The key F1 rule changes to know for 2025 season

The new F1 season is fast approaching with the Australian Grand Prix opening the 2025 campaign next weekend.

The year promises to be an exciting one, with multiple teams and drivers tipped to be in the hunt for the titles.

The field is expected to be close as the ageing regulation cycle has made development gains increasingly difficult to unlock.

Although the technical regulations have remained the same, some elements differ compared to last year. But what exactly is new for the 2025 season?

We take you through the key changes below!

Flexi-wings

Flexiwings were a hot topic of conversation throughout the recent winter break.

During 2024, McLaren and Mercedes were under a magnifying glass as their front and rear wings flexed considerably on the straights. 

Around the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a real storm arose around McLaren when on-board images showed a so-called 'mini DRS'.

The FIA finally decided to adjust the rules around flexible wings. As of the Australian Grand Prix, the minimum opening of the rear wing has shrunk to 9.4 to 13 millimetres. Last year it was 10 to 15 millimeters. With DRS open, the upper limit remains 85 millimetres.

From the Spanish Grand Prix, there will also be stricter supervision of front wings. At the beginning of the season, the front wing is still allowed to deflect a maximum of 15 millimeters during the static test, but from the race weekend in Spain this will be reduced to a maximum of 10 millimetres. 

The FIA chose the timeline to give the teams time to make adjustments.

Point for fastest lap

In 2025, a point will no longer be handed out to the driver who sets the fastest lap. 

The rule was originally introduced in 2019 to create more opportunities in the championship, but it has sometimes sparked controversy - for example, last year in Singapore, RB, Red Bull's sister team, brought in Daniel Ricciardo to set the fastest race lap on softs. 

The Australian snatched a point from Lando Norris, who was competing for the world title with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

The rule also led to special moments in a race. Indeed, if a driver was dominant in the lead, a free pit stop could be made if the lead was large enough. That made the point for the fastest race lap too easy, so F1 opted to do away with the extra point.

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Increase in minimum weight

In recent years, the minimum weight of Formula 1 cars has steadily increased. 

This is partly due to the large, heavy V6 hybrid engines introduced in 2014. But for next season, the minimum weight without fuel has been adjusted upward again, from 798 kilograms to 800 kilograms to be exact. 

This is due to a change in the minimum weight of the drivers, which has increased from 80 kilograms to 82 kilograms. 

If a driver is lighter than 82 kilograms, extra ballast will be added to the car to make it fairer. 

Cooling

The extreme heat of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix left its mark on the F1 world. 

Drivers fell ill at the wheel and Logan Sargeant even opted to pull himself out of the running after becoming unwell, after which the FIA investigated various solutions. 

As a result, 2025 will see the introduction of the cooling vest, which may be used at temperatures higher than 30.5 degrees celsius. However, it is not yet mandatory to put on the vest, as the obligation will not be implemented until 2026. 

Should a driver choose not to put on a cooling vest in extreme temperatures, he must carry 500 grams of extra ballast to compensate for the weight. 

The ballast may only be placed in the cockpit to prevent teams from adjusting anything in their favour in terms of tuning.

Rookie outings

Formula 1 has increased the chances rookie drivers will get behind the wheel this year.

In previous seasons, teams had to give two free practice sessions to a rookie driver with each full-time driver stepping aside once.

But from 2025 that number has been augmented. Per car, rookies now have two chances to show themselves, so a total of four rookie sessions per team.

An idea is also still on the table to organise a sprint race for rookies after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

This would also allow drivers to potentially gain added exposure to F1 teams. There was already a proposal last year, but it was postponed at the last minute.

TPC tests

F1 teams conduct several TPC tests per year - meaning tests carried out in cars that are at least two years old. 

Max Verstappen, for example, traveled to Imola in 2024 to test the 2022 Red Bull to make plans to improve his current car. 

F1, however, has significantly curtailed TPC testing starting in 2025. Teams are allowed to schedule a maximum of 20 TPC runs per year, while current F1 drivers are only allowed to drive 2,000 kilometers spread over a maximum of four days. 

In addition, stricter rules have been drawn up for so-called "mule cars," cars specially modified for a test to mimic a rule change. A maximum of 10 such days will be scheduled by the FIA.

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Safety

During the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, controversy surrounded Sergio Perez and Red Bull. The Mexican driver crashed, after which he returned his badly damaged car to the pit lane. 

Red Bull did so to protect leader Verstappen's position and avoid a safety car. 

The incident, however, landed Perez a three-place grid penalty, as the stewards felt he compromised safety.

The FIA decided to intervene and make a rule change. If a driver continues on his way with an unsafe car, the race director can order a team to park the car. In that case, therefore, the driver in question will drop out.

Starting grid

Rainfall seemed to throw a spanner in the works during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Qualifying was postponed to Sunday morning, but there was also talk of a race-only situation. 

How the starting grid would be determined was unclear in that case. After a change, however, that will be a lot clearer in 2025: if qualifying cannot take place for whatever reason, the starting order will be determined based on the world championship standings. 

Also, the rules around the formation lap have been changed. Drivers who previously started from the pit lane did not participate in the formation lap. 

Starting next season, they will be permitted to in order to avoid loopholes. Pit lane starters last season could theoretically participate in an additional formation lap behind the safety car if desired, for example if the start of the race was delayed. 

However, others could also decide not to do so and therefore gain positions when competitors returned to pit lane. 

It also allowed an extra lap, or laps, of fuel to be saved as well as allowing teams to change tyres in wet conditions already when track conditions improved.