Hard Compound’s 2025 F1 Awards
A Season of Heroes and Heartcrushers
With the 2025 Formula 1 season in the rearview mirror and the massive regulation changes of 2026 looming, now is the perfect time for Team Hard Compound to hand out the "Effies"—our annual celebration of the best, worst, and weirdest moments from the #F1 grid.
From a championship that came down to the final lap to the "shameful" decline of legendary teams, we're looking at you Alpine, here is the state of the sport heading into the new era.
The Big Winners: Speed and Consistency
Best Driver: Max Verstappen
Can Max make it 4 Best Driver Effies in a row? Spoiler: Yes. And 2025 may have been his best season yet.
Despite Lando Norris taking home the actual Drivers' Championship, the Effy for Best Driver went to Max Verstappen. You can make the case that Max Verstappen's 2025 was the greatest season by a non-champion ever. After being down by over 100 points, Max stormed back to nearly snatch the title in a car that clearly wasn't the class of the field.
Best Team: McLaren
There was no contest here. McLaren didn't just win, they dominated. The final year of these engine regulations, yet McLaren was nearly twice as good as any other team on the grid, leaving giants like Mercedes and Ferrari wondering how they fell so far behind.
Best Rookie: Isaac Hadjar
While Ollie Bearman turned heads at Haas, the Effy for Best Rookie goes to Isaac Hadjar. (This should be an easy win for Lindblad in 2026.)
Despite a disastrous debut where he crashed on the formation lap in Melbourne, Hadjar proved he belonged in F1 with consistent, gritty performances throughout the year. Expect him not to equal Max at Red Bull in 2026 but to do what no one else in that second seat has been able to do -- hold on to it.
The "Dirty Air" Awards: Failures and Fumbles
Worst Team: Alpine
Alpine's 2025 season was shamefully embarrassing. Between inner-team strife, questionable driver signings, and selling off pieces of the team to investment groups, Alpine takes home the trophy for the most dysfunctional outfit on the grid. Do new F1 fans realize this is the (remnants) of the once-great Renault team?
Worst Driver: Franco Colapinto
Expectations were not high when he was brought in, but scoring zero points while his teammate Pierre Gasly managed to scrap several points finishes made Colapinto the choice for Worst Driver. Remember, Jack Doohan was unceremoniously dropped from this team for Colapinto.
Dumbest Move: Ferrari’s $100M Headache
The biggest head-scratcher of 2025? Ferrari paying Lewis Hamilton an absolute fortune only for him to spend the season trashing the team and failing to secure a single podium. Meanwhile, the man they booted to make room for him—Carlos Sainz—grabbed two podiums for Williams. How much of a revenge-thrill did that give Sainz?
Iconic Moments
Best Cry: Lando Norris. Watching him win the World Championship with his mom by his side was the emotional peak of the season. Isaac Hadjar's long cry after his first race formation lap fail was a close second.
Favorite Moment: Nico Hulkenberg’s first podium. After 239 races! The "Hulk" finally sprayed the champagne, kinda. Speaking of best cry. This was a moment every hardcore F1 fan celebrated.
Saddest Goodbye: The end of the Christian Horner and Helmut Marko era at Red Bull. Their exits marked the final shift from the "gritty, bootstrap" sport of old to the polished, corporate powerhouse F1 has become. Surprise! The Effy for Saddest Goodbye actually went to another Red Bull member, Yuki Tsunoda. The veteran driver simply had no answer for that unwieldy Red Bull, and was embarrassed by his teammate, Verstappen, who scored over 90% of the team's points.
Looking Ahead: 2026 Predictions
As the lights go out on the 2025 season, and just ahead of official F1 testing, let's offer a couple "crazy predictions" for the 2026 season:
Kimi Antonelli will finish the season ranked higher than his veteran teammate George Russell.
McLaren will fall from grace, finishing no higher than P4 in the standings.
What was your favorite moment of the 2025 season?
Does Max deserve the Best Driver Effy over the actual champion? Let us know in the comments!
Till next time, we are lights out...
