Your Top 10 Drivers of 2019

I'll start with mine, extending to the whole grid

1. Hamilton = Personally I think that his season has been slightly misjudged. He didnt decline in qualifying at all, outqualifying the supposedly improved Bottas by the same margins as in any other year. The fact that Ferrari had at stages a great quali car masked some of his great performances as well. Likewise, I dont think that his race performance was as good as it's made out to be either, Mercedes was just a good race car this year. And he actually did more mistakes than in the recent past, although it might be down to the fact that the title felt sealed early on. Regardless once again a good season. And this time actually more consistent speed-wise than in previous years where he usually had bad starts.
2. Verstappen = I see Verstappen and Hamilton on the same level. Both had a few mistakes, Hamilton probably less than him, and both had otherwise a fantastic season. It's really hard to seperate them, Despite a little dip after the summer break he massively matured on the track. And his first season half was one of the very best in this decade. Obviously to some extent it's hard to judge him because his team mates didnt seem like good yardsticks, but to some extent it's also him just being this good, as the last two years alongside Ricciardo proved. 

3. Sainz = I do think that the McLaren flattered both drivers slightly, so next year will be interesting. But it's hard to deny that he impressed a lot this year. And he got better relative to Norris as the season progressed (especially in qualifying), which is surprising considering that you would expect the opposite against a rookie.
4. Leclerc = Had the amount of errors you can expect from a driver of his experience and his tyre management is lacking, although he had some impressive drives on sunday too. His quali pace was always there, but only from Le Castellet on he became consistent and at times destroyed his team mate, recently both have been on the same level in this regard. And not much was between them over the season, overall.
5. Vettel = Many clumsy and unneccesary incidents, and at mid season a shocking qualifying performance. Has recovered since then though. And his race pace has been on point all season long. Ultimately there was nothing between the Ferrari drivers and reliability the reason why Leclerc finishes decisively ahed.
6. Bottas = Definitely still lacking over the race distance, and I think the superiority of the Mercedes on the race distance masked this. And qualifying as much of the same as in the past. I personally don't see the Bottas 2.0 hype. I do think that he has become more consistent and he actually hasnt done many mistakes. Less than the Ferrari drivers that certainly have more potential for sure. Just as with Hamilton/Verstappen it's hard to seperate all three.

7. Perez = Had less opportunities to shine this year, because his car just wasnt this good, but once again he impressed on balance and once again proved to be the most complete driver of the midfield (besides Ricciardo). Especially at the season start and towards the end of the season. Although Stroll might not be the strongest yardstick.
8. Ricciardo = Did many unusual mistakes, but also pulled some miracles here and there. Outqualifying a Quali Specialist like Hulkenberg by 14-7 is a statement, even if gaps were usually close.
9. Russell = Remains tough to rate. But a 21-0 record, regardless who his team mate is, speaks for excellent consistency. Has to work on his starts though and made a crucial mistake when the only point was up for grabs. For me the Rookie of the Season, though.
10. Norris = The Hype Machine is running well for him. And for a rookie he has done a good job and there is every chance that he could be a future WDC. But I think he has been overrated slightly. His race pace remains off. His quali pace was initially excellent, but declined compared to Sainz over the course of the season, although he is clearly showing great flashes. He has also shown to be very mature for his age on track and ultimately he wasnt as far off Sainz as the Championship Standings would suggest.
11. Raikkonen = Had a massive dip after the summer break, but recovered since then. Fending off the ever improving Giovinazzi ultimately. Had some excellent races recently and earlier in the season.
12. Hulkenbeg = Showed at times that he is a good driver and he definitely deserves to be in F1. But ultimately Ricciardo proved to be a shelf above him in both race management and quali pace. Felt a bit apart after the summer break, until then he and Ricciardo were fairly close.

