It’s 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 – and how they all came about…
Red Bull’s seat swap after two races
Liam Lawson achieved a childhood dream when he was promoted to Red Bull Racing for 2025, taking Sergio Perez’s place alongside Max Verstappen after impressing across stand-in spells with their sister team – but the New Zealander would be out of the seat just weeks later.
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 going the other way.
Some backed Red Bull’s decision, while others sympathised with Lawson’s situation, 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.
“I needed time, and I wasn’t given it,” Lawson told F1.com in an exclusive interview last month, taking a moment to reflect on his whirlwind few months.
While Lawson still has a seat, one driver who lost theirs altogether is Jack Doohan – the Australian starting the year at Alpine but being dropped after six races in favour of 2024 Williams super-sub Franco Colapinto.
Oakes and Horner vacate their roles
Doohan went from Alpine race driver back to a reserve after May’s Miami Grand Prix weekend, which also marked the final event for team boss Ollie Oakes.
Oakes, who had joined the Enstone-based operation in July 2024, resigned with immediate effect a couple of days post-race – Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore noting that “the reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature”.
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shockwaves through the paddock, with Red Bull confirming that long-time CEO and Team Principal Christian Horner had been replaced by Racing Bulls’ Laurent Mekies midway through the season.
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 – becoming the sport’s youngest team boss in the process at just 31 years of age.
“It’s been a privilege being part of and leading this epic team and I am so proud of our collective accomplishments,” wrote Horner in a social media post, before Red Bull began their new era at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Russell’s own ‘silly season’
Horner’s 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 – when new regulations come into play – last time out in Hungary.
Despite holding a contract through 2028, Verstappen had been linked with a shock move away given Red Bull’s fluctuating form, a much talked about performance clause, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff openly showing his interest in the Dutchman.
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. “Obviously [if] you have a Russell/Verstappen line-up, that’s Prost/Senna I guess, no?” Wolff said, pointing to his “far-fetched” ideas.
With Verstappen verbally pledging his immediate future to Red Bull, Russell and Antonelli look set to continue at Mercedes through 2026 – Wolff heading into the break saying “I want to stay with Kimi and George as it stands”.
This, of course, played out following Russell and Verstappen’s squabble towards the end of the 2024 season, and either side of their controversial clash at this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, which yielded an apology from the latter.
Hulkenberg’s maiden F1 podium finish
This year’s 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 – the German reaching the rostrum in his 239th start.
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.
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.
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.
“It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?” Hulkenberg smiled after taking the chequered flag, shouting over the radio with pride and beginning to process what had just happened. “I always knew we have it in us, and I have it in me somewhere.”
Hamilton’s ‘change driver’ comments
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 – a week on from his Q1 elimination in Belgium – with some particularly self-critical remarks.
“I’m useless, absolutely useless,” he sighed to broadcasters, after team mate Charles Leclerc grabbed pole position. “The team, they have no problem – you’ve seen the car is on pole. So, they probably need to change driver.”
Put to Hamilton that his “useless” self-assessment cannot be the case, given an F1 CV that features a record-equalling seven world titles and more poles and wins than anyone else, he replied: “It clearly is. I drove terribly.”
Hamilton finished where he started on race day, crossing the line in a lapped 12th place, after which the Briton doubled down on his frustrations and commented that he was “looking forward to going away” for the summer.
How Hamilton and Ferrari progress from here remains to be seen, with Hamilton adding “there’s a lot going on in the background that is not great”, but it was a weekend that triggered headlines across the globe – and beyond the world of F1.
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