Your Top 5 F1 Drivers of 2022

As the title says, list your top 5 best performers of the year. For me, they are:

 

1. Verstappen - absolute masterclass by Max, who rarely put a foot wrong all year. Surrounded by a lot of controversy, especially towards the second half of the year, but it doesn't take away from a dominant season.

Highs: basically almost the entire second half of the season

 

 

2. Leclerc - proved to be Max's only close competitor, but ultimately let down by his team. Far fewer mistakes compared to last season, although France was a bit of a head scratcher.

Highlights: Australia, Bahrain, Austria

 

 

3. Norris - pushed that McLaren into places it didn't belong and trounced any hopes of a Ricciardo revival very early in the year.

Highlights: Imola, Singapore, Australia

 

 

4. Russell - proved to be a definite improvement over Valtteri, as he bagged Merc's only pole & win of the year. Still a few question marks if he has potential to be up there with Max and Leclerc and I expected him to beat Lewis in qualifying, but a very successful start to his Merc campaign.

Highlights: Brazil, Hungary, Azerbaijan

 

5. Alonso - although definitely no longer at his peak, Alonso pulled out some stellar performances this year, despite being outscored by Ocon.

Highlights: Brazil, Silverstone, Belgium

Been here since 2001 and we’ve always done top 10.
Can we change it to that?

Top ten please!! I've been thinking about this and don't actually have an answer yet - but must be a top ten or its just not as much fun. I think it's so hard this year once you get past the first three or four.

VER

LEC

NOR

ALO 

Hamrussel 

 

 

It would've been much closer between LEC and VER if it wasn't for the mid season rule changes. 

1. Max Verstappen


2. Charles Leclerc

3. Lando Norris
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. George Russell


7. Carlos Sainz
8. Sergio Perez
9. Sebastian Vettel
10. Esteban Ocon

11. Alexander Albon
12. Pierre Gasly
13. Valtteri Bottas

14. Kevin Magnussen
15. Lance Stroll

16. Yuki Tsunoda

17. Zhou Guanyu
18. Mick Schumacher
19. Daniel Ricciardo


20. Nicholas Latifi

1. Verstappen - A step above the rest. Relentless pace and few errors.

2. Leclerc - It's easy to forget his fantastic start of the season. Feels like the many Ferrari errors and general downwards spiral had a small affect on him too though.

3. Hamilton - Just nipped himself in front of the drivers below. An inconsistent season for him, but his top quality still frequently shined through.

T4. Alonso/Norris - Couldn't separate them. They were the best drivers in the midfield. Could've been a cool battle for P7 had Alpine not let Alonso down so much.

6. Sainz - Inconsistent year, but got better throughout the season. A clear step behind Leclerc, but he also beat him on merit sometimes.

7. Russell - A superb weekend in Brazil, but overall you always had the feeling he did not have Hamilton's pace and ended ahead mostly by chance.

8. Perez - Had some highs early on, but also a really poor middle part of the season where he was miles off Verstappen every weekend.

9. Vettel. His best season since 2019. Though Stroll isn't much of a yardstick, Vettel was usually a clear step ahead of him.

T10. Albon/Ocon - Albon for some courageous drives in the worst car on the grid. Ocon for keeping up relatively well with Alonso and making few errors.

Purely on the whim of recency bias:

 

1. Verstappen

2. Russell

3. Leclerc

4. Hamilton

5. Norris

6. Alonso

7. Sainz

8. Perez

9. Bottas

10. Ocon

 

Edit- I'd need to recall the full season to think about respective best races of each, as per cyanide's opening post.

Edited by P123, 20 November 2022 - 19:55.

Verstappen
Magnusson
Alonso
Norris

Mmmm cant think of anyone else...few underperformed given the equipment they were given.

1. Verstappen.
2. Leclerc.
3. Alonso.
4. Russell.
5. Norris.
6. Vettel.
7. Hamilton.
8. Perez.
9. Albon.
10. Ocon.
11. Magnussen.
12. Sainz.
13. Bottas.
14. Zhou.
15. Tsunoda.
16. Gasly.
17. Stroll.
18. Schumacher.
19. Latifi.
20. Ricciardo.

1. Verstappen - 15 wins. 
2. Leclerc - strong and consistent
3. Russell - a new revelation
4. Sainz - scored that elusive first win
5. Lando - best of the rest

1. Verstappen - Fast and consistent

2. Leclerc - First half of the season was mega, but Ferrari eventually got to him

3. Hamilton - A small but clear step ahead of Russell

4. Norris - Best of the rest

5. Alonso - Life in the old dog yet

6. Russell - Beating Hamilton over a season is no mean feat

7. Sainz - Showed speed in patches

8. Ocon - Lucky to beat Alonso in the points, but seemed OK in qualifying

9. Perez - Typical mid fielder season

10. Gasly - Alpha Tauri didn't allow him to shine, but didn't seem much faster than Tsunoda

11. Vettel - Danke Seb

12. Albon - A deserving rebirth

13. Magnussen - Still incident prone

14. Bottas - Went missing in the second half

15. Tsunoda - Good speed but inconsistent

16. Schumacher - Unlucky to not keep his seat. Potential midfield F1 driver

17. Stroll - Not going to be a WDC for sure

18. Ricciardo - What a fall from grace

19. Zhou - Was actually better than expected

20. Latifi - Not F1 material

Verstappen is obviously at the top, and then it’s a jumble of Russell, Leclerc, and Norris - who I can’t separate - and then Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel, and I can’t separate *them* either.

Let's go with Top 10:

 

1. Verstappen - It's really hard to imagine to have a better season. He was always there, a bit like Marquez before his injury. Just a shame Ferrari lost his speed from the first quater of a season, because his fights with Leclerc were so enjoyable to watch. Hats off!

2. Leclerc - Arguably the fastest driver over one lap in the current F1. He has shown, that with the right car he can challenge Max. Truly amazing driver. I hope he will get the support and the tools that he deserves.

3. Russell - With the car that Mercedes started the season, I don't think he could have dreamt of better result. Win in Brasil was a cherry on the top. In terms of skills I see him right behind Verstappen-Leclerc duo.

4. Hamilton - His last GP was a bit symptomatic. He lacked a bit of luck and right strategies here and there, made some mistakes, but overall shown his masterclass several times.

5. Norris - Completely destroyed his more than slightly faded team mate. From one side, he did everthing we could expect of him, but on the other hand... I cannot recall anything amazing. 

6. Sainz - The changes that Ferrari made to their cars helped him to be more competitive(relative to Leclerc). Behind the wheel he might be the most clever driver(strategy/race wise) but this year he was simply no match to his superior team mate.

7. Perez - He was nowhere compared to Verstappen but taking Max out of the equasion he's been quite solid driver with some amazing drives few times.

8. Alonso - Really hard one to judge. With his amout of misfortunes, it's almost impossible to come to any right conclusion. He was showing moments of briliance many times. I wish I could see him in Top 3 car...

9. Ocon - He had a decent season against Fernando. Tough and ruthless competitor for other drivers. He belongs to Top 10 for sure this season.

10. Vettel - Couldn't do much in his garbage car in the first half of the season but when car was delivering a decent performance, Seb was right there. I was never a fan of him, but he'll be missed.

