F1 drivers ranked themselves, and that is what we realized

The 2023 calendar 12 months drew to a detailed in Formulation 1 in somewhat becoming vogue.

With Max Verstappen atop yet one more leaderboard.

In one of many last acts of the calendar 12 months, 19 of the drivers on the grid participated in a voting course of to find out the motive force rankings, as voted on by the drivers themselves. Lewis Hamilton was the one driver to not take part, as he abstained from the voting course of as he has executed in 12 months’s previous.

Listed here are the top-10 rankings as voted on by the drivers themselves, in addition to just a few ideas on what this tells us concerning the grid heading into the 2024 season.

The drivers acknowledged an unimaginable 12 months from Alexander Albon

Alexander Albon nearly single-handedly carried Williams to a surprising seventh-place end within the Constructors’ Championship. Albon scored 27 of the crew’s 28 factors, and his 27 factors alone had been sufficient for Williams to complete forward of AlphaTauri (25 factors), AlfaRomeo (16 factors) and Haas (12 factors).

Albon was additionally the one driver to out-qualify his teammate in each race this season, as he fared higher in every race than rookie Logan Sargeant.

His greatest end result got here on the Canadian Grand Prix, when Albon pushed his FW45 right into a seventh-place end. However past the end, it was how Albon pulled it off. After beginning the race on a set of mediums, he got here in on Lap 12 below a security automobile to bolt on a set of hards, which the crew advised him he would want to nurse to the tip of the race. He would in the end handle that set of hards to near-perfection, and because of some trademark defensive driving down the stretch, he held off these behind him for an unimaginable P7.

A robust debut for Oscar Piastri

As famous within the above graphic two drivers — Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly — weren’t on this checklist in 2022. For Piastri, that’s as a result of 2023 was his debut season on the grid. However the McLaren rookie put collectively a memorable first season in F1, serving to the crew to a fourth-place end within the Constructors’ Championship. Piastri additionally picked up a win this season, capturing the F1 Dash race in Qatar.

If you distinction his season with what we noticed from the opposite rookies on the grid, what Piastri did is much more spectacular. Nyck de Vries struggled early within the season with AlphaTauri, and was finally sacked by the crew. De Vries was changed by Daniel Ricciardo, who then suffered an harm which opened the door for an additional rookie, Liam Lawson. Lawson fared nicely in 5 races, choosing up two factors for the crew, but it surely was an abbreviated stint for him.

As for Sargeant, he secured one level on the 12 months, choosing that up at america Grand Prix when each Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had been disqualified after their vehicles failed post-race inspections.

If you see that, after which see the 97 factors Piastri scored on the 12 months, it places the Australian’s rookie marketing campaign into clearer perspective.

McLaren and Ferrari ought to be ok with the longer term

Solely two groups put each drivers onto this high ten checklist.

McLaren and Ferrari.

After I spoke with McLaren CEO Zak Brown again in October he advised me that he believes McLaren has the most effective driver duo on the grid, and this vote would again that up. The crew climbed out of the cellar to complete fourth this 12 months, and this vote has Lando Norris in fourth, and the rookie Piastri in eighth.

Norris is below contract by means of the 2025 season, and Piastri just lately signed an extension that can hold him in Papaya by means of 2026. With Norris nonetheless 24, and Piastri simply 22, the longer term actually appears to be like brilliant at McLaren.

And don’t be shocked in case you begin to hear a couple of Norris extension quickly.

As for Ferrari, the crew couldn’t catch Mercedes for second within the Constructors’ Championship, however they’ve a robust pairing of their very own in Charles Leclerc (who positioned fifth) and Carlos Sainz Jr., who was simply behind him in sixth. There could also be much more room for optimism in Maranello for what lies forward, as their challenger for the 2024 season would be the first design below Workforce Principal Frederic Vasseur.

The drivers considered Sergio Pérez with some skepticism

By many measures, this was a really profitable 12 months for Sergio Pérez.

He completed second within the Drivers’ Championship, his greatest end in his F1 profession. He helped Purple Bull to a second-straight Constructors’ Championship, and he gained two grands prix, essentially the most of any driver not named Max Verstappen.

And but, he positioned tenth on this checklist.

That will mirror a criticism of Pérez that was leveled towards him all year long: Regardless of his success, he nonetheless underperformed given what he had at his disposal, particularly the RB19. Pérez went by means of a brutal qualifying stretch, when he didn’t put that RB19 into Q3 in five-straight races. And lots of of these had been because of his personal errors, similar to 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 a number of lap instances deleted for exceeding monitor limits.

Actually, one of many extra memorable moments of the season — Leclerc’s last-lap cross on the Las Vegas Grand Prix — got here at Pérez’s disposal, and opened the doorways to much more criticism.

Pérez confronted questions all 12 months lengthy about his future at Purple Bull and given what is predicted to be a frenzied foolish season within the 12 months forward, given the variety of driver who will see their contracts finish on the shut of 2024 — together with Pérez — you’ll be able to count on these inquiries to linger nicely into the upcoming season.

Max Verstappen will get his flowers

It was a dominant 12 months for Max Verstappen.

Much more dominant than the 12 months earlier than.

And whereas many pointed to the RB19 as the explanation for Verstappen’s good season, the champion’s friends touted him as their alternative for Driver of the Yr. And you’ll actually see why. As a result of there have been just a few moments this season the place Verstappen was actually examined, and he answered the decision every time.

Maybe the most effective instance? Qualifying Saturday on the streets of Monte Carlo. At a circuit the place qualifying is the whole lot, Verstappen was pushed to the brink, and responded with a last lap in Q3 for the ages.

The RB19 was nice. However Verstappen was even higher this 12 months.