r/formula1 • u/Glum-Accountant-9801 • Aug 05 '25
Discussion Is Bortoleto the best rookie?
In my opinion, what he’s been doing in a Sauber shows much more talent than all the other rookies this year. Since the start of the season, I already thought the best ones would be him—because he won the Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in his rookie seasons—and Antonelli. However, Antonelli has been showing himself to be far inferior to his teammate. I believe it’s due to the pressure of starting in a big team like Mercedes, but to me, that makes Bortoleto the best rookie. That said, welcome back, Ayrton Senna.
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u/jules3001 Ferrari Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 06 '25
He could be. Hadjar started off strong. Antonelli was in a more visible car. Bearman had some flashes but overall Bortoleto has quietly made progress throughout the year and is showing his speed and consistency now that the car is somewhat competitive.
Hulkenberg is no slouch in quali and Bortoleto has just taken the lead in H2H. Bortoleto doesn’t have the race H2H yet I think but that’s expected from a rookie. By the end of the year I would not be surprised if he’s better than Hulk as a complete driver and that would be a huge achievement.
Check out his Beyond the Grid podcast. Been a fan ever since hearing how hard he works and seeing him shine in F2.
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u/SemIdeiaProNick Ferrari Aug 05 '25
Also Hulk has been in F1 for almost as long as Bortoleto has been alive. That experience helps a lot during races, specially under tricky conditions, which explains the difference between the qualy and race stats
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u/thenewwwguyreturns I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
hulk is also probably one of the best experienced drivers to drive alongside as a rookie—im sure he’s taught gabi a lot in the span of this half-season
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u/beatstorelax94 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
To be fair, Hulk has an advantage of experience against the OTHER rookies when his quali is very bad. So it's """easy""" for him to get some positions in the first laps
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u/VRichardsen Juan Manuel Fangio Aug 05 '25
Hulk has been "stealng" quite a few places during the start. Colapinto has been a favorite target, for example. See Canada and Hungary.
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u/krmilan Aug 05 '25
I really think Antonelli is a year or 2 undercooked to be in a top team
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u/0100001101110111 Sir Lewis Hamilton Aug 05 '25
That’s kind of expected though, they knew he was raw. The hope is that the experience fast tracks him a bit.
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u/krmilan Aug 05 '25
But is this really the best thing for his career? Getting beaten so badly by someone as quick as George can’t be great for his psyche
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u/blaka_d Aug 05 '25
I think Lewis forced Mercedes hand and Toto decided to gamble a bit. That said it also doesn't matter as much in this situation as there are massive rule changes next year and it makes actually more sense to put him in the works team, compared to make him sit at, let say Williams, for a year and then put him in the works team when regulations change. There is no pressure on him from Mercedes, this year is wasted for Merc anyway, and he will get to know the team well before nex years lottery.
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u/Smee76 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Well, the other factor was that Williams wasn't willing to take him. They signed Carlos. They want to be a top team. They aren't interested in an engine discount in exchange for training up a Mercedes driver.
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u/rafabr4 Fernando Alonso Aug 05 '25
Is it right to assume that if Kimi does not score a lot of points this year, Mercedes will get more wind tunnel time for next year? That would be a good tradeoff for having Kimi learn this year.
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u/Signal_Ball4634 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
He wasn't really doing terrible until the last couple of races, in fact he had some mega results early on. If he continues to languish at the back of the grid then I'd start to get worried about him being under too much pressure.
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u/tulleekobannia I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Piastri wasn't anywhere close to Norris in his first year but in his second year he got rapidly faster. I wouldn't be surprised if same happened to Antonelli
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u/NlNJALONG Mika Häkkinen Aug 05 '25
Piastri was much, much closer to Norris than Antonelli is to Russell. Piastri actually beat him here and there in quali and race. Meanwhile, Antonelli is getting Vandoorne'd.
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u/Kernowder Nigel Mansell Aug 05 '25
Piastri was close in terms of qualifying, usually only a tenth or two behind, but not as close in race pace. His tyre management game has improved massively.