13. Albon = The three non-Max Red Bull drivers are hard to rate. Ultimately I put Albon ahead of the other two, because ultimately his lows werent as bad as Kvyat's at Toro Rosso or Gasly at Red Bull. The fact that it's certainly harder for him in his rookie season and being paired with Max midway through adds to this too.
14. Gasly = Probably the best midfield driver of the 2nd half after being the worst driver in the first half. His lows before the summer break, being lapped twice by Verstappen were just too much though.
15. Kvyat = Occasionally his class was flashing, but ultimately it was him who costed Toro Rosso P5 in the WCC.
16. Magnussen = Both Haas drivers are ultimately hard to rate because the car has been very inconsistent. However when they were in the picture they usually were acting as annoying roadblocks and had questionable incidents. Magnussen did ultimately a better job than Grosjean, though. When the car was there they managed occasionally great quali results.
17. Grosjean = He isnt crashing quite as much as his reputation would indicate it and he actually was quite unlucky with unfortunate technical issues, but neither is he impressing all that much. The flashes are there, though.
18. Giovinazzi = Horrendous start into the season, his improvements since the summer break the more impressive. Besides Gasly probably the surprise of the 2nd half. Still needs to improve over the race distance though. And his weak first half drags him down.
19. Stroll = I've never seen a driver with such a good race craft being so bad over one lap. Although occasionally he is showing his speed there too, but ultimately it's not enough.

20. Kubica = Not much to say, really. 0:21 against a rookie says it all.

Top 10 is quite a long list.
But okay:

1) Hamilton - Near faultless this season. The best driver this season by far and has shown with his Abu Dhabi performance that he is still the one to beat.
2) Verstappen - Made just a few errors that did cost him dear. But showed imminent progress and did end his season on a high. If Red Bull and Honda can edge closer to Mercedes, there will be no doubt in my mind that will tell Verstappen will be Hamilton his closest contender next season.
3) LeClerc - His rookie Ferrari season has had many highs but many lows as well. In a better car than the Red Bull, he should have scored better during the first half of the season. But his performance after the summer break was mesmerizing. His Italy victory was of sheer beauty, only paralelled by Mansell and Hamilton their home victories.
4) Sainz - No driver, other than the first three mentioned, in my mind performed better this season. He was just really performing on merit of his own speed and not the cars. Norris showed how good Sainz actually is. And I do think Sainz and Verstappen would have been the best driver line up for Red Bull.
5) Russell - It must be said that I am biased as an avid Williams fan. But his performances were of stunning beauty and maturity that even Kubica had his issues with handling this mentally. It says a lot that Kubica was getting agitated because of his rookie team mate was driving circles around him. No matter the alleged "difference in cars" theories, Russell performed very well.
6) Albon - Never drove a (recent) Formula 1 car before February 2019 and by the end of the season not drowning in the sea of Verstappen, is something special and should be acknowledged. Also its a feat that Gasly should have learned with his experience. But instead of this, rookie Albon did it. A well deserved longer stay at Red Bull for 2020 I would say.
7) Bottas - Bottas 2.0 was showing signs of strength at the early stages of this season. Only to fade away and fall back to the Bottas 1.0. Found his mojo again in Austin.
8) Perez - In a car that wouldnt shine, he drove very well and got some solid results. Nothing more to add.
9) Vettel - P9 for Vettel? Yes, P9 for Vettel. Got lost in his own head once again and didnt show strength and leadership. Got the preferential treatment early in the season, but lost it due to his dire results. LeClerc has grown past him. I wonder how he will fight back in 2020, since 2019 was just abysmal.
10) Hulkenberg - This is an biased opinion also. Having a lead driver next to you who costs around 8 times what you earn and still able to edge close to him, thats what I call some good craftmanship. Its sad to see him go, but he has had his chance. Albeit being said that Renault didnt offer him a fair treatment, only because Ocons nationality is Hulkenberg discarded.

Top 5 in order, bottom 5 no particular order

Hamilton (only just)
Verstappen
Sainz
Leclerc
Perez (might be recency bias but he was also brilliant at the start of the year)
--
Bottas
Russell
Albon
Ricciardo
Vettel

 

Honorable mentions to Kimi, Gazman and Norris. I kinda feel like Kimi deserves a spot tbh

Edited by TomNokoe, 02 December 2019 - 15:25.

