With only a few days left until the New Year’s countdown, F1 fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2025 season. However, when we look ahead, we’ve discovered some uncanny similarities between the 2025 and 2014 F1 seasons…
These striking parallels were summarized by foreign fans. The first similarity, though not particularly significant, is quite interesting: many race dates are identical between the two seasons. For instance, both seasons open with the first race on March 16 in Australia, and the race dates for Monaco, Britain, Monza in Italy, and Brazil are also the same.
Although it might seem relatively easy to align the dates of these races, it becomes less straightforward when considering that the 2014 F1 season only had 19 races, whereas the 2025 season will feature 24. Moreover, next season’s Bahrain Grand Prix has been rescheduled as the fourth race due to Ramadan, making this coincidence even more remarkable.
Now, onto the main point! The second similarity is that Sebastian Vettel won his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship in the 2013 season and entered the 2014 season with Red Bull as the defending champion. Similarly, in the 2025 season, Max Verstappen, who achieved his fourth consecutive championship last season, will continue his campaign with Red Bull in the same capacity.
In 2014, Verstappen was only 16 years old. At the time, he had already been confirmed to join Toro Rosso as an official driver in 2015, making him the youngest driver in F1 history.
Interestingly, the 2014 season marked F1’s official transition into the hybrid era. It was also the year when Mercedes took over Red Bull’s dominance in F1. Leveraging Daimler’s vast resources and Mercedes’ experience in commercial car technology, the team produced a power unit that was two years ahead of the competition. Combined with the outstanding performances of Hamilton and Rosberg, this laid the foundation for the eight-year championship dynasty that belonged exclusively to Mercedes.
We can imagine that if it is now 2025, we might eagerly anticipate the new F1 regulations in 2026, potentially witnessing the rise of another dynasty. However, this might also suggest that Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominant era is nearing its end. After all, like Vettel’s four consecutive titles, Verstappen already began to see Red Bull’s decline in the latter part of the 2024 season. McLaren’s ultimate triumph in the Constructors’ Championship could very well signify the dawn of a new era.
By now, you might think these coincidences are remarkable enough, but observant fans have pointed out a third similarity. Before the start of both the 2025 and 2014 seasons, the reigning champions, Verstappen and Vettel, both welcomed their first child. Vettel celebrated the birth of his first daughter, Emily, on January 12, 2014, while Verstappen announced earlier this month that his girlfriend is expecting their first child.
The following points are all related to driver lineups.
The fourth similarity is that in both seasons, a Red Bull driver announced their departure from F1 before the season began. After the 2024 season, Pérez left Red Bull, while after the 2013 season, Mark Webber, who had competed in F1 for 12 seasons, also announced his retirement. The departures of these Red Bull drivers triggered a chain reaction, leading to the next two similarities.
In the 2014 season, Ricciardo moved from Toro Rosso to Red Bull to team up with Vettel, while in the 2025 season, Lawson, who barely had time to settle into the Toro Rosso cockpit, has already been promoted to Red Bull as Verstappen’s teammate. In 2014, Toro Rosso chose Daniil Kvyat, the 2013 GP3 Series champion, to replace Ricciardo, while this year, Toro Rosso replaced Lawson with F2 driver Hadjar.
Similarly, in 2024, Antonelli, who finished sixth in this year’s F2 season, will debut as a full-time F1 driver next year. Back in 2014, Kevin Magnussen, who finished sixth in the 2013 GP2 Series, also made his F1 debut, stepping in as a McLaren Young Driver Program member to replace Pérez as a full-time driver.
The next two similarities involve Ferrari. Before both seasons, a former Ferrari driver moved to Williams. After the 2024 season, Sainz left Ferrari to join Williams, while after the 2013 season, Felipe Massa, the 2008 F1 runner-up, left Ferrari after eight years to join Williams, teaming up with a relatively inexperienced Bottas.
The final point is one that many fans might have already guessed: both seasons saw a former world champion join Ferrari! In 2014, with Massa moving to Williams and Maldonado taking his seat at Lotus, Räikkönen returned to Ferrari, where he had previously raced from 2007 to 2009, forming a star-studded lineup with Alonso. Similarly, in the upcoming 2025 F1 season, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will don the red Ferrari suit and compete for the Scuderia.
After reading all of this, fans might recall that the 2014 grid featured an Asian driver, Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi, who returned to F1 with Caterham. At a recent fan event, Zhou Guanyu revealed that he would appear as a reserve driver at next year’s Chinese Grand Prix. If these seasons truly share so many similarities, Zhou’s return to the F1 grid could be another.
Of course, we hope that moment doesn’t have to come.