Right, let's go...

 

1. Verstappen - Amazingly talented but unbeatable this season in unchallenged Newey-mobile

2. Leclerc - Good season, impressive in qualy. Occasional mistakes but in the end Ferrari just weren't good enough. Would like to see what he could do in another team.

3. Hamilton - Not his best season but still decent in an underperforming car. Beat qualifying specialist Russell at his own game. Needs better car or I foresee retirement or a move elsewhere.

4. Russell - Decent enough first season though he seemed to get all Lewis's luck. Remains to be seen if he is the real deal.

5. Alonso - Proved beyond doubt that he still has what it takes at the age of 41. Not a fan of his but I wish he had a better car as he deserves to be competing for wins.

6. Norris - The next British WDC...but oh, he needs a better car! Put that duff McLaren where it did not belong and trounced his once highly-lauded team-mate.

7. Sainz - Solid but unspectacular...not bad for a No. 2 driver.

8. Perez - Mediocre driver flattered by unbeatable Newey-mobile.

9. Ocon - Pretty good showing in a car that was nowhere near the best.

10. Vettel - Best season in ages in an underperforming car. Can't believe he is retiring but I wish him the best. Sniff sniff!

 

Bonus points for Pierre Gasly...not nearly the best driver but he is sooooo cute!

1. Verstappen
2. Leclerc
3. Norris
4. Hamilton
5. Alonso
6. Russell
7. Sainz
8. Perez
9. Ocon
10. Albon
11. Vettel
12. Bottas
13. Magnussen
14. Gasly
15. Tsunoda
16. Schumacher
17. Zhou
18. Stroll
19. Ricciardo
20. Latifi

Verstappen and Leclerc are clear, Norris somewhat too, Hamilton and especially Alonso are pretty hard done by distorted WDC standings and follow on a similar level, Russell was however not far away from Hamilton and thus slots behind them. Sainz and Perez were neither good or bad, the former edges it with more raw pace. They both benefit from an incredible weak midfield where only Norris and Alonso actually impressed. Ocon is best of the rest just for being solid and good in quali. After this it becomes crazy random. Vettel and Albon have been most consistently okay, though the former is still not beating Stroll in a way you would expect it. Magnussen and Bottas impressed early on and then disappointed increasingly, the WDC standings have flattered them to their team mates eventually. The rest has been honestly very disappointing (with Zhou being better than expected) and it's very hard to determine an actual order from 14th to 19th.

Edited by Marklar, 20 November 2022 - 21:22.

1. Max
2. Leclerc
3. Norris
4. Russell/Hamilton

Edit: honorable mentions Alonso/Sainz

Edited by Claudius, 20 November 2022 - 21:36.

01. Max Verstappen

02. Charles Leclerc

03. Lando Norris

04. Lewis Hamilton

05. Fernando Alonso

06. George Russell

07. Carlos Sainz

08. Sergio Perez

09. Esteban Ocon

10. Valtteri Bottas

1. Max Verstappen
Brilliant. Riding a wave of confidence after 2021, he was everything he was last year and more - more confident, more consistent and far more composed wheel to wheel. I think going up against Leclerc brought out the best in him, because Max knew he’d ultimately have him covered so he didn’t get so stressed even early on when Ferrari had the better car. Summer break onwards was Vettel 2013-esque. The only blots are those two or three races where Perez was oddly quicker earlier in the year and people started questioning whether the car suited him, and the slightly grumpy, sour Max who ended the season sniping at the team-mate who’s basically existed to help him. I’m coming out of the season far less convinced that I actually like him, but far more certain that he’s one of the greats.

2. Charles Leclerc
Was only right that he came P2 in the points, I think that was fully deserved. Alonso can go on about how many points he lost to unreliability but from mid season on Leclerc and Ferrari just hemorrhaged results through occasional driver mistakes, team and tactical errors, unreliability, it was pretty horrible. On raw speed he was the main rival to Max, his qualifying form was incredible, he had a really obvious edge on speed over Sainz for just about all of the season, and I think Ferrari held him back from being able to take the fight to Verstappen all season long more than he did. I think Max is clearly the more complete of the two, but on pure speed and natural talent, I have real hope that Charles is the guy who can take the fight to him - he just needs so much more from Ferrari.

3. Lando Norris
The McLaren really wasn’t all that good this year, but he was every bit as impressive as he had been in 2021 if not more. He said he had the same issues with that car as Ricciardo but seemed so much more able to adapt. Early in the year you wondered whether McLaren would do anything this season, points seemed hard to come by, and by the end of the year he’s scored 122 points through total consistency, in the points just about every weekend and stringing together 8-9/10 performances better than anyone bar Verstappen. I think people underrate just how well Lando has done over the last two years. I’m gutted he didn’t win in Russia last year, he’s a winner in waiting.

4. George Russell
The way he got on with the job early in the season was so impressive, obviously he expected to be in a winning car and found himself struggling but he didn’t complain and just got on with it. I’m not bothered what people say about Hamilton running “experimental setups” and stuff, he beat him early in the year quite convincingly. You set up a car to go as fast as you can. His racing, thinking the defensive driving in Spain, was feisty and rubbed people up the wrong way a bit but really, what else did he do wrong? That misjudgment in Austin, maybe. When Lewis got his mojo back and started performing at his best he was sometimes on the back foot, but statistically not by much and he was still the guy who got the win after a brilliant, dominant weekend in Brazil. I’ve not always been a big fan of Russell, I’ve found him a bit cocky and felt his Williams years weren’t quite what they were cracked up to be but this year he achieved something pretty special.

5. Lewis Hamilton
He wasn’t at his best early in the season. You saw the worst of him really - the frustrating ‘off weekends’ where he just never got going coupled with all the moaning and bitching over the radio. He’s got away with this stuff over the years while his car was dominant but was exposed a bit this year. Bit credit to him, he fought back and started to really hit form where he seemed to be on a one-man mission to drag himself up onto the back of Verstappen when nobody else could - and he nearly did that, on merit, a few times. Arguably much more regularly than Russell did in fact. I thought his late season run was brilliant - podium, podium, podium, podium. That’s what took him to seven titles, rather than just a dominant car. He ended the year having re-proved himself and yet also having been beaten by his team-mate, not winning a race or getting a pole, and giving his critics a bit of ammunition all at the same time, which is a bit odd.

6. Sergio Perez
He did a good job and his peak results/performances were much better this season than last. The wins in Monaco and Singapore were superb and he even managed to start getting himself talked up as a title threat after Monaco. At that stage he seemed to be so much closer to Max and didn’t merely exist to serve him. But as the year went/dragged on, he just faded all too often back into the Fisichella position, several tenths behind his team-mate and making third place finishes look deeply unimpressive. The better the Red Bull got, the more Max stepped up and just dominated him, but it’s hard to argue at the end of the season that he didn’t do a pretty good job.

