The 2025 season is set to feature a huge Formula 1 rookie class, the size of which has not been seen since 2010. Each of the six rookies has had lots of success up to this point, but two drivers in particular have grabbed everyone’s attention since early last season.
Both Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman made waves last season, specifically the latter with his extremely impressive showcase in Saudi Arabia last season while filling in for Carlos Sainz Jr. at Ferrari. Antonelli has very big shoes to fill, as he has replaced seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, and his talent has impressed Toto Wolff very much.
These two drivers are not typical rookies. What Bearman has done in actual Formula 1 races thus far, and what Antonelli has done in his junior career along with Mercedes tests, have demonstrated that breaking into Formula 1 can be done differently.
The consensus has been that one needs success in Formula 2 to make the jump up. But that is no longer the case, given the fact that both drivers were a part of Prema Racing last season, a team that fielded a car which was considerably worse than some of the others.
Their emergence will set the landscape for the future of Formula 1.
When a driver makes a Formula 1 debut, it is often on a smaller team before they make it to one of the top organizations. However, Bearman and Antonelli have changed that. Though he is set to drive for Haas this year, Bearman’s debut with Ferrari last March was something the series rarely sees. And now Antonelli is set to do something similar in his upcoming debut with Mercedes.
Out of all non-rookie drivers on the grid this season, only Lewis Hamilton also debuted for a top team, doing so with McLaren in 2007. Not even the likes of Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc did so.
The emergence of the former Prema drivers will change how teams view junior success. Formula 2 has now become a rather flawed series, given the fact that cars are simply not equal when they are advertised as such, and even Formula 1 team principals are seeing that.
Going forward, this will give the teams a much better idea of how to assess a junior driver’s success. Formula 1 teams may be more inclined to give a full-time seat to a junior driver as opposed to one who is very experienced from Formula 2.
We saw just this past season, when Daniel Ricciardo was replaced by RB during the final portion of the season in favor of Liam Lawson. Another obvious one is Antonelli being chosen as Hamilton’s replacement, despite the rumors of Sainz or Esteban Ocon making the move.
The talent of Antonelli and Bearman has brought them all the way to full-time seats in Formula 1. Their performance could go a long way in determining just how junior drivers are looked at moving forward, but a large portion depends on how well the former Prema duo fare this season. Nevertheless, much of the community is looking forward to watching them battle on track, starting in under two weeks in Melbourne.