1) Hamilton
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc

4) Sainz

5 to 10 in no order)
Bottas, Russell, Perez, Ric, Vettel, Norris

1. Hamilton - the most complete driver F1 may have ever seen, still close to his peak, nothing else to be said

2. Verstappen - no doubt the next king of F1, slaughtering the poor Tier 3 folk that have the misfortune of being his teammate

3. Leclerc - he has improved at such pace that he has all but taken over Ferrari and will send his teammate into retirement very soon

4. Sainz - the steady hand McLaren needed: good pace and a lot of racing IQ

5. Ricciardo - he showed up Hülkenberg in a way only top drivers can

6. Bottas - stealing five poles from Hamilton is impressive

7. Norris - outqualified Sainz and he's only getting started. Future star material

8. Vettel - still good on his day, but there's fewer of them every year. He's done for.

 

Don't really care for the rest, except Russell, but he's only technically an F1 driver, not in practice. Can't wait for his real debut, probably 2021.

1. Hamilton & Verstappen - Can't really put one of them alone on the top spot. Hamilton had a little less errors, Verstappen had higher highs. Every F1 fan can only hope the Mercedes and Red Bull of next year will be equal, ‘cause this battle will be intense.

3. Sainz – Had A LOT of bad luck at the start of the year, but drove very good and without many (if any) errors

4. Norris – If Sainz deserves my #3 spot, than Norris deserves 4. Had a great rookie season and he wins sympathy with his social media presence.

5. Leclerc – Too many errors to be up their with Lewlew and Max, but he IS quick. Great effort in his 2^nd year for the big team.

6. Russel – 21:0

7. Ricciardo – Beat Hulkenberg convincingly and put up some great fights throughout the year. Entertaining driver.

8. Perez – Very, very solid season, but was a bit to many times behind his teammate at the start of races.

9. Raikkonen – Faded a little near the end of the year, but boy did he drive well in the first half. Sometimes he was suddenly in 6^th or 7^th at the end of the race, leaving me wondering how he got that Alfa up there.

10. Hulkenberg – Solid season and I will miss the guy. Shame he didn’t end up on the podium in Hockenheim.

 

Bottas has to be somewhere in my top 10 too, but he is too dull to give him a number.

1. Hamilton

1.   Hamilton

2.   Verstappen

3.   Leclerc

4.   Norris

5.   Sainz

6.   Bottas

7.   Ricciardo

8.   Russell

9.   Albon

10. Pérez

1. Verstappen, placing that Red Bull where it didn't belong, the next has already arriwed, just a tad better material is needed

2. Hamilton

3. Leclerc

4. Sainz

5. Perez

6. Vettel

7. Norris

8. Russel

9. Albon

10. Ricciardo

Edited by AnR, 02 December 2019 - 15:02.

1- Hamilton -  Dominant, imperious, fast and composed. Once again champion. Had to face the several challengers: Bottas in the begining, then Leclerc and Max. Beated them all. 

2- Verstappen-  Still a bit error prone and overly agressive (Mexico...) but otherwise amazing talent and great results to give Red Bull Honda 3 wins 2 (3) poles, 9 podiums and 3rd in front of both Ferraris. Beated both team mates by a biiig margin. He reminds me of Senna in 1986/7 and Schumacher in 1996. 

3- Leclerc - Dream season for him at Ferrari to beat his stablished 4 time wdc in every aspect: Quali, poles (6 on merit), wins, fastest laps, points podiums. He has great speed and car control. He is exciting on races and battles. Needs to improve race pace and his passive agressive character, IMO. 

4- Bottas- Say what you want, he's fast (same amount of poles than Hamilton) he can win (4 wins) he can match hamilton in race pace at times and even won a bit more of killer instinct in 2019. 2nd in the championship and till Britain pretty much in the fight. Good season

5- Sainz- Mr. Smoth Operator was the collector of the year. Best of the rest with impressive consistency and great recoveries. The McLaren helped.

6- Peréz - Pretty much Racing Point greatest value. He's an acomplished midfield racer, with a very competent race craft and strategy. Racing Point was just a bit better than Alfa/Haas and he mixed with the Mclarens and Renaults. 

7- Ricciardo-  After a slow start he scored pretty high points in some races to be the Renault leader. Still an amazing racer. 