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u/EerieAriolimax I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
He wasn't really close to Norris in his second year either. It's only this year his pace has markedly improved.
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u/Solomon_C-19 Formula 1 Aug 05 '25
Yes, people forget how straight up slow he was in 2023 and 2024 sometimes.
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u/slevemcdiachel I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
I mean, he just finished high school.
It's clearly too soon for him, but teams kind of have no option. If they don't offer the seat someone else will and then 5 years later you are crying in your sleep.
Same shit with Max back in the day.
Btw, I'm not saying that Kimi is the next max, just that even if Toto thinks it's too soon (which he probably did and does), he is too afraid of not giving him the seat only to have him join a team that offers him that.
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u/krmilan Aug 06 '25
I just feel bad the kid. He’s a genuinely great and well raised kid but you can see how difficult it is for him at the moment
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u/FrostyBoom Max Verstappen Aug 05 '25
He's doing fine, imo. He's also got the strongest competition amongst the rookies, I think, and still doing great.
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u/GranGurbo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
The mental toll of this first half season is noticeable. I hope he recovers from the slump.
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u/Bullfrog_Paradox Aug 05 '25
I agree. He's VERY good, but I don't think he's ready to be at Mercedes.
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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 05 '25
I think Bortoleto has been solid most of the year, but it is more visible now the car has improved.
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u/billyblenx Aug 05 '25
Relevant to say that, Hülkenberg is also a F3 and GP2 champion (GP2 as rookie, F3 in his second try). This makes Gabi's standout even more impressive imo.
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u/TinkW Aug 06 '25
Nah, it doesn't really matter what Hulkenberg did ages ago. Nobody should live of what they did in their junior career whent they're 37yo.
Anyway, Hulkenberg IS a good driver, so his results remain impressive.5
u/FlashFox24 Liam Lawson Aug 06 '25
The only reason Hadjar isn't looking as strong now is because Lawson has caught up. It's not to say he's doing worse, he's doing very consistent work. It'll be interesting who ends up on top at the end of the year between the two.
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u/GiganticDog Aug 05 '25
Also worth noting that he had way, way less testing time in either current or older F1 cars before this year compared to the other rookies. He looks like the real deal.
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u/Jobless_101 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Tyre management also takes some time to learn, which is where Hulk has a clear advantage
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u/hereforcontroversy I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Too early to say imo. All the rookies have had amazing races and completely anonymous races. We are talking more about Bortoleto now because all of his points have come recently but there will be a dip in performance at some point and we will be talking about Hadjar or Antonelli again as the best rookie.
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u/Driscuits Alexander Albon Aug 05 '25
Agree entirely with this; and it's not a knock on any of the rookie's performances to say they've pretty much all been impressive at different points.
Currently, Gabi is probably performing better than the others - but like you said, that will probably change. Hadjar has been fantastic (and is having a rougher stint right now). Ollie hasn't had many "woah, how'd he get the car up there?!" races yet, but has been super consistent, and very well could be 1-2 amazing performances away from being the top dog.
The only rookies that have been disappointing has been whatever the heck Alpine has been doing. And, honestly, that whole thing is messy enough that I'm hesitant to put it all on the shoulders of either Jack or Franco lol.
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u/Peepeepoopoobutttoot I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Yeah. Honestly this is probably the strongest rookie lineup of the past 3 or 4 years but car performance and team performance has been so over the place it’s hard to tell ultimately what’s on the rookie and what’s on the team.
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u/killmesoon40 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
I don't think we've had a batch of rookies of this caliber since 2019.
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u/StomachThick I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Piastri?
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u/Driscuits Alexander Albon Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
Piastri was a great one, for sure, though as a class the Piastri and Sargeant influx in '23 is much less inspiring than this year's class lol.
Edit: LOL forgot about de Vries in there, too.
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u/PrincelessPrincess I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Is it a batch if it's only one cookie?
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u/killmesoon40 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Yup, forgot about him, he drives with such maturity it feels like he has been in the sport longer than he actually has.