7. Carlos Sainz
Almost impossible to split from Perez for me, in that both of them disappointed me but still objectively did quite well. I always thought Leclerc was clearly quicker in 2021 and Sainz was a bit lucky to beat him in the championship but didn’t expect Charles to blow him into the weeds quite the way he did early on, second in Bahrain and yet such an unimpressive performance, then the mistakes and DNFs. His championship challenge never remotely got going, and after that it almost didn’t matter what happened because Charles was the absolute top dog. But to be fair, he did fight back. His qualifying form was pretty strong, three poles, his Silverstone win was probably my moment of the season and he beat Leclerc fair and square a few times through the year - maybe as many times as he did in 2021. But I really struggle to see him coming out in 2023 (or ever) and leading the Ferrari challenge. He’s a great number two but maybe needs to accept that.

8. Fernando Alonso
People are overrating him a little. Sorry. He’s still brilliant, mainly because he’s still an absolute single-minded competitive machine. He’s got everything going for him in that he’s feisty as hell, races strongly, and grabs every chance he gets to deliver a headline. He was very unlucky in terms of losing points to technical problems and bad luck, and God did he let everyone know it. He was probably, on balance, stronger than Ocon over the season. But not by much - the qualifying h2h was so close and at times Ocon was running ahead, which does make me question just how quick Fernando still is. I’d expect even the 2018-spec Fernando who whitewashed Vandoorne to have dominated Ocon a bit more especially when you consider how much Ricciardo blew Ocon into the weeds. I feel that much as people like to think he’s still as good as ever, he’s not quite where he used to be. But it’s still good enough for a comfortable top ten which says a lot.

9. Esteban Ocon
I don’t think he’s magically become a superstar. I still think he’s a fairly limited driver who has a decent turn of pace but nothing special. But he’s overcoming those limitations by being feisty, clever, consistent, making the best of a car that’s better than the other midfield cars and making sure he puts it in the points every time. And sometimes, like Suzuka this year in the wet, he’s brilliant in that when he finds himself elevated up into a really high position, he can stay there because he just doesn’t make mistakes. That pressure from Hamilton was huge and he looked pretty comfortable holding him off. I think he realised quite early on that his calm, content approach was comparing well to the drama and stress of Alonso and he just rode a wave of confidence. His extra luck in terms of mechanical issues just built him up further.

10. Alex Albon
I originally put Vettel in but I honestly think Albon is more deserving. He came in from a year on the sidelines, dominated Latifi more than Russell ever did, scored points on merit in the slowest car on the grid and put it in places it probably shouldn’t have been. I think his qualifying performances improved as the season went on, he became a more regular visitor to Q2, and constantly if he wasn’t in the points seemed to be running P12 or P13, ahead of Alfas, Aston Martins, Haas….he got involved in a few scrapes and he and Williams seemed to fall back slightly at the end of the season, not helped by the appendicitis, but I thought his consistently battling it out on the verge of the points in a car that was clearly the slowest over the season was a really impressive performance so he deserves the top ten placing.

11. Vettel
12. Bottas
13. Gasly
14. Magnussen
15. Zhou
16. Stroll
17. Schumacher
18. Tsunoda
19. Ricciardo
20. Latifi

Edited by messy, 20 November 2022 - 22:30.

1. Max Verstappen. Should be pretty self-explanatory. He's been in a class of his own this year. Race pace and racecraft are incredible snf he's smashed his teammate in qualifying again too. Very, very rarely makes a mistake and this year has added a level of maturity wheel-to-wheel. His back-to-back wins in Hungary and Spa were particularly superb. Every year his driving seems to be better than the alst so goodness knows what he's got in store for us next. Schumacheresque.

 

2. Charles Leclerc. Ultiamtely it's a year of wondering what might have been but I don't think that's much of a reflection on Charles. Through poor reliability and a series of unbelievable strategy blunders the team managed to cost him victories at no fewer than five races - Monaco, Spain, Baku, Silverstone and Hungary. That absolutely killed his season. I think Leclerc and Versyappen are pretty evenly matched - I'd say Leclerc edges it on Saturday but Verstappen edges it on Sunday - but Leclerc is slightly more error-prone than his rival and made costly mistakes in France and at Imola. All the same, he drove an excellent season.

 

3. George Russell. He's hopped into the same car as the most successful driver of all time and beaten him first time out by 35 points. Not quite as quick in qualifying as Hamilton but it was pretty even on race pace and I'd say Russell was a shade more consistent too. He did make a few clumsy errors in the wheel-to-wheel stuff but I suppose he didn't do too much racing at Williams so he has to re-learn his craft. There's no reaspn to believe he can't dal out those errors and add a bit more pace too. His win in Brazil was excellent and just rewards for a thoroughly impressive season.

 

4. Lewis Hamilton. The first winless and poleless season of his career bur he still drove really well throughout. I think he probably was a little quicker than Russell this year but he did also make a few mistakes and have a couple of bum weekends early in the season where he was chasing a perfect setup that was never going to exist. I'm impressed by his continuing positivity and his will to win. It will be interesting to see whether he can continue to live with Russell as he edges into his late 30s. That said, my number 5 is doing just fine even into his 40s...

 

5. Fernando Alonso. I find it hard to believe that he finished behind Ocon in the points standings. He always seems so racey. Putting the Alpine on the front row of the grid in Canada was one of the laps of the season. He's as spiky as ever - which I like - and his racecraft is still extremely impressive. It'll be interesting to see how he gots on at Aston martin. Surely he has to slow down eventually...?

 

6. Sergio Perez. I think it was a standard Perez season really. As we've seen across his career he is better than most of the midfielders but he just isn't quite as good as the top guys. I don't think any less of him for being beaten by Verstappen b- and he generally avoided mistaskes this year - but he does have this niggling inconsistency and can occasionally disappear without trace.

 

7. Lando Norris. Still can't quite escape the feeling that he's a bit overrated. Ricciardo has been dismal for the last couple of years but there's no doubt that Lando looks consistent and quick. Next year Piastri might be a bigger test. I wouldn't be surprised if it was close.

 

8. Carlos Sainz. There have been moments. But not a lot more than that, really. He just isn't very quick on race day. Abu Dhabi was a good example. Leclerc drives an excellent race to 2nd, Carlos drives an anonymous race to 4th. He did win his first GP with a very strong weekend at Silverstone so there's obviously potential there, but this year it was mostly unrealised.

 

9. Sebastian Vettel. I think his driving towards the end of the season was better than the three or four guys ahead of him in this list but early on in the year he struggled. Still, 35 feels like way too early to retire. I hope we see him again but I highly doubt we will.

 

10. Kevin Magnussen. I think KMag deserves a shout for returning from the wilderness and putting his young teammate in the shade. Seems a lot less angsty than he used to which has helped his driving - he put in some stirring performances. The incredible pole in Brazil was weather-assisted but just getting into Q3 was a hell of an achievement - his teammate was last on the grid.

 

11. Esteban Ocon. Maybe I'm underrating him because he did outscore Alonso but I don't remember him being quicker than his teammate all season. I suppose he must have been, I think he's a solid midfielder who is a better qualifier than a rafce driver. A decent job.