8- Russel- Very impressed with his performances in the so bad Williams. 21-0 in quali against Kubica, and even mixed with Haas/Alfa sometimes. Promissing future

9- Norris  - Great rookie year, outqualified Sainz, and scored many points. Plus, he's such a great kid. 

10- Kimi- If not for the Italy - USA slump he would be higher. Otherwhise he raced very well and hard in the slow Alfa Romeo and scored points in many races.  Scored more points than Leclerc last year. At 40 he still delivers. 

 

 

 

Sebastian Vettel- I left him outside not because i think he lost his drivers ability and is inferior to Sainz, Perez or Kimi,  but because he cracked. His rookie team mate (in the team) bested him in every aspect and Sebastian got totaly lost, making silly mistakes around the year. His talent is there, his race pace is still a bit better than Leclerc's,  but his head can't handle the pressure. Needs to reset.  

Anyone signed up to F1 Fan Voice can submit their own ratings here: https://www.f1fanvoi...svy/index/40271

I think this was the most Prost-like season of Hamilton's career, which makes it harder to judge because I associate him more woth spectacular races over calculated consistency. Still, I have also realized he is following the trend ever since his defeat in 2016 where each season is more consistent than the season before. One way or another, numbers don't lie. Hamilton had more of everything before and after the summer break and it usally took incredible efforts to defeat him. Ferrari had to use Vettel at Spa, Leclerc went to the very last milimetre available at Monza, Verstappen had to beat him twice in Brazil and at other races he did not have the best strategy. He wasn't always spectacular, but he was always there.

 

Also, just thinking out loud, have you guys ever noticed how Hamilton's brand of dominance is different than Schumacher's or Vettel's (guys with similar dominant periods)? They got better when things got easier, thus seasons like 2002 or 2011. Hamilton seems to be more thrilled and respond better to a challenge than just showing up and winning by default.

 

---

 

I can't list the top ten. But I agree Hamilton and Verstappen are top 2 (and a step ahead of the rest).

Edited by Atreiu, 02 December 2019 - 16:55.

I see comments that Sainz was flattered by the McLaren.  Really, how so?  The Mclaren was best of the rest, just.  How would Sainz have got on in a Merc, Ferrari or RedBull?

 

Would he have made as many mistakes as Leclerc who is rated above him by some?

It’s funny the amount of people putting Sainz and Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg.

Edited by Kev00, 02 December 2019 - 17:51.

1. Hamilton,

2. Verstappen,

3. Sainz, Bottas, Leclerc, Ricciardo, 

4. Vettel, Perez, Norris, Albon, Russel, Raikkonen

5. the rest

Verstappen

Sainz

Hamilton

Leclerc

Perez

I see comments that Sainz was flattered by the McLaren.  Really, how so?  The Mclaren was best of the rest, just.  How would Sainz have got on in a Merc, Ferrari or RedBull?
 
Would he have made as many mistakes as Leclerc who is rated above him by some?

Leclerc beat his 4x WDC Team-mate in both qualifying and race, in his first season at Ferrari and second in F1.

Sainz was outqualified by his rookie team-mate.

I think Sainz has been brilliant in 2019 but IMO Leclerc is ahead.

1. Hamilton - Even though he scored only a few poles, his racepace was still superior and faultless to that of his rivals. Could even be one of his best seasons in F1.

2. Verstappen - Hardly any mistakes, bar perhaps Spa. Managed three wins and finish third in a car that was only 3rd fastest for the majority of the season.

3. Leclerc - Beat his more experienced teammate by more than an edge. A few rookie mistakes early on this season, but pole king of the season along with three wins.

4. Sainz - By far best of the rest. Yes, the car was strong but Sainz was always there when the oppertunity arose. Held off his highly rated rookie teammate with ease on the Sundays.

5. Bottas - Bottas 2.0 was only there until about Monaco. After that he was back to Bottas 1.0 Nevertheless, he scored more points than ever and finishEd vice champion for the first time. A pretty decent season, a solid number two for the team. Exactly what they want.