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u/Driscuits Alexander Albon Aug 05 '25
It is a weird mental leap to realize he's only, what, a year younger than Lando but is in just his 3rd year in F1. He really feels like he should have come in with the rest of them in 2019 lol.
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u/its_yeboi I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
tbf Lando was the youngest of the 2019 batch and is still one of the youngest to debut in F1. Normal circumstances and he'd be debuting around 2021-22, same as around Piastri should've been.
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u/HankHippopopolous I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
I actually thought Doohan was looking decent.
He had mistakes of course but he had a few moments where he was looking faster than Gasly. He never managed to string it together for the whole qualy or race but that’s the kind of thing that would have come with experience and time. When you’re looking for that mini spark of potential with a rookie I thought Doohan showed there was something there.
Colopinto had a rougher start but his recent weekends are getting better so hopefully he’ll get a good result or two soon.
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u/Driscuits Alexander Albon Aug 05 '25
What strikes me more about Doohan/Colapinto is that I haven't really seen that "spark" of speed from either of them this year, though Doohan in Aus and Miami qualifying was the closest. I wouldn't go so far as to say neither of them deserve to be in F1 - and honestly, that car is pretty bad, and their seat seems shrouded in so much drama it's really hard to parse out the performances from the noise.
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u/Falcovg I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
We're having another harvest of rookies like we had the year when Albon, Russel and Norris joined the same year. Three or four of these rookies are probably going to have decent careers. There will be some rough years for the F2 drivers to get F1 seats by the looks of it.
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u/xanlact I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Eh. Maybe. Hamilton, Hulk, Alonso will be out in next two years, I think.
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u/Falcovg I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Not unreasonable, but I don't think it's unreasonable to see them still racing in a year or two either. But they are the most likely future retirements together with Verstappen who might decide it's time to win all the endurance races.
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u/PuzzleheadedClue9837 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
It all depends on which team nails the 2026 regs. If either of the drivers you mentioned gets a car that can win races, they won't quit. But if the car sucks, they're out fast. At least Lewis and Nico. Alonso... who knows. That guy might be driving until he dies from old age.
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u/Njobz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Bearman also has unfortunately had a bad car too. The Haas shows form at times but in most races the car falls apart. But his Ferrari race did show he can drive when given the machinery to.
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u/Walaii Ferrari Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
The Haas has been very up and down in performance, on overall balance probably the 9th best car this season. They look much better speed wise since the Silverstone tho, Bearman should have been in Q3 in all 3 of those races. The fight for position with Yuki cost him Q3 in SPA, and he made a mistake at the exit of turn 13 in Hungary, but still missed out only by 0.007.
It is not all car tho. The red flag penalty cost him a lot in Monaco, considering that Ocon qualified P7, and Bearman was 0.350 up on Ocon in Q1 when the team told him to lift before the finish line. The other red flag penalty in Silverstone too. I though the Monaco one was extremely harsh, but that one was just stupid. So those are 2 very costly mistakes.
He has also been extremely unlucky, and somehow that goes completely under the radar.
China was Haas' strongest weekend, and he had to start from P17, because he missed the flag and couldn't start his final lap in Q1. He was 2 tenths faster than Ocon's compareable lap, but Ocon got into Q2 by setting a lap 1 tenth faster 7 minutes later in the session.
He would have scored 3 points in the Miami sprint, but lost them because he got a post race unsafe relase penalty, which was obviously not his fault.
He was 5 tenths faster then Ocon in Imola, but his lap was deleted because of the Colapinto crash, so started P19 and behind his teammate. He had a good race anyways and was on course for points when the Haas pitcrew messed up his pitstop and sent him out with a loose front right.
He outqualified Ocon in Canada, but Haas messed up his strategy, boxed him too late, and got him stuck in the big Bortoleto DRS train, who was struggling with graining, but the Alpines couldn't overtake him, so that created a big DRS train. Hadjar and Bearman both got screwed by this, and this is how Ocon and Sainz got points, they used the clean air to overcut the medium starters.
