I’m Dre Harrison and I too would like to thank God and the trans community at this award ceremony.
Hey everyone, welcome to the 10th Annual Motorsport101 Award show, where you, the wonderful M101 listeners send in your suggestions for the best, worst, and everything in between in Motorsport in 2025, and then we the panel (Me, RJ O’Connell and Cameron Buckley), pick the winners!
Couple of things before we get going, ie. general housekeeping – The four nominees were chosen by popular vote (and in descending order on this post), majority rules between the three of us, but I do have the casting vote as lead host in the event of a tie. We slimmed down the ballot a bit this year to try and avoid a three-hour Podcast (We failed, see above), and as usual a huge thanks to you for voting, and for Jason on our Discord server for arranging everything behind the scenes. Let’s go.
Race Of The Year
- The 2025 Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar)
- The Sao Paulo Grand Prix (F1)
- The British Grand Prix (F1)
- The Bathurst 1000 (Supercars)
The fact that two F1 races made the shortlist despite arguably the worst action of the Ground Effect says a lot about the state of the sport, and the fact that when F1 hits, it hits differently. Was surprised that the Indy 500 made it in this year, the 2024 version felt a lot better to this writer, with a relatively tame finish and concerns about the state of the car’s weight and hybrid ultimately proven correct. Max Verstappen’s charge through the field in Brazil (Again), was entertaining, as well as the chaos of the changeable weather in Britain alongside the HULKENPODIUM being arguably the F1 highlight of the year.
But the rain based, dramatic chaos of the Bathurst 1000, the late rain shower and splitting of the field, and the win for Matthew Payne and Garth Tander won the hearts of us all this year and took the Race of the Year. Which I believe is also the first ever M101 Award win for Supercars. Flaming Galah’s.
The Golden Melon Award (Best Overtake)
- Kamui Kobayashi on Kevin Estre, Rolex 24 (IMSA)
- Christian Rasmussen on Alex Palou, Milwaukee (IndyCar)
- Charles Leclerc on George Russell, Zandvoort (F1)
- Max Verstappen on Oscar Piastri, Imola (F1)
#16
F1 – ImolaMAX VERSTAPPEN 🇳🇱 vs Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺
— magnus 🦈 (@Magnus2331) December 31, 2025
Four strong contenders here as well. Kamui Kobayashi is clearly in the twilight of his career, but he still has some magic in him, including a glorious high-line tri-oval pass on Kevin Estre in the night at the Rolex 24 through traffic. Christian Rasmussen was the only man in IndyCar who made new rubber work at the end of the Milwaukee 250 and his pass on Alex Palou was for his first victory in the series. Charles Leclerc used every bit of the road (and beyond) to outside/inside switch Russell at the penultimate chicane in Zandvoort, but we ultimately went with Max’s glorious outside pass on Piastri at Turn 1 in Imola, a corner where Max broke 100 metres later than the Aussie did in what turned out to be a race-winning pass.
The Most Improved Award
- Kick Sauber (F1)
- Williams (F1)
- Kyffin Simpson (IndyCar)
- Alex Marquez (MotoGP)
Remember, most improved can also go to a team, like we saw with Haas in 2024. Kick Sauber was a 4-point team last year, they were a 70-point team this season with some great upgrade packages, stronger team management via Jonathan Wheatley and some strong performances from both Hulkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
Williams were the same in Year 3 of the Vowles show with both Albon and Sainz having strong seasons and turning a cut and shunt 2024 Williams into a Top 5 car. Kyffin Simpson got his first IndyCar podium in Toronto this year, as well as coming alive in the final oval race of 2025 in Nashville, racing Scott McLaughlin for another podium. But it was Alex Marquez turning into a genuine title contender in MotoGP in 2025 that won us over – an exceptional campaign and at times, the only man who gave his brother something to think about.
