106 replies to this topic

[Taxi]

So let's go for a classic.

 

1- Max Verstappen. The best of the year. Super fast, dominant and aggressive (a few times over the limit though). In normal circumstances should have won with 50 points of margin. Silverstone, Baku and Hungary made Hamilton get back in the fight. Led laps, wins, poles. Max was on it. 

 

2- Lewis Hamilton. As fast, controlled and consistent as ever. When given the car, set some dominant wins. When the car was bellow pair always got damage limitation in brilliant fashion. The thing with this guy is... he's so lucky. Imola, Silverstone (where he truly took his opponent with basically no consequences) Hungary and Baku (though he didn't take advantage of it) got Lewis to take the fight unltil the end. Only one bad weekend: Monaco. 

 

3- Carlos Sainz. Amazing. Hired to be a good second driver, managed to beat the lead driver after even give him some points when Ferrari found that Leclerc could beat Norris. Consistent, and good in wheel to wheel battles got 4 podiums against only one of Leclerc. Chapeau, Smooth Operator.

 

4- Fernando Alonso. Yep. Alonso. 40 years and a race pace of a 25 ace. Started slow but when got used to the pace he was mighty.  amazing first laps and overtakes. Many points, and many fights even with faster cars (Hungary...). Don't like his antics (Russia...) but he's still a top gun. 

 

5- Lando Norris. Sure he beated soundly Ricciardo and was on the fight all the time. But I get the feeling Mclaren was a very, very good car in 2021. He showed surprising speed though: He lapped Ricciardo a few times and scored 4 podiums. A guy to follow. 

 

6- Charles Leclerc. I still think he's the 3rd best driver out there. Specialy in pure speed (2 poles). But still a bit error prone. Being beaten by Sainz must be a shocker to him and i'm sure he will improve next year because the potential is there. 

 

7- Valtteri Bottas. Super fast on his day Valtteri can't get a break: Wheels that don't come out in pit stops, engine penalties, tires that explode. Everything bad that happened this year at Mercedes was on his car. Even so two sprint races wins, 4 poles and a dominant rain win. Helped Mercedes to achieve constructores championship once more and took some points from Max. Will have a new life at Alfa. 

 

8- Pierre Gasly. Super consistent and always fast, collected point after point to almost get Ricciardo in the end. I think the AT was a bit better than the Alpine overall and he bested the two Alpine drivers. 

 

9- Sergio Pérez. It might sound a bit harsh but Sergio was overall good. Just. He gave Hamilton a good fight a few times to help Max but that was it. He lacks a bit of quali speed that he can't compensate fully in races.   Nevertheless he was an improvement on Albon and Gasly and his legendary tire managment gave him many points and some strongs finnishes. Safe pair of hands. 

 

10- Esteban Ocon. That win.... But it was not just the win. He basically matched Alonso overall but is a bit lower co's Fernando's first 6-8 races were to readapt to F1, giving Esteban a good advantage. Even so the frenchman got to the fight and almost scored another podium with a strong race in SA. Another highlight of the year was his stopless race in turkey to get a lovely point. 

[engineblock1]

1. Max Verstappen - champion takes the top spot no matter what

2. Lewis Hamilton - Very clean and composed driving throughout the season

3. Lando Norris - Great tire management, likeable character, gets the better of much experienced and highly rated RIC. Small things to work out and he is going to be among WDC contenders

4. Pierre Gasly - Wonderful maximization of the package he had

5. Fernando Alonso - 40 and no loss of speed, skills and did what he is known for i.e putting the car above its potential

6. Esteban Ocon - Made good use of opportunities and is perhaps the teammate who performed closest to Fernando.

7. Carlos Sainz - Very underrated and beat highly rated LEC

8. George Russell - Mr. Saturday with some good racecraft throughout

9. Lance Stroll - Also not far from much experienced Vettel

10. Sergio Perez - Only including him for doing a better teamwork than BOT

 

Why I would not include below drivers

 

Charles Leclerc: Failed to maximize on the package he had.

Valtteri Bottas: Despite the Merc rocketship, did little to be closer to his teammate

Sebastian Vettel: Not having the same spark as Alonso although AM was arguably on par with Alpine

Daniel Ricciardo: Very inconsistent and his standing looks better due to the surprise win. Other than that very ordinary for the driver of his calibre

[masa90]

Max
Lewis
Norris
Sainz
Gasly
Alonso
Russell
Leclerc
Bottas
Perez
Kimi

Edited by masa90, 12 December 2021 - 20:26.

[messy]

Usually I’d spend ages constructing this, but I’m gonna do it way quicker because I’m so bloody exhausted by the whole thing. Maybe in a while I’ll flesh it out, but my order would be

1. Verstappen. Clearly the best driver of the season, if not, unfortunately, the fairest in the run-in. Still deserved it.
2. Hamilton. He and Max were on a different planet so regularly, although I do think he was quite well beaten.

Then, it goes crazy doesn’t it. How do you rate the rest of them? Sainz maybe, but he was generally outpaced, even if only by a whisker, by Leclerc. Norris was brilliant in the first two thirds of the year then unlucky in the last, but still dropped off. Leclerc was unexpectedly beaten by team newcomer Sainz. Gasly was excellent, but maybe lacked headline results and stealthed a bit. Bottas was beaten by Lewis as usual and Perez was miles off Max. Ocon and Alonso were so close with each other, it’s hard to untangle them. Positions 3-10 are so, so hard to rank.