6. Vettel - Despite only one win and finishing two places behind his rookie teammate, his season actually wasn’t as bad as it looks. In my view he had fewer mistakes than in 2017 and 2018 and was usually there on Sundays with strong pace. Will look to bounce back in 2020.

7. Perez - Outperformed an underdeveloped car this season by finishing in the top ten. Especially his second half of the year was impressive, battling with cars that were faster than a Racing Point. Very underrated driver.

8. Ricciardo - Still in the top ten, but his season wasn’t as many expected though. Had a few high’s, but also a lot of lows. Nevertheless, in the end beat a steady Hulkenberg on points by a vast amount. Needs to up his game next season though.

9. Russell - Hard to judge in that dog of a car. But, beating his teammate 21:0 is something only Alonso managed to do. Hopefully Williams can build a midfield runner next season so we can properly judge Russell.

10. Hulkenberg - His season actually wasn’t that bad. He just dIdn’t have a fast car, but was close to Ricciardo for the majority of this season though. Not sad to see him go though, time for a fresh talent.

11. Raikkonen - Was high in the top ten in the first half of the season, but fell off in the second half. The speed of his car didn’t help though, but Kimi himself didn’t seem as sharp either. Let’s hope he keeps his motivation high next season.

12. Norris - Yes, only on P12 in my list. His Saturdays were strong, but he lacks pace on Sunday. I know he’s a rookie, but he finished with only around half the points that Sainz scored. That could, and should have been a lot more.

13. Albon - Was very close with Kvyat, as a rookie, and after being promoted to Red Bull didn’t set a foot wrong looking at the circumstances. Only his crashes on Fridays are a lowpoint.

14. Kvyat - Started the season off strong, rewarded with a Hockenheim podium. But I can’t help but believe Albon being chosen instead of him had some influence. Made silly mistakes after the summer with unnecessary collisions.

15. Magnussen - The car was very poor on Sundays so Magnussen couldn’t show himself much. But, he was stronger than Grosjean, scored more points and sometimes had some stellar qualifying laps.

16. Gasly - Only 16th on my list due to a dismal spell in the Red Bull. He redeemed himself a lot after the summer in the Toro Rosso though with Brazil an absolute high.

17. Giovinazzi - Still far behind Raikkonen with a poor first half of the season. Improved a bit after the summer, especially on Saturdays. Still needs to work on his racepace though.

18. Grosjean - Not as many silly crashes as last season, but didn’t see many high’s either. Not even stellar qualifying laps like his teammate sometimes did.

19. Stroll - He’s simply got no business in F1. Very slow on Saturday and no his racepace on Sunday isn’t impressive either. I can’t even remember a single nice overtake from him. Such a waste of a seat at Racing Point.

20. Kubica - A no brainer. He was dead slow, lost his pace. But you can’t really blame him, being handicapped. A good thing he’s calling it a day as a racedriver in F1.

Here's my top 20 including my (2019 mid-season/2018 post-season) ranking.

1 (1/1) Lewis Hamilton
2 (2/3) Max Verstappen
3 (4/11) Carlos Sainz
4 (5/2) Charles Leclerc
5 (7/17) Valtteri Bottas
6 (3/7) Kimi Räikkönen
7 (6/–) Lando Norris
8 (13/5) Sergio Pérez
9 (8/–) George Russell
10 (11/–) Alexander Albon
11 (10/6) Daniel Ricciardo
12 (14/10) Nico Hülkenberg
13 (9/13) Sebastian Vettel
14 (15/18) Kevin Magnussen
15 (17/9) Pierre Gasly
16 (12/–) Daniil Kvyat
17 (16/15) Lance Stroll
18 (19/16) Romain Grosjean
19 (18/–) Antonio Giovinazzi
20 (20/–) Robert Kubica

Hamilton

Verstappen

Leclerc

Sainz

Perez

Ricciardo

Botas

Norris

Vettel

Hulkenburg

I'm not a fan of these charts as it's a bit hard to judge whom is in front of whom, but I I will give it a try, only a Top5 though. So here I go, in no particular order, the drivers that impressed me the most in 2019 are:

 

Hamilton

Verstappen

Leclerc
Sainz

Norris

It’s funny the amount of people putting Sainz and Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg.

 

This. Pretty sure both Renault drivers would wipe the floor with the Mclaren drivers, they just had much better equipment this year and people consistently make these lists based on car performance.

This. Pretty sure both Renault drivers would wipe the floor with the Mclaren drivers, they just had much better equipment this year and people consistently make these lists based on car performance.

just because you are generally better it doesnt mean that you are every season performing better. Both Renault drivers had more silly mistakes than Sainz, for instance.

As for "wiping the floor": not really comvinced. Towards the end of their Renault days Sainz was doing pretty well against Hulkenberg despite being new to the team, didnt he?

I do rate in general the Renault pair higher in terms of ability (especially Ricciardo), but the gaps are small enough to have variety from season to season.

It’s funny the amount of people putting Sainz and Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg.

 

I haven’t seen you post anything. So please enlighten us.

LuLu

Verstappen

Albon

Norris

Boaty

The 2 Ferrari jokers

SainzJr.

The Rest

.

.

.

.

The 2 Haas jokers

Jp

 

Edit: Jp is not on the list, it's just a sig

Edited by jonpollak, 02 December 2019 - 19:25.

1. Verstappen - I think he has now passed Hamilton as F1's best, hopefully he gets the car to prove it next year.

2. Hamilton - Great season, very few mistakes and great speed on Sunday but no longer the best.

3. Leclerc - Great first season at Ferrari, very fast in Qualifying and 2 great wins but still slower than Vettel on Sunday more often than not.

4. Vettel - Made far to many silly mistakes on Saturday and Sunday, but his speed has few equals and on his day can beat anyone.

5. Bottas - Very quick in qualifying but made too many mistakes and had a little too many off weekends.

6. Sainz - Very impressive on Sunday and very consistent but needs to find a tenth or two on Saturday.

7. Raikkonen - Solid, scored a lot of points with intelligent racing, but still missing the speed of old.

8. Russell - Impressive rookie season, looking forward to watching him progress.

9. Perez - Very underrated, continues to be his teams leading light with some really impressive drives.

10. Riccardo - Looked a class above Hulkenberg but wasted in the midfield.

Verstappen

 

Hamilton

 

 

Ricciardo

Leclerc

 

Sainz

Russell

Perez

Vettel

Hulkenberg

Bottas

Norris

Max

Hamilton

Sainz

Vettel/Leclerc

Norris

Bottas

Russel/Riccardo

It’s funny the amount of people putting Sainz and Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg.

Personally I don’t think either Renault driver had a great season. Ricciardo is probably just about top ten worthy but he took a long time to find his feet there, struggled with a car that didn’t let him make his outrageous ‘divebomb’ lunges anything like as easily and was pretty clumsy early on as he adapted. Whole thing was a disappointment, to be honest. Car wasn’t much use, that makes a difference sure. I’ve got no doubt the McLaren drivers had an easier job looking good in that car, but that’s what happens - car was more consistent, easier for the drivers to impress, and they did. Renault very up and down, drivers very up and down, less chance to impress, lower down the top ten. Hulkenberg, given that this was “his” team really and he’d had such a strong 2018, had a bit of a stinker of a season IMO.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Sainz
4. Leclerc
5. Bottas
6. Ricciardo
7. Perez
8. Vettel
9. Russell
10. Norris

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc
4. Bottas
5. Sainz
6. Perez
7. Vettel
8. Ricciardo
9. Russell
10. Norris
11. Raikkonen
12. Albon
13. Hulkenberg
14. Magnussen
15. Gasly
16. Kyvat
17. Giovanazzi
18. Grosjean
19. Stroll
20. Kubica

Hamilton - close to flawless. Got the job done

Vertappen - impressive growth and maturity. would want to see him in a car capable of mounting a title challenge

Leclerc - driving a Ferrari is never easy. Driving alongside a multiple WDC as Vettel is certainly tough. Made mistakes normal at his level of experience, showed brilliant speed at times, and got tough in wheel to wheel. Not really fan of his over the borderline moves after Austria, but I think that;s mostly on the way F1 stewards work. Has to improve race speed/ability to make tyres work longer

Perez - very strong year

Sainz/Norris/Russel - Sainz more experience, Norris and Russel ramped up quickly, all were strong for their teams.