The Anthoine Hubert Award (Rookie of the Year)
- Fermin Aldeguer (MotoGP)
- Connor Zillisch (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
- Ollie Bearman (F1)
- Isack Hadjar (F1)
Fermin Aldeguer has no fear, and that’s what made his upside look so good at Gresini in 2025, including a double podium at Le Mans, a furious comeback to second in Austria, and becoming MotoGP’s first rookie winner in four years in Indonesia. Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar were the pick of F1’s rookies, with the latter scoring nearly 50% of the public vote. Bearman had his brilliant fourth in Mexico City, Hadjar’s podium in Zandvoort was also outstanding.
But I suspect my American co-hosts pushed hard for Zilisch as the face of the man likely most screwed by NASCAR’s now defunct playoff system. A nine-win season in Xfinity, including four in a row before entering the playoffs, only to lose the title for only finishing third in the decider in Phoenix, with Jesse Love taking the title. Brutal. Hard not call Zilisch the brightest talent in North America, mind.
The Floppy Award (Biggest Disappointment)
- Team Penske (IndyCar)
- Lewis Hamilton (F1)
- Francesco Bagnaia (MotoGP)
- Scuderia Ferrari (F1)
I had to call the casting vote on this one, despite originally voting for Pecco, I swung it back for the Scuderia when asked. Team Penske had their worst season in IndyCar since 1999, with just two wins on the year, a cheating scandal with their attenuators at the Indy 500 that led to embarrassment, bringing the sport into disrepute and nearly 60 years of experienced managers being fired by Roger. Oh, and Will Power, the face of the team leaving due to Penske forgetting to give him an extension until it was too late.
Pecco Bagnaia wasn’t actually all that bad in the first third of the MotoGP season, but the desire to try and beat Marc Marquez and not settle for third places led him down a deep tuning rabbit hole that he was never able to recover from. By the end of the year, he was crashing trying to chase down Somkiat Chantra *shudders*. But it was always going to be hard to beat Ferrari, and while Lewis Hamilton isn’t solely responsible for the Scuderia’s struggles, his role in the team and being the face of it was definitely a factor. But a big gamble to revamp the majority of their car in the final year of a regulation era backfired massively, dropping them from debatable best team in the sport, to fourth overall.
Team Of The Year
- BK8 Gresini Racing (MotoGP)
- Ferrari AF Corse (WEC)
- McLaren Racing (F1)
- Chip Ganassi Racing (IndyCar)
Now, as RJ pointed out, it’s fair to ask – Is CGR just Alex Palou racing at this point? It got the most votes from the public, but beyond Palou’s record breaking season, Dixon was somewhat anonymous beyond his gifted win at Mid-Ohio and Kyffin Simpson despite improvement, was 17th in points. Ferrari AF Corse ran a near-perfect Le Mans 24 hours to win it, but didn’t feature as strongly for the rest of the season. I voted for McLaren after their fourteen victory F1 season and first double crown since 1998, but I was outruled by my colleagues to give the nod to BK8 Gresini. I get why they’ve become the People’s Champion of MotoGP teams with funny social media, making the most out of older equipment, and just having balanced, well ran crews across the garage. Both Fermin Aldeguer and Alex Marquez both won races in 2025, and crew chief Frankie Carchedi is the best in the business and has now run with four different MotoGP riders in his career to date.
This also marks the first time in M101 history that the smallest share of the public vote won an award. This happens again later…
The #BEATEMDOWN Award
- Max Verstappen in Sao Paulo (F1)
- Max Verstappen’s Comeback Tour (F1)
- Marc Marquez winning 15-in-a-row (MotoGP)
- Alex Palou’s entire season (IndyCar)
The Beat Em’ Down award is for outright dominance and there were three obvious contenders here. The first two nominees somewhat merge into each other, as Max going from 16th to third in Brazil was just one chapter in a final 10 race stint in 2025 that included 10 podium finishes and 6 Grand Prix wins, taking a 104-point deficit to the title down to just two by year’s end.
Marc Marquez won eight Sprints and seven Grand Prix in a row across the summer to cement his ninth World Championship, and with his brother recovering from poor form and a broken metacarpal, it tripled his points lead almost overnight. But it was Alex Palou putting together an IndyCar season of the ages that won him the honours here. Remember that, it becomes important later.