3. Sainz
4. Gasly
5. Norris
6. Leclerc
7. Bottas
8. Alonso
9. Ocon
10. Perez

There ya go. But I’m not sure about any of them. If someone put Leclerc at number 4 and Sainz at number 7, I’d get it. If someone didn’t include Bottas in their top ten, I’d get it. Etc. Vettel, Russell, Ricciardo, even Stroll, would all have a legitimate call to be in the top ten instead of some of those I put in.

[Marklar]

bit too busy to write down in detail as usual but that'll do it

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Norris
4. Leclerc
5. Sainz
6. Gasly
7. Alonso
8. Russell
9. Bottas
10. Ocon

11. Perez
12. Ricciardo
13. Vettel
14. Stroll
15. Schumacher
16. Raikkonen
17. Giovinazzi
18. Latifi
19. Tsunoda
20. Mazepin

[Claymore25]

1. Max Verstappen - champion takes the top spot no matter what

2. Lewis Hamilton - Very clean and composed driving throughout the season

3. Lando Norris - Great tire management, likeable character, gets the better of much experienced and highly rated RIC. Small things to work out and he is going to be among WDC contenders

4. Pierre Gasly - Wonderful maximization of the package he had

5. Fernando Alonso - 40 and no loss of speed, skills and did what he is known for i.e putting the car above its potential

6. Esteban Ocon - Made good use of opportunities and is perhaps the teammate who performed closest to Fernando.

7. Carlos Sainz - Very underrated and beat highly rated LEC

8. George Russell - Mr. Saturday with some good racecraft throughout

9. Lance Stroll - Also not far from much experienced Vettel

10. Sergio Perez - Only including him for doing a better teamwork than BOT

 

Why I would not include below drivers

 

Charles Leclerc: Failed to maximize on the package he had.

Valtteri Bottas: Despite the Merc rocketship, did little to be closer to his teammate

Sebastian Vettel: Not having the same spark as Alonso although AM was arguably on par with Alpine

Daniel Ricciardo: Very inconsistent and his standing looks better due to the surprise win. Other than that very ordinary for the driver of his calibre

 

 

What exactly is "spark"?

 

 

No. Aston Martin was not on par with Alpine. More often than not, was equal or below Alfa Romeo.

 

 

 

 

 

My Top 20 drivers:

 

20- Mazepin.

19- Tsunoda.

18- Latifi.

17- Raikkonen.

16- Giovinazzi.

15- Schumacher.

14- Stroll.

13- Ricciardo.

12- Bottas.

11- Perez.

10- Vettel.

09- Ocon.

08- Russell.

07- Gasly.

06- Alonso.

05- Norris.

04- Sainz.

03- Leclerc.

02- Hamilton.

01- Verstappen.

Edited by Claymore25, 12 December 2021 - 21:06.

[allaboard70]

The order of Top Ten 2021:

 

 1. Hamilton 

 2. Verstappen 

 3. Norris 

 4. Gasly 

 5. Sainz 

 6. Leclerc 

 7. Alonso 

 8. Vettel 

 9. Raikkonen 

10. Russell 

[F1Frog]

Any rankings made today, hours after the conclusion of the final race, will always be tinged with recency bias. I would recommend we wait a few days before thinking about this and constructing a ranking.

[messy]

I thought Vettel had quite a good season, which would have looked a whole lot better had he kept his Hungary podium. He appeared pretty inconsistent in that there were a lot of ‘blah’ weekends, but the Aston Martin performed exactly as you’d expect a 2019 Mercedes knock-off to perform in 2021. So points weren’t always on. And even on those weekends, he tended to be right there in 11th or 12th, next in line in case anyone retired, which they invariably didn’t. At Baku and Hungary, he was right there and took full advantage of circumstances like the best do.

Edited by messy, 12 December 2021 - 21:25.

[MJB5990]

1. Hamilton

2. Verstappen

 

If these aren't your top two, I don't know what you've been watching. Before Brazil, this would have been comfortably the other way around but some of Max's driving brought them closer while Lewis' last four races have almost been perfect.

 

3. Sainz

4. Norris

5. Gasly

6. Leclerc

 

This is almost impossible. Sainz finished P5 in the WDC and while Leclerc had him over one lap and possibly had more bad luck, I certainly didn't expect Sainz to be as close, especially in his first year. Lando was easily third for the first three quarters of the season and it's hard to know how much of the late season dip has been down to him. At many races this year, it's felt as though Alpha Tauri have had the third quickest car, if maybe only in qualifying. Gasly is also hard to rate based on his tearmmate. 

 

7. Russell

8. Alonso

9. Ocon

10. Schumacher

 

George probably would have been top-five after the first half of the season but has definitely lost his edge since getting the Mercedes seat. The two Alpine boys are hard to split, so I've had to do with WDC standings but Ocon has done well to stick with Nando. 10th place is probably a big shock but I just can't give anything else that spot. Checo and Valtteri have been miles off their teammates, neither Aston driver has really impressed, neither have the Alfa's.

 

11. Ricciardo

12. Bottas

13. Perez

14. Vettel

15. Tsunoda

16. Stroll

17. Raikkonen

18. Giovinazzi

19. Latifi

20. Mazepin

[Laster]

1. Verstappen Hamilton - I can’t separate the two. I do believe Verstappen was marginally the faster of the two, but too often his moves were over the line in my book. Hamilton made more mistakes, but he also seemed better at keeping his head. I’d like to disregard Abu Dhabi and leave them joint on points. I hate how this season was decided.

