Here's mine:
1, Jimmie Johnson (USA), 35 (NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion)
Antoher splendid season by the 34-year old who rewrote NASCAR history by becoming series champion for the fourth time in succession. Managed his year perfectly as usual, and eventually scored most points of everyone during the 36 rounds, therefore making his title even more deserved. In a year where the F1 drivers often had amatuer hours, Johnson has to be on top. Could very well break Petty's and Earnhardt's seven-title record one day.
2, Lewis Hamilton (UK), 24 (5:th in F1)
An unlikely turnaround by McLaren assured that Lewis was able to fight for wins right at the end of the season, and at quite a few tracks he made up for the tiny bit of downforce the car still lacked, and in the end his performance was even more credible than in his championship year. Looking at his qualifying laps, you have to assume that Jenson's in for some trouble in 2010.
3, Sébastien Loeb (Fra), 35 (WRC champion)
Was pushed as hard by Hirvonen as he's ever been, and thanks to his remarkable spring form, and his nerves of steel when under huge pressure right at the end landed him a sixth title. His constant lapses of concentration during the summer costs him the number one spot, but he still richly deserved his crown, despite once more having to come to terms with a point system unfair for rallying.
4, Fernando Alonso (Esp), 28 (9:th in F1)
It's hard to say exactly how good Fernando performed this year, but considering his earlier career performances and the fact that Piquet and Grosjean in fact were pretty handy F3/GP2 drivers, and you've got to consider Alonso's season as a very good one. Armed with a greater car he could have been number one, but neither he nor Lewis can work miracles. Except at Monza.
5, Sebastian Vettel (Ger), 22 (F1 runner-up)
Basically the same driver as last season. Occasionally magnificent, otherwise a waste of huge talent. Would have steamrolled the world title had it not been for his easy-triggered mistakes, and his refusal to surrender to Kubica's inevitable pass in Melbourne pretty much sums up his year. His four wins were world class, but how about Monza? He couldn't even blame the engine for being beaten by Alonso and Renault.
6, Felipe Massa (Bra), 28 (12:th in F1)
Had he not been hit by that spring, Massa could have done a phenomenal championship result considering his inferior equipment. Having had bad luck in the first five races, Massa came really close grabbing a P2 in Monaco before hitting a traffic jam at the worst moment. Made up for it by scoring unlikely good results at both Silverstone and Nürburgring. I think he'll be more than a match for Fernando next year.
7, Jenson Button (UK), 29 (F1 World Champion)
Placing the WDC and Monaco Grand Prix winner in seventh might be like wearing a pentagram in church to some people, but I've never rated Jenson highly, and his performances Silverstone onward looked pretty lacklustre, completely failing to adapt his driving style to its qualifying demands, and only being spared the embarrasment of losing the crown by Vettel's determination to throw it all away.
8, Mikko Hirvonen (Fin), 29 (WRC runner-up)
Even if he's certainly fast and consistent, he lacks the outright speed on all 'summer' surfaces that marks the true greats from the very good. Had rallying used a sensible points system for how many factory cars there were, Hirvonen wouldn't have stood a chance to Loeb. As it was, he almost got it by there only being two asphalt rallies all year. Next year he won't have that advantage.
9, Mark Martin (USA), 50 (NASCAR Sprint Cup runner-up)
Only the hardcores and the drivers themselves really believed that Martin would be able to string together a championship challenge at 50, but he proved he's still as good as ever with five finely-judged race-winning performances. His early-season inconsistency set in at the end of the Chase, and in the end that cost him having a real go at Johnson. I certainly wouldn't bet against Martin finally wrenching the title away from Johnson next year.
10, Kimi Räikkönen (Fin), 30 (6:th in F1)
A strange season for Räikkönen, really. Came up short in pretty much every department, but for qualifying, when Massa continued to deliver on his 2008 promise. Being five to ten seconds slower over a race distance in a Ferrari this year usually meant the difference between P4 and P8, and that cost Kimi dearly. When Massa got the bang in his head, the benchmark was gone, and therefore I can't really rate how he stack up at the end of the year. Spa was marvellous, though.
11, Ryan Briscoe (Aus), 28 (3:rd in IndyCar)
But for a lack of cautions during 297,5 miles at Homestead, Briscoe would have been a dead-cert for the title. His mistake in Japan cost him dearly, but on the other hand he was rather misfortunate of coming up short to one of the Ganassi duo on lots of occasions. Doing the same to Hélio Castroneves, as to what Scott Dixon did to Dan Wheldon, is worthy a driver of the year title in IndyCar alone.
12, Dario Franchitti (UK), 36 (IndyCar champion)
Won a title he arguably shouldn't have won, and did it by stealth. For the first time in his IndyCar days he was doing the job on Sundays as well on the road courses, and added a couple of coming from nowhere-victories on ovals. The jury is still out when it comes to whether he's better than Dixon, but he certainly appears more confident on street tracks. In IndyCar these days, that counts for a lot.
13, Nico Rosberg (Ger), 24 (7:th in F1)
Threw away some points in the beginning, but established a significant edge to Nakajima once more this year. Was that because Nakajima was doing really bad, or because Rosberg genuinely is a fantastic driver? It's a huge disappointment not seeing him go head-to-head with Button next year, that would've been a proper benchmark.
14, Scott Dixon (NZ), 29 (IndyCar runner-up)
Arguably one of the top five racing drivers in the world last year, Dixon failed to truly excite during 2009. Still, he was only one mistimed yellow flag from a significant Toronto win that would have given him a large point advantage by mid-season. Mid-Ohio obliteration alone takes him into top 15. Was also the dominant force when it came to oval performances over the whole season.