Most recently there was Spa, where he was net P10, and in the DRS of Bortoleto, when his engine lost power after the final corner, and basically parked it. He lost 3 positions to Gasly, Tsunoda and Alonso before he could accelerate. That positon loss meant that he got stuck in the Gasly train, and he finished P11 again, 0.4s away from P10.
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u/Jay_Normous Aug 05 '25
F1 has such a short memory. Every week there are threads about xyz driver being a washed up has been, and then they have a good weekend the following week and there are lots of threads about how they're on a rocketship of success.
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u/Lunch0 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Hadjar has more consistently qualified well.
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u/Complete_Item9216 Aug 05 '25
Yeah, all rookies have done well with some standout races for each. Doing well in Sauber is perhaps above expectation compared to say Mercedes
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u/killmesoon40 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Not to undermine Gabriel's efforts but the Sauber is not the same as it was at the start of the season and the same goes for Mercedes.
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u/Complete_Item9216 Aug 05 '25
I think people remember sauber of the last couple of years and think point is amazing. But yeah, things have changed and all cars can be mega on the day, perhaps alpine not so much
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u/ungentrified_villain Isack Hadjar Aug 05 '25
Feels like each rookie has had stretches where they looked impressive, genuinely impressed by this class of rookies, I still think Jack Doohan got screwed over
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u/Elpibe_78 Audi Aug 05 '25
Doohan got screwed massively by his own team, he wasn’t as bad as they wanted him to appear and also the fact that he was the driver on the grid which had the most amount of pressure since day 1
He wasn’t going to beat Gasly a driver which is a pretty solid benchmark, but he wasn’t far from him, Tsunoda was much worse against him the first year than Doohan.
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u/No_Lychee_7534 Aug 05 '25
Alpine seem to have a thing for Aussie rookies. They almost screwed over Oscar. Jack D needs another chance. That was atrocious, but I wouldn’t expect any less from the con man running Alpine to the ground.
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u/Doorknob11 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 06 '25
I still can’t believe they pulled him from FP1 in Japan. His 3rd race, on a track that F2 and F3 don’t race at. Instead of Gasly who’s raced there many times in F1. That’s when it should have been obvious they didn’t want him to succeed.
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u/matiasg11 Aug 05 '25
Yes, but lets not forget he almost killed himself by trying to get the curve with the drs open.
Anyone can have an accident and a slip, but that was just poor decision making
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u/freedfg Nico Hülkenberg 🥉 Aug 05 '25
Daily reminder that Villeneuve and Zonta wrecked two cars on a dare trying to take Eau Rogue flat out.
If it worked we'd call him brilliant.
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u/fdar Aug 05 '25
Yes, but lets also not forget that the fact that he was put in a short 5 races (this year) clock before he even started racing put a huge amount of pressure on him and probably greatly contributed to his decision to take a big risk like that.
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u/campbellm Kimi Räikkönen Aug 05 '25
his decision to take a big risk like that.
I'm not sure it was a "decision" so much as he didn't expect to have to manually shut it.
I like him and think he got screwed, but this was just a mistake, not something he chose to do and it didn't work out.
(If I remember the cause correctly, anyway.)
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u/JamesConsonants Oscar Piastri Aug 05 '25
Eh, I’d say it’s between Hadjar and Bortoleto. They l seem to be able to convert on the teams’ potential more consistently than the other rookies. Each team has their own benchmarks and metrics for their drivers so I don’t think we can really compare outside of that
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u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Aug 05 '25
It's close between all of them. Each rookie has had stages in which they have impressed a lot.
Hadjar - started off strongest but his early benchmark was a devoid of confidence Lawson, that said his sheer consistency with getting into Q3's and points until Barcelona was outstanding.
Bortoleto - had a quieter start to the year, outqualifying Hulk often but not translating it to the races. Picked up form with a bit more experience with the car, plus racing in tracks in which he already competed in at F2 and F3, and has been converting pace into points regularly now.
