2019s squabble<\/a> towards the end of the 2024 season, and either side of their controversial clash at this year\u2019s Spanish Grand Prix, which yielded an apology from the latter.<\/p>\n Hulkenberg\u2019s maiden F1 podium finish<\/p>\n This year\u2019s British Grand Prix not only brought a first home win for Lando Norris, but also a surprise and very popular maiden F1 podium finish for Nico Hulkenberg<\/a> \u2013 the German reaching the rostrum in his 239th start.<\/p>\n Hulkenberg had already made a habit of charging up the order with his new team Kick Sauber, going from 17th to seventh during a rain-hit 2025 opener in Australia, from 15th to fifth in Spain and from 20th to ninth in Austria.<\/p>\n Silverstone, though, brought new race-day heights, as Hulkenberg bounced back from another tricky Qualifying session to brilliantly work his way through the midfield, get into the points and then the top-three places amid wet\/dry conditions.<\/p>\n The longer the race went on, the more onlookers started to believe that Hulkenberg would finally break his podium duck and, despite intense pressure from Lewis Hamilton, he held firm to follow the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri home.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming, hasn\u2019t it?\u201d Hulkenberg smiled after taking the chequered flag, shouting over the radio with pride and beginning to process what had just happened. \u201cI always knew we have it in us, and I have it in me somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton\u2019s \u2018change driver\u2019 comments<\/p>\n The final moment on our list came just before the summer break, when 2025 Ferrari signing Hamilton responded to a disappointing Q2 exit at the Hungaroring \u2013 a week on from his Q1 elimination in Belgium \u2013 with some particularly self-critical remarks.<\/p>\n