Formula 1 Is Back From Summer Break: 5 Huge Storylines To Watch As 2025 Season Heats Up
Keep your eyes on these stories when the lights go out
After a nice, long summer break through most of August, Formula 1 is back in action this weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.
It's an exciting time because while the summer break doesn't split the season exactly in two, it does pretty much signal the start of the "second-half," and anything can happen.
Teams may fall apart, others may suddenly find another gear, while plenty of drivers are still battling to stay on the grid for 2026 and beyond.
With the success of the F1 movie likely bringing in fresh fans, now’s the perfect time to break down the second half of the season.
McLaren's Lando Norris (front) and Oscar Piastri are in the midst of a serious title battle. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
An Actual World Championship Battle
I'd have to go back and look at the standings from this time over the last few seasons, but I'm 99.9 percent certain that this is the first time since 2021 that F1 has reconvened with an actual battle for the World Drivers' Championship still happening.
Since 2021, Max Verstappen has pretty much had it locked up by this point, but in 2025, we've got McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris separated by just nine points, with Piastri currently holding the lead.
It's been fairly back and forth this season, but both McLaren drivers have given us a show, with Norris showing some flashes of brilliance to balance out some costly mistakes *cough*Like in Canada*cough*, while Piastri has been pretty consistent all season long.
I've always thought Piastri had the edge, but it's way closer at this point in the year than I would've thought, which bodes well for Norris.
These two are miles ahead of the rest of the field (Red Bull's Max Verstappen in P3 is nearly 100 points back), and we should all expect the McLaren to continue being the best car on the grid.
Will we see some fireworks down the stretch? It's certainly possible in a close battle between teammates.
Constructors' Championship Battles
One thing that non-motorsports and especially non-F1 fans have trouble understanding is that just because a championship is effectively locked up doesn't mean there isn't still a lot to play for.
For instance, with ten races left, McLaren leads Ferrari for the Constructors' Championship by 299 points.
It would take the unraveling to end all unravelings for McLaren not to win its second straight constructors' title.
But every place in the constructors' standings is worth millions in prize money, and there are still plenty of battles to be found when you look at the standings.
Mercedes is just 24 points behind Ferrari for P2.
Williams is just 18 points ahead of Aston Martin for P5.
Sauber is just one point behind Aston Martin in P7, with Racing Bulls just six points behind them and currently sitting in P8.
There will be some bouncing around through these final races as every one of those teams we just talked about can score on most weekends. In the case of Williams, some tracks are coming up that have historically suited them very well, namely Monza, the lowest-downforce circuit on the calendar.
The Development Race
The game within the game of Formula 1 is the off-track work that goes into developing a good car. It's essentially an arms race, but this year is a little different.
There will be significant regulations changes in 2026, and it might be tempting for teams to get a head start on their car for next season.
However, remember those really tight standings we just talked about?
Well, some teams are going to have to make some tough decisions about whether to allocate resources to improving their current cars and potentially earning some more prize money, or working toward hitting the ground running next season.
It's a tough call, and we'll see which way each team goes soon enough.
Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari struggled in the first half of the season. Can they right the ship in the final ten races? (Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images)
Can Hamilton And Ferrari Get It Together?
Over the break, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said that he and Lewis Hamilton may have underestimated how tough a transition it would be to bring the seven-time champion to the team.
Hamilton has struggled quite a bit, especially in qualifying, and that even led him to call himself "useless" and say the team needs to switch drivers after the final race before the break in Hungary.
He has also been public about issues he's having with the car and the way the team operates, and it'll be interesting to see if they've listened to him.
One of the most interesting races for them will be the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. That's Ferrari's home race, and there's always a lot of pressure to perform, especially with a seven-time champ in one of the cars.
Can they get it together? Or will these next ten races be the roughest of Hamilton's illustrious career?
Some of the fastest tracks on the calendar are coming up including the Las Vegas Street Circuit. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Speed, Speed, And More Speed
We mentioned Monza — the Temple of Speed — which has the highest average speed of any track in Formula 1.
However, it's one of several tracks in this final batch of races that will be friendliest to teams with superior straight-line speed.
Another is Baku, one of my favorite circuits. It's always tricky because it starts with 90-degree corners, features a really twisty, technical section in the middle, but then ends with the longest straight in Formula 1. The balancing act is figuring out how to set up the car so that there's enough downforce to get through the corners quickly, but not so much downforce that you end up losing time on that long straight. This is because more downforce means more drag.
It's a similar situation with the Las Vegas Street Circuit, though it's not quite as twisty in places as Baku is. Teams will, however, have to figure out how much downforce they need to help heat the tires quickly in what tends to be one of the coldest races of the season.
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There's plenty more where that comes from, but these are some of the big ones I'll be watching for.
How about you? Let me know: matthew.reigle@outkick.com