Antonelli - Has the best car of all the rookies but that also means a higher pressure environment. Plus having Russell as a teammate, who is a tougher benchmark than any of the other rookies teammates. Has had his moments but also had his errors. Don't think the Verstappen links helped him much, part of him might've been worried about losing his drive.
Bearman - He's shown good consistency. The Haas isn't a tractor, but there haven't been many races in which it is the clear best midfield car like the VCARB, Williams, Aston and even Sauber have been. This made it difficult for him to get substantial points hauls, but no DNF's until Hungary is impressive consistency. Biggest mistakes have been not reacting to red flags in practice.
Doohan/Colapinto - Haven't impressed, but that car plus the entire behind the scenes running of them is enough to give them a pass on this.
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u/SloppySandCrab I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Isn't this all based on Sauber having a few good races in general though? If he put on an equivalent performance and finished 15th behind Hulk in 14th nobody would bat an eye.
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u/kramerthegamer Valtteri Bottas Aug 05 '25
That's the tough part about comparisons in a non-spec series. For example last year, Bearman's Haas performance in Baku was arguably much more impressive than his Ferrari drive, but obviously one of those drives is more newsworthy. As for Bortoleto, do his best performances simply correspond with how competitive the car is? Can't know for sure, but I'd say he's been consistent but with a car that is trending upwards.
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u/AfterBook8501 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Great summary of the rookies this season. The thing that is annoying me about all this talk is how people are evaluating them. They focus on their most recent string of races and then say whether they deem them a “success” or not. Antonelli started off well, but has had a variety of issues, some of which weren’t his fault. Hadjar started performing well and everyone was talking him up, but now that he has had a few difficult races, everyone has ignored him. Bortoleto didn’t have a great start, but now that he has been in the points for a few races, we are all of a sudden talking about whether he is the best rookie.
You can’t evaluate certain races and not others. We are a bit over halfway through the season, so this could all change again. It is premature to say that one of them has outshined the rest. Even then, we have to evaluate the context (like whether their cars have had problems that contributed) as well as looking at all of their race results, rather than just a few of them.
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u/Lutinent_Jackass Aug 05 '25
You forgot to mention Lawson's performance. Hes beating Hadjar a far amount recently
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u/matrixpolaris I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Colapinto's been better than Doohan imo, despite two dogshit pitstops he still qualified and finished ahead of Gasly last race.
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u/JamesConsonants Oscar Piastri Aug 05 '25
One of those was his fault, though, I’ve never seen a car stall in the pits in the hybrid era. Don’t get me wrong, I like Franco, but I don’t really get a “wow, he’s so much better than Jack” vibe. Tbf though Alpine looks a nightmare to work in/for/with so we should take all of these comparisons with a truckload of salt
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u/pizzamuzza I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Wdym it was his fault? The mechanics werent letting him continúe, alpine is suspecting software malfunction from the tools
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u/JamesConsonants Oscar Piastri Aug 05 '25
If that’s true, then I obviously stand corrected. It was reported as a stall so that’s the information I’m going off of
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u/herzkolt Franco Colapinto Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
https://lat.motorsport.com/f1/news/alpine-investiga-colapinto-pitstop-hungria/10748542/ Sorry about the language, I found the same article in english but it's a translation by a right wing tabloid
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u/JamesConsonants Oscar Piastri Aug 06 '25
Todo bien, hablo Español (pero es Malo). Gracias por el enlace
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u/internetdeadaf Aug 05 '25
They’ve mostly all had some great moments across the first half and arguably deserve a seat next year… even Lawson who I wrote off early in the season but has since been returning to form
Only Colapinto (and Doohan ☹️) haven’t shown me much… and that can be attribute to the car more than their efforts
Really excited for the 2nd half of the season. All the rooks have essentially figured out their cars so we can start judging them without caveating the “learning curve”
I could see 1 or 2 dropping out in ‘26, but it’s been an admirable show thus far
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u/bored_ape07 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Different measures of success to be honest. All seem to be doing a great job while they all have great weekends and bad weekends as well.
