The 10 best F1 drivers of 2019

1. Lewis Hamilton

Like a fine wine, Lewis Hamilton keeps improving with age. Okay, it wasn’t the stellar season of 2018 when he barely put a wheel out of place in accruing 11 poles and 11 wins en route to a fifth title.

By his own admission, in claiming a sixth championship – one behind Michael Schumacher’s record – this year has been considerably more difficult.

But from a low from his time to date with Mercedes of just five poles, Hamilton has found a way to win 11 grands prix – equalling his best haul for a season – and finishing a comfortable 87 points clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton’s race craft has been exceptional as he has been able to read situations seemingly one step ahead of his rivals, making up for his car’s lack of power on occasion compared to Ferrari and Red Bull.

With the regulations unchanged in 2020, and with his enthusiasm burning more brightly than ever, matching Schumacher’s all-time haul is within his sights.

2. Max Verstappen

A stellar campaign from Red Bull’s young Dutchman Max Verstappen, who often exceeded the performance of a car that welcomingly performed reliably with new power unit partner Honda after years of torment and failures with Renault.

Verstappen scored three tremendous victories – only Hamilton and Bottas achieved more – and was on the podium an additional six times, helping him to secure a deserved third place in the drivers’ standings.

The impetuousness that previously landed him in trouble with the stewards on occasion, and led to him incurring the wrath of his peers, was no longer evident, giving way to what appears to be a growing maturity behind the wheel.

If Honda’s continued acceleration in improvement continues into next season, then coupled with the team’s undoubted design flair, spearheaded by the indomitable Adrian Newey, it is almost certain Verstappen will run Hamilton and Mercedes much closer than was the case this year.

3. Charles Leclerc

It was a tough call between Charles Leclerc and Verstappen for the runner-up spot as the 22-year-old Monegasque had to contend with the challenge of a four-time champion team-mate in Sebastian Vettel.

And it has been a battle royal at times, as the young pretender has attempted to prove himself worthy of being the second-youngest driver to race for Ferrari, compared to Vettel’s title-winning experience and know-how.

Leclerc admirably rose to his task, finishing 24 points ahead of Vettel in the standings, as well as out-qualifying the German, and scoring more poles and wins.

Their intra-team rivalry has understandably had rough patches, hitting its nadir in Brazil when they both crashed out after a collision. Leclerc, though, has proven he is no pushover, the hallmark of a future champion.

4. Valtteri Bottas

Although Valtteri Bottas eventually finished considerably adrift of Hamilton, we witnessed at times a more aggressive driver than had been seen in the past.

This version of the Finn, labelled ‘2.0’ at the start of the year, threatened a season-long fight with Hamilton after the opening five races as they went toe-to-toe, exchanging 1-2 finishes before the six-time champion found another gear and pulled away.

Bottas has suggested the uncertainty over his future in that middle part of the season proved to be an unwanted distraction, losing a degree of focus at a pivotal point in the campaign. In that respect, at least he will be on par with Hamilton next year as both men are out of contract at the end of it.

Bottas, who still managed four wins this term, knows where he is lacking compared to Hamilton, so perhaps the upgraded 2.020 version might be able to push the Briton to the wire.

5. Carlos Sainz

Red Bull will likely have looked at Carlos Sainz’s performances this season and thought ‘Hmm, perhaps we got rid of him a bit too soon’. Sainz found himself squeezed out of Red Bull’s driver production factory a couple of years ago as the Verstappen/Daniel Ricciardo partnership crackled along.

Initially shunted to Renault, only to be pushed out by the arrival of Ricciardo again, Sainz found “love at first sight”, as he has sincerely described it, when he pitched up at McLaren at the start of this season.

With the team continuing to find its feet after years in the doldrums, Spaniard Sainz delivered a solid campaign of results – with the highlight being his third place in a crazy Brazilian GP – that helped McLaren finish fourth in the constructors’ standings, its highest position since 2012.