15, Jules Bianchi (Fra), 20 (F3 Euroseries Champion)
Despite his disappointing outings in the International events this year, this young French driver seems to be the big deal. Consistently had an even bigger edge to his opposition than what Hülkenberg had last year, and mirrored a certain Lewis Hamilton from 2005. Ferrari knows all about it, that's why he's only their second driver in history being tied to the team as a junior driver.
16, Tony Stewart (USA), 38 (6:th in NASCAR Sprint Cup)
Here, once again, was a proper example of everything that is wrong with the Chase. Over 36 races, Stewart scored considerably more points than anyone bar Jimmie Johnson. He scored four victories (one of them in the Chase), and he did it with his self-owned new team. Pretty amazing stuff, but he was really hit by the slump at the end.
17, Nico Hülkenberg (Ger), 22 (GP2 Champion)
Serious doubts about the competition's calibre (well, Petrov was second), pours a bit of salt into Nico's finely judged season. The fact that he was starting to edge Grosjean on raw pace when the Swiss-French driver left for Renault still proves that Nico stack up really well. His performance at Nürburgring was pure magic.
18, Nick Heidfeld (Ger), 32 (13:th in F1)
Beat the highly-rated Kubica for the second time in three full years in the final standings, and that shows that Nick never stopped trying, while Kubica once more fell into the whining trap. It's difficult to judge how good he really is, but he has a good record through all of his career, without ever really having the final Saturday edge required in the refuelling era.
19, Jamie Whincup (Aus), 26 (V8 Supercar (all but) Champion)
I may be crucified for putting a V8 driver in the top 20, but I'm seriously impressed with what Whincup has achieved in the last couple of years Down Under. Was virtually unbeatable in the beginning of this season, before HRT catched up later on. Whincup held his nerves and drove maginificently when it mattered. Had he and Lowndes won an endurance race, he could have reached the top 10.
20, Mark Webber (Aus), 33 (4:th in F1)
Trademark wasted Webber season. Had the obvious disadvantage with his broken leg not enabling him to be back to full fitness, but that doesn't account for his sloppy displays from Hungary onward. Really should've been able to hold Lewis and Kimi off in Hungary (!) of all places, and then did everything wrong you could expect from a racing driver. Since the media are fond of him, he's rated quite highly, but his two wins form this season could have been achieved in any season before, had he been in a competitive car. The Webber of 2003 could have been champion this year.
21, Robert Kubica (Pol), 25 (14:th in F1)
Having taken his maiden Grand Prix win last year, Kubica had his accustomed peaks and valleys this season. Could have taken a shock Australian win, and was matching Webber in Brazil, but apart from that looked as miserable as his car, when nothing worked out. I still believe the car was better than, or rather similar to the Renault car of this year, and that Alonso beat him with such ease in the standings may suggest that Robert has to fill too big shoes next year.
22, Rubens Barrichello (Bra), 37 (3:rd in F1)
From what I saw of him this year, he looked worse than last year. For a world that hides its glasses and only look at the results, Barrichello and Button may seem like stars of 2009. Well, Jenson was in the first half, and Rubens on his day, but he threw away more points than I can honestly count by being slow in the races. Typical Rubens.
23, Jeff Gordon (USA), 38 (3:rd in NASCAR Sprint Cup)
24, Jarno Trulli (Ita), 35 (8:th in F1)
25, Gary Paffett (UK), 28 (DTM runner-up)
26, Dani Sordo (Esp), 26 (3:rd in WRC)
27, Timo Scheider (Ger), 31 (DTM Champion)
28, David Brabham (Aus), 45 (Le Mans, ALMS LMP1 winner)
29, Denny Hamlin (USA), 29 (5:th inNASCAR Sprint Cup)
30, Gabriele Tarquini (Ita), 47 (WTCC Champion)
31, Yvan Muller (Fra), 40 (WTCC runner-up)
32, Hélio Castroneves, 34 (Indy 500 winner, 4:th in IndyCar)
33, Timo Glock (Ger), 27 (10:th in F1)
34, J-M Latvala (Fin), 24 (4:th in WRC)
35, Kyle Busch (USA), 24 (Nationwide Champion)
36, Paul di Resta (UK), 23 (3:rd in DTM)
37, Daniel Ricciardo (Aus), 19 (British F3 Champion)
38, Heikki Kovalainen (Fin), 28 (12:th in F1)
39, Augusto Farfus (Bra), 26 (3:rd in WTCC)
40, Kurt Busch (USA), 31 (4:th in NASCAR Sprint Cup)
41, Sébastien Buemi (Sui), 21 (16:th in F1)
42, Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita), 36 (15:th in F1)
29, Allan McNish (UK), 40 (Sebring winner, 3:rd in Le Mans)
44, Andy Priaulx (UK), 35 (4:th in WTCC)
45, Will Davison (Aus), 27 (Bathurst winner, (all but) V8 Supercar runner-up)
46, Valtteri Bottas (Fin), 20 (F3 Masters winner, 3:rd in F3 Euroseries)
47, Vitaly Petrov (Rus), 25 (GP2 runner-up)
48, Jason Plato (UK), 42 (BTCC runner-up)
49, Adam Carroll (UK/Ire), 27 (A1GP Champion)
50, Petter Solberg (Nor), 35 (5:th in WRC)
Rate your own lists please, can't wait
Aren't those drivers, those who never makes it to NASCAR?