 

12. Valtteri Bottas. As with Perez I think this was about what we usually get from Bottas. He started the season very well and then his form appeared to collapse midway through the year. There are occasional moments of real quality but there's also a whole lot of mediocrity, and a few msitakes too. The chronic unreliability of the Alfa Romeo didn't much help either

 

13. Alex Albon. Very tough to judge because he was probably in the worst car on the grid and had the worst teammate on the grid. He did drive well to score a few points - particularly in Australia - but de Vries proved that was possible on his debut race in Monza. Alex probably did an OK job if his previous seasons are anything to go by.

 

14. Pierre Gasly. Pretty mediocre after a couple of decent years. Consistent enough but lacking much oomph. I worry for Alpine next year with hima nd Ocon.

 

15. Yuki Tsunoda. To be honest I think his continued presence in F1 has as much to do with Honda as with anything Yuki is doing. Next year de Vries will pose the make-or-break test. I can;t help but feel taht Yuki isn't quick quick enough. Still young though so there's every chance he'll improve.

 

16. Zhou Guanyu. Not particularly impressive to be homnest. Had some horrible luck with reliability but he was quite a long way off Bottas. Zhou needs to be beating his teammate if he watns to show us he's world champion material.

 

17. Daniel Rcciardo. Rubbish. And peculiarly so. He was dribing brilliantly as recently as two years ago, was patchy last year and then just miles off it this year. I think a sabbatical may do him some good. I hope we do see him again though, because even in this form he has more potentual than a lot of the young drivers on the grid.

 

18. Mick Schumacher. A very disappointing season and in the end he deserves to lose his seat. Seems like such a nice kid but the performances just weren't there. Too many mistakes and, crucially, jsut not enough pace. A young driver can get away with the former, but never with the latter. I thought the form was coming after good performances at Silverstone and Austria but in the end they were more like flashes in the pan than a sign of things to come.

 

19. Lance Stroll. What can you say? The Marco Andretti of F1. Gets a seat every year and does absolutely nothing with it. I suppose he's the tax we have to pay to keep Aston Martin on the grid.

 

20. Nicholas Latifi. I don't think even the most ardent fan could argue that he really deserves to keep his seat. Ultimately he just isn't quite up to it. Seems nice enough but I wasn't that impressed with him absentmindedly driving down the wrong but of track at Suzuka and then immediately blaming the car on the radio. Ulitimately not quick enough to be here..

Edited by Spillage, 20 November 2022 - 22:24.

1. Max Verstappen - He was a machine all year. It would be very difficult to justify any other placing for him.

 

2. Lewis Hamilton - Yeah, I'm still putting Hamilton here. Watching him this year, he's still the guy I'd want in my car if I wanted the best chance to beat Verstappen. He had a slow start to the year but this was when the car was awful and he was supposedly trying out more speculative set-ups which sometimes may have put him at a disadvantage to Russell. I'm not actually sure how true this really is, but as the season wore on, he became consistently the more effective driver of the two and if I was listing the best race drives from Mercedes drivers, they'd mostly be from Hamilton, with Russell's Brazil drive the main exception.

 

3. Charles Leclerc - He seems to be the most popular number 2 in people's lists and I could have put him there because he put in some very good performances. But I do think he was slightly flattered by Sainz not really getting to grips with the car early on, and the gap between them seemed a lot less later in the season. And I don't rate Sainz as highly as I do e.g. Russell. I also don't think he's necessarily the best qualifier in F1 as some do, but I think he took advantage of the Ferrari being the best car in qualifying at the same time Sainz was struggling with it. But regardless, he could have been number 2 and it was close.

 

4. George Russell - He did very well this year and beat Hamilton on points, even if fortune played a role in that. A great win in Brazil secured this 4th place.

 

5. Lando Norris - He consistently does a good job, but it's difficult to know exactly how good he is when he's got a team-mate that struggles to drive the car most of the time.

 

6. Fernando Alonso - It has been said by some (I've heard it somewhere anyway) that he's back to his best, but I'm not convinced. I think a peak Alonso would see off Ocon much more convincingly than this. He's still put in some good performances though and I think deserves this place.

 

7. Carlos Sainz - He's a decent driver who can get close to Leclerc and be ahead on occasion, but he needs to be doing his best drives more often to get higher on the list.

 

8 Sergio Perez - He was beaten convincingly by Verstappen on the whole but there were still one or two good performances from him that allow him to sneak into the top 10 in 8th place.

 

9. Esteban Ocon - He doesn't compare too badly against Alonso and and is often ahead in qualifying so I think 9th is reasonable.

 

10. Alex Albon - Like messy, I put Vettel in first, but then changed my mind. It's difficult to compare drivers when they've got very different level team-mates and all our lists are very subjective, but yeah, I'll stick him here.

1. Verstappen

2. Leclerc

3. Russell/Hamilton

4. Hamilton/Russell (both are interchangeable on the list in my view)

5. Norris

Verstappen

Leclerc

Russel/Hamilton

Alonso/ Norris(but this depends a lot on current Ricciardo quality which is difficult to assess)/

Perez

Edited by AlexS, 20 November 2022 - 22:57.

Absolutely cannot fathom anyone having Perez over sainz. Fwiw here's mine....

1: Max
Consistently fast, low error rate, star. Shame he's such an arse.

2: Leclerc
Lightening fast over a lap, burdened by a hopeless operational team. Still bins it more frequently than ideal. Seems a nice chap but will dissappoint a date asking for a kiss rather than leaning in and planting one.

It gets very tough from p3 to p7, honestly they could be in any order.


3: Russell
The Love Muscle finishes ahead of Lewis because he took the win when it presented itself. Fast, consistent and not a lot of errors but was probably bested by Lewis by a bees dixk on pace over the season. Excellent on the radio to his team, clear, direct and most often right. Could do with coming across as less of a toff at times.

4: Lewis
Still has it, just a few small errors creeping in past few years but still a great driver. Very punchable over the radio.

5: Alonso
Absolutely drove the wheels off that Renault, a complete beast. Horrible reliability but still, if you watch the races, an animal. Got involved in more tussles than he needed to though. Wipes his old fella on the sheets and says you should be grateful after a one night stand.

6: Sainz
Surprise of the season for me. Took a few races to settle in but once he did was always there or thereabouts. Is closer to leclerc than Perez is to max. Fantastic on the radio, very reassuring amidst chaos. Great hair, great abs and a man amongst boys, better be hung like a gnat or its all too unfair.

7: Lando
I am australian but still feel Lando is flattered by how bad Daniel has been. He was outstanding in qualifying, will be interesting to see how he goes with a faster car.

8: Perez
Seemed to have lost his magic touch with the tyres, and without that he's just a slow number 2. Will be wary of Daniel hovering about the team.

9: Ocon
Gasly is in for a shock next year, ocon is not a stand out star but he's better than average and has had a brutal run of team mates. Very solid year.

10: Bottas
I dont rate bottas, never have, but when points were available he took them and thoroughly hammered what, according to most people's opinions, is the greatest rookie ever in Zhou.

Shout out to Dan who was just ****ing awful. Lovely bloke but Jesus.....never seen anything like it from a proper top tier driver.

Edited by Ivanhoe, 22 November 2022 - 22:00.

I'm surprised to see Ocon rated so highly here, I thought his biggest achievement was being a French driver in a French team. But I suppose that will be put to the test next year with Gasly. 

