Formula 1
How team bosses, drivers, Motorsport and fans ranked the top 10 F1 drivers from 2025
One driver was always ranked as the best performer of F1 2025, but opinions diverged as to who should follow
Ben Vinel
Published: Jan 4, 2026, 9:11 AM
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The 2025 F1 drivers photo call
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Max Verstappen has emerged as the best Formula 1 driver from the 2025 season, according to team principals, drivers themselves, as well as Motorsport, Autosport and their readers.
All current team bosses and racers were asked by F1 to submit their top 10s, applying the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 points system to create separate standings. No representative from Red Bull and Ferrari took part in the vote, with Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll also skipping it.
Motorsport's sister publication Autosport and its F1 writers Stuart Codling and Jake Boxall-Legge established our own ranking, while Autosport readers' race-by-race average ratings were aggregated into a top 10.
In all four instances, Verstappen was placed at the top, but behind him it was quite tight between Lando Norris, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. The new world champion was slightly more successful than Mercedes' lead driver, his McLaren team-mate, and Ferrari's top performer.
Those five were widely considered as the best five drivers of the season, though team principals ranked Leclerc lower than Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz on average. The Spaniards were part of numerous midfield contenders for the top six, where Hulkenberg featured twice too; Isack Hadjar was the only midfielder to be included in all top 10s.
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Hamilton, Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Stroll, Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto failed to feature in any top 10 – as did part-timers Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto.
Top 10 2025 F1 drivers
Team principals Drivers Autosport Autosport readers 1st 
Verstappen Verstappen Verstappen Verstappen 2nd 
Norris Norris Russell 
Piastri 3rd Piastri Russell 
Leclerc Norris 4th Russell Piastri Norris Leclerc 5th 
Alonso Leclerc Piastri Russell 6th Sainz Sainz 
Hulkenberg Hulkenberg 7th Leclerc Alonso 
Gasly 
Antonelli 8th Bearman 
Albon Hadjar Hadjar 9th Hadjar Bearman Antonelli Albon 10th Hulkenberg Hadjar Sainz Bearman
Applying the current points system when aggregating those four rankings, one can then look at a global top 10 inclusive of team bosses, drivers, journalists and fans alike.
TEAMS Drivers Autosport readers pts 1st Verstappen 25 25 25 25 100 2nd Norris 18 18 12 15 63 3rd= Russell 12 15 18 10 55 3rd= Piastri 15 12 10 18 55 5th Leclerc 6 10 15 12 43 6th= Hulkenberg 1 8 8 17 6th= Sainz 8 8 1 17 8th Alonso 10 6 16 9th Hadjar 2 1 4 4 11 10th Antonelli 2 6 8 11th Bearman 4 2 1 7 12th= Gasly 6 6 12th= Albon 4 2 6
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