His relationship with rookie team-mate Lando Norris has also been key to McLaren’s revival, and as long as that remains healthy, the upward trend appears set to continue.

6. Alex Albon

Another product off of Red Bull’s production line, a few eyebrows were initially raised at Alex Albon’s promotion to Formula 1 with Toro Rosso as he did not set the world alight in his junior career. But the London-born Thai driver has dispelled all the doubts after finishing the season as team-mate to Verstappen inside Red Bull.

Despite Daniil Kvyat’s third place in a crazy German Grand Prix, when Red Bull decided Pierre Gasly was no longer worthy of his seat, it was Albon the team turned to given his greater consistency in performance up until the summer break.

Such thinking has been borne by his run of results since joining the team, with only a heart-breaking collision with Hamilton in Brazil denying him his maiden podium.

But with Verstappen his benchmark, Albon will know his solid fourth, fifth, sixth-place finishes this term will need to become regular top-three finishes next term for him to survive.

7. Sebastian Vettel

It is hard to justify Sebastian Vettel’s place in the top 10 at all given this has arguably been his worst season for a decade, and that for the most part, he was second-best to Leclerc. But he is one of only five drivers to win a grand prix this season, with his triumph in Singapore ending a 13-month wait to take the chequered flag, and there were eight other podium finishes.

If you are looking for mitigating circumstances, then the car was not to Vettel’s liking over the first half of the season especially as he and the team struggled to find the optimum balance.

Vettel’s temperament, though – and not for the first time in his career – has also been called into question, appearing to show lapses in judgment when under pressure.

Next year is a significant one for the German as it the last of his current deal with Ferrari. It will be hard for the team to justify a new contract unless there is a significant improvement.

8. Sergio Perez

This is based solely on Sergio Perez’s performances since the summer break, and barely to do with what went before it, although there was a sixth-place finish in Azerbaijan that capped a brief surge of three races in the points.

Beyond that, through to August, Perez and Racing Point were wretched as he failed to finish in the top 10 for eight races, his worst drought of his 176-race career.

What followed was a sparkling run of form, and a haul of points bettered only by the pairings at Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Perez has always been a solid, consistent driver. When the team, including during its previous incarnation as Force India, has provided him with the car, then he has been able to deliver.

Under the ownership of Lawrence Stroll, the team is slowly rebuilding after coming so close to going out of business last season, with Perez a sturdy part of those new foundations.

9. Lando Norris

Lando Norris may have scored less than half of team-mate Sainz’s points, but he can count himself unfortunate not to have been so much closer at the end of what has been a fine rookie season.

In terms of qualifying, Norris managed to out-qualify Sainz 11-10 over the course of the 21 grands prix – at one point he was 8-4 ahead until the Spaniard rediscovered his mojo over one lap.

In the races, however, Norris was often cursed by bad luck. In particular, in China, he was the unfortunate victim of an early three-way collision; he was involved in a crash with Lance Stroll in Spain that was not his fault; his car suffered a suspension failure in Canada; then a power loss in Germany; and finally, a botched pit-stop in Mexico.

The fact McLaren, though, opted to confirm during the summer break that both Norris and Sainz would continue their partnership next season speaks volumes for the trust they have in the future of the 20-year-old Briton.

10. Daniel Ricciardo

There must be a small part of Daniel Ricciardo that regrets leaving Red Bull when he looks at how the team has performed this season. Did he walk away from a fight with Verstappen, believing he had become the number two driver? In moving to Renault, did he genuinely feel they would push the ‘big three’ this season?

Sadly for Renault, after finishing fourth in the constructors’ standings last season and suggesting they were on the rise, their slip to fifth this term has been a surprise, raising the questions above about the wisdom of Ricciardo’s move.

Renowned as the ‘king of the late brakers’, that crown has slipped this year as he has not had the car beneath him to perform some of the overtaking manoeuvres he could pull off at Red Bull.

But he has comfortably out-qualified and out-scored departing team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to claim a top-10 finish in the drivers’ standings, meriting his place here.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.