The 7 F1 rule changes in 2025 you need to know about

The 2025 Formula 1 season is just around the corner, but what changes can F1 fans expect at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March?

2025 is one of the most hotly-anticipated seasons in modern F1 history, with Lewis Hamilton's shock switch to Ferrari sparking a plethora of driver transfers up and down the grid.

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On top of this, the championship battle looks to be wide open, with McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all looking likely to give their drivers a car capable of claiming regular race victories.

McLaren head into the season as constructors' champions, but what changes will they have to contend with as they look to defend their crown from the chasing pack?

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1. Rookies' delight at extra opportunities

The 2025 season will see four rookies thrown into full-time F1 seats for the first time, with Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto all lining up alongside experienced team-mates.

However, off the track, a number of youngsters have taken up reserve driver roles with teams, including Paul Aron at Alpine and Arthur Leclerc at Ferrari.

F1 rookies behind the scenes within teams are set to be given a huge boost in 2025, with double the amount of running time. Previously, teams had to field a rookie in each of their cars at least once during practice sessions throughout a season, but that has increased to twice per car.

A rookie is somebody who has taken part in two or less F1 races during their racing career, meaning Alpine star Franco Colapinto will not count as a rookie run for the Enstone outfit.

2. Driver cooling kits

At the end of 2024, the FIA announced the introduction of cooling kits for drivers for 2025, in an attempt to try and ease the burden placed on competitors at races including the Singapore, Qatar and Saudi Arabian grands prix.

If temperatures are set to reach or exceed 31 degrees Celsius for a sprint or main race, a 'heat hazard' will be declared, forcing all teams to carry an extra 5kg in their cars for a mandated driver cooling system.

The cooling kits will consist of a fireproof shirt that allows a fluid to be pumped around a series of tubes. They also include a pump, plumbing and a thermal store to generate the cooling.

The hope is that these kits will help to avoid a scenario similar to the 2023 Qatar GP, where a number of drivers were taken ill after the hot conditions in which the main grand prix took place in.

3. Fewer points available in championship battle

Fastest lap points have been banished for 2025. Since 2019, drivers have picked up an extra point if they finish in the top 10 and achieve the fastest lap.

However, it did lead to some drivers abandoning their races to pit and fit a set of new tyres at the end in order to claim the fastest lap point, or to stop a rival from getting the extra point.

The most famous example of this in 2024 came during Daniel Ricciardo's final F1 race, when the Australian finished last but claimed the fastest lap on the final lap of the Singapore GP, taking the extra point away from Lando Norris and helping Max Verstappen's title bid.

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4. Hamilton and rivals given major testing blow

The early part of Hamilton's Ferrari career has seen him testing previous Ferrari cars in order to get to grips with the team, and provide vital data for the Maranello outfit.

He has been able to do this due to F1's Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) rule, a programme that all drivers make use of to get back up to speed after a break from racing.

However, the amount of days that each driver can take part in has dropped to just four, again in an attempt to give test and reserve drivers more time on the track.

Teams are still allowed 20 days of TPC running, but their grand prix-racing drivers can only take part in four and not exceed 1000km of running.

5. Qualifying classification change

The FIA have also written into F1 regulations the procedure that will take place if a qualifying session is unable to go ahead due to adverse weather conditions or any other reason.

2024's Brazilian GP saw a hectic Sunday, after qualifying was abandoned on the Saturday, instead taking place on Sunday morning, with the race just a few hours later.

Now, it has officially been written into the rule that, if it's determined that qualifying can not go ahead, then the order for Sunday's race will be decided by the drivers' championship standings at that particular point in time. This will also be the case for a sprint qualifying session.

If the season-opening Australian GP qualifying can't go ahead and therefore the drivers' championship cannot be used as no races will have been completed yet, then a grid order will be decided at the stewards’ discretion.

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6. Harsher DRS rules implemented

The 2024 Azerbaijan GP sparked a major debate among teams, after a viral social media clip appeared to show the rear wing on Oscar Piastri's car slightly opening down the straights, as he fended off his rivals to take the victory.

This became known as 'mini DRS', a play on the system which drivers use to overtake competitors when they are within one second of the car in front in a DRS zone.

It also sparked an investigation from the FIA into McLaren's rear wing design, with the team being told they cannot use that specification of rear wing again, but that they were not specifically doing anything that broke the rules.

Now, the FIA have written into the rules that, from 2025, it is illegal to have such deflection in the rear wing, applying stricter rules about how much flexibility is allowed in a wing that is not operating its DRS function.

7. End of season test changes

With new regulations sweeping into the sport in 2026, F1 have decided to make some modifications to their 2025 end-of-season testing schedule in Abu Dhabi.

This test is usually reserved for younger drivers to get a taste of F1 action, as well as providing crucial tyre data for the teams, and that will still be the case for one of a team's two cars.

However, the second car will instead be adapted to be able to be used alongside 2026 tyres, which will be different to accommodate the lighter, smaller cars that are coming into the sport in 2026.

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