I know you’re already thinking about 2026 and what the new regulations will bring, but the holidays are all about tradition (and, you know, a little bit of planning), so it’s at this point in the year that I like to pass judgment on all the teams and reflect on how their seasons stack up. Taking both the good and bad sides of each team, the score is clearly indisputable…
The teams are arranged alphabetically. Yesterday we covered every team from Alpine to McLaren;We’ll wrap up today with the rest of the field. First…
mercedes
Poles: 2
Wins: 2
Constructors’ Championship position: 2n.d. (469 points)
Good points: Mercedes have moved up to second place in the constructors’ championship, but a year ago their chances didn’t seem that great. George Russell once again produced an outstanding performance this year as he took the only realistic chance of victory in the race and is ready to fight for the title if given the car.
Kimi Antonelli has also made remarkable progress and is starting to repay the faith he showed at such a young age, with his performances in the final stages of the season being particularly eye-catching. Just as they have developed a better all-round car without suffering from the 2024 slump, Mercedes must be given credit for taking the pressure off the Italians. He only failed to score points once all season.
Bad points: It appeared that increasing the stability of the car could eliminate the peaks the team had been experiencing, but there was a mistake in the development of the suspension midway through the season. Toto Wolff admitted that despite a strong weekend in Canada, the rear suspension caused the team trouble and it did not remain in the car all year.
Despite using the same power unit as McLaren, there is a clear lack of performance and, even with the regulations changing next year, Mercedes’ failure to top the ground effects car over the past four seasons is a worrying sign.
Rating: 7/10
Rudy Kalesevoli/Getty Images
racing bulls
Poles: 0
Wins: 0
Constructors’ Championship Position: 6th (92 points)
Good points: Unlike Red Bull, Racing Bulls just knows how to build cars that drivers can handle on most circuits. It was much more consistent than in 2024, despite another driver change midway through the season. The Racing Bulls provided an environment in which the New Zealander could bounce back, thanks in part to the very quick exchange of Hiroki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. And he developed a very great talent in Isaac Hajar.
But it’s not just the drivers that have changed, with Laurent Mequise stepping up to Red Bull and Alain Permanet taking on the role of team principal. It was a seamless transition, as evidenced by Hajar’s impressive podium finish at Zandvoort in just his third race as permanent leader.
Bad points: The team lost a bit of track in the short race after Singapore and still had some missed opportunities. It’s probably unfair to point this at the team specifically (rather than Red Bull itself as team owner), but the lack of stability in the driver line-up also never helps create continuity.
Hajjar outscored Lawson 18-13 in the final third of the season, perhaps suggesting he is best placed to succeed with more development time should he be given a seat at Red Bull in the future, but as a junior driver’s home base. The constant need to justify his role in the team means he will be next in line alongside Max Verstappen just a year later, and Arvid Lindblad, another great talent who didn’t necessarily have to rush, will be in that position.
Rating: 7.5/10
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
red bull
Poles: 8
Wins: 8
Constructors’ Championship standings: 3rd (451 points)
Good points: The comeback after Monza was amazing. Red Bull won twice in the first half of the year when Max Verstappen gave them a chance, but a major flop when their car was upgraded in Italy almost led to the biggest championship upset to date.
Verstappen’s performance from the garage side was also excellent, capitalizing on McLaren’s mistakes under increasing pressure to come within two points of the title. The resolution of many of the vehicle issues over the past 12 months is also a big plus and should not be overlooked amidst the off-track turmoil the team has faced.
Bad points: The first half of the year was very unstable and when the car was bad it was really bad. Liam Lawson’s response was terrible – choosing him over Tsunoda and giving him just two races on a difficult surface in the garage – and the second driver issue was never resolved.
The departure of Christian Horner, followed by the departure of Helmut Marko at the end of the season, exposed the leadership issues facing the team, and ultimately Verstappen’s performance in the first half of the season prevented him from winning his fifth straight title. Although the recovery has been impressive, it’s still a bit off and unless Red Bull surprises with its debut power unit next year, this could be his last chance for a while.
Rating: 7/10
Sauber
Poles: 0
Wins: 0
Constructors’ Championship position: 9th placeth (70 points)
Good points: A year that looked like it was going to be a failure as Sauber moved from stake-kick Sauber to Audi was anything but, despite some very encouraging signs. The start of the year looked relatively bleak despite Nico Hulkenberg’s seventh place in Melbourne, but then he made very impressive progress in Barcelona and the whole complexion changed.
Not only did it make Sauber much more competitive, but it also showed that the car development department was working effectively and boded well for Sauber’s future. Third place at Silverstone was a great result for Hulkenberg, a long-awaited podium not only for the German but also for the team, with Gabriel Bortleto looking like a star candidate for much of the year.
Bad points: With the start of the season, Sauber had too much work to do to get a better position in the championship. After introducing Barcelona’s upgrades, there were only four race weekends in which they failed to score, but it was costly to collect just six points in the first third of the year.
Bortleto also struggled in the second half of the year, particularly after suffering two crashes on his home race weekend in Brazil, although he only scored one point at the end of the European season. This was just a reminder that he is a rookie and will only improve further with time, but Hulkenberg also had some qualifying issues that needed to be fixed.
Rating: 6.5/10
williams
Poles: 0
Wins: 0
Constructors’ Championship Position: 5th (137 points)
Good points: Williams has replicated the work they did with the 2024 car, only this time they don’t have the weight issues that held them back a year ago. Right out of the box, this competitive car was exploited to the fullest by the sensational Alex Albon in the first two-thirds of the season, including three top-five finishes in the first seven races, with fifth place all but formalized by the summer.
Carlos Sainz will always be a great addition, but after a difficult start he showed his worth in the second half of the year with two excellent podiums and a third place in the Austin sprint. At a time when Albon was struggling for consistency, the car remained fast on certain tracks even without upgrades, and the impressive engineering was backed by the Spaniard’s flawless driving.
Bad points: It took some time for Sainz to get results commensurate with his and the car’s capabilities. That was somewhat to be expected given the changes in the team, but it was also partly due to poor performances at times during the first half of the year.
Albon’s decline in form after the end of the European season was also a real surprise, but even more concerning was the fact that he and Williams were unable to turn their form around by the end of the year. There was also a double qualifying disqualification in Singapore which could have added to the damage, with both sides of the garage rarely clicking on the same weekend.
Rating: 8/10
