It’s a big year for Formula 1 in 2025. The sport celebrates 75 years, and the year kicked off with “F1 75 Live,” the first-ever driver-and-livery launch with all 10 teams together in one event.

This season is also the last year of the current regulations, which brings the competition much closer, and hopefully close championship battles for the drivers’ and the constructors’ crowns.

What’s new with all 10 teams? Here is a quick rundown.

MCLAREN. McLaren went from strength to strength with wins from the Miami Grand Prix onward and claiming the constructors’ championship in 2024—the first time since 1998. As a result, it now has a target on its back.

With what looks to be the car to beat for the coming season, the MCL39 is an evolution of last year’s challenger, with improvements all around to address overall stability and aerodynamic balance.

The team arguably also has the strongest driver pairing with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, considering the continuity and the massive improvement in form from last year.

The goals are clear: to win both the drivers’ and the constructors’ titles.

FERRARI. The biggest topic last year through to the off-season was Ferrari signing seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for 2025 and beyond. And there has been much talk about that eighth title.

All of a sudden, however, the world has forgotten how massively talented Charles Leclerc is, and that he is still the fastest driver over a lap. He will like that the attention is elsewhere, and just turn it up when it matters. This is Leclerc’s best chance yet of securing the drivers’ championship for the first time.

Meanwhile, its 2025 challenger, the SF-25, has a pull-rod front suspension in a bid to gain better aerodynamics. The change is widely considered to be a gamble, however, with this season a transitional year before new regulations take place in 2026. But how it does that remains to be seen.

RED BULL. Whether you like it or not, Max Verstappen is still the driver to beat, and it’s hard to bet against him taking a fifth drivers’ title (which would put him equal with Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio). With McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes gaining ground, however, that’s no easy ask.

Alongside Verstappen will be Liam Lawson, who “did well” in his race auditions to take the seat of Sergio Perez. Red Bull’s cars are known to be pointy at the front with a slightly unstable rear end (to Verstappen’s liking), and Lawson’s driving style is seen to be similar to the four-time world champion. At a comparison test around Silverstone, Lawson was just two-tenths off Verstappen’s time. But by becoming the Dutchman’s teammate, the biggest test is yet to come.

It’s 2025 car, meanwhile, the RB21 may look similar to last year’s car, but the team says it has been refined all around to improve on the previous car’s characteristics.

MERCEDES-AMG. Team principal Toto Wolff is out to prove that the team can win without Hamilton. He counters Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari by signing who he thinks is the next big star, 18-year-old Mercedes Junior Team member and Formula 2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Moving to lead-driver status is George Russell, who is likewise keen on proving that he has what it takes to spearhead the team. Wolf thinks there’s a good balance with his drivers, with Antonelli learning from Russell and both eventually pushing each other to be faster.

For this year, the W16 is an evolution of its predecessor, with the chassis updated to improve overall balance. Visually, it has aerodynamic refinements for better efficiency. The front suspension has also been reworked to eliminate the slow-speed understeer seen in the W15.

ASTON MARTIN. After a strong first half of 2023 with Fernando Alonso claiming six podiums from eight races, Aston Martin’s performance has declined from the second half to the entire season last year.

It not only needs to do better this season to be considered a serious threat in 2026, but for managing technical partner Adrian Newey not to be distracted and hit the ground running next year, which is what he will be concentrating on.

The design guru started with Aston Martin this month of March. It’s hard not to imagine that he will have watched preseason testing (which took place on February 26-28) closely to see where the 2025 car, the AMR25, is lacking.

With the previous car lacking stability in corners, the new car has been designed to be more stable, drivable, and predictable. In order to achieve these improvements, aerodynamic design is said to be 90% new.

The sidepods and the floor have been redesigned for better airflow, along with a new spine on the engine cover to aid stability. The front wing, meanwhile, has been revised to increase low-speed downforce.

Alonso likewise has his sights on 2026, but is “optimistic” for this year and hopefully springs some good results. Lance Stroll would surely want some of that, too, after such a poor showing last year.

