The top 10 Formula 1 drivers have been ranked at the end of the 2024 season.
Overall, 2024 has been one of the most hotly-competed seasons in recent memory, even though it started slowly with Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s continued domination in the early races.
But McLaren and Ferrari soon drew level with the Red Bull and outpaced the reigning champions in the second half of the season, though Verstappen‘s consistency of results ensured he comfortably won his fourth consecutive championship.
In 2025, he is likely to face renewed competition from Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, who all won multiple Grands Prix.
George Russell will also attempt to build on a largely successful 2024 which saw him win two races, while Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton also won twice.
The most interesting dynamic going into 2025 belongs to Hamilton as he prepares to join Ferrari.
The Brit has signed a multi-year agreement with the Scuderia to partner with Charles Leclerc, and he will hope that he is presented with a machine capable of delivering a record eighth world championship.
Autosport have now ranked the top 10 drivers in 2024, handing the number one crown to Verstappen for his fourth world championship win.
Leclerc fends off Norris into second, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fourth after what was his final season with the Scuderia before moving to Williams.
Russell is in fifth ahead of Piastri – who can perhaps count himself unfortunate not to be higher – with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in seventh after a strong end to the season.
Nico Hulkenberg’s consistency and impressive qualifying performances in the Haas earn him an eighth-placed ranking.
In 10th place is Fernando Alonso, but Hamilton is in ninth – which fans are less than happy with.
Image: Autosport/Twitter
One wrote: “Cmon Lewis is at least ahead of Nico and Pierre.”
A second said: “No way Lewis is ninth.”
A third asked: “Hamilton a two-time winner behind Gasly and Hulk?”
And a fourth stated: “Never in my wildest dreams would I see Hamilton and Alonso on number nine and 10.”
Hamilton won the British and Belgian Grands Prix this season, and produced a series of impressive performances in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
The latter two of those, though, were fightback performances from low grid positions – though the incident that saw him knocked out in Q1 in Abu Dhabi was the fault of debris on the track rather than his own pace.
The Brit has admitted he is uncertain as to why he has generally struggled in qualifying relative to Russell, but his race pace has been as strong as ever and has left fans believing he should be ranked higher in 2024’s top 10 list.
2024 F1 drivers top 10 ranked by Autosport
The full top 10 is as follows:
- 1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
- 4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- 5. George Russell (Mercedes)
- 6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- 7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- 8. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
- 9. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)