As F1 heads into its mandatory summer break, the top four teams have seen their fortunes fluctuate in the first 14 races.
2025 has so far been a very one-sided affair in the Constructors’ Championship. But look deeper, and the stories behind the garage doors paint a more detailed picture.
From all smiles at one end of the pit-lane to politics and firings on the other, F1 teams can never be accused of being dull.
Over the next few days, Fastest Formula News will reveal its ratings for F1 teams in the first half of the year. We start with the top four in the Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren: 9.5
Winning 11 out of the first 14 races, McLaren has proven to be a cut above the rest of the field in F1 in 2025.
The MCL39 launched as the car to beat, with efficiencies that have made it almost uncatchable. Tyre warmup and management is a particular strength, aiding the drivers during opening stints during races.
McLaren has lost position at the start of several races to rivals but reeled them in slowly towards the end of the stint, as their tyres had a far better shelf life. This has been replicated at numerous races in the first half of 2025, a characteristic rivals are struggling to adapt to their own cars.
The other big advantage McLaren has over the rest of the field is strength in medium speed corners. The MCL39 excels in this area, allowing drivers to brake later and harder, carrying more speed.
The Hungarian GP highlighted just how far McLaren is ahead of the rest of the other teams, at a circuit tailor-made for its car. Lapping over two tenths of a second quicker in the medium speed corners than its rivals, it comes as no surprise that George Russell finished over 20 seconds behind the McLarens.
As an operation, McLaren now matches Red Bull from all its conquering 2023 season. Two 1.9-second pit stops at the Hungarian GP outline the level of excellence seen at Woking. Its F1 team is operating in harmony, with no outward facing politics.
The papaya cars may be dominating 2025, but the drivers are allowed to race, and racing they are. Bring on the last ten races.
Ferrari: 6
A score of six seems a bit harsh at first glance for the team placed second in the championship. But Ferrari’s 2025 F1 season to date can be described as mixed at best and incompetent at worst. Flashes of brilliance have been seen during the season, but far too often are accompanied by moments of madness.
Ferrari’s race strategies can sometimes be likened to a wheel of fortune, but for that analogy to work, a wheel to be spun must actually exist. Occasions still exist where the paddock is baffled by the Scuderia’s strategic choices.
The most notable blunder came at the season opener in Australia. In changeable conditions, Ferrari chose to keep its drivers on slick tyres far longer than its rivals sending Leclerc plummeting down the order. A possible podium became 8th and 10th at the chequered flag.
Then there was the qualifying farce in Montreal. While rivals chose the more effective medium tyres, Ferrari chose to use the softs. 5th and 8th were the result, with a questionable two-stop strategy during the race.
While McLaren is in a class of one in 2025, the amount of points squandered by the Scuderia has made the gap to the championship leaders is vast.
Upgrades have sent the team backwards in recent months, with Mercedes now just 24 points behind going into the summer break. Hungary should have proven a turning point, but a mysterious chassis problem saw Leclerc fall out of podium contention.
New signing Lewis Hamilton’s very public struggles only add to the woe, with Ferrari sometimes only fielding one car inside the points.
The confirmation that Fred Vasseur will stay on as Team Principal will help calm the waters, but Ferrari needs an urgent reset in the final ten races of the year.
Mercedes: 6.5
Mercedes’ story of 2025 to date is one of steady momentum, combined with consistency. The Silver Arrows have slowly got their act together during the first 14 races and are slowly encroaching on Ferrari.
Having already past Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes look to be a threat at several circuits in the second half of the year.
It has not all been plain sailing, however. A suspension upgrade package introduced in Imola back May proved to be a significant hindrance. It coincided with a dive in the team’s performance. A brief reprieve at the Canadian Grand Prix saw George Russell take victory, and Kimi Antonelli third.
But this was a false dawn as the W16 fell off in the next few races. The decision to revert to the old spec suspension looks to have been the correct one.
Questions remain over whether George Russell will continue at Mercedes in 2026. But the politics are not impacting team morale or working environment.
Kimi Antonelli’s growing pains looked to have turned a corner in Hungary, scoring his first points since Canada. Mercedes has a different method of dealing with difficult periods for drivers, and so far it is opting for patience.
Russell looks set to overtake Verstappen for third in the driver’s standings. The team is just 24 points behind Ferrari. With one victory already, another is not out of the question if it continues on its current trajectory.
Red Bull: 4.5
The reigning champions have quite simply imploded in the first half of 2025. Instability in F1 leads to catastrophe, with Red Bull providing the perfect example of how a team can throw away a competitive advantage.
Liam Lawson’s departure after just two races demonstrated the battle raging within the team. Gone were rational decisions; instead, emotion and political posturing now ruled. While Lawson has now recovered from his tenure at Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda is drowning in all too familiar story.
Red Bull has categorically denied that the car is designed around Max Verstappen’s particular driving style requirements. The reigning world champion prefers a loose rear end, but this has come at the cost of having a competitive second car.
With Verstappen’s concerns from last season about the car’s developmental pathway ignored, the team is paying a heavy price. Its competitiveness has dived off a cliff with no safety net, the team brutally exposed.
His talents are no longer able to salvage results, and barring fitting skinny wings at tracks to add downforce, options are running out. Verstappen’s two wins remain the team’s high points.
Red Bull has been prolific in the number of upgrades it has tried in the first half of the year. This indicates a team in experimentation mode rather than working against a specific problem.
The sudden firing of Christian Horner is aimed at showing a reset within Red Bull. Verstappen has also openly confirmed he will stay at Red Bull (and in F1) in 2026.
While Hungary was likely a one-off nadir performance, new Team Principal Laurent Mekies needs to inject a sense of optimism and grounded reality in the second half of the season.