3. Norris - Very strong season from Norris, really deserved to have a win in Russia, but that’s just how things go. His form dipped with Mclarens towards the end, and he did miss the opportunity to win in Monza during one of the few times he was slower than Ricciardo, but otherwise he was superb.

4. Sainz - Got stronger and stronger as the season progressed, I count myself among the many who massively underestimated him. Very impressed he outscored Leclerc in his first season at Ferrari. He’s made me reassess what I think of his outright speed.

5. Gasly - Fantastic one lap speed, really hammered Tsunoda through the season, and did carry Alpha Tauri. If Red Bull don’t take him on in 2023, then he needs to move on to bigger and better things.

6. Russell - Williams form dipped in the second half of the season, but Russell finally got his points (and podium) and kept dragging that car to some outrageous qualifying performances. I look forward to seeing him in a Merc.

7. Alonso - I thought Alonso’s age might get to him, but no he remained the one of the most wily and consistent performers out there. It’s a pleasure having him back in F1.

8. Leclerc - Outrageously fast at times, but too many mistakes, he seemed to take a step backwards this year for the first time and Sainz found the measure of him. Of all the drivers I think Leclerc could well be the one to get into the Hamilton/Verstappen bracket, but he still has another step or two to make before he achieves it.

From here on out it gets a little difficult as I feel the top 8 had a really strong season while those below were much more up and down and find them a lot harder to rate.

9. Ocon - Got his first win which is a fantastic achievement, but he needs to be getting the measure of Alonso who more often than not was ahead.

10. Ricciardo - Tough season for Ricciardo, he got a fantastic win with a great performance where he was genunely going to beat Verstappen no matter what happened. But the rest of the season he has struggled with that car. I hope the 2022 car is more to his liking so we can have the other Ricciardo back.

11. Bottas - A standard season for Bottas, quick over a lap, taking poles, but no challenge for Lewis comes race day, completely lacking in racing instinct whenever he finds himself mired in the midfield. He just seems unable to overtake.

12. Perez - Really needs to pick up his qualifying performances because he was miles off. Come race day Perez does usually move forward, but he needs to get closer to Max next year.

13. Vettel - Peaks and troughs, less errors though they’re still there, but really I’d expect a 4 time champ to absolutely hammer Stroll. That said his peaks were fantastic, Baku and Hungary were brilliant performances deserving of any champion.

14. Stroll - All too often anonymous, though he would have some strong races. But for the most part Strolls performance are erratic at best. He does have speed, but with the number of seasons he now has behind him I’d expect him to be delivering more consistently.

15. Raikkonen - Fastest 42 (43? I forget) I’ve ever seen. But he is long past his prime. His one lap speed is all but gone, but he’s still good enough in the races to cost Giovinazzi his job. Can hold his head high.

16. Giovinazzi - Basically the polar opposite to Raikkonen, some great qualifying speed, but would often be anonymous come race day. He needed to kick on this year and leave Kimi in the dust, but ultimately he didn’t have the pace, and that is what cost him the job, not Zhou’s backing.

17. Latifi - Did well to trouble Russell sometimes, it wasn’t often but he did succeed in getting those first points for Williams in his best drive. But overall he remained quite some way off Russell’s pace.

18. Schumacher - By far the toughest driver to judge. A terrible car and a terrible teammate as his measuring stick. Did he do well or not I have no idea. What seemed to go unnoticed was he had just as many crashes and spins as Tsunoda, and had to many scuffles with his teammate.

19. Tsunoda - Bookended the season with two fantastic performances, but everything in between was a struggle. Of the rookies I still view him as the fastest and with the most potential, and his pace started to show towards the end. But he needs to be putting Bahrain and Abu Dhabi performances all the time next season, or risk getting dropped.

20. Mazepin - He was disadvantaged with a heavier chassis for much of the season, and admittedly I took little notice of his season. But I do know he was outqualified by his teammate at nearly every race, and those Haas cars came together too many times.

[Vesuvius]

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

[William Hunt]

1. Lewis Hamilton: should have won the title, was robbed by FIA

2. Pierre Gasly

3. Lando Norris

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Carlos Sainz Jr.

6. George Russell

7. Fernando Alonso  (still very competitive at 40 years of age)

8. Esteban Ocon  (won Alpine's first race in F1, under the Alpine name that is)

9. Sergio Perez

10. Valtteri Bottas

 

PS: drivers who perform a brake test on another driver don't belong in Formula 1 so I refuse to rate him

 

The rest:

 

11. Daniel Ricciardo

12. Sebastian Vettel

13. Antonio Giovinazzi

14. Kimi Raikkönen

15. Yuki Tsunoda

16. Lance Stroll

17. Mick Schumacher

18. Nicholas Latifi

19. Robert Kubica

20. Nikita Mazepin

Edited by William Hunt, 13 December 2021 - 03:40.

[allaboard70]

TOP TEN 2021 

 

Of course these two is in a class of their own. It was just a question of which of them would win the WDC. None of them is to blame for the last lap blunder. 

 

1. Hamilton

2. Verstappen 

 

The order among these four can almost be reversed. But in the end, it was still Norris and Gasly who stuck out their noses, and showed clearly that they are future WDC material (?!). But I do not criticize anyone who puts in a different order. 

 

3. Norris

4. Gasly

5. Sainz

6. Leclerc

 

The following four were very equal, and difficult to keep apart. However, I think Alonso should be the first of them. He needed a few races to get back, but then showed that he has barely lost anything while taking time off from Formula 1. Vettel had a difficult year in 2020, but came back and shows that he can compete with everyone when the car and tires work . Kimi has never really lost speed and fought with drivers in much better cars this year. However, he pressed a little too hard sometimes and could get a number of more points just by waiting for the right opportunity. But kudos to Kimi for wanting to get the most out of his last season and help Alfa to the best possible results. 