Series Of The Year
- IMSA WeatherTech
- World Endurance Championship
- IndyCar
- Formula 1
Once again, the public plucky underdog takes the crown here! I suspect there was too much frustration with the ACO from my peers for them to call WEC the series of the year despite having some great races like the rainy Austin race, and their 100th race at Fuji. IndyCar I think actually had a bit of a down year by their high standards, with new tires strategies to try and force more stops in races not really making a huge difference. Formula 1 had its first three-way title fight in 15 years and captivated many a fan but the week-to-week racing still wasn’t great.
So with that in mind, IMSA took the honours here, with some fun races, even if the Porsche BoP clampdown did rub some the wrong way. Any series that makes Detroit’s street circuit fun deserves credit.
The Never Log Off Award
- “Must be the water” – Charles Leclerc (F1)
- The Lego Race, Miami (F1)
- Jim France’s Testimony (NASCAR)
- Corvette Drivers Flipping Off Augusto Farfus (IMSA/WEC)
The NLO award is for the funniest moment award, and all of these were worthy contenders. I personally went for the Lego race – As brand activations go, this was about as good as F1’s ever gotten, and it goes to show you how special it was when 40-year-old Lewis Hamilton is pissing himself laughing and filming it from his seat, racing a giant lego replica around Miami. Great content. “We’ll add it to the words of wisdom” is going to go down as a classic F1 radio quote and it’s absolutely up there. Jim France testified for NASCAR in court and within 24 hours, the lawsuit between them and 23XI and Front Row Motorsport was over. Say no more.
But the Americans amongst us in the booth chose Corvette drivers having enough of Augusto Farfus in the IMSA Rolex 24 and 6 Hours of Bahrain respectively. They were just telling Farfus they were going for first, said John Cleland.
The Golden Cock
- FIA’s Presidential Elections
- Blend-Ghazi: The Team Penske Cheating Scandal
- NASCAR
- McLaren’s Papaya Rules
The Golden Cock, the main event. The very worst of Motorsport in 2025, and another very strong set of contenders.
The FIA Presidential elections were another exposing of a terrible system, with only one representative available from South America, and confirmed to be on Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s ticket, it meant he was guaranteed to win, regardless of Tim Mayer and the myriad of random women from within the FIA who declared a bid at the last minute.
The Team Penske cheating scandal at the Indy 500 was a horror show. Penske’s attention to detail was so great, that they smoothed out their attenuators at the rear of the car, not for any performance gain, but because it looked prettier. It led to Josef Newgarden and Will Power sent to the back of the grid for the race, three senior managers sacked from the team including 25-year veteran Tim Cindric, and the humiliation of having to alter Newgarden’s illegal car that he won with last year in the museum.
McLaren’s Papaya Rules were a black mark on a brilliant season, where Zak Brown and Andrea Stella just couldn’t wrap their head around the concept that someone had to eventually lose the driver’s title, but it very nearly ended up being both of them. From poor floor management in Vegas, to strategic seppaku in Qatar, and silly public wrangles over discipline in Austin and Singapore, it all came out this season and it was stupid.
But the winner was ALL of NASCAR. Another season with a wholly disappointing decider after Denny Hamlin’s dominance of the finale led to a late caution and Kyle Larson hijacking the crown, alongside the aforementioned Zilisch screwjob in the Xfinity series, more complaints about the most recent car, and a humiliating lawsuit settlement between themselves, Front Row and 23XI that had every nasty accusation about the series confirmed, including the bullying of the teams and their recent charter agreement, insulting of many key figures in the sport like Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, and Jim France giving an absolutely horrific testimony, exposing how clueless he was as leader of the show. So bad in fact, that NASCAR settled less than a day later, and their commissioner Steve Phelps resigned in disgrace last week.
And I’ve not even mentioned the Playoff format being scrapped and The Chase format put back in place. Like trying to polish a turd. Enjoy the Golden Cock, NASCAR.
