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The best driver in F1 25 is Max Verstappen, still the only 95-rated driver in the game after the 2026 Season Pack update. Right behind him is new world champion Lando Norris on 94, then George Russell on 93 and Charles Leclerc on 92. This ranking uses EA Sports’ official 2026 Season Pack ratings — the current grid, with Audi and Cadillac now on it — which decide how each AI drives and who is worth signing in My Team and Driver Career.
Below is the full 22-driver F1 25 grid for the 2026 Season Pack, ranked by Overall Rating (OVR), with team. Each OVR is built from four stats — Experience, Racecraft, Awareness and Pace — with Pace weighted most heavily.
The best F1 25 drivers, ranked
The full 2026 grid ranked by Overall Rating. Ratings are EA Sports’ official launch values for the F1 25 2026 Season Pack.
| # | Driver | Team | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 95 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 94 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | 93 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 92 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 91 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 91 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 90 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 86 |
| 9 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 85 |
| 10 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 85 |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 85 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 84 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 84 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 84 |
| 15 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 83 |
| 16 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 83 |
| 17 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 83 |
| 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 80 |
| 19 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 79 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 77 |
| 21 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 73 |
| 22 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 68 |

What changed in the 2026 Season Pack
The 2026 Season Pack rewrites the grid to match the real 2026 season, and the ratings move with it. Audi takes over the old Sauber entry (Hülkenberg and Bortoleto), and an all-new Cadillac team joins as the eleventh outfit, bringing Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas back onto the grid. The pack also adds the new Madrid (MADRING) circuit. At the top, Norris climbs to 94 as reigning champion and Russell rises to 93, while Oscar Piastri makes the biggest jump of the front-runners, up to 91. The rookies from 2025 all surge: Kimi Antonelli leaps from 72 to 83, Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar both climb to 83, and Bortoleto breaks 80 for the first time. Carlos Sainz is the notable faller, dropping to 86.
How the driver ratings work
Every driver’s Overall Rating is built from four stats. Pace reflects how close they get to the fastest race and qualifying laps, and it has the biggest impact on the OVR. Racecraft measures how well they work through the field, Awareness tracks how cleanly they avoid incidents and penalties, and Experience simply rises with the number of races started. That last stat is why veterans top the chart there — Alonso sits on 99 Experience and Hamilton on 98 — while rookies like Lindblad (32 Experience) sit low despite strong form. They climb fast as they bank race starts in Career mode. Verstappen’s 95 is powered by a 96 in both Pace and Racecraft.
The top drivers explained
Four drivers you build a team around.
#1
Best of the rest
Best all-round
Best qualifier
If you want the wider picture of racing games, F1 25 sits among the picks in our best racing games ranking, and it is the top motorsport entry in our best sports games list.
Best young drivers to sign
In My Team, a driver’s rating matters less than their ceiling — and the rookies are the bargains. Their low Experience scores drag down the OVR now, but they climb quickly with race starts, making them cheap signings who grow into stars over a Career save.
It is the same logic as building a football team around cheap wonderkids — our EA FC 26 best wonderkids guide covers the football equivalent.