 

 7. Alonso 

 8. Vettel

 9. Raikkonen

10. Russell

 

THE REST 

 

Some of these could have been in the top ten if Alonso, Vettel and Raikkonen had not been too good for them. Bottas and Perez, however, were far too uneven, compared to their teammates, to be considered. Ricciardo had a bad first year at McLaren, but will certainly return stronger in 2022. I think Ocon is equal to Russell, so they could change places in the list as far as I'm concerned. Giovinazzi did as well as he could from his last year at Alfa Romeo, but he had no easy task when he sat on the same team as a world champion. He only picked up 3 points in the end. Schumacher did a decent work in his first formula 1 season. Stroll, Tsunoda, Latifi and Mazepin must be placed at the bottom in my opinion. 

 

Ocon

Giovinazzi

Perz

Bottas

Ricciardo

Schumacher

Stroll

Tsunoda

Latifi

Mazepin 

Edited by allaboard70, 13 December 2021 - 02:51.

[Misk]

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Norris

4. Leclerc

5. Sainz

6. Russell

7. Gasley

8. Alonso

9. Vettel

10. Ocon

11. Perez

12. Schumacher

13. Ricciardo

14. Bottas

15. Stroll

16. Latifi

17. Tsunoda

18. Raikkonen

19. Giovinazzi

20. Mazepin

Edited by Misk, 13 December 2021 - 01:32.

[Gareth]

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Norris

4. Gasly

5. Sainz

6. Russell

7. LeClerc

8. Perez

9. Vettel

10. Alonso

[PlatenGlass]

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. Max Verstappen

 

Both were great throughout this season. For most of it, I might have given this to Verstappen. Hamilton made a couple of early errors like allowing himself to be suckered onto the wet part of the track by Russell at Imola and the "magic" thing at Baku. However, with the Silverstone crash, I don't think he was any more to blame than Verstappen, so my internal scoring wasn't as one-sided as some people's would have been at that point. But anyway, the little things here and there aren't what decided this for me. What decided it for me was Verstappen braking hard in front of Hamilton at Saudi Arabia. Whether it was intentional or not, it was a reckless move that could have jeopardised his championship campaign. Because regardless of what one thinks his punishment should have been, he certainly opened himself up to being disqualified from that race and possibly banned from the decider. So it's Hamilton at number 1 and Verstappen at number 2.

 

Edit - If he'd been disqualified from Saudi Arabia and lost the championship because of that, I think a lot of people would have rated him down saying he only had himself to blame. But the fact that he wasn't disqualified is neither here nor there - it wasn't down to him and a matter of chance from his point of view. So I think it's right to rate him down anyway.

 

3. Lando Norris

 

For most of the first half of the season he seemed to get the best possible result at almost every race. He was unlucky not to get the win at Russia as well, and perhaps it's unfortunate that it was his team-mate that got the race win. He wasn't quite as noticeable later on in the championship but I think he'd done enough to hold on to third. I wouldn't say he's actually the best driver (behind the obvious two) and maybe Ricciardo's troubles flattered him a bit, but I still think he did very well overall.

 

4. Carlos Sainz

 

Yeah, I'm putting him ahead of his team-mate. His first year in the team and I don't think there was that much between them. He got that great second place at Monaco while Leclerc threw away his chances in the wall, and his great result at Abu Dhabi putting him as best of the rest in the championship is what clinched this for me.

 

5. Fernando Alonso

 

He showed great racecraft at times. We saw that Silverstone sprint race, the defence against Hamilton at Hungary and also his podium at Qatar. But I do wonder a little bit if he'd have the outright pace to compete with some of the other drivers in the same car.

 

6. George Russell

 

He put in some qreat qualifying performances in the Williams, even if some doubt his race prowess. But we'll see next year at Mercedes. But certainly, if I wanted a qualifier outside of Hamilton and Verstappen I'd pick him over the other guy you're all thinking of.

 

 

7. Charles Leclerc

 

Along with George Russell, I'd put him as the best of the young drivers in terms of his potential (not including Verstappen as a young driver) but I don't think this was that great a season from him really and I don't think Sainz beating him was purely bad luck either.

 

8. Pierre Gasly

 

Quite hard to rate. He had some really good qualifying results, although I rarely noticed him during the races. I think his reputation is still suffering from what happened at Red Bull though and he needs to work that off.

 

9. Valtteri Bottas

 

He's obviously got a lot of speed, but just can't live with Hamilton in the races. Perhaps he's being underrated though because most drivers would probably struggle in such circumstances.

 

10. Esteban Ocon

 

He did well at times, but with experience in the team he'd have hoped to have had the beating of Alonso. Won a race though!

 

Perez and Ricciardo missed out depsite winning a race of course and were perhaps unluckly not to make it but over the season I don't think they did enough. Schumacher did a decent job I thought but in that Haas was impossible to judge. Vettel had some good races too.

Edited by PlatenGlass, 29 December 2021 - 16:38.

[Auzz]

1. Lewis Hamilton: should have won the title, was robbed by FIA

2. Pierre Gasly

3. Lando Norris

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Carlos Sainz Jr.

