3 F1 drivers that have been a disappointment this season

Before every F1 season kicks off, there are preset expectations that we tend to have of every driver. These expectations ideally depend on how these drivers have performed on the track in the past. It could, however, also depend on the kind of hype any of them have behind them.

If there is a driver who has had a lot of good things written about him recently, then he is expected to live up to the hype on track. For the 2025 F1 season, we're at the midway point.

12 races are done, and 12 are left. If we have to look back at these 12 races, which drivers would we pick as ones that have failed to live up to expectations? Let's take a look.

#3 Franco Colapinto (Alpine F1)

When Franco Colapinto was forced to take a back seat for 2025 after a sensational debut in 2024, it was a bit of a disappointment for everyone involved because that meant a prospect was going to get benched for a year and not have an opportunity to show what they're capable of.

His debut alongside Alex Albon turned heads because until that point, no driver had stepped into that team and put together any kind of a challenge against the Thai driver. When Colapinto did so without any prior experience in the car, it just meant that there was a special talent that had been unearthed.

Hence, when he got his opportunity at Alpine by replacing Jack Doohan, quite a few people were excited to see what the Argentinian could do. In fairness, his run at Alpine has been a complete flop. For some reason that not many have been able to wrap their heads around, Colapinto has found it hard to get on top of the car. A

s a result, the pace is just not there. For now, it seems that Colapinto is a part of the squad on a race-by-race basis, and one has to wonder if having a Flavio Briatore as a part of the outfit has maybe led to a below-par return to F1 for the driver.

#2 Carlos Sainz (Williams F1)

Carlos Sainz has been left dejected by his first 12 races of the season, and this was something that the Spaniard summed up in an apt manner to the media after another bad race in Silverstone. The driver stepped into Williams as a driver who was rated very highly by James Vowles and looked at as the next leader.

He was expected to take over from Alex Albon as the benchmark within the team as Vowles starts building everything around him. Well, the reality has been far from that. Carlos Sainz's run at Williams has been below par, to say the least. The driver has struggled to keep up with Albon, and he has put a lot of it down to the adaptation process.

While that might be the case, the fact that there is a significant deficit between the two drivers in terms of points is something that falls way below what Sainz would have hoped for when he began life at Williams.

#1 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

Yes, we have to admit that the adaptation process has taken time. Yes, it's safe to say that Lewis Hamilton has shown signs of improvement in the last few races, and yes, there have been moments like the sprint race in China and the British GP where he has looked as big a talent as any in F1.

But, we cannot deny that Hamilton's start to life at Ferrari has been below par. The reasoning for that stems simply from what the driver has himself admitted, as he feels he has struggled with the adaptation process. While that is true, we're looking at Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest talents in F1.

A driver of his caliber should have been able to adapt to the car quicker, and there should not have been such a massive performance gap between the two drivers at quite a few races in the season. If the Ferrari was a title-contending car this season, Lewis Hamilton would have been rueing the gap he has to Charles Leclerc, as it would have potentially been for the title, and hence, if we are talking about the driver who has been the biggest disappointment this season, then we have to go with Lewis Hamilton.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli