Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Diving into the F1 driver rankings as voted on by the drivers
The 2023 calendar year drew to a close in Formula 1 in rather fitting fashion.
With Max Verstappen atop yet another leaderboard.
In one of the final acts of the calendar year, 19 of the drivers on the grid participated in a voting process to determine the driver rankings, as voted on by the drivers themselves. Lewis Hamilton was the one driver not to participate, as he abstained from the voting process as he has done in year’s past.
Here are the top-10 rankings as voted on by the drivers themselves, as well as a few thoughts on what this tells us about the grid heading into the 2024 season.
The drivers recognized an incredible year from Alexander Albon
Alexander Albon almost single-handedly carried Williams to a stunning seventh-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship. Albon scored 27 of the team’s 28 points, and his 27 points alone were enough for Williams to finish ahead of AlphaTauri (25 points), AlfaRomeo (16 points) and Haas (12 points).
Albon was also the only driver to out-qualify his teammate in every race this season, as he fared better in each race than rookie Logan Sargeant.
His best result came at the Canadian Grand Prix, when Albon pushed his FW45 into a seventh-place finish. But beyond the finish, it was how Albon pulled it off. After starting the race on a set of mediums, he came in on Lap 12 under a safety car to bolt on a set of hards, which the team told him he would need to nurse to the end of the race. He would ultimately manage that set of hards to near-perfection, and thanks to some trademark defensive driving down the stretch, he held off those behind him for an incredible P7.
A strong debut for Oscar Piastri
As noted in the above graphic two drivers — Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly — were not on this list in 2022. For Piastri, that is because 2023 was his debut season on the grid. But the McLaren rookie put together a memorable first season in F1, helping the team to a fourth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship. Piastri also picked up a win this season, capturing the F1 Sprint race in Qatar.
When you contrast his season with what we saw from the other rookies on the grid, what Piastri did is even more impressive. Nyck de Vries struggled early in the season with AlphaTauri, and was eventually sacked by the team. De Vries was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, who then suffered an injury which opened the door for another rookie, Liam Lawson. Lawson fared well in five races, picking up two points for the team, but it was an abbreviated stint for him.
As for Sargeant, he secured one point on the year, picking that up at the United States Grand Prix when both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified after their cars failed post-race inspections.
When you see that, and then see the 97 points Piastri scored on the year, it puts the Australian’s rookie campaign into clearer perspective.
McLaren and Ferrari should feel good about the future
Only two teams put both drivers onto this top ten list.
McLaren and Ferrari.
When I spoke with McLaren CEO Zak Brown back in October he told me that he believes McLaren has the best driver duo on the grid, and this vote would back that up. The team climbed out of the cellar to finish fourth this year, and this vote has Lando Norris in fourth, and the rookie Piastri in eighth.
Norris is under contract through the 2025 season, and Piastri recently signed an extension that will keep him in Papaya through 2026. With Norris still 24, and Piastri just 22, the future certainly looks bright at McLaren.
And do not be surprised if you start to hear about a Norris extension soon.
As for Ferrari, the team could not catch Mercedes for second in the Constructors’ Championship, but they have a strong pairing of their own in Charles Leclerc (who placed fifth) and Carlos Sainz Jr., who was just behind him in sixth. There may be even more room for optimism in Maranello for what lies ahead, as their challenger for the 2024 season will be the first design under Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.
The drivers viewed Sergio Pérez with some skepticism
By many measures, this was a very successful year for Sergio Pérez.
He finished second in the Drivers’ Championship, his best finish in his F1 career. He helped Red Bull to a second-straight Constructors’ Championship, and he won two grands prix, the most of any driver not named Max Verstappen.
And yet, he placed tenth on this list.
That may reflect a criticism of Pérez that was leveled against him throughout the year: Despite his success, he still underperformed given what he had at his disposal, specifically the RB19. Pérez went through a brutal qualifying stretch, when he failed to put that RB19 into Q3 in five-straight races. And many of those were due to his own mistakes, such as a crash in Q1 at Monaco that left him lamenting his mistake, or a failure in Austria to advance out of Q2 when he had multiple lap times deleted for exceeding track limits.
In fact, one of the more memorable moments of the season — Leclerc’s last-lap pass at the Las Vegas Grand Prix — came at Pérez’s disposal, and opened the doors to even more criticism.
Pérez faced questions all year long about his future at Red Bull and given what is expected to be a frenzied silly season in the year ahead, given the number of driver who will see their contracts end at the close of 2024 — including Pérez — you can expect those questions to linger well into the upcoming season.
Max Verstappen gets his flowers
It was a dominant year for Max Verstappen.
Even more dominant than the year before.
And while many pointed to the RB19 as the reason for Verstappen’s brilliant season, the champion’s peers touted him as their choice for Driver of the Year. And you can certainly see why. Because there were a few moments this season where Verstappen was truly tested, and he answered the call each time.
Perhaps the best example? Qualifying Saturday on the streets of Monte Carlo. At a circuit where qualifying is everything, Verstappen was pushed to the brink, and responded with a final lap in Q3 for the ages.
The RB19 was great. But Verstappen was even better this year.