6. George Russell

7. Fernando Alonso  (still very competitive at 40 years of age)

8. Esteban Ocon  (won Alpine's first race in F1, under the Alpine name that is)

9. Sergio Perez

10. Valtteri Bottas

 

PS: drivers who perform a brake test on another driver don't belong in Formula 1 so I refuse to rate him

 

The rest:

 

11. Daniel Ricciardo

12. Sebastian Vettel

13. Antonio Giovinazzi

14. Kimi Raikkönen

15. Yuki Tsunoda

16. Lance Stroll

17. Mick Schumacher

18. Nicholas Latifi

19. Robert Kubica

20. Nikita Mazepin

 

Had a good laugh over this one. When your bias is so strong, you cannot type his name, but not suprising i guess.

 

Best of luck seeing seeing number 1 on Max his car 23 races next season. You'll need it. 

[Auzz]

1: Verstappen:

Brilliant season, but sadly over the top the last view races. Hope he will iron that out. He doesn't need to.

1.1 Hamilton:

Together with Max, he was excellent. Graceful in an unlucky defeat too

3: Gasly: 

Pulled out some amazing results this year. I hope he gets his second RBR shot in the future. 

4: Sainz:

Smooth operator. Very consistent. I expect a stronger Ferrari next year. Will Leclerc and Sains battle it out for a WDC?

5: Norris:

Some very good performances, soms were a bit less. His star keeps shining more brightly

6: Alonso:

What a pleasure to witness. On and off the track. After he got the hang of it again he was so good wheel to wheel.

7: Ocon: 

Contrats with his maiden win and he kept one of the greats honest this year. 

8: Leclerc:

Can be the fastest on the grid, but also error-prone. Has to step up next year

9: Bottas:

Has had bad luck the season. Sometimes very good, but sometimes painful to watch too. Such a shame, I really like him as a person

10: Perez:

Did a wonderful job yesterday and in Baku, but overall. he should be in the mix more. 

[OneAndOnly]

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

.

.

.

3. Lando Norris 

4. Carlos Sainz

5. Pierre Gasly

6. Fernando Alonso

7. Esteban Ocon

8. Sergio Perez

9. George Russel

10. Lance Stroll

[Requiem84]

1. Lewis Hamilton: should have won the title, was robbed by FIA

2. Pierre Gasly

3. Lando Norris

4. Charles Leclerc

5. Carlos Sainz Jr.

6. George Russell

7. Fernando Alonso  (still very competitive at 40 years of age)

8. Esteban Ocon  (won Alpine's first race in F1, under the Alpine name that is)

9. Sergio Perez

10. Valtteri Bottas

 

PS: drivers who perform a brake test on another driver don't belong in Formula 1 so I refuse to rate him

 

The rest:

 

11. Daniel Ricciardo

12. Sebastian Vettel

13. Antonio Giovinazzi

14. Kimi Raikkönen

15. Yuki Tsunoda

16. Lance Stroll

17. Mick Schumacher

18. Nicholas Latifi

19. Robert Kubica

20. Nikita Mazepin

 

Verstappen not even in the top 10 (because he wasn't rated I guess?). 

 

But let's say you would have to rate him, where would you put him?

[SlowPuncture]

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Norris
4. Gasly

5. Russell

6. Sainz
7. Leclerc
8. Alonso
9. Ocon
10. Vettel

11. Ricciardo

12. Perez
13. Bottas
14. Schumacher 
15. Stroll
16. Tsunoda

17. Raikkonen

18. Giovinazzi
19. Latifi
20. Mazepin

[Claymore25]

Verstappen not even in the top 10 (because he wasn't rated I guess?). 

 

But let's say you would have to rate him, where would you put him?

 

According to him, Verstappen shouldn't be in Formula 1, maybe in prison in his eyes.

[KWSN - DSM]

It's always hard to make a list, it will never truly reflect the full view on the drivers.

 

1. Verstappen - Best driver of the season, he and Hamilton showed everyone how they are at a different level than all other drivers.

2. Hamilton - Gave all he could, had a few blips he should not have had, he and Verstappen showed everyone how they are at a different level than all other drivers.

3. Norris - Truly came of age, established himself as one of the drivers just below the very top.

4. Gasly - Second season in a row where he carried the team above and beyond where they were expected to bo.

5. Russell, Leclerc, Sainz, Perez

9. Alonso, Ocon

11. Bottas

12. Vettel, Stroll, Schumacher

15. Ricciardo

16. Giovinazzi

17. Raikkonen

18. Latifi, Tsunoda

20. Mazepin

[TomNokoe]

Verstappen
Hamilton
Norris
Leclerc
Sainz
Alonso
Gasly
Russell
Ocon
Ricciardo

[rodnet1]

1. Verstappen: best driver of the year without a doubt, killed his teammate and without some mishap inflicted by others would have been champion with races to spare

2. Hamilton: together with Max on a different level from the rest. Never beaten until the fat lady sings, great racecraft and speed when it matters

3. Gasly: stunning season, getting the most from a car which should not be at the same level as McLaren and Ferrari

4. Norris: great at the beginning of the year, slightly less so later on but still handily beating Ricciardo

5. Sainz: the safest pair of hands of all, and beating Leclerc is no mean feat

6. Alonso: some masterclasses in driving, notably Qatar and Hungary while beating Ocon in the standings

7. Leclerc: some great results with a rather average car but incident-prone and beaten by his teammate

8. Ocon: still hugely talented and a deserved victory against being beaten by Alonso

9 Russell: badly faded towards the end of the season but with some excellent qualifying performances, very curious how he will fare against Hamilton

10. Bottas: hard choice between him and Perez but with his average qualifying position and smaller gap to Hamilton during races, he gets my nod despite his extremely average racecraft

[Gorma]

First two are obvious.

