F1 | Verstappen tops votes as team bosses and drivers reveal their top-10 drivers of 2021
Max Verstappen's impressive 2021 campaign has been recognised by his fellow drivers, as well as the team bosses.
2021 has been such an interesting and unexpected season, with Max Verstappen pipping Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. The Brackley-based team won the Constructors' Championship for the eighth time in a row but only after a strong fight with Red Bull.
To decide who has been relevant and who was not, Formula 1 decided to create a top-10 drivers ranking, in which they can vote by themselves and team bosses can say their own drivers’ ranking too – anonymously, of course. The system is the same as an F1 race: the first driver gains 25 points until a single one is gained by the 10th. The team bosses found out that Max Verstappen deserves again to win, with a total score of 213 points, against Lewis Hamilton who got only 192. The third-place has been conquered by Lando Norris with 110 followed by his former teammate Carlos Sainz, at his first season with Ferrari and 85 points.
A thread of a few of our favourite gifs of 2021...#F1 @PierreGASLY pic.twitter.com/59OJWZJHms
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 27, 2021
Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc ends only fifth with 70 points, one point ahead of Fernando Alonso. The seventh-place of the team principal-made ranking is for Pierre Gasly, who made an awesome season that has been praised by bosses with 64 points and he’s followed up by George Russell at a long distance (44 points), Valtteri Bottas (43), and Esteban Ocon (41).
Let’s just let the drivers speak for themselves. The drivers were also allowed to vote for themselves but Max Verstappen was elected first again, winning also the praise of his rivals, and Lewis Hamilton was second once again. The third and fourth positions were unchanged from team principals’ one as Lando Norris stays third and Carlos Sainz fourth. Also Charles Leclerc, who’s fifth, Fernando Alonso, 6th, Pierre Gasly, 7th and George Russell keep their positions. The only change between the two rankings made by team principals and drivers is ninth and tenth place. The drivers elected indeed Esteban Ocon ninth and Mick Schumacher 10th.
It looks like we have a clear idea of the best protagonists, even through the protagonists’ eyes. And Max Verstappen can be champion three times, one for real, the other from team principals’ perspective, and the last – but not least – through his rivals’ perception.
