Formula 1 fans are in disbelief after seeing which drivers are on the cover of the F1 25 game

As the 2025 Formula 1 season gets underway, fans are eagerly awaiting the launch of the latest instalment of the F1 video game.

First developed by Codemasters for Xbox and Playstation consoles in 2010, the series gives fans an authentic experience of the world of Formula 1, racing as the sport’s drivers and teams on the circuits on the calendar.

Time trial, Career Mode and multiplayer have all been popular game modes throughout the years, giving fans endless hours of enjoyment. In 2020, Codemasters introduced the ‘My Team’ Career Mode, allowing players the chance to set up and run an 11th team on the grid.

In 2026, F1 will have an 11th team in the sport in real life as Cadillac join the grid in time for the new technical regulations. The ‘My Team’ mode could stay on next year’s edition of the F1 game to add a 12th team to the mix.

F1 fans are now waiting for the official reveal trailer of the 2025 instalment. It is set to be revealed on March 26 on EA Sports’ YouTube channel – Electronic Arts took over Codemasters in 2021 and regained the licensing to produce F1 games.

On Tuesday, EA Sports unveiled the cover for the standard edition of the game. It is fair to say fans are not too pleased about which drivers have been chosen to feature.

F1 fans fume over Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman featuring on the F1 25 video game cover

F1 25 will feature three new faces on the cover of the game. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will replace his teammate Lando Norris, who has been a cover star since 2022.

Carlos Sainz and rookie Oliver Bearman will join Piastri on the cover. The former is the first Williams driver to feature since Felipe Massa in 2015, while the latter is the first Haas driver since Romain Grosjean in 2016.

In a post on X {formerly Twitter), EA shared that the drivers had ‘three stories to define this season’. But fans took to the comments to express their disappointment over the choices for the cover stars.

Some could not help but feel the drivers were selected randomly. One wrote: “It looks like they rolled a dice to pick the drivers,” while another simply said: “That’s…… Random.”

Many fans went as far to say that F1 25 had the worst cover of all the editions. “Worst standard edition cover of all time,” said one user, while another echoed: “Worst cover stars I’ve ever seen.”

Another fan said: “Worst cover in years, there were times when really only the special drivers were on the cover.” F1 25 marks only the second time Lewis Hamilton has not featured on the cover of the standard edition since the game started using drivers in 2015.

Finally, one fan was fairly bemused to see Bearman on the cover: “Never thought I’d ever see a Haas driver on the cover of an F1 game.”

Lewis Hamilton will feature on the ‘Iconic Edition’ of F1 25

While F1’s most successful driver of all time will not be on the standard edition cover of this year’s game, fans can see him feature on the ‘Iconic Edition’.

Hamilton is the sole star of the special edition – something he has never done before. It is hardly surprising, however, given Hamilton’s seismic move to Ferrari was made official in 2025 after signing before the 2024 season.

The Brit has not had the start to life at Maranello as he would have hoped. After two races, he has scored just nine points and sits ninth in the standings, one point ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton claimed his first Ferrari win in the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix, marking a historic moment. However, his jubilation came crashing down after both Ferraris were disqualified from Sunday’s race – Hamilton for excessive wear to his rearward skid block and Leclerc for being underweight.

This leaves the team level on points with Williams and 61 points behind leaders McLaren heading into the Japanese Grand Prix. Ferrari have a huge mountain to climb already after a disappointing start.