Norris is a clear third and looks more promising than Russell.

Sainz really dominated Leclerc on the latter half of the season.

Gasly fifth, a great season once again.

Mick drove a very mature first season. 

 

The rest really didn't stand out.

[Kev00]

I won’t do a top 10 but Norris is either first or second for me. He’s been unbelievable. And I can’t believe some people are putting Sainz ahead of Leclerc.

[Arundo]

1. Verstappen: Amazing season, over the whole season the one with less mistakes, only time he really ****ed up was in Saudi Arabia for the rest spotless. 

2. Hamilton: Amazing season also for Lewis but just a few more mistakes then Max put him on the second place. Should have won yesterday but Max deserve the title a tiny bit more for me. 

3. Gasly: Great drive for Gasly this season, hope he gets another shot in on of the top teams in the future.

4. Sainz: Better one of the Ferrari drivers, good solid season still some mistakes but I believe the Ferrari is a diva to drive.

5. Norris: Great first half of the season but his second half was a bit less great still a good season overall for him.

6. Alonso: Happy we have Alonso around still sometimes shows his greatness, hope he can get the Alpine up the order in 2022.

7. Leclerc: Also probably having to cope with the Ferrari but between him and Sainz he made a few too many mistakes. 

8. Ricciardo: Expected more from him, hope 2022 he can bring some of his great stuff again. 

9. Ocon: Good solid season next to Alonso, still not sure if he is as good as some say. 

10. Russell: At times awesome in the Williams but ever since he signed with Mercedes he lost out a bit, looking forward to see him against Lewis in 2022.

[JRodrigues]

After rating the drivers on all races, this is I came up with:

 

1 -  Max Verstappen #33 - 8,9

2 -  Lewis Hamilton #44 - 8,45

3 -  Lando Norris #4 - 8,28

4 -  Charles Leclerc #16 - 7,85

5 -  Carlos Sainz Jr. #55 - 7,63

6 -  Pierre Gasly #10 - 7,55

7 -  Fernando Alonso #14 - 7,48

8 -  Esteban Ocon #31 - 7,08

9 -  Valtteri Bottas #77 - 7,05

10 -  Antonio Giovinazzi #99 - 7,05

11 -  Kimi Räikkönen #7 - 6,94

12 -  Sebastian Vettel #5 - 6,9

13 -  George Russell #63 - 6,75

14 -  Daniel Ricciardo #3 - 6,75

15 -  Sergio Pérez #11 - 6,5

16 -  Lance Stroll #18 - 6,45

17 -  Yuki Tsunoda #22 - 6,03

18 -  Mick Schumacher #47 - 5,65

19 -  Nicholas Latifi #6 - 5,58

20 -  Nikita Mazepin #9 - 4,66

 

I feel I did not do justice to Sainz with these ratings, as I was very skeptical of his signing and he won me over. Still have to decide who to support from now on between him and/or Gasly.

[cpbell]

1.  Verstappen.  The quickest current driver.  If he learns to cut out the unnecessary stuff that gets him into trouble, he could be the greatest of all time eventually.

2.  Hamilton.  His raw speed is no longer there, but he'sd still brilliant.  That said,, he's made uncharacteristic mistakes this season - Silverstone, Baku etc.

3.  Gasly.  Some of what he did was quite remarkable.  I worry, though, that he would fail again alongside Max.

4.  Sainz.  Competed very well with his team-mate who seems to be thought of as a future champion.

5.  Leclerc.  Not much that stood out to me in terms of out-driving the car, but very consistent.

6.  Norris.  Was very good early in the season, but blew Sochi and faded badly from there.

7.  Alonso.  Took time to show what I thought he could do, but Hungary was superb.

8.  Ocon.  Improved this year, and deserved his win.

9.  Perez.  Inconsistent, but, on his day, he showed why he's a solid professional driver.  Fantastic defending against Lewis in Abu Dhabi.

10. Bottas.  If only his racecraft was better.  Very good qualifier, though.

 

The Rest:

 

Tsunoda - seemed completely lost until late-on, but could be a talent in future.

Russell - career has stalled; should have beaten Latifi by a huge margin and didn't.  I think he's another Jan Magnussen.

Latifi - not a liability but not quick.

Kimi - should have retired after he left Ferrari.

Giovinazzi - nice chap, but not F1 standard.

Stroll - acceptable but classic wealthy backmarker.

Vettel - seems to have partially recovered from the Ferrari years, but not the same driver as 2009-2015.

Schumacher - not in the same universe as his father, but nice enough and deserves another season.

Mazepin - less of a liability than expected after Zandvoort.

Edited by cpbell, 13 December 2021 - 17:03.

[ebc]

1. Max Verstappen - I feel he has been the best driver for a while now, I voted him No. 1 in 2019 & 2020 as well.  He finally had a car the equal of the Mercedes and he came out on top.

2. Lewis Hamilton - At 37 he is still exceptional but past his best imo, he made too many mistakes and had a couple of off weekends were he was off the pace.

3. Lando Norris - Fell away at the end but he give Ricciardo a hell of a beating, and put in some really great drives.  I hope McLaren get the new regs rights to see what he can do with a winning car.

4. Charles Leclerc - Very unlucky but his highs are higher than anyone other than the top 2, but still makes too many errors.

5. Carlos Saniz Jr - Beat Leclerc on points but still a ways off on absolute pace.

6. Fernando Alonso - Still extremely competitive at 40 

7. Pierre Gasly - Brilliant in qualifying, car not strong enough on race pace but he put the car as far up the grid as he could.