 

It may well be the best rivalry on the grid next year. 

 

I'd go as follows

Max

George

Charles
Lewis
Nando

Sainz
Lando

Perez

Seb

Mag

Bottas

Gasly

Mick

Yuki

Zhou

Danny

Stroll

Latiffi

Max
Norris
Leclerc
Russell
Alonso

Lewis is close but he's been so clumsy at times this year.

Edited by noikeee, 21 November 2022 - 00:22.

Great post agree with a lot but gee harsh on sainz.

1. Max Verstappen


2. Charles Leclerc

3. Lando Norris
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. George Russell


7. Carlos Sainz
8. Sergio Perez
9. Sebastian Vettel
10. Esteban Ocon

11. Alexander Albon
12. Pierre Gasly
13. Valtteri Bottas

14. Kevin Magnussen
15. Lance Stroll

16. Yuki Tsunoda

17. Zhou Guanyu
18. Mick Schumacher
19. Daniel Ricciardo


20. Nicholas Latifi

 

Can't argue much with this other than I'd put a small gap between Norris an other 3 on that rung, and I would drop Gasly down into the Magnussen group, he's not been that great this year in a tricky car, Tsunoda should not have outqualified him as much as he did

1.Verstappen
2.Leclerc
3.Hamilton
4.Russell
5.Norris
6.Perez
7.Alonso
8.Sainz
9.Ocon
10.Vettel
11.Bottas
12.Magnussen
13.Albon
14.Gasly
15.Stroll
16.De Vries
17.Schumacher
18.Zhou
19.Tsunoda
20.Ricciardo
21.Hulkenberg
22.Latifi

Max
Charles 
George
Nyck
Lando 

 

In so far as these are the ones that had results that exceeded expectations probably Alonso, next 

1. Max

2. Charles

3. Russell

4. Lando

5. Hamilton

6. Alonso

7. Sainz

8. Ocon

9. Albon

10. Perez

1. Max

2. Lewis/George

3. Charles

4. Alonso/Lando/Seb

5. Carlos

My top 5 so far

1. Stupid TV direction - absolutely hopeless, even dumb at times

2. Red Bull overspending money

3. Mercedes getting car wrong

4. Bold text - just to make a statement

5. Porpoising

Edited by Baddoer, 21 November 2022 - 07:19.

1.Max
2.Leclerc
3.Russell
4.Norris/Alonso
5.Hamilton

Edited by MaroF1, 21 November 2022 - 07:34.

Been here since 2001 and we’ve always done top 10.
Can we change it to that?

 

I'm usualy the guy who does it but this year I couldn't start the thread  on time.  So lets ask the OP to change the title and we can go with this thread, or if the Mods prefer I can start a new one.

1. Verstappen

2. LeClerc

3. Norris

4. Alonso

5. Russell

1. Max Verstappen - Obviously

 

2. Charles Leclerc - Continuously let down by poor tactics and poor reliability. It must have been a really challenging season from a mental perspective given that the pace was probably there to challenge for the title, but it was just thrown away. Leclerc then compounded this by his error in France, but generally speaking he was the only driver that at times looked to be a match for Max.

 

3/4. Leworge Russelton - Boy am I making a weak decision here by placing the Mercedes drivers as equals. But it really is hard to rate them against each other, and a case can be made for both drivers in my opinion. Although Russell came out on top in the championship (and bagged both a win and a pole), I actually feel that Lewis perhaps had more highs (Austin, Silverstone, Paul Ricard) while Russell was generally the more stable of the two. If I really had to make a choice I'd probably go for George at 3 and Lewis at 4.

 

5. Carlos Sainz - After the top four the drop is quite steep. I honestly don't think that anyone below the top four had a particularly memorable season. I chose Sainz because I think he is in a spot that is bound to make his performance underrated (given that Leclerc is so bloody good). I am not overly convinced that Alonso should be on this list, and Lando either lacked motivation at times or the car was too erratic for us to make full sense of his performance.

1. Verstappen

2. Leclerc

3. Russell

4. Norris

5. Hamilton

6. Alonso

7. Ocon

8. Perez

9. Bottas

10. Sainz

1. Verstappen
No contest here.

2. Leclerc
No contest here either. Ferrari just wasn't good enough and went backwards as the season went on.

3. Norris
McLaren clearly wasn't a great car at any point. I can imagine that shoving many of the other drivers into that car would've produced results similar to Danny Ric. Can't name many that could've matched Lando.

4. Russell
Impressive first season with Merc and a long-awaited maiden win to top it off.

5. Sainz
Highly inconsistent season with 6 retirements and most of the time badly off the pace of Leclerc. Still, the average finishing position when not messing up or getting the Ferrari strategy team treatment was actually quite close to Charles.

6. Perez
I like Checo but managing to win 2 races in a season against the 15 of your teammate is very Kovalainen-esque. Ending up losing the 2nd place in WDC just underlines the issue. The RB18 was probably the most dominant F1 car he'll ever have at his disposal.

7. Hamilton
No wins, no poles, fewer FLs than GR and ending up behind in the WDC while driving for the team that has been built around his success. May have been unlucky here and there but this was still a 22-race long season.

8. Ocon
If I like Perez, I can't stand Ocon. Somehow even manages to pull off looking like a perv in interviews whenever wearing a cap and sporting that smug grin. Driving seems to get better by the year though and beating Alonso is never an easy feat.

9. Alonso
Still racey but this is not peak Alonso anymore. I kind of expected him to be much better this season against Ocon which is why he's behind on this list. Unlucky yes, but again there was 22 races to show that brilliance to compensate.

10. Bottas
Great early season (94 % of total points collected in the first 9 races!) before Alfa once again completely lost the plot during the mid-season development race. The 5th place finish ended up tipping P6 in WCC for Alfa. Would've probably considered him to be even in the top-5 if the mid-season misery hadn't included him suddenly performing very poorly in comparison to Zhou as well.

Edited by keeppari, 21 November 2022 - 15:00.

I decided to give the drivers my personal scores. In each rank, the position is meaningful, so you can have a top-5 by just going top to bottom.

10/11 (Masterful)
Verstappen

8/11 (Top-level)
Hamilton
Leclerc
Alonso

7/11 (Great)
Russel
Norrris
Russel

6/11 (Solid)
Albon
Ocon
Perez

5/11 (Okay)
Vettel
Magnussen
Bottas
Gasly

4/11 (Uninspiring)
Ricciardo
Zhou
Tsunoda

3/11 (Also-ran)
Schumacher
Stroll

1/11 (Nope)
Latifi

Probably how I'd group them;

 

 

1. Max Verstappen
 

2. Charles Leclerc
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Lando Norris

5. Lewis Hamilton

 

6. George Russell

7. Carlos Sainz
8. Sergio Perez

 

9. Alexander Albon
10. Sebastian Vettel

11. Kevin Magnussen
12. Esteban Ocon
 

13. Pierre Gasly
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Yuki Tsunoda
16. Zhou Guanyu

17. Lance Stroll

 

18. Mick Schumacher
19. Daniel Ricciardo
20. Nicholas Latifi

Edited by Centauri, 21 November 2022 - 09:28.