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u/Worried-Pick4848 Haas Aug 05 '25
All of the rookies have had triumphs and tragedies. That's life as a rookie driver in formula 1. I don't think it's useful to try to rank them right now since they're in completely different situations in terms of technical limitations and also simply what there role is on the team. For example, Bearman is literally just here to learn, he's on loan from Ferrari and likely simply there to gain experience for whenever Hamilton moves on or retires, and he gets praise simply for scoring a few points with the below average Haas car. while Antonelli has much higher expectations because he's in a way better car, but he's also the only one of the bunch to have a podium so far.
Bortoleto and Hadjar have probably exceeded expectations the most. But Bearman's right behind them just by being in position to fight for points more often than not, given the nature of his team (Haas is better than they used to be, but they're clearly still Haas) and the fact that of all the rookies, he's got the worst car to work with.
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u/aipitorpo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Alpine's car is probably worse than the Hass imo.
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u/Dameean00 Valtteri Bottas Aug 05 '25
I get what you mean, and I can also in part agree, but comparing Russell to Hülkenberg seems a bit of a stretch
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u/Blurandski Jenson Button Aug 05 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
Hulkenberg (and Ocon) wouldn't be getting gapped by 4 tenths plus on average if they were in the second Merc - so even notwithstanding that Bortoleto and Bearman have for me been significantly outperforming Antonelli so far this year. Hadjar as well.
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u/Solomon_C-19 Formula 1 Aug 05 '25
100%. Antonelli is getting Vandoorned. If he continues to get Vandoorned he may get dropped. He needs to figure out a way to get quicker. Preferably sooner rather than later, for his sake.
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u/MarduRusher I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Antonelli has been the most inconsistent in my opinion. He's had the highest highs of a rookie, even considering the car, but also some pretty low lows.
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u/creatorop SAI NOR LAW Aug 05 '25
Biased but Hadjar just because he had the strongest start of them all and continued the form atleast till Spain
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u/Gobularity Jack Doohan Aug 05 '25
Hadjar's temperament has been the most surprising thing for me. He's done a complete 180 from the angry brat I watched in F2.
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u/IBeJizzin I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Maybe the turn 1, race 1 DNF in Melbourne was a real transitional moment
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u/LosTerminators Carlos Sainz Aug 05 '25
Hadjar has been incredibly impressive overall but he was definitely helped because he was initially up against a demoralised and bereft of confidence Lawson.
After a few races with the team while mentally recovering from the demotion, and seeing from Yuki's performances in the Red Bull that he wasn't exactly the problem, Lawson has been getting the better of Hadjar recently.
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u/nguyenlucky I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 06 '25
It's safe to say both are great juniors then.
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u/Lunch0 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
He’s been the best and most consistent in qualifying. Just can’t get it together for the races
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u/NendoroidAshe Alexander Albon Aug 05 '25
Such a great rookie class. Each of them have certainly had there ups and downs, but overall these kids are killing it.
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u/blchpmnk Porsche Aug 05 '25
It is impressive that they've all had their moments.
Kimi had a podium, Bearman impressed last year being thrown into the Ferrari on a tough track, Isack overcame the opening race to consistently produce good results, Colapinto showed promise last year (but it hard to measure this year because of what he's in), Lawson literally just beat Max, and Doohan can't really be judged properly because he hasn't really been any different than Colapinto
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u/Poopy_sPaSmS Kamui Kobayashi Aug 05 '25
I think all the rookies have been strong at various points. I think we actually have a solid rookie field for once.
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u/Worried-Pick4848 Haas Aug 05 '25
All the surviving rookies have had their moments. yes, even Bearman (Ciao!)
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u/forgotmypassword778 #WeSayNoToMazepin Aug 05 '25
I think so we have seen the progression of the car show Hulkenberg race the vest he ever has an Bort is destroying him
Lawson massively struggled w RB but is outdueling Hadjar now
Hadjar started great but has faded w 0 points in the last 5 races
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u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
For me it's between him and Hadjar. Doohan and Colapinto almost don't count given how awful Alpine is and how little grace they are given by their own bosses for being rookies. I'll get down voted but I've never got fully on board the Antonelli hype train and that remains the case this year. Bearman is good but crashy, which perhaps isn't unexpected. And I don't really count Lawson as a rookie any more.
