I analysed EVERY F1 driving style in 2025... | COMPLETE GUIDE

I analysed every F1 driving style in 2025 and here is what I found...

20. Max Verstappen:

Max Verstappen is a Smooth Oversteer driver. He is smooth on the steering and extremely sensitive to the limit of grip. He carries lots of speed during the entry and mid-corner stages, extracting the most out of the oversteery Red Bull. With an extreme preference towards oversteer but a tendency to be smooth, it is clear he has an innate feeling for the limit.

19. Liam Lawson:

Liam Lawson is known for having an Aggressive Oversteer driving style. Compared to Tsunoda, he brakes early and likes to carry a high mid-corner speed. Lawson likes to prioritise his exit speed, often having the faster exit. This driving style is much like Verstappen’s, potentially matching the way the Red Bull likes to be driven.

18. Charles Leclerc:

Charles Leclerc is an Aggressive Oversteer driver. He likes to brake hard and late into corners and carry a high minimum speed. He is inclined towards a U-shaped racing line, but is adaptable. Leclerc micro-corrects and dances the car around, indicative of his innate feel for the limit.

17. Lewis Hamilton:

Lewis Hamilton is a Smooth Understeer driver, but is known to be quite neutral in terms of a car setup. He likes a strong rear end on entry, needing stability for his aggressive entries. Hamilton is often the latest braker on track, going hard and late on the brakes, deep into the apex. He carries a high entry speed, but compromises his mid-corner speed to set up a good exit. Hamilton has an especially innate feeling for the limit of the brakes.

16. Lando Norris:

Lando Norris is a Smooth Oversteer driver. Despite this, he is quite neutral in preferring oversteer or understeer. Norris is a late braker, going hard and late on the brakes, deep into the apex. Despite taking a V-shaped racing line, his steering inputs are smooth, while he modulates the pedals to keep the car on the edge.

15. Oscar Piastri:

Oscar Piastri is also a Smooth Oversteer driver, but relatively neutral in terms of car setup. He likes to have a high minimum speed in the corners and take a U-shaped racing line. His steering inputs are smooth, and telemetry shows that he tends to coast more than Norris.

14. Kimi Antonelli:

Kimi Antonelli has an Aggressive Understeer driving style. He said himself that his preference of understeer is similar to Hamilton’s. He likes to go hard and late on the brakes, deep into the corner, resembling Hamilton's late-braking driving style. Antonelli likes to correct the wheel in the corners, having a typical F2 driving style.

13. George Russell:

George Russell is a Smooth Oversteer driver. He is particularly known to be a ‘slow in and fast out’ driver, who tends to slow down more on entry to set up a faster exit. He takes a V-shaped racing line, braking in a straight line and rotating the car early for a better exit line. Russell can be both fast and kind on the tyres with his versatile driving style.

12. Jack Doohan:

Jack Doohan is a Smooth Oversteer driver. In an interview, he said that he prefers oversteer rather than understeer. Being new onto the grid, he has adapted his aggressive F2 driving style into a smoother F1 style. Telemetry shows that he brakes earlier than both Ocon and Gasly, slowing down more in the corners. However, much like George Russell, he likes to set up his corners to benefit his exit speed. 

11. Pierre Gasly:

Pierre Gasly is an Aggressive Oversteer driver. He likes to brake hard and late into corners and rotate the car aggressively. Gasly is known for being an aggressive downshifter as well, liking to have the rear end move around on entry. He gains time on entry and mid-corner, but compromises his exit.

10. Fernando Alonso:

Fernando Alonso is an Aggressive Understeer driver. He has an incredible feel for the limit of the front tyres and is more inclined towards the aggressive side. He typically micro-corrects the steering in the corners and drives the car on the limit of the fronts. 

9. Lance Stroll:

Lance Stroll is known for being an Aggressive Oversteer driver. He is more reactive to the car and likes to micro-correct the steering to get as close as possible to the limit. In comparison to Alonso, he is more inclined towards oversteer than understeer.

8. Esteban Ocon:

Esteban Ocon is a Smooth Understeer driver. He is one of the smoothest drivers on the grid, also being fast in the wet and good at managing tyre wear. Similarly to Russell, he slightly underdrives the car on entry and mid-corner but gets a nicer exit as a result. He brakes earlier than Gasly and settles the car into the corner smoothly.

7. Oliver Bearman:

Oliver Bearman is an Aggressive Oversteer driver. Much like Leclerc, he likes to brake late into the corners, however, telemetry data showed that he had a lower minimum speed. Bearman was also more inclined towards the V-shaped racing line, carrying this preference from F2.  He is new to the sport, adapting his style from the typically aggressive F2 style to a smoother F1 style. 

6. Gabriel Bortoleto:

Gabriel Bortoleto is an Aggressive Oversteer driver. He said in an interview that he was an aggressive driver but could adapt to what the car liked. In order to adapt to the F1 cars, he must smoothen out his aggressive style, only driving how the car likes to be handled.

5. Nico Hulkenberg:

Nico Hulkenberg is known as being a Smooth Understeer/Oversteer driver. He is quite neutral in terms of car setup and can adapt well. He is actually the earlier braker compared to Magnussen, carrying less speed into the corner but making up for it in the mid-corner and exit. Hulkenberg creates a more stable platform mid-corner and can carry more momentum.

4. Isack Hadjar:

Isack Hadjar has an Aggressive Oversteer driving style. He said himself that he is an aggressive driver, who likes to go hard and late on the brakes, carrying speed into the corners. Hadjar’s aggression in his early open-wheeler career has quite obviously carried into his F1 driving style. 

3. Yuki Tsunoda:

Yuki Tsunoda is an Aggressive Oversteer driver. He likes to brake hard and late into corners, get the car rotated at the apex and straight-line the exit. He follows a more aggressive V-shaped line to carry lots of speed into corners, while having a slower mid-corner. Tsunoda tends to micro-correct in the mid-corner and get the rotation done as soon as possible.

2. Alex Albon:

Alex Albon is a Smooth Oversteer driver. He is smooth and gradual with the steering, winding on a consistent lock for the mid-corner. He stays on the limit mostly through pedal modulation, preferring to induce rotation himself rather than having an extremely oversteery car setup. Albon is kind on the tyres and takes a V-shaped line as well.

1. Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz is a Smooth Understeer driver, the opposite of his teammate. Sainz likes to be smooth on turn-in and trailbrake deep into the corner. He carries less speed in the mid-corner but makes up for it on exit. He needs a strong rear end to extract the most out of his style, being aggressive when inducing rotation.

The 2025 F1 grid is well balanced, having exactly 10 aggressive, and 10 smooth drivers.  In terms of car setup, most drivers prefer oversteer, with only 6 liking understeer. Finally, new drivers coming from F2 this year mean that the 2025 driving styles are skewed more towards the aggressive side.