1. Verstappen

 

No denying who's clear at the top. Hopefully someone can get closer in 2023.

 

 

2. Leclerc

 

Quite a way down on Max and maybe not that much higher than the next group but still ahead.

 

 

3. Norris

4. Hamilton

5. Alonso

6. Russell

 

I could probably move this next group around in several different ways but there's no doubt that Norris and Alonso have been the class of the midfield and I'm sure there will be plenty of debate around Lewis and George. I just felt Lewis had higher peaks. George won in Brazil and drove brilliantly but there were more occasions when I was impressed by Lewis (Spain, Silverstone, Hungary, United States, Zandvoort) whereas I never really felt George was going above and beyond the car.

 

7. Ocon

8. Vettel

9. Albon

10. Sainz

11. Perez

 

This group are hard to rank again but they're a step down from the ones above and step above the rest. All have had good weekends. Sainz and Perez are really hard to rank because I've found them frustratingly poor at many points during this season and it's hard to determine if that's because Max and Charles are that good, or Sainz and Perez are that underwhelming. Ocon's been the second best Alpine driver but you can't get away from the fact that he's been the one bringing home the points. Seb has had a good year, certainly as the Aston has improved. Albon has beaten Latifi with ease but still hard to judge him against somebody so far off the pace.

 

12. Bottas

13. Magnussen

14. Gasly

15. Tsunoda

16. Zhou

 

Meh, Bottas and K-Mag picked up the points early in the season when their cars had some decent pace, with their teammates weren't able to match them. Gasly has been pretty poor all year and it's hard to split the Alpha Tauri guys, with Pierre looking like he'd rather be anywhere else and Yuki still not really showing much in the way of performances. Zhou has been fine, not as bad as I had expected but needs to show something better next year. 

 

17. Stroll

18. Schumacher

19. Ricciardo

 

I really don't like Stroll. Such a waste of a seat and his wheel-to-wheel is appalling, he'll cause a serious injury one day if he carries on like this. Mick has shown glimpses but he dropped the ball too many times, even if the team didn't help him at other points. Ricciardo - wow - I genuinely can't believe it's gotten this bad. 

 

20. Latifi

 

Pretty self explanatory, I'd say.

7/11 (Great)
Russel
Norrris
Russel

 

 

Three rs in Norris, One l in Russell, and not too much of Sainz.

 

But scores out of 11 - love it!

1. Verstappen

2. Rusell

3. Alonso

4. Norris

5. Leclerc/Hamilton

1- Max Verstappen. One of the most, if not the most, dominant season by a driver. When the car was inferior to the Ferrari and he couldn’t cope with his own front end he still won races and scored poles. South Arabia, Canada, Miami, were masterpieces. When the car came good on him he was unstoppable. He shouldn’t have won races like Hungary, Spa when starting 10^th and 14^th. Yet he was so much better than the others that he won them by a country mile. It was ridiculous. Yesterday for example he looked like cruising all the way. In Japan he gained almost 30 seconds in 35 minutes of racing in the rain.  The Red Bull was overall the best car. But the Ferrari was closer than points difference indicates. The reds were generally faster on Saturday and in the first part of the year in races too. By the end Mercedes catch up and in races like Hungary/COTA/Mexico/Zandvort  and were a match to RB. In Brazil Mercedes was clearly the best car. Max also had a much cleaner more mature wheel to wheel combats specially with his new rival at the top. The only great mistake he did all year was not on his drive: It was the way the behave in Brazil towards his team mate. Apart from that he was as amazing  (if not more) as the GOATS in the sport at their peak beating records left and right.  

 

2- Charles Leclerc. He has the speed to match Max. He just needs a bit more confidence, killer instinct and race pace. The amount of points he lost due to bad strategic calls by Ferrari was appalling.  Hungary and GB should have been his or at least be on the podium easily. That being said he made two costly mistakes at Imola and France who alone would give him at least 33 more points. In the end the car lost its edge and he found himself  battling Perez for second place that never should have been in doubt. Austria was his best race and he was the quali king of 2022. Hoping for great things in the future from him.

 

3-George Russell. This place could actually be occupied by 3 or 4 drivers. George, Lando, Lewis, Alonso all drove very well having more or less equal high and lows. I pick George because he faced and won the biggest challenge of all: The mighty Lewis Hamilton who basically “owns” Mercedes team.  They were very evenly matched in speed. Hamilton had a difficult start of the season and George got the best of him there. Fast, consistent, Mr. Saturday/top 5 dragged the car to many points when Lewis was fighting to barely make it to Q2 and was losing to Haas cars while being lapped by the front runners. Then when Lewis got the upper hand in quali and races he was never disastrous, following his team mate. In the end he beated him on points and got the two best results for the team: A pole, a win and a sprint win. The kid still made a few silly mistakes (GB, COTA…) but he’s getting there.

 

4-Lando Norris. The only podium outside top 6 drivers. Mclaren started the year as the worse car. That need to be said. In the end he scored 122 points. Lando was more or less anonymous for the biggest part of the year but always delivered the big points to the team and  beated the two Alpines, a superior car. His quali performances were impressive. His race pace always got him the fight even when he seemed lost in the beginning of the races.

 

5-Lewis Hamilton. Used to have a perfect car, the great champion found himself having  to adapt to a difficult and less competitive car. That proved very difficult for him and he had too many bad races to be higher on this list. South Arabia/Imola were painful, while his team mate was cruising 5^th and Bottas was scoring big points in an Alfa. Canada was a turning point. He started to understand the car and from then on we saw the Lewis of old, fighting for podiums and putting on great quali laps. But he has himself to blame for not having won a race this year, as he should not have had that touch with Verstappen in Brazil. That race had his name all over it. Overall Solid.

 

6-Fernando Alonso. I don’t buy that theory that he should have scored 70 more points if not for the bad luck. He forgets others had misfortunes too. But without the excess of bad luck he had I’m sure he would have scored more or less the same points as Lando Norris. Fernando is an immense driver still at 41. Race pace, strategy, intelligence, and even pure speed are still there. The problem with him is that his politics and mouth often go way too far. Causing yellows at Baku on purpose, and feeding a war his team mate while making himself a few mistakes (Brasil Sprint, Canada…) criticizing the team in public don’t go well with a driver of his level. But hey it’s Alonso. Great season by him. That Canada quali lap…

 

7-Sergio Pérez. Sure he was almost runner up in the championship. But he never deserved it. Consistent point scorer and an overall good driver. But apart from that South Arabia Pole, I can’t say I’m too impressed by his performances in the overall best car this season. Monaco and Singapore were great of course but he did benefit from others misfortunes to win them. Max was almost always vastly superior. Nevertheless he’s the right driver at RB: When things go bad for Max the team can count on him to score points, podiums (see GB) and some wins.

 

8-Carlos Sainz. More or less the same as Perez. But with more mistakes. His early part of the season was dreadful with reliability but also with lack of pace. He came good in the later part of the year but is still a bit behind Charles and sometimes with better strategies. Was very lucky with his GB win.

