Personally, I grew up watching Formula 1 (F1) frequently as my father was a pretty big fan and my mom grew to enjoy races as well. Nowadays, my mom is a bigger fan than my dad, cheering on Max Verstappen as part of the “Oranje Army” (Verstappen is of Dutch-Belgian heritage and his fans lean heavily on orange, the national color for the Dutch).

There are years where I completely understand the criticism of Formula 1 being, well, formulaic. There are some seasons when a particular team is hugely dominant and can literally lap all the competition. Sometimes that dominance lasts several years. That’s part of the reason why there are so many technical changes in the sport over the years, they’re try to level the playing field time and again.

Since the next batch of largely impactful rule changes for F1 aren’t set to take place until 2026, we can look back at the 2024 season to say that 2025 should be a very exciting season to watch. If you’ve never watched a race before, this is the year to give it a try. If you’ve been disillusioned by past boredom in the sport, this is the year to come back and try again. If you’ve been a long-time fan like me, then it’s time to hope that the season lives up to everything we’re hoping it will.

Here are my reasons why I’m making the case for watching F1 this year, in no particular order:

1. In the 2024 season, the top seven drivers in championship points all won at least two races. That’s the first time in F1 history such a feat has happened and there are two main reasons why it happened last year. First of all, 2024 was the longest F1 season to date with 24 races (2025 is set to be the same length). That doesn’t guarantee different drivers will win, but it does make it more likely. In previous seasons that were mostly 12-20 races. Second and more importantly, the competition between teams was the best it’s been in years.

In F1, different manufacturers (which can be thought of as teams) make their cars based on a common set of rules. Each manufacturer is in charge of making literally every component that goes into the car though, and they will generally have very different parts. Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Renault are the current engine builders in the sport with Audi set to join in 2026 and Cadillac joining in a few years. Between the diverse engines and car aerodynamics, there has often been a particular team that stood head and shoulders above the rest. Last year, however, different teams shone at different tracks and different weather conditions. That meant, going into each race, we really didn’t know who would get pole position, let alone who would win the race. Everything is pointing to that continuing in 2025.

2. All seven of the aforementioned drivers are returning this year with two of them switching teams and five rookie drivers set to join the grid. Lewis Hamilton, one of the most successful drivers in F1 history, is switching teams for only the second time in his career. As he takes to the track this year, his car will sport the iconic red coloring and prancing horse of Ferrari, the oldest team in F1. Charles Leclerc is the other Ferrari driver and he doesn’t back down from a challenge, even from a teammate. The two may or may not work well together, but Ferrari as a team is hoping to win the constructor’s championship in 2025 after coming up just 14 points shy in 2024.

Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion (currently on four championships in a row), has a new teammate that drove in only 11 races so far in his career (five in 2023 and six in 2024) which should be an interesting rivalry to follow. Verstappen has won a staggering 30% of the races he’s been in and shows no sign of slowing down, but everyone else is hoping to bring his numbers down next year.

McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, themselves only in the sport for six and two years, respectively, led the team to the constructor’s championship in 2024, breaking Red Bull Racing’s dominance of the previous three years. It was the first championship McLaren won since 1998 and neither of the drivers who helped them get there had been born yet. They’re both returning in the papaya orange colors of McLaren and each of them have their eyes set on the driver’s championship this year.

George Russell established himself as the lead Mercedes driver, besting now former teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying and points. In 2025, he’ll be paired up with 18-year-old rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli who has yet to race in F1 but has the future hopes of Mercedes resting on his shoulders.

In short, the top four teams in F1 last year all have high hopes they can be the team on top as 2025 comes to a close, and it looks like any of them have a genuine chance of accomplishing that.

3. Racing is most exciting when it is close and passes happen on track instead of in the pit lane. On track passing has been on the rise in recent history in F1 and last year saw those passes higher up the order as drivers fought for the lead on track repeatedly. Many times in the past, whoever led after the first lap would cruise on to a victory by 20 seconds or more. In 2024, the top three drivers were often separated by five seconds or less.

In the pre-race shows, F1 pundits who would usually talk about how track conditions would suit a particular team started throwing up their hands in 2024 as the only predictable thing was unpredictability. Even when they thought they knew the two drivers who might be in the running for pole position, the competition would usually balloon to six drivers who had a legitimate shot.

4. This may sound a little funny as an argument to watch F1 in 2025, but another US-based team will join the grid starting in 2026 as General Motors reached an agreement to get Cadillac branded cars in the competition. It will be an odd sight to have Cadillac cars with Ferrari engines, but that will change soon with a target date of 2030 for a fully “works” team, meaning Cadillac and GM would be building every component of their car as Ferrari does with their team.

While there are currently zero American drivers in F1, this will be the second US-based team competing with the first being Haas that started with F1 in 2014. With three stateside races (Miami, Austin and Las Vegas) on the calendar, F1 has been increasing in popularity in the US. Many of those who attend the race are people from other countries, taking a trip to the US while following their F1 fandom, but slowly the sport is making ground on NASCAR and IndyCar.

If you start watching F1 in 2025, then you’ll be ready to cheer on Cadillac and Haas as they strive to become race winners along with the famous car manufacturers throughout F1 history. Maybe some American talent will rise through the ranks as well and we’ll see a new US driver sooner than later. Regardless, now is the time to get involved in the sport to prepare for the future patriotic excitement.

There was some amazing competition throughout the 2024 season in F1 and, again, all signs are pointing to that continuing in 2025. I get excited writing about the potential of the next season in F1 and beyond with the rule changes in 2026 potentially upending everything once again. I think this is a great time to be a fan of F1 and encourage everyone to give it a try this year. Races start on March 16.