Thoughts on F1 rookies, Newey, Sainz, Africa and other stories

As the season finale, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fades to memory, 2025 looks to be a season for the ages with many changes up and down the F1 grid. Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari, Carlos Sainz to Williams, Esteban Ocon to Haas, Nico Hulkenberg to Sauber were the big movers in the pitlane.

Next year's full-time newcomers (some rookies, others not so much) among them Liam Lawson who drew the 'hottest' seat on the F1 grid, teammate to Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Sergio Perez shown the door a year earlier than his contract stipulated after the four-time World Champion utterly destroyed the Mexican veteran.

Others include teenager Kimi Antonelli who steps up to F1 with Mercedes as George Russell's teammate. Jack Doohan will share a garage with Pierre Gasly at Alpine. Ferrari protege Oliver Bearman will slot in at Haas, Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber and Isack Hadjar promoted by Red Bull as teammate to Yuki Tsunoda.

Starting with Perez's axing by Red Bull, Priestley said: "Checo has a massive fan base and huge commercial support behind him. He can compete in another form of racing, IndyCar might be the obvious choice right now but it will come down to his personal decision.

"Sometimes, drivers come towards to the end of their long F1 careers and when they come to the end of their time in the sport, they might want to prioritise time with family. Perez has multiple options ahead of him though, I don't doubt it."

Priestley highlighted the rookie influx at the pinnacle of the sport set for 2025: "Isack Hadjar is the natural successor to come into the F1 program. We'll get to know more about him in an F1 car and see if he has the potential to be a future F1 World Champion. It's a great chance for Hadjar.

"For Franco Colapinto, it was always a long shot for him to get a seat in 2025. He did everything Williams needed him to do, not just in terms of getting decent results but also kept the car on the track. But, he did end up crashing the car a lot towards the end of the season. It's to be expected in a rookie season.

“If you think about Logan Sargeant, he made a similar amount of mistakes, but he wasn't getting any results. I think Colapinto's introduction was a real success story, teams are now interested in bringing him on board and I have no doubt he will make his mark in F1 in the future.

"Ollie Bearman was perhaps the first high-profile example of a rookie doing well in F1 when he got that opportunity in the Ferrari with no notice. Liam Lawson has done well before too. The way F1 is run now, with access to simulators, psychologists, physical trainers and nutritionists, makes rookies ready for the big move in their careers. This was not happening 10 years ago.

"If you're an F1 team looking for a cheaper option than an already established driver, these rookies are a dream as they don't demand as much and are usually more hungry and keen to race. They're willing to arrange commitments with sponsorships and more. The rookies will do anything you'd need them to do."

Priestley: "It feels like chaos between the FIA and drivers. There were similar moments back in the Ayrton Senna days, but then people were in danger while racing whereas now, it's petty things like swearing and jewellery.

"The FIA need to address other important things, like dealing with how the sport is regulated and permanent stewards, whatever the discussion is, there are so many more important things to address than swearing.

"On the flip side, the drivers can't dictate how the company who runs the sport should do things. The drivers should be able to voice their opinions, as should anyone else in F1, but it feels chaotic in how the sport is being run.

"I wouldn't worry about driver welfare, I'd worry about the thousands of people up and down that pitlane. The drivers are flown in on a private jet last minute, and then flown out again after the race is done. It is still tough for the drivers, but nowhere near how tough it is for the teams. Lots of teams are being forced to deal with the travelling in different ways.

"I can see a future where the FIA have to mandate teams to rotate their workers and not make them work every race of the calendar year. Some teams are already doing that, but there will be a point where all teams have to do it, from a health and safety perspective.

"That last triple-header was brutal, especially in the longest season of the sport's history, to go from Las Vegas to Qatar in a matter of days was so tough. The time differences and environmental changes have a big impact.

"You may think there's a whole week between the races, but the workers finish the race on the Sunday and then have to build their garage at the next location on the Tuesday. It can't be sustained forever, sooner or later accidents will happen due to fatigued or unfit teams, and then something will be changed."

Priestley: "The Santander package that Carlos Sainz has brought to Williams will definitely help them, but we're in a cost-capped era of F1 now. You can bring in as much money as you want, but you can only spend as much as everyone else.

"Williams will become even more of a profitable entity. It will help them fill the budget and hit the cost cap. Most of these sponsorship partners bring more than just money, some sponsorships bring tools, advanced personnel, expertise or more. Maybe Santander are bringing in some financial experts at Williams, but I don't know.

"2026 is a massive opportunity for Williams. Lewis Hamilton was attracted to Mercedes because of the plan they showed him ahead of past regulation changes. We could be seeing the same happen with Sainz at Williams.

"Adrian Newey is a fantastic engineer and has a brilliant mind, but one individual does not guarantee success when developing a new F1 car. I'm not saying that Aston Martin don't have a great team, but we've seen evidence that they have been pretty unsuccessful in designing a good car and then developing that car throughout the season.

"Newey is joining a team with very limited success, but Aston Martin have just attained new state-of-the-art factories and the team is growing rapidly."

Priestley: "F1 adding Rwanda or a South African Grand Prix to their calendar is an inevitability because the sport is growing everywhere around the globe. To sustain the growth, you need representation in all continents.

"It all comes down to money and if a country out there can pay for Grand Prix to come to their country. Rwanda is growing very quickly, F1 can help bring eyeballs to that side of the world and grow the country's tourism and financial situation. There is more demand for F1 than there ever has been."