{"id":842488,"date":"2021-12-22T03:05:34","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T03:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/?post_type=issue_content&p=842488"},"modified":"2022-01-14T13:55:30","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T13:55:30","slug":"2021s-top-10-f1-drivers-rated","status":"publish","type":"issue_content","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/archive\/article\/february-2022\/78\/2021s-top-10-f1-drivers-rated\/","title":{"rendered":"2021’s top 10 F1 drivers rated"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Max<\/h5>\n
1.<\/strong> Max Verstappen<\/span><\/strong> 9.998<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Stunning combination of speed and racecraft, totally fearless, incredible tenacity and ability to comeback from adversity. Only one real error all season.<\/td>\n

\"Max<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Lewis<\/h5>\n
2.<\/strong> Lewis Hamilton<\/span><\/strong> 9.997<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Churlish not to give the champion top spot after such a season, hence Lewis has to be second, but this was perhaps his most impressive season of all, given what he was having to fight against.<\/td>\n

\"Lewis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Charles<\/h5>\n
3.<\/strong> Charles Leclerc<\/span><\/strong> 9.1<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Brilliance in qualifying and transcending the level of the car has become routine for him now. A few offs as he pushed beyond the limits in practice but he can go head-to-head with anyone now.<\/td>\n

\"Charles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"George<\/h5>\n
4.<\/strong> George Russell<\/span><\/strong> 9.0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

He\u2019s a could-be world champion in the ninth-fastest car and occasionally, when circumstances aligned, he could do something to make your draw drop \u2013 like qualifying a Williams second at Spa.<\/td>\n

\"George<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Lando<\/h5>\n
5.<\/strong> Lando Norris<\/span><\/