Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has been voted as the best driver on the Formula One grid in 2021 by his fellow drivers and Team Principals.
All 20 drivers on the grid were asked to anonymously create their own personal top ten rankings and although they were allowed to place themselves in the top ten if so wished, with several drivers opting to not name themselves in their top ten rankings.
F1 bosses then applied the current points system to the rankings with world champion – Verstappen emerging as the best driver on the grid, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris who rounded out the top three on overall total points.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both missed out on a top three finish but they rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.
Fernando Alonso’s successful return to F1 after a two-season sabbatical saw the Spaniard place sixth, in a season which saw him claim a third-placed finish in Qatar, marking an end to a seven-and-a-half year run without a F1 podium finish.
Pierre Gasly finished seventh ahead of George Russell who enjoyed a strong campaign in a weak Williams car, as the Brit clinched a shock second-placed finish in a farcical Belgian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon benefitted from his maiden F1 win in Hungary to finish ninth ahead of Haas’ Mick Schumacher.
Only 14 drivers however participated in this ranking poll as Verstappen, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen all snubbed their chance to rank their rivals.
Here are the driver-voted top-ten rankings in full;
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- George Russell (Williams)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
Verstappen Dominates Team Principal Vote
Using the same system as for driver ranking, Verstappen dominated the top ten rankings in the Team Principal vote, as he topped the poll with 213 points ahead of Hamilton who finished 21 points behind in second.
Norris, Sainz and Leclerc again rounded out the top five ahead of Alonso, Gasly and Russell as the top eight driver placings all matched the driver-voted top eight, although the Team Principals chose to place Bottas in ninth ahead of Ocon to complete their top ten.
Unlike the driver-voted top ten rankings where six drivers failed to participate, all ten Team Principals instead participated in this poll.
Here are the Team Principal voted top-ten in full.
| Position | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 213 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | 192 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | 110 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | 85 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | 70 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | 69 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | 64 |
| 8 | George Russell | 44 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | 43 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | 41 |
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