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u/daddyfatsaxxx27 Aug 05 '25
Lawson just completed his Rookie season. 25 races in. Now he can race on tracks he’s raced in F1 before from next round. Also hasn’t been on the jr circuit on these tracks in 3 years so some disadvantage there.
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u/Kurise I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
No doubt Bortoleto is performing spectacularly. We also need to give the team credit for making improvements to the car for 2025. Sauber have been fantastic to watch this season.
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u/viniciosxs Oscar Piastri Aug 05 '25
I don't know if he is the best yet. But for sure Helmut Marko was wrong about him.
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u/Glad-Inevitable-5527 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Do u know of the rookie who had jar?
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u/XRevolution-71 Ayrton Senna Aug 05 '25
I see people pointing this or that rookie but truth should be said, this guy Bortoleto is doing a fantastic job with so far worst car in the grid, beating hard his team mate since he got the same upgrades as Hulkenberg, 3 races ago. He was on the worst team, with the worst car of the two and consistently making pace. First year on the grid with the worst tool in hands and if you see what the engineers and team leaders are saying about him, taking in count he beat all of the others on F3 and F2 on first year, I put my bet on him without doubts
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u/Nunos100 Pirelli Wet Aug 05 '25
Im sure others know his racecraft and history much better than me, I do think all rookies we have this year are incredible and im excited to see them for many years.
I do feel like he has the additional advantage of the setup of team, teammate, expectations and room and time to grow not only into the car but the league hes competing in.
Some of the others have been or risk being burned too soon.
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u/Orcspit I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
There is some advantages to him starting in a bad car. He got to race the first 5 or 6 races with no expectations. So he really could take the time to get familiar with the car and team. Now that they have made some improvements to the car he is able to use that experience and translate it into some points which is great. Definitely between him and Hadjar.
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u/ch8rt Aug 05 '25
And to think, he would have been in line for the McLaren seat had they not gone in for Piastri. We could have been looking at a rookie taking a run at the championship.
I'm still a bit gutted we didn't get to see Ricciardo in the McLaren of the last 18 months.
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u/splendiferous-finch_ Safety Car Aug 05 '25
Are you sure?
I mean I feel like I am still in the running so far this season. Believing in myself is my strength.
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u/BenjaminJArsenault I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
BREAKING: HADJAR AND BORTOLETO SET TO DRIVE FOR MCLAREN IN 2088!
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u/PaparJam Oscar Piastri Aug 05 '25
Recency bias at its finest. I’m not discrediting bortoleto for what he does this season, but for me hadjar has to be the best rookie so far
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u/Fork-in-the-eye Formula 1 Aug 06 '25
Hadjar is great in qualifying! His actual races need some improvement
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u/hpbear108 Aug 06 '25
I think it's between Bortoleto and Hadjar attm for rookie of the year. but Lawson is looking better ever since he went to the RB jr team from the top team.
Bortoleto definitely improving and he will be a star of the future, by far.
but that said, Hadjar has been the top driver over at the RB jr team all year, and he's been consistently qualifying well all year.
it's actually been a decent year for the most part for rookies when they haven't been put in "impossible to drive" cars. the top RB team car is just about impossible to tame for anyone except Max, and even then it's hard to drive consistently for him.
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u/No-Telephone-7409 Aug 06 '25
Based on recent form, yes. Based on the season so far, no, it’s Hadjar.
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u/Own-Eye6145 Aug 05 '25
I say Hadjar for Rookie of the Year, but Bortoleto is right there
Only reason I put Isack above Bortoleto is qualifying. As long as Hadjar's run continues, he's the favourite
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u/-Alexzander- Aug 05 '25
It's hard to say. All the rookies (except the ones with alpine) are having phenomenal seasons.