11. Norris

12. Raikkonen

13. Hulkenberg

14. Gasly

15. Grosjean

16. Giovinazzi

17. Kvyat

18. Russell

19. Stroll

20. Kubica

Edited by Mauseri, 02 December 2019 - 22:28.

The order from the top teams is pretty straight forward:

1.- Verstappen, Hamilton.
3.- LeClerc.
4.- Vettel.
5.- Bottas.

The best of Formula 1.5 is quite tricky and tough:

6.- Perez, Sainz.

The rest:

8.- Albon.
9.- Norris.
10.- Russell.

Tenth place is just to hard to judge, frankly could be taken by anybody between Russell, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. The places between eleventh and seventeenth is extremely difficult to judge. Everyone could be one place up or down.

19.- Grosjean.
20.- Kubica.

 

3. Vettel

4. Leclerc

 

not even Seb himself would do that

Ham
Ves
Lec
Bot
Sai
Ric
Per
Vet
Rus
Nor

It’s funny the amount of people putting Sainz and Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg.

 

Yeah really funny, Sainz got quite heavily beaten by Hulkenberg, and Hulk had allot more dnf's, the gap could of been quite huge if not for that, the McLaren flattered him allot, and being put along side an unproven rookie. He's being very overrated when he's only just creeping into the top 10 of driver's in F1. 

1. Hamilton, Verstappen

2. Russel

3. Perez

4. Leclerc

5. Sainz

6. Vettel

7. Bottas

8. Norris

9. Ricciardo, Magnussen

10. Raikkonen

 

Verstappen

Hamilton

 

 

 

Sainz

 

Leclerc

Bottas

Norris

Vettel

Ricciardo

Hulkenberg

Albon

Leclerc beat his 4x WDC Team-mate in both qualifying and race, in his first season at Ferrari and second in F1.

Sainz was outqualified by his rookie team-mate.

I think Sainz has been brilliant in 2019 but IMO Leclerc is ahead.

 

In fairness, Vettel has been poor, probably his worst season since being beaten by Ricciardo.

 

Leclerc has put it in the wall on numerous occasions - albeit in practice and quali, but to his credit has learnt and developed.  Sainz has had one off in Germany in the wet as far as I remember, but still finished.

 

RE qualifying, 11-10 to Norris is not exactly a thrashing is it.  And that could have easily have been the other way around if Sainz hadn't been compromised in his out lap in Abu Bhabi.

 

I think if Saniz had been at Ferrari with Leclerc, he would have matched or even beaten him.

Nice list Marklar.

I'll go with:

1. Hamilton- apart from Merc's overheating issues in Austria, there wasn't a race in which Hamilton wasn't some sort of threat for the win at some point, even those where he removed himself (Germany and Brazil), or strategy did it for him (Singapore and Japan). Maybe because of the lower pole count it doesn't feel like a dominant year, and the brief periods of Ferrari or Red Bull superiority broke up the early season run, but 11 wins is a very good return. Ignoring the FL points, he's only one away from 2018's tally.
2. Verstappen- Max is ready to win a championship. I'd have him at No.1 based on his first half of the season, but there was a wobble after the summer (not all down to him, granted). He had the stand out drives of the season in Austria and Brazil. The sort of driver you'd happily pay to watch.
3. Leclerc- still not the finished article with a few too many errors- notably throwing away a good pole chance in Baku, but sometimes put large gaps on Vettel in qualifying, and pretty much matched him on balance over the course of the season on raceday. Not bad for his first year at Ferrari and only his second in F1. Clearly has a bright future. And some tasty battles with Max and Lewis too.
4. Sainz- like a model of consistency. Maybe would have preferred to perform better in quali but in races like Brazil and Hungary he was exceptional. Maybe flattered by the two guys who occupied the second RB seat, but he'd have done better than either in the same position anyway.
5. Perez - Force India (or whatever they are called now) disappointed, even with the supposed increase in budget. But Perez used his experience well and was a points machine in the latter half of the season. His main blot of Germany, where he binned it- he's usually fairly dependable in wet conditions.
6. Bottas- held on well throughout the season this time, with often strong race pace. Good victories in Suzuka and Austin. Much closer to delivering what should be expected of him.
7. Vettel- still too many howlers- the spin in Bahrain and the spin and rejoin in Monza being fairly inexplicable. But even though CL looked the golden boy for a while, Vettel to his credit fought back and showed good race pace, so wasn't as easily shaken off by Leclerc as was looking the case post summer break. Some fight left in him still, and he will need it next season.
8. Danny Ric- the car let him down at times.. a lot of times, but when he finished he tended to score strong results. Also ended up with a good quali head to head vs Hulk, who we know is no slouch. Although his reversing in Baku is one memory that sticks with me... good for a laugh, but not in Danny Ric's usual way!
9. Russell - ok, Kubica was not the best yardstick, but he showed maturity in and out of the car. It's a shame the Williams was so terrible, but I can recall a few occasions where he ended up fighting with cars he had no business to be fighting with.
10. Norris- Speed... lots of speed. Will be interesting to see if he can up it on raceday in 2020.

