Season Review Awards: 2025's best F1 moments as voted by you

The votes have been cast and counted, and the winners of the 2025 Motor Sport Season Review Awards can now be revealed.

Once again, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were central to the conversation, mirroring a season-long duel that ran deep into the calendar. This time, however, it was Verstappen who edged the vote, with readers selecting the Red Bull driver as Formula 1 Driver of the Year after another relentlessly competitive campaign.

McLaren emerged as the standout team in the poll, earning Team of the Year recognition in acknowledgement of a double championship victory.

Scroll down to see the full list of winners.

F1 Driver of the Year
Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen’s 2025 season was, by many measures, one of the – if not the most – compelling campaigns of his career, a masterclass in resilience and sheer competitive will that saw him narrowly miss out on a fifth world title by just two points.

From the start, the Dutchman demonstrated that even when Red Bull’s early-season package struggled to match the outright dominance of McLaren, he could still elevate the car well beyond its baseline.

The car’s lack of form early on arguably cost him dearly, but Verstappen responded with a ferocious second-half charge, erasing a 104-point deficit to take the championship fight to the wire.

Across the final eight races, he claimed five victories and led more laps than any rival.

Perhaps his defining trait this season was adaptability: forging results out of adversity and extracting performance when his car was far from perfect.

Even when the world title slipped from his grasp in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen’s pace and consistency kept him in mathematical contention right to the chequered flag.

For many fans and pundits, this was the best Verstappen has ever driven.

Also shortlisted: Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Isack Hadjar

F1 Team of the Year
McLaren

McLaren’s 2025 season put an end to a long drought of drivers’ titles as the team not only secured its second constructors’ championship in a row but also saw Lando Norris take the crown, the squad’s first since the 2008 season.

The team began the year with the strongest car package, and the title fight looked set to be a two-horse race between Norris and Oscar Piastri until Verstappen started his sensational comeback.

Rather than big leaps, McLaren’s success came through accumulation: small upgrades applied effectively, weekend after weekend.

The MCL40 proved adaptable across a variety of circuits, combining efficient aerodynamics with reliable race pace. Both drivers contributed heavily to the points haul as the team threaded carefully to make sure no driver was prioritised over his team-mate.

Strategically, the team’s pit wall made few mistakes, and the garage operated with a level of calm assurance that reflected the organisation’s maturing leadership structure.

Also shortlisted: Mercedes, Racing Bulls, Sauber

F1 Race of the Year
Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Interlagos has long been Formula 1’s great chaos generator, and the 2025 event lived up to that expectation.

At the centre of it stood Lando Norris, who won from pole, and Max Verstappen, who completed another sensational comeback.

Behind him, the race produced a standout moment for Mercedes, as Kimi Antonelli secured an impressive second place, holding off late pressure from Verstappen. Verstappen’s podium was all the more striking given it followed a pitlane start, the Dutchman slicing through the field after Gabriel Bortoleto’s opening-lap accident reshaped the race.

While the neutralisation periods shuffled the order and raised the stakes, Norris remained insulated at the front, managing the pace across the full 71 laps to seal victory in what proved to be one of the season’s most compelling race.

Also shortlisted: British GP, Hungarian GP, Australian GP

F1 Overtake of the Year
Verstappen on Piastri  – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Max Verstappen set the tone for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with a decisive move before the race had properly settled, sweeping around the outside of Oscar Piastri at Tamburello to seize the lead on the opening lap.

Starting alongside the polesitter, Verstappen briefly lost ground as he braked late from second place, momentarily dropping behind George Russell. But he immediately committed to the outside line, carrying enough speed and precision to pass Piastri cleanly through the chicane.

Once ahead, Verstappen quickly established a gap to the McLaren and went on to dictate the pace for the remainder of the race, converting the early pass into a controlled victory.

Also shortlisted: Leclerc on Russell at the Dutch GP, Stroll on Hülkenberg at the Monaco GP, Hamilton on Ocon and Russell at the British GP

F1 Photo of the Year
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sao Paulo GP
Victor Eleuterio, DPPI

Gabriel Bortoleto was the protagonist in one of the most arresting photos of the 2025 season after losing control of his Sauber on the final lap of the Sao Paulo sprint race.

The impact left the car heavily damaged, frozen in a moment that quickly came to define the weekend visually.

Bortoleto emerged unharmed, a contrast made all the more striking by the state of the wreckage he left behind.

Also shortlisted:

Austrian GP start Luca Barsali, Getty Images	Charles Leclerc, Dutch GP Eric Alonso, DPPI	George Russell, Singapore GP Wan Mikhail Roslan, Getty Images