{"id":377362,"date":"2025-12-30T13:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377362\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T13:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:47:09","slug":"fellow-f1-drivers-say-max-verstappen-is-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377362\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellow F1 drivers say Max Verstappen is the best"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an exclusive annual tradition by the Formula 1 website<\/a>, Formula 1 drivers anonymously ranked their peers for the 2025 season, casting secret ballots to name the standout performers of the year.<\/p>\n

\u2013by Mark Cipolloni\u2013<\/p>\n

Using the standard F1 points system (25 for first place down to 1 for tenth), the votes were tallied from 16 participating drivers: Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, and Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Despite Lando Norris clinching his first World Championship by fending off a late charge from Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri, it was Verstappen who earned the most admiration from his fellow competitors \u2013 claiming the \u201cDriver of the Year\u201d title for the fifth consecutive time.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the full top 10:<\/p>\n

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Verstappen\u2019s incredible late-season surge \u2013 winning six of the final nine races after trailing by 104 points post-summer break \u2013 fell just two points short of a fifth title. His resilience and dominance in the closing stages earned him the top spot, with six drivers placing him first on their lists.<\/p>\n

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
The new World Champion held off fierce competition to secure his maiden title, delivering consistent performances and seven race wins. He finished second in the drivers\u2019 vote for the second year running.<\/p>\n

\"\"2025 Hungarian GP Race winner Lando Norris<\/p>\n

3. George Russell (Mercedes)
Russell enjoyed his strongest season yet, scoring two victories and seven additional podiums. His impressive campaign lifted him to third in the peers\u2019 ranking, up one spot from last year.<\/p>\n

\"GeorgeGeorge Russell \u2013 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, \u2013 LAT Images for Mercedes<\/p>\n

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Piastri led the championship by 34 points heading into the summer but faded slightly in the autumn. Still, his mature drives in his third F1 season placed him fourth \u2013 an improvement on 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"Race winner Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren celebrates in parc ferme during the F1 GP of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 20, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Lars Baron\/LAT Images for McLaren)<\/p>\n

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Leclerc extracted strong results from a challenging Ferrari, claiming seven podiums amid a tough year for the team (which finished fourth in the constructors\u2019). He dropped two places from last year\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles Leclerc 2025 GP of Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n

6. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
After a slow start at his new team, Sainz turned it around spectacularly in the second half, securing two podiums. He held steady at sixth, matching his 2024 position despite the team switch.<\/p>\n

7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
The veteran climbed two spots with consistent, standout drives in a mid-field Aston Martin that ended the year seventh in the standings.<\/p>\n

8. Alex Albon (Williams)
Albon delivered Williams\u2019 best season in years, helping the team to eighth in the constructors\u2019 and earning his first appearance in the drivers\u2019 top 10.<\/p>\n

9. Ollie Bearman (Rookie, Haas)
The impressive newcomer shone in his debut year, highlighted by a five-race points streak and a fourth-place finish in Mexico \u2013 securing him ninth as one of three fresh entries.<\/p>\n

10. Isack Hadjar (Rookie)
Another standout rookie, Hadjar claimed a maiden podium at Zandvoort and rounded out the top 10.<\/p>\n

Notable mentions outside the list include Pierre Gasly, who impressed with 10 Q3 appearances in the grid\u2019s slowest car, and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who missed the top 10 for the first time in this poll\u2019s history after a difficult debut season at Ferrari.<\/p>\n

This drivers\u2019 vote underscores the respect Verstappen commands on the grid, even in a year where the championship slipped away \u2013 a testament to one of the most dramatic seasons in recent memory.<\/p>\n

The drivers who agreed to take part in the vote (in alphabetical order) were: Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an exclusive annual tradition by the Formula 1 website, Formula 1 drivers anonymously ranked their peers for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-377362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}