8. Sergio Perez - 21-1 down in qualifying but put in some really good drives but not consistent enough but helped his teammate at the end more than Bottas did.

9. Valteri Bottas - Very quick in qualifying but so far off on race pace.

10. George Russel - Very fast on Saturday and improved his consistency on Sunday, I think he is ready to fight against Hamilton now.

[sanchez854]

1) Social Justice Warrior 1) Mr Agressive Champion

3) The Kid Who Did a Thing

4) Red Smooth Operator

5) Second Hand RBR Driver

6) Gentleman Who Flicks Helmets

7) Monégasque Boi

8) GP2 Engine Victim

9) El Amigo

10) The F...n Idiot

11) Less Smiley Badger

12) The "Best" Teammate Ever

13) Silverstone Cleaner

14) Retiring Bwoah

15) Jesus

16) Rookie Who Swears A Lot

17) Richie Rich

18) MSC But Blonde

19) Deus Ex Machina

20) Tripaloski

Edited by sanchez854, 13 December 2021 - 21:01.

[KWSN - DSM]

After rating the drivers on all races, this is I came up with:

 

 

I feel I did not do justice to Sainz with these ratings, as I was very skeptical of his signing and he won me over. Still have to decide who to support from now on between him and/or Gasly.

 

I echo my skepticism being the same, Sainz one of the positive surprises of the season for me - I have decided to ride Gasly as my horse already last season.

[Zoetrope]

I will only rank top 2.

1. Max
2. Lewis

In terms of metronomic consistency, pace and making fewer mistakes, Max edges this season by the tiniest of margins, yet in my opinion he does. I hated his dirty driving, but each circumstance he overstepped the limit was at the same time a brilliant show of his car control and "clever" driving.

I know this might sound rude towards rets of the pack, but they are simply in a different league (maybe except for Alonso, but since he hasnt been in contention since 2012 it's really hard to judge). These 2 are all time greats or soon-to-be.

[Retrofly]

1st - Max and lewis. Both completely different drivers and racres, joint top for different reasons.

 

Everyone else - Meh, they need quicker cars.

Edited by Retrofly, 13 December 2021 - 19:22.

[cpbell]

 

1) Social Justice Warrior 1) Mr Agressive Champion

3) The Kid Who Did a Thing

4) Red Smooth Operator

5) Second Hand RBR Driver

6) Gentleman Who Flicks Helmets

7) Monégasque Boi

8) GP2 Engine Victim

9) El Amigo

10) The F...n Idiot

11) Less Smiley Badger

12) The "Best" Teammate Ever

13) Silverstone Cleaner

14) Retiring Bwoah

15) Jesus

16) Rookie Who Swears A Lot

17) Richie Rich

18) MSC But Blonde

19) RedBull's Hero

20) Tripaloski

 

The sparrow flies at night.  Sorry, I thought we were Resistance fighters during WWII.

[ThrottleBlib]

3. Sainz

 

Alonso still has the heart and skills, and from his radio during the Outlap I expect (and hope) he will have a competitive car next year! 

[Spyker]

1) Hamilton - Crazy that he kept the title going this long. Made a few mistakes, but kept his head and was the smartest driver out there. Experience was key this year.

2) Verstappen - Great season, still has a lot to learn. Cost himself points with needless aggression and should've had it wrapped up earlier imo.

3) Norris

4) Sainz

5) Gasly

6) Ocon

7) Alonso

8) Leclerc

9) Russell

10) Bottas

Edited by Spyker, 13 December 2021 - 19:59.

[ANF]

1. Gasly
2. Norris
3. Verstappen
3. Hamilton
5. Sainz
6. Leclerc
7. Alonso
8. Russell
9. Ocon
10. Schumacher

Verstappen and Hamilton forced each other off the top and were demoted two places.

[TheMessiah]

1. Hamilton 

 2. Norris 

 3. Verstappen 

 4. Sainz 

 5. Gasly 

 6. Leclerc 

 7. Alonso 

 

 

Thats as far as I can go as the rest were underwhelming.

 

[cpbell]

1. Hamilton 

 2. Norris 

 3. Verstappen 

 4. Sainz 

 5. Gasly 

 6. Leclerc 

 7. Alonso 

 

 

Thats as far as I can go as the rest were underwhelming.

Norris ahead of Max?

[thuGG]

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

 

3-5 Gasly, Norris, Sainz

6 Leclerc

7. Alonso

8. Russel

9. Perez (+1 after the defense)

10. Bottas

[allaboard70]

1. Hamilton

2. Verstappen

 

If these aren't your top two, I don't know what you've been watching. Before Brazil, this would have been comfortably the other way around but some of Max's driving brought them closer while Lewis' last four races have almost been perfect.

 

3. Sainz

4. Norris

5. Gasly

6. Leclerc

 

This is almost impossible. Sainz finished P5 in the WDC and while Leclerc had him over one lap and possibly had more bad luck, I certainly didn't expect Sainz to be as close, especially in his first year. Lando was easily third for the first three quarters of the season and it's hard to know how much of the late season dip has been down to him. At many races this year, it's felt as though Alpha Tauri have had the third quickest car, if maybe only in qualifying. Gasly is also hard to rate based on his tearmmate. 

 

7. Russell

8. Alonso

9. Ocon

10. Schumacher

 

George probably would have been top-five after the first half of the season but has definitely lost his edge since getting the Mercedes seat. The two Alpine boys are hard to split, so I've had to do with WDC standings but Ocon has done well to stick with Nando. 10th place is probably a big shock but I just can't give anything else that spot. Checo and Valtteri have been miles off their teammates, neither Aston driver has really impressed, neither have the Alfa's.