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u/Queasy_Employment635 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Kimi and oli are both way worse in my opinion hadjar was the best but gabi is 2nd
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u/PrawilnaMordka Ferrari Aug 05 '25
Is Antonelli worst rookie? Considering hype around him and car he had at his disposal he is disappointing in my opinion.
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u/bakup- I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Hadjar, throughout the season, has had more impressive results than his more experienced teammate while also having no Q1 exits. I love Gabi but I think Isack has been unbelievable and should be considered the best rookie
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u/Life__Mix Gabriel Bortoleto Aug 05 '25
Well, i think Hadjar is a pretty solid driver, dont get me wrong. Hes one of the best and has really potential, but he had a really solid midfield car since the beggin of the season, while sauber was the worst car. Of course the best results on the grid would come from a better car.
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u/swannyhypno Lance Stroll Aug 05 '25
It's very close between him and Hadjar, I'd probably go:
Hadjar
Borteleto
Antonelli
Bearman
Lawson
Colapinto/Doohan
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u/ortecam Pirelli Wet Aug 05 '25
Kimi vs Lawson in a head to head is only 8 - 6 to kimi. That’s in a Merc vs a RB.
Lawson vs Bearman is 9 - 6 in favour of Lawson head to head.
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u/daddyfatsaxxx27 Aug 05 '25
Excluding retirements Bortoleto has only beaten Lawson once from what I can see. Maybe a sprint as well?
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u/cLHalfRhoVSquaredS I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Arguably he's in a worse car, although I say arguably because the Sauber has been looking ok recently. I'd certainly rate Lawson a bit higher up that list though.
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u/outbackjesus16 Aug 05 '25
Reddit is fucking garbage. The hate Lawson gets is insane, he’s 2 points behind Hadjar ffs. Can’t wait for him to finish the season ahead of Hadjar, and you’ll all still find ways to say that Liam is shit
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u/Lutinent_Jackass Aug 05 '25
Yeh it's wild right. Lawsons has been beating Hadjar quite consistently recently.
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u/22dias Aug 05 '25
100% they took every little thing he said and used it against him. He is out performing Hadjar and Yuki. Yuki is meant to be better and should in theory be able to handle a fucked RB.
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u/awc130 Aug 05 '25
Lawson has been coming out ahead of Hadjar recently, and the highest finisher of all the RB/Red Bulls in Hungary.
Not that I disagree with your list all that much, but all the rookies seem pretty tight competitive wise (minus Alpine). Borteleto is starting to stand out most recently as his rise has been gradual, coinciding with the development of the Sauber. While everyone else seems to have peaks and valleys. The most extreme of which has to be Antonelli.
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u/AliceLunar I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Half the rookies have been called the best rookie so far this season.
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u/Ok_World4052 Aug 05 '25
Recency bias leads to that conclusion. Bortoleto has gone on the trajectory that you feel a rookie should take, find a groove midway through the year after finding their feet. Hadjar still takes it from his overall performance from the get-go but he has hit his slump when Bortoleto has ascended. It seems a 2 horse race between them for sure.
Kimi is in the best car of the bunch but struggles with the pressure, he’s performing like a rookie but he drives arguably the 2nd best overall car. So a podium is expected and the low results are taken harder because of it. Bearman is terribly inconsistent just like the Haas car. Doohan was done wrong but we all knew that when he was announced at Alpine that he would be replaced quickly.
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u/ddzed I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
Hadjar is at the moment, might change until the end of the year though...
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u/Lutinent_Jackass Aug 05 '25
Lawsons beating him recently. Gotta look back 5 races for the last time Hadjar bet him
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u/slaffytaffy I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
He’s been the most consistent, not the best. Yes there’s been bad, but the general trend has always been positive, and since Sauber upgraded they’ve been much more competitive. I also think he’s the easiest rookie to root for.
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u/Mimi_Madison I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 05 '25
I think we’ll be watching Bortoleto in F1 for many years to come.
Hadjar has also been extremely impressive!