This is the best F1 rookie halfway through the 2025 season.

At the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, three true rookies stood: Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli each had never participated in a Grand Prix.

However, it was also the first time at the start of a season for Jack Doohan (1 GP), Oliver Bearman (3 GP’s), and Liam Lawson (11 GP’s). Moreover, Franco Colapinto (9 GP’s) could still be considered a rookie in 2025.

Neither rookie at Alpine has managed to impress. Jack Doohan got 6 races in 2025 to convince Flavio Briatore, but he did not. During these six weekends, Doohan crashed several times, never finished a race ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly, scored no points, and only once qualified ahead of the Frenchman.

However, promoting Franco Colapinto also wasn't a resounding success. The Argentine didn’t make much of an impression during the next six Grand Prix. Colapinto, too, has yet to score points, although he did finish ahead of Gasly in the race and qualifying a few times. He also keeps the average difference on Saturday afternoons slightly smaller compared to Doohan.

However, it does not come close to Oliver Bearman's debut. The Brit joined Haas alongside Esteban Ocon. A good benchmark for a new driver, and Bearman meets expectations. Especially in qualifying, the difference is remarkably small, where Ocon's race experience often gives him the upper hand.

In that respect, Gabriel Bortoleto is doing slightly better than Bearman. The reigning Formula 2 champion is, on average, only 0.003s slower than Hulkenberg in qualifying. And Hulkenberg is the driver who soundly beat Kevin Magnussen in qualifying over the past seasons.

In races, Hulkenberg is slightly better than Bortoleto, but the Brazilian has already scored his first points and has finished ahead of the German in three races.

With Lewis Hamilton's departure and the absence of Max Verstappen at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was promptly promoted to Mercedes. At eighteen years old, 2025 would always be a learning year for Antonelli, but one in which the Italian makes an impression.

In a top team, beside a proven winner such as George Russell, Antonelli has thus far performed quite consistently. Aside from the moment in Austria, Antonelli has made few big mistakes, and in qualifying, he has an average difference with Russell, which is expected from a rookie.

Antonelli has also already scored his first podium and a pole position for the sprint race in Miami. It is now clear that the Italian is fast, even in Formula 1.

At Red Bull, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, two rookies, started their first full F1 season. Lawson started off poorly next to Max Verstappen, where he was completely outperformed in two race weekends. It led to Red Bull promoting Yuki Tsunoda to the main team.

Once returned to Racing Bulls, Lawson hasn't managed to disprove Red Bull. Next to Hadjar, the New Zealander fades, unable to perform better than the Frenchman despite having two partial seasons of F1 experience.

In that regard, Hadjar is the rookie that has made the most impression in 2025. However, it should be mentioned that his opponent at Racing Bulls was for the most part another rookie, namely Liam Lawson. Still, Hadjar easily defeats the driver who many believed just a few months ago would be 'the ideal teammate of Max Verstappen’.

In addition, Hadjar also made an impression in the first two races next to Tsunoda. In Australia, Hadjar was only a tenth slower than Tsunoda in qualifying, only to defeat him by a large margin in China. Though strategic blunders on the team's side kept the surprisingly strong result from yielding points, these two races already demonstrated Hadjar's potential.