Is the current grid 'the best F1 generation'? McLaren boss Andrea Stella seems to think so

Stella with Verstappen and Norris — Photo: © IMAGO

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Is the current grid 'the best F1 generation'? Stella seems to think so

Stella has praised the F1 grid

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 17 November 2025 09:57

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has named the current crop of F1 drivers on the grid as the best generation to race in the sport.

Three world champions occupy spaces on the 2025 F1 grid with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso enjoying 13 world titles between them, and Lando Norris looks set to be the newest name to join the list of champions.

The Brit has had competition in races this season from team-mate Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell, who have also been tipped to be future world champions, especially if the latter is given a race-winning car.

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Supporting the established names on the F1 grid are Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar, all rookies who have impressed in their first season of the sport with both Antonelli and Hadjar claiming a podium in 2025.

Is this the best F1 driver lineup in history?

Speaking to the media, Stella praised the new generation of the drivers and heralded the feeder series system in producing such strong competitors.

"I think what we see in this season in Formula 1, in terms of competitiveness - and this is something that you may pick for a little bit of analysis - I don't recall that there was such a competitive pool of drivers in any other season," Stella said.

"The new generation of drivers, they're just so good, and now you have seven, eight drivers which are at world championship level. Like I say, I'm not sure this has happened before.

"Potentially this is because of how good the junior categories now are. These guys, they go karting and they have the data. They train at a certain level when they are adolescents. This has made the competitive field extremely, extremely tight, and therefore the difference is in this last one percent."

F1 top three driver standings