Then Hulk, Kimi, Albon, Gasly, and the rest.... Most improved was Giovinazzi. He looked on the way out early season. Not worthy of his seat. But he turned that around in the second half, although unfortunately for him Sauber had dropped in overall performance by then.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc
4. Bottas
5. Sainz
6. Norris
7. Vettel
8. Ricciardo
9. Perez
10. Albon

Edited by PlayboyRacer, 03 December 2019 - 00:23.

1.   Hamilton

2.   Verstappen

3.   Leclerc

4.   Bottas

5.   Sainz

6.   Ricciardo

7.   Perez

8.   Russell

9.   Albon

10. Norris

1.Hamilton
2.Verstappen
3.Bottas
4.Sainz
5.Leclerc
6.Ricciardo
7.Perez
8.Räikkönen
9.Norris
10.Albon

Edited by Vesuvius, 03 December 2019 - 00:59.

HAM - 11 wins from 5 poles. 

 

Anyone placing VER over HAM obvi didn't watch the season closely.     

 

1.   HAM

2.   VER

3.   LEC/SAI

5.   BOT (on improvement vs pervious season)

6.   PER/ALB

8.   RIC

9.   VET

10. GAS (on mental fortitude)

Edited by MKSixer, 03 December 2019 - 01:55.

In fairness, Vettel has been poor,

RE qualifying, 11-10 to Norris is not exactly a thrashing is it.

I think if Saniz had been at Ferrari with Leclerc, he would have matched or even beaten him.

Vettel has been poor in a lot of ways but speed isn’t one of them. Leclerc beating proven WDC Vettel has much more merit than Sainz matching (actually beaten by) a rookie. We don’t really know how quick Noris really is but we do know how quick Vettel is. Strange logic to think Sainz would beat Leclerc in a Ferrari but you’re entitled to your opinion.

HAM - 11 wins from 5 poles.

Anyone placing VER over HAM obvi didn't watch the season closely.

Totally agree. Lewis has become an absolute beast in race trim. I mean he was always exceptional but he's gone up another level imo, perhaps he's concentrating more on race set ups through a weekend more now, with qualifying taking somewhat of a back seat. If so it's paying off, his intelligence in race situations and the way he can extract relentless pace has become his biggest strengths.

He's still in a class of his own imo.

Totally agree. Lewis has become an absolute beast in race trim. I mean he was always exceptional but he's gone up another level imo, perhaps he's concentrating more on race set ups through a weekend more now, with qualifying taking somewhat of a back seat. If so it's paying off, his intelligence in race situations and the way he can extract relentless pace has become his biggest strengths.

He's still in a class of his own imo.

 

I agree, and I'll add something to what you have already said. I think Hamilton sees the big picture better than anyone else on the grid. He picks his spots, and has the patience to wait for opportunities to present themselves. He's like the MLB pitcher who has learned to pitch, instead of just throw.

HAM

VER
SAI

LEC

BOT

RIC

ALB

PER

NOR

RAI

 

No VET for me - the fact that he should be performing in the top 2 or 3 but isn't drops him a long long way down...