Formula One is poised to return to the United States this weekend at the fourth annual Miami Grand Prix, and with five races in the books, it’s time to take stock of which drivers are at the top of the pecking order. From title contenders—like McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen—to the back of the pack, each of the paddock’s 20 drivers have put enough race weekends together to make early assessments.
Here’s how the field stacks up as it makes way for South Beach:
1. Oscar Piastri
Three race wins and back-to-back victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia make this a no-brainer. The 24-year-old Aussie has looked more composed in his McLaren than ever before and has delivered consistency across entire race weekends time and time again to start the season—something his teammate hasn’t been as successful at. It still might be too early to call him the title favorite, but it’s also hard to see his performance and confidence changing, unless there’s a drastic improvement from the drivers behind him in the standings and a subsequent increase in pressure.
2. Max Verstappen
What the four-time reigning champion has been able to muster out of this year’s lackluster Red Bull is yet another testament to his ability. Team boss Christian Horner said that Verstappen earning pole position in Japan was the result of “one of his best laps in qualifying ever.” Verstappen followed up two races later by swiping the top qualifying spot in Saudi Arabia, where he still gave Piastri a fight in the Grand Prix. He’s currently in third place, and surpassing either McLaren driver feels like a long shot, but that shouldn’t take away from what he’s accomplished with less effective machinery.
3. George Russell
This was one of the harder spots to choose, with a number of worthy candidates, but Russell’s consistency ultimately won out. The Mercedes driver has landed on the podium three times, as many as Verstappen, and hasn’t finished worse than fifth. It’s difficult to see him competing for too many wins in the current version of W16, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be long until his first victory of the year.
4. Lando Norris
Despite entering the season as a title favorite, Norris has failed to put together the pieces across a race weekend since the opener in Australia. Another poor qualifying performance doomed him in Saudi Arabia as he finished off the podium for the first time in 2025. It’s not so much that his performance has been poor; in fact he’s been one of the better drivers in the field on Sundays this season. However, when it comes to living up to expectations, Norris admitted to falling short—and yet he’s still well-positioned to compete for a title.
5. Alex Albon
Williams has been one of the pleasant surprises in 2025 and Albon’s performance has largely been the reason why. That’s not to say Carlos Sainz isn’t rounding into form, but Albon’s experience in the car has paid dividends, as he’s the only driver outside of the top four teams to score points on four different race weekends this year.
6. Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s double disqualification in China really put a damper on the opening leg of the season, but Leclerc gave reason for the Tifosi to believe that their team can turn things around starting in Miami. Across the last three races, the Monégasque driver has returned to form, finishing fourth or better in each qualifying session and race. If Ferrari can squeeze a bit more out of the car, it wouldn’t be a surprise for Leclerc to start challenging Piastri and Norris for the top spot on the starting grid each week.
7. Kimi Antonelli
The 18-year-old landed in F1 to much fanfare and already seems like the real deal. Right from the outset in Australia, when he carved his way up to fourth in the rainy conditions, he showed poise well beyond his years. He then became the youngest driver to lead a race and hold the fastest lap with his performance in Japan—all while wrapping up his high school classes. The sky is the limit for Antonelli.
8. Lewis Hamilton
Even the greats need adjustment periods, and that’s proved to be the case for the 40-year-old, seven-time world champion at Ferrari. Apart from winning the sprint race in China, Hamilton hasn’t made much noise in his first five races with the Prancing Horse. The struggles have largely been in qualifying, where he hasn’t been better than fifth and has lost out four of five times to Leclerc. It’s too early to think this will be the norm for a driver of his caliber, but it’s clear that he and Ferrari have some work to do to solidify their partnership.
9. Pierre Gasly
Gasly seems to squeeze all that he can out of the Alpine on Saturdays, making it into Q3 three times already in the first five races. In Bahrain he qualified fifth and finished seventh, which should serve as evidence that he’s capable of more than what the standings reflect through five races. He has managed to outqualify rookie teammate Jack Doohan on all five instances, but a disqualification in China and an incident with Yuki Tsunoda in Saudi Arabia have prevented him from scoring points more frequently.
