Drivers rank each other into top 10 of 2021 list

Jamie Woodhouse
Fernando Alonso arriving on the grid. Formula 1 Abu Dhabi December 2021.

Fernando Alonso arriving on the grid with El Plan on rear wing of his Alpine. Abu Dhabi December 2021.

Now it is the turn of the drivers to create their own top 10 list for the season, and it was the familiar sight of Max Verstappen in P1.

Crowned 2021 Drivers’ Champion after a last lap overtake on title rival Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen now finds himself atop the pecking order in Formula 1, and duly will race with the number one on his Red Bull challenger next year.

Hamilton’s four-season grip on the title came to an end, and Verstappen also ended his run in the team principals’ vote, beating the Briton to top spot in the minds of the team bosses.

A Formula 1 fan vote also had Verstappen sitting pretty at the top, matching up with the judges verdict from the Aramco F1 Power Rankings.

Next it was over to the drivers to submit their verdicts to Formula 1, working off the F1 points system, meaning their top pick earned 25 points, down to P10 earning a single point.

14 of the 20 drivers took part, with Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi not casting votes.

Max Verstappen speaking to the media. Abu Dhabi December 2021
Max Verstappen speaking to the media. Abu Dhabi December 2021

Verstappen though did claim further bragging rights, taking another P1 to add to his collection from these recent votes.

Hamilton as expected was P2, while much of the order below was similar to the rankings which already have been released since the season ended.

Ferrari and Alpine made it another double-success, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, along with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, all made it onto the list.

Pierre Gasly also features, coming off the back of his best points-scoring season in Formula 1 after putting 110 on the board driving the AlphaTauri AT02.

George Russell earned the respect of his fellow drivers to rank P8 for his final season with Williams – he will hope to work his way up those rankings considerably next year as part of the Mercedes team.

 

There was one exception though to the familiar faces, as Haas’ Mick Schumacher muscled his way onto the list, ranked P10 by his peers following his debut F1 season as part of the Haas team.

The top 10 chosen by F1 drivers in full…

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Lando Norris, McLaren
4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
6. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
7. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
8. George Russell, Williams
9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
10. Mick Schumacher, Haas