The Jason Dupasquier Award (Rider of the Year)
- Marco Bezzecchi (MotoGP)
- Jett Lawrence (Supercross)
- Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (World Superbikes)
- Marc Marquez (MotoGP)
I’ll let you in on a little secret – See the first three names on the list? They only got one vote each. Marc Marquez broke the all-time Motorsport101 record with THIRTY-NINE nominations, 78% of the entire public vote. A gargantuan proportion that we were not going to argue with whatsoever.
Toprak really, is the only name with even half an argument here. A record 21 wins in World Superbikes this season, including 13 in a row in the middle of the season. But even then, he only just won the title due to Nicolo Buelga staying close enough to get it to a decider (And don’t talk about how cruel his Assen weekend was).
It’s Marc Marquez. An 11-win (out of 18 weekends raced) season, with 14 Sprint Wins, 8 Pole Positions, and a Championship lead that peaked at over 150 points, 6 Grand Prix worth. It was a reminder as to who the best rider in the world was, and with his ninth major title, potentially ending the GOAT debate once and for all, depending on who you ask.
Driver Of The Year
- Sebastian Ogier (WRC)
- Lando Norris (F1)
- Max Verstappen (F1)
- Alex Palou (IndyCar)
Alex Palou would have had the nominees record at 28 (56% of the vote), if it wasn’t for Marc Marquez one award ago.
I actually feel bad for Sebastian Ogier here. I know the WRC isn’t what it was in its heyday, but to win the World Championship against exceptional talent like Ott Tanak, Elfyn Evans (Probably the greatest British Rally driver ever now), and Kalle Rovanpera, on a part-time schedule is incredible. And with it, his ninth World Title to tie Sebastien Loeb. Incredible accomplishment and any other year I think he’d be a serious contender.
Lando Norris of course will be mentioned as the F1 World Champion, they’ve made the shortlist every year since its inception, but I think this was also the perfect climate for him NOT to win it, proven by him only being third on the nominees list. When your teammate won as many races as you did, and only just won the title by 2 points to the established pound-for-pound king in the eyes of many, you’re going to, at best, split votes. And that’s why Max Verstappen’s there once again. But for the first time in five years, he’s NOT Driver of the Year! Which leads to:
Athlete of the Year – Marc Marquez vs Alex Palou
I’ll come out and say it, this was the toughest call we’ve ever had to make for the Athlete of the Year in the 10 years we’ve been doing this. Both Spaniards, both dabbling with the idea of the greatest ever season in their respective categories, both with very strong cases to make here. It only got worse when RJ literally tossed a coin and got Palou, and then Cam chose Marquez, meaning I had the deciding vote. Which led me to screaming: “You f***ing bastards” at them.
Alex Palou for me, had the greatest IndyCar season ever, since the series has had an official Championship. 8 wins, arguably should have been 10 given Mid-Ohio and Milwaukee, an average finish of 4.2, 6 pole positions, over 800 laps led across the year, won the Indy 500 to cement his all-timer legacy case, and a Championship won with two rounds to spare, and ultimately by 196 points, essentially four races worth of points.
Marc Marquez absolutely dominated MotoGP as mentioned briefly earlier. 11 wins in 18 races, 14 Sprint wins, 8 pole positions, and a Championship lead that peaked after Motegi at 201 points, over 5 full race weekends, including Sprints. We weren’t sure if Marc was ever going to be his 2014 or 2019 version ever again, but he got there and he crushed the field in doing so.
This was a head or heart call. Palou I think has the slightly better, more satisfying complete season for me. But when I look back on 2025, the moment that will stand out to me most, was the raw, visceral emotion and relief of Marquez, screaming into his helmet and his arm around his brother, one of the few who truly knows what he’s had to go through to get back to that point, was truly special, a moment that transcends Motorsport. Not only is it one of the greatest seasons ever, it’s one of sport’s greatest comeback stories.
And with that in mind, I made the pick for Marc Marquez to be Motorsport101’s Athlete of the year for the third time, tying Max Verstappen for the most in the history of the awards. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the show!