10. Isack Hadjar
Since his unfortunate formation lap wreck in Australia, the Racing Bulls rookie has impressed, particularly in qualifying. Hadjar earned seventh-place starts twice in China and Japan and has scored points on two separate occasions without a finish worse than 13th. The Racing Bulls car clearly has some pace and the 20-year-old seems equipped to handle it—even with the rotating cast of teammates around him.
11. Carlos Sainz
It was difficult to judge exactly how Sainz would fare away from Ferrari, especially with a Williams outfit focused largely on 2026. A crash in Australia—followed by two underwhelming qualifying efforts in China and Japan and a retirement in Bahrain—was a foreboding start, but the pieces finally clicked into place in Saudi Arabia. His best start with Williams (sixth) resulted in his best finish (eighth) and should be a launchpad for what he’s capable of going forward.
12. Esteban Ocon
If these rankings were based solely on performances on Sundays, both Haas drivers would be vying for spots in the top seven. Ocon has been a reliable force for the American outfit, climbing up six spots in both China and Bahrain to score 14 total points—enough to put him in ninth in the drivers’ standings. However, it’s qualifying that’s been the issue for the veteran. He’s made it into Q2 just twice and left himself a lot of work to do at the end of each weekend.
13. Oliver Bearman
Like his teammate, Bearman has made it out of Q1 just twice. He delivered Haas’s best qualifying effort in Japan but has similarly been excellent in Grands Prix, climbing up nine spots into the points in China and 10 places in Bahrain to finish in 10th. Last year’s brief stint at Ferrari seems to have prepared the 19-year-old for how to carefully manage a race on Sundays, but it’s getting the maximum qualifying pace out of the car that needs to be the focus for him in the coming races.
14. Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda has gotten caught up in the Red Bull whirlwind, which may have thrown off his rhythm after scoring three points in the sprint race in China. He got off to a slow start in his Red Bull debut at his home race in Japan, but has improved his place in qualifying in each weekend he’s spent in the car. Still, two collisions—one with Sainz in Bahrain and another with Gasly that knocked him out in Saudi Arabia—have prevented him from putting more points on the board.
15. Lance Stroll
Stroll gets the benefit of being higher in the standings than his teammate because he kept his car on the track in the difficult conditions in Australia—a feat for which he no doubt deserves some praise. However, he hasn’t gotten out of Q1 over the last three races, which included finishing 20th in Japan and 19th in Bahrain.
16. Nico Hülkenberg
Scraping a result out of this year’s Sauber is no small task, and yet the 37-year-old managed to do so in a major way in Australia. The experience Hülkenberg brings to the table is critical as the team prepares for new regulations next season, but even he hasn’t been able to muster up many positive showings. Like his rookie teammate, Hulkenberg has made it out of Q1 just once in five races so there haven't been many chances to make an impact.
17. Fernando Alonso
A double DNF to start the season wasn’t what the 43-year-old envisioned, even if Aston Martin has tasked designer Adrian Newey to focus on developing next year’s car. Alonso has been remarkably consistent in qualifying and has finished 11th twice in the last three races, so it seems only a matter of time until he gets on the scoreboard. Plus, he’s still outqualified Stroll in all five weekends this season.
18. Jack Doohan
Doohan came into the season with perhaps the most pressure of any midfield driver with Alpine reportedly coveting reserve driver Franco Colapinto. Though the results haven’t been there, he hasn’t been terribly far off Gasly’s qualifying pace until the last two outings in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He’s also maintained that there’s been little pressure from within the team placed upon him, but how Alpine approaches the rest of the season remains to be seen.
19. Liam Lawson
Burdened by lofty expectations after getting the coveted call up to Red Bull, Lawson struggled alongside Verstappen and quickly got the boot back down to Racing Bulls. He has been able to settle down, turning in a solid 12th-place performance in qualifying in Saudi Arabia and holding onto the position in the Grand Prix. It’s difficult to project what the future looks like for the 23-year-old after the rollercoaster start to the year, but it seems like he’s on his way to rebuilding confidence in the car.
20. Gabriel Bortoleto
The 20-year-old rookie hasn’t gotten a chance to do much for a team that’s preparing to transition to Audi next season and very clearly has its sights set on 2026. Bortoleto, the reigning F2 champ, has made it out of Q1 a single time and hasn’t finished better than 14th in a race this season, so consider this a developmental year before the real test begins.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as F1 Drivers’ 2025 Power Rankings: Piastri Setting the Tone Through First Five Races.