 

11. Ricciardo

12. Bottas

13. Perez

14. Vettel

15. Tsunoda

16. Stroll

17. Raikkonen

18. Giovinazzi

19. Latifi

20. Mazepin

For the most part a good list and good explanations. The only criticism is very low placements for Vettel, Raikkonen and Giovinazzi. They earn better. Vettel returned after a failed year at Ferrari and showed that he can still drive a Formula 1 car. He has not received the credit he deserves, according to me. Kimi showed all year that he wanted to finish in F1 at the top, and made fantastic runs. It did not give a dividend in terms of points at the beginning of the season due to bad luck, and that he was deprived of points due to strange rules. But during the second part of his last year, the score also came and he finished with the flag at the top. Several nice runs where he drove equally (or better) with Alonso and Vettel. He was definitely one of the "Top Ten" in F1 until he quit. Giovinazzi is not really Top Ten, but just nearby. He's at least better than Stroll and Tsunoda, who you placed in front of Giovinazzi. But as I said, a (most part) good list from you! 

Edited by allaboard70, 14 December 2021 - 00:32.

[PlayboyRacer]

Seeing so many place Sainz ahead (some actually miles ahead) of Leclerc is comical.

14 - 8 Qualy to Leclerc
14 - 8 Races to Leclerc
2 pole positions
10 top 5 finishes to Leclerc. 6 for Sainz.
A DNF and DNS for Leclerc. Sainz finished every race.

And Sainz was superior? What on earth are you all watching? Nothing but the points standings?

File this with Coulthard beating Hakkinen in '97, Button beating Hamilton in 2011 and Berger levelling with Senna in '92. Anomalies happen.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc
4. Norris
5. Gasly
6. Sainz
7. Alonso
8. Bottas
9. Russell
10. Ocon

Edited by PlayboyRacer, 14 December 2021 - 00:53.

[allaboard70]

Seeing so many place Sainz ahead (some actually miles ahead) of Leclerc is comical.

14 - 8 Qualy to Leclerc
14 - 8 Races to Leclerc
2 pole positions
10 top 5 finishes to Leclerc. 6 for Sainz.
A DNF and DNS for Leclerc. Sainz finished every race.

And Sainz was superior? What on earth are you all watching? Nothing but the points standings?

File this with Coulthard beating Hakkinen in '97, Button beating Hamilton in 2011 and Berger levelling with Senna in '92. Anomalies happen.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Leclerc
4. Norris
5. Gasly
6. Sainz
7. Alonso
8. Bottas
9. Russell
10. Ocon

You have a point. It was very hard to split 3-6. I can take your opinion - mine was a little bit different... Anyway, all of them was great! 

 

 3. Norris 

 4. Gasly 

 5. Sainz 

 6. Leclerc 

[PlayboyRacer]

You have a point.

Of course I do. What I listed there was facts lol.

Leclerc was also the only one to genuinely fight for a race win in that Ferrari. His Silverstone drive was brilliant. Sainz was good, sometimes very good. But Leclerc's performance highs were much higher, both in races and qualifying, than Sainz.

His DNS and DNF were largely not his fault to boot. Yes Sainz finished every race but damn things could have gone sideways for him at times. Think back to Imola, Baku, Brazil, Hungary (diabolical race start negated his qualy crash) race weekends etc where he either went off or made contact with another driver yet survived.

Leclerc can still improve, don't get me wrong. Still little lapses here and there and the odd mistake. But when you consider McLaren were superior for most of the season (to a degree), to log 10 top 5 finishes show how hard he was pushing that Ferrari.

I think many of the ratings here are quite harsh on him. Yes I'm a fan. But it doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Edited by PlayboyRacer, 14 December 2021 - 07:53.

[tourister46a]

1. Verstappen - because I am a fan

2. Hamilton - better than I expected, still has it

3. Leclerc - easily better than Sainz but now appears beatable even over one lap

4. Norris - wonderful speed and consistency

5. Sainz - showed why he was underrated

6. Alonso - no longer top tier but the talent shone through

7. Russell - still great but a lot to prove

8. Gasly - good speed but no magic moments

9. Ocon - had some fantastic highs but inconsistent

10. Bottas - as fast as ever over a lap but horrible racing instinct

11. Perez - seemed to improve in the second half

12. Ricciardo - reputation took a big hit and is still not out of the woods

13. Vettel - proven to be a mid field driver now

14. Giovinazzi

15. Stroll

16. Raikkonen

17. Schumacher

18. Latifi - finally closed up a little on Russell

19. Tsunoda - too many mistakes but showed flashes of speed

20. Mazepin

[Bleu]

1. Verstappen

2. Hamilton

3. Norris

4. Gasly

5. Leclerc

6. Sainz

7. Russell

8. Alonso

9. Ocon

10. Bottas

11. Perez

12. Ricciardo

13. Vettel

14. Räikkönen

15. Giovinazzi

16. Stroll

17. Schumacher

18. Tsunoda

19. Latifi

20. Mazepin

N/R Kubica

[Eff1]

bit too busy to write down in detail as usual but that'll do it

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

Looks about right to me.
On balance, Bottas, Perez, Vettel and Tsunoda were very disappointing this year.
I would also include Ricciardo but he managed his Monza special so it would be harsh to claim his season is a disappointment.

I thought positions 3-7 were all outstanding in a very competitive midfield.