The top was quite different between 2024 and 2025. Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were both in the top two, but the order changed. The margin between them was also very different. The driver finishing third was not the same each year.

The most glaring difference is that in 2024, Max Verstappen won the world driver’s championship, while in 2025, Lando Norris did. The margin between first and second was also greater in 2024 than in 2025. 

Verstappen was 63 points ahead of Norris at the end of the season, while Norris was only 2 points ahead of Verstappen at the end of the 2025 season.

Last season, Charles Leclerc finished third. Leclerc also made a run for second towards the end of the season. In 2025, Oscar Piastri finished in third place after his championship run during the middle of the season.

Oscar Piastri finished 4th in 2024, 145 points behind first place. In 2025, George Russell finished 4th, 104 points behind the leader. Fifth place was a Ferrari both years, with Carlos Sainz in 2024 (290 points) and Charles Leclerc in 2025 (242 points).

Sixth place saw a more extreme drop in points in 2025 than in 2024. George Russell finished sixth in 2024 with 245 points, and Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in 2025 with 156 points. In 2024, Lewis Hamilton finished seventh with 223 points, and in 2025, Kimi Antonelli finished 10th with 150 points.

Eighth to tenth place is where the biggest difference in the top ten lies. In 2024, Sergio Perez finished his last season with Red Bull in eighth place, and in 2025, Alex Albon finished eighth.

Fernando Alonso finished 2024 in ninth place, while Carlos Sainz finished 2025, his first season in a Williams car, in ninth place. Lastly, Pierre Gasly finished 2024 in tenth place, and Fernando Alonso finished 2025 in tenth place. 

In both 2024 and 2025, Nico Hulkenberg finished just outside the top ten in 11th place. In 2024, he finished with 41 points and was just one point behind Gasly in tenth. In 2025, Hulkenberg finished with 51 points and was five points behind Alonso in tenth

In 2024, Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th, Lance Stroll in 13th, Esteban Ocon in 14th, Kevin Magnussen in 15th, Alex Albon in 16th, Daniel Ricciardo in 17th, Oliver Bearman in 18th, Franco Colapinto in 19th, and Zhou Guanyu in 20th. The 2024 season also had some driver changes and fill-ins so there is a 21st-24th despite there only being 20 drivers on the grid. These drivers are Liam Lawson, Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, and Jack Doohan.

In 2025, Isack Hadjar  finished 12th, Oliver Bearman in 13th, Liam Lawson in 14th, Esteban Ocon in 15th, Lance Stroll in 16th, Yuki Tsunoda in 17th, Pierre Gasly in 18th, Gabriel Bortoleto  in 19th, and Franco Colapinto in 20th. There was also one driver change in 2025 leaving Jack Doohan in 21st.

The title race between 2024 and 2025 shows how exciting and unpredictable Formula 1 can be. With the 2025 season in the books, we can see that even more thrilling challenges are ahead. We are all looking forward to an exciting new season, which is only a few months away! Stay tuned...

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