ALPINE. At the start of last season, it was clear that Alpine’s car was slow, at times relegated to the back of the field. This resulted in a management restructure, with Flavio Briatore coming in as the team’s executive advisor in May, followed by Oliver Oakes taking over as team principal in July.

The shake-up seems to have paid off as the season progressed, not only with points finishes and a double podium in a wet race in Brazil, but finishing a respectable sixth in the constructors’ standings. The aim is to carry over the progress to this season, perhaps bettering it.

Pierre Gasly is driver number one, with Jack Doohan replacing Esteban Ocon starting from the season finale last year. Alpine has also signed Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver.

Much like the rest of the field, the A525 is an evolution of its predecessor, with more compact bodywork. There are refinements around, including to the sidepods and a shorter nose.

HAAS. Haas finished a solid seventh in the constructors’ championship last season with Ayao Komatsu stepping up to team principal. Both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen made it a habit of finishing in the points, tallying 58 in total—the team’s second-highest finish and points total.

This year, the team has two new drivers: Esteban Ocon moving from Alpine, and Oliver Bearman, who gained experience in three races in 2024.

Haas’s target for the new season is to finish sixth in the constructors’ championship, one better from last year. Komatsu says the team has to be competitive on merit, not just relying on other teams’ mistakes.

In order to hit the target, the car this year, the VF-25, has been designed to enhance aerodynamic performance. Haas has opted to retain the front push-rod suspension rather than following Ferrari’s move to pull-rod.

If the upward trend continues, Haas could well be the dark horse of the year.

RACING BULLS. This being Red Bull’s B-team, you can expect the VCARB 02 to have aerodynamic efficiency as a strong point. And a similar look to that of RBR. Take a look at the sidepod design, which was taken from the main squad.

For access to parts, RB utilizes some components with RBR—such as gearbox and suspension, as well as the rear end of the car for a high degree of performance.

Apart from its white finish, a notable change is a smoother and lower nose.

Yuki Tsunoda continues with the team, who surely hoped for that RBR seat. That was taken by Lawson, and Lawson’s vacated seat is taken by Red Bull Junior Team graduate and Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar.

The team finished the constructors’ standings in eighth last year. The goal this year is to improve on that performance.

WILLIAMS. With the signing of a driver of Carlos Sainz’s caliber, team principal James Vowles has taken a big step in transforming Williams to a top team once again.

While that target is set for three years starting in 2026, Williams is one of the teams to watch this year. We can’t expect wins just yet, but expect them to go higher up the ladder.

Sainz’s feedback on the new car, the FW47, will only be beneficial to move the team forward. He’s also quite vocal with what he wants with the car and the strategy, as we witnessed when he was with Ferrari.

The car is an evolution of its predecessor. The aerodynamic package has been refined, and the floor reworked for more downforce. A talking point is the rear suspension being switched to a push-rod layout (by taking the 2025 Mercedes gearbox), which should aid the aero package.

Together with Alex Albon, the driver pairing looks strong. Albon has never really been challenged by his teammate, and Sainz pushing him will only make him a better driver.

SAUBER. If you finish last in the constructors’ standings, then you get more wind tunnel time. This is the case with Sauber. Its 2025 car, the C45, may look similar to its predecessor, but it has a reworked aerodynamic package. You’ll have to look closely at comparison photos to actually see that it’s more sculpted than the C44 (especially on the sidepod and the rear areas of the car).

Other improvements include a new cooling layout and a new suspension geometry front and rear.

Yet in preseason testing, the team was slowest in the time sheets.

Lead driver Nico Hulkenberg admitted that the team has its struggles. And among the rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto will undoubtedly have the most difficult time with a car that appears to be a handful.

This is the last year we will see a Ferrari-powered Sauber before the team becomes Audi in 2026. If Sauber finishes dead last once again, that’ll suggest there’s a lot of work for Audi to have at least an acceptable start in F1.