 

9-Esteban Ocon. This guy is annoying. He seems a snake inside the team and on track. He’s competitive, focused and though he’s not a generational talent he has this irritable habit of coming out of nowhere and almost always score points. The same with quali: Alonso would be faster all the FP’s, Q1, Q2. And then, out of the blue, a bang lap in Q3 (Hungary, Japan, AD).  He kept his record of being ultra competitive with his team mate to the point of being disloyal (which was nice to see because Alonso can be that too) and was absolutely nowhere in a few races. But in the end he did outscore Fernando and got the team best result for the third year in a row.

 

10-Valteri Bottas. Close between him and Vettel. Chose Bottas because he made the most of his car when it was a competitive one. If everything is right he’s bloody fast and knows how to get good results. In the end that 5^th place in Imola gave 12 million to Alfa Romeo.

 

Honorable mention: Alex Albon. He was very very fast in that Williams in quali. In races he still made it to the points a few times and often battled faster cars. Proved he deserves his place in F1.  

Edited by Taxi, 21 November 2022 - 11:11.

1.Verstappen - Ended the season world champion and commandingly in charge. After Ferrari faded there was only ever one person who was going to win this championship, and through no fault of his own I feel like there was no challenge to really push him and elevate his game to another level. Such was the combined advantage of his car and his talent that he really won this championship at a canter. As a result this championship was less impressive than last season to me at least. In the end I felt that so lacking was the challenge he wasn’t really tested and so cruised to the finish sweeping up victories while Perez remained far adrift of his teammates performance. Of the top teams driver pairings I feel this is the largest gap and that is to Verstappen’s credit as Perez is no slouch.

2. Norris - One of the most impressive drivers this season, rarely makes a major error, regularly qualifies the car in strong positions, takes advantage of anyone in a stronger car having an off day, and is always there in the hunt for points. Mclaren was the 5th fastest car, and he absolutely carried them into contention for that 4th place in the constructors. A really strong season doing everything that could be expected of him. He effectively one the best of the rest championship and did so by some margin, taking the only podium outside the top 6. if there was one driver that could be plucked out of the midfield and given a car capable of challenging the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton, he would be my pick.

3. Russell - The very definition of consistency through the season, of the three who aren’t considered to be the team leaders, he was the one who got the better of his teammate. He got his first win and plenty of podiums and I just can’t imagine Bottas having been able to achieve anything close to the performances Russell did. However once Hamilton stopped playing around with the setup the tables turned and it was Hamilton who looked the faster there after, add in that there was a number of times where fortune benefitted him with safety cars at just the right time for him at the start of the season and I find myself not really believing he outperformed Hamilton despite what the final points table suggests, but rather matched him. In the end I flipped a coin to choose between them.

4. Hamilton - I’m not sure how to judge Hamilton’s season. At the start of the year he looked to be behind Russell, but then it can be attributed to him playing the guinea pig to help Mercedes out of the hole they found themselves in. The moment they stopped his form returned and the pendulum swung heavily in his favour against Russell. I know Russell finished ahead in the championship, got the win and all during his first year with the team when it hit some struggles, but I have to wonder how much of that was because Hamilton was using every practice session as a test session to cure the cars ills. It’s hard to say in all honesty. Next season will be very interesting if they produce a car capable of challenging for the championship.

5. Alonso - If Alonso’s performances have dropped over the years I have not been able to spot it. There’s no denying he had by far the more reliability issues of the two Alpine drivers. He was fast and consistent, always a points threat and generally a fantastic driver to watch, and yet for all the superlatives I could throw his way I do feel he does not help himself at times. Fair enough in his decision to leave, Alpine were being silly with the contract, but the deterioration he keeps having with team relations must have a negative impact on the performance as I can’t imagine the engineers remain fully motivated to get the best out of his car.

6. Leclerc - Leclerc’s season is one of the more complicated ones. He has raw pace in spades, and it is more than enough to challenge the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton, but he has too many errors in him. Yes Ferrari’s strategies are woeful, and they lost out badly in the development race, but Leclerc needs to minimise these costly errors they are by far the biggest part of his game holding him back, and it blotted his season and dropped him some way down the rankings for me despite getting second in the championship.

7. Sainz - A terrible start to his season threatened to unravel Sainz, but to his credit he did diligently work on how to get the best out of the Ferrari and was eventually rewarded with a win - albeit thanks to another strategic blunder by Ferrari. He isn’t a match for Leclerc’s pace, but he is closer to his teammate than Perez is to Verstappen, he is able to challenge Leclerc and beat him with some regularity that it can’t all be written off as Ferrari ruining Leclerc’s races. Sainz often makes the call in the cockpit himself, and it often works for him when Ferrari are making a hash of their strategy decisions.

8. Ocon - I felt Ocon improved this season, he was closer to Alonso, but he was still clearly the second best driver in that team. I’m struggling to see Ocon as anything more than a very good midfield driver, comparable to Sainz and Perez who would get the odd win in a top car, but never challenge for the championship against the likes of Verstappen or Hamilton. He has good days, and then there is the odd day his qualifying performance is terrible or he struggles due to some niggly issue he has with the car. He had a strong season, but considering the car he had, he should have beaten Norris not been left 30 points behind him.

9. Perez - I believe this was a fairly average season for Perez, if he was still in the midfield he would have done much the same as he always did, but up against Verstappen he gets well and truly put into the shade. He started off well, and also notched up a pair of victories with the Singapore win being particularly impressive. He’s consistent but that alone is not enough to battle Verstappen, he simply does not have the pace to challenge him, but makes for a reliable foil which is exactly what Red Bull needed after Gasly and Albon’s stints in the second seat.

10. Vettel - In many ways the end to Vettel’s career makes me think of Raikkonen, all the qualifying pace he had seems to have deserted him. He can put in the occasional good performance in qualifying, but for the most part he could do a lot better - Stroll himself is not particularly good in qualifying so I don’t consider beating him a great achievement. Yet much like Raikkonen come race day he still had good pace and could move forward, and as Aston Martin progressed he was a real shining light in their season. Too many poor strategies cost him in the end, but he can hold his head high after this season as he showed his worth in F1, and I will genuinely miss him.

11. Albon - I find Albon’s season hard to judge, much like Schumacher’s last season, or Russell’s in years gone. He is up against a poor teammate and completely obliterated him like he was expected to do. But this was hardly a challenge. The Williams was the worst car out there no doubt, but it wasn’t to an extreme, it was capable of battling with the midfield and Albon put that to good use. He has had some really good qualifying performances, picking off other drivers who were struggling and generally making a nuisance of himself in the midfield stealing points finishes with smart strategies and clever defensive driving. It was a good season, but just how good is hard to tell.

12. Bottas - His season started fantastically, the Alfa Romeo was strong, and Bottas was consistent, even challenging Mercedes at the beginning to the glee of all. Then Alfa Romeo went off the boil and Bottas disappeared, and on top of that Zhou often succeeded in outqualifying him. I expected Bottas to stomp all over him, but he was left wanting. He has always had one lap speed, but I find Bottas to be one of the most frustrating drivers to watch - the man has zero aggression and is far too easily bullied on track.

13. Gasly - The Alpha Tauri was a poor car this season, 13kg overweight I believe Gasly said. But even so Gasly has definitely been pegged back this year by Tsunoda. Gasly ends up with near double the points, but I don’t think that reflects their respective seasons. Gasly remained capable of seizing upon points scores, and while didn’t make as many critical mistakes as Tsunoda, it was often back and forth between them with who came on top from race to race, particularly in the second half of the season. I don’t think this Alpha Tauri reflected well on either of them, but Gasly was far from being the dominant leader of the team that he was last year.

14. Magnussen - A year out and came back in with a bang, sweeping up good points in the early races, and having the better of Schumacher by some margin, and then he seemed to disappear from F1 again for most of the season. Before coming back with another bang in Brazil. Yes the Haas was a car that didn’t develop, and Magnussen used it effectively at the start of the season, but his form is all over the place, and he needs to learn to pick his battles at the start of the race. All those black and orange flags were unfair in the end as they ended up changing the rule once Alpine complained, but still I can’t help but feel a lot of the time Magnussen is leaving something on the table.

15. Stroll - His qualifying stacked up okay against Vettel, it’s never been his strong suit. I find Stroll blows hot and cold. He can put together a good weekend, he can come through and make his way to the points, he can deliver good performances. But it’s so rare for him to string two good race weekends together. He is not consistent and he has no driving awareness, so often turning in on someone who is up the inside of him. Calling him a pay driver isn’t fair, he shows he can perform, but he is a frustrating driver to watch most of the time.

16. Tsunoda - I’m probably one of the few that think Tsunoda’s had a better season than what his results suggest. Yes he continues to make far too many mistakes, taking out his teammate at Silverstone while they were both in the points was horrendously costly, and coming out the pits at Canada and straight into the wall on cold tyres was just poor. But I do see a lot of progress too. After being completely decimated last year in qualifying, this year he has matched Gasly. 10-9 (I do not count ones where he did not participate in qualifying) Unlike with Schumacher I do see the potential in Tsunoda. His races have come along too and in 4 of the final 5 races it was Tsunoda who led the two Alpha Tauri’s - Japan, USA, Mexico, Abu Dhabi. Tsunoda is continuing to improve but he needs to stop making stupid costly errors, and calm himself down in the cockpit. At the moment he is the very definition of being your own worst enemy.

17. Zhou - Did a lot better than I expected of him, held his own against Bottas, frankly did a better job in his first season than Tsunoda or Schumacher did thanks to keeping the rookie crashes to a minimum and not losing his head. He earned points, and had a lot of bad reliability too that definitely damaged his final points haul. But with that all said his season wasn’t spectacular, I can’t point to a single drive that made go ‘wow what a performance!’ He’s never going to be challenging at the top of F1, but he isn’t incompetent, and he certainly hasn’t looked out of place.

18. Schumacher - The start of this season was so poor. Finally up against a capable teammate who we all know can battle in the F1 midfield, Schumacher was firmly put in the shade. His qualifying is lacklustre, but then it always has been through the junior formula and while his race pace improved in the second half of the season much like it always has for him, his qualifying continued to be poor, often relying on Magnussen to get caught up in first lap melee to get ahead of him, rather than defeating him on outright pace. He gives himself far too much to do, and with the added number of crashes it doesn’t surprise me to see him replaced with Hulkenberg. When we talk about young drivers we talk about potential - and I just don’t see his potential ever even getting to the level that we already know Hulkenberg to be at - one of a consistent midfield driver who can qualify well and regularly deliver points finishes. If (and it is a big if) Hulkenberg is still the driver he was after 3 years out, then he will undoubtedly be an upgrade.

19. Ricciardo - I’ve always liked Ricciardo, who doesn’t? He’s a fun character in the paddock and entertaining to watch on track. But watching him this season was just depressing and the worst we’ve ever seen of him. 2021 was a struggle, but this was a nightmare and he has rightly been dropped from Mclaren. Had he been anywhere near Norris, Mclaren could have been 4th in the constructors. I fear this is the last we will see of Ricciardo unless he’s willing to drop down the grid. No one with a car capable of winning will give him a drive after these last two seasons. For a driver who performed so highly just a couple seasons ago, this has been the most shocking fall from grace I can think of in my 31 years watching F1.

20. Latifi - Latifi has been the worst of all 20 drivers. His performances have been far off Albon’s with only a great qualifying at Silverstone, and points in Japan being the highlights of his season. He is rightly exiting F1. He has been so far adrift of the field making Williams look like more of backmarker than it is. Albon showed it could at least fight the teams ahead of it, but Latifi was nowhere all season long. Sergeant will surely be an improvement.

Edited by Laster, 21 November 2022 - 10:46.

Verstappen      – Head and shoulders above the rest. The car was supreme, but Max got the best out of it.

 

 

 

Norris              – Great year, almost always the best out of the top 3 teams. Really needs a better car/team, this coming from a McLaren fan!

Leclerc            – Had a good year but still lacks consistency, literally threw it away too many times

 

 

Alonso             – The wiliest fox on the grid, many great drive , let down by Alpine too many times.

Hamilton          – Head dropped a few times this year. Probably the one driver Max still fears, on his day still one of the best ever.

 

Russell           – Good first year with a top team, but sometimes went backwards in a race. Dominated the weekend of his win.

Perez               – A good couple of wins, but nowhere near Max too many times. But  does the job the team needs.

Sainz              – A bit lost initially with the new car, but gradually got used to car. Knew when to overrule the team for his first win

 

Bottas              – Good first year with the team, did exactly what Sauber hired him for, got them points.

Ocon               – Overall a good year, but fights his team mate too hard, interesting to see him as a team leader.

Verstappen
Norris
Leclerc
Russell
Alonso

These are the guys who have had great seasons.


Verstappen is in a league of his own.

Norris is ahead of Charles because Charles has made to many errors, despite showing in those first few races just how good he can be, if Ferrari ever get him the car. Lando has consistently been best of the rest and it’s time McLaren gave him a car or let him go. (I’m a McLaren fan)

Russell - beat Lewis in the championship and won a race and a pole for the team. May not have had the ultimate speed of Lewis but plenty of time for that to come. He’s been impressive all year against one of the very best.

Fernando is Fernando. I believe the best driver I have ever witnessed. Alpine look like total mugs for losing him. Will be a huge shame if AM can’t give him a good car.

1. Max Verstappen
 

2. Charles Leclerc
3. Lando Norris

 

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. George Russell

6. Fernando Alonso

 

7. Carlos Sainz
8. Alexander Albon

9. Sebastian Vettel

 

10. Sergio Perez

 

11. Kevin Magnussen
12. Esteban Ocon
13. Pierre Gasly
 

14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Lance Stroll

16. Yuki Tsunoda
17. Mick Schumacher

 

18. Daniel Ricciardo

19. Zhou Guanyu

20. Nicholas Latifi

 

Pay more attention to the grouping rather than the specific order.

 

I agree entirely with Retrofly's listing above!  Max was in a class of 1, Charles super fast and Lando dragged a slow McLaren to places it had no right to be.  Lewis did the donkey work on fixing a dreadful Mercedes while George was given all his data and information to learn from, and Fernando was just sublime on occasions yet he was stuck in a car that constantly failed him.

Edited by Colbul1, 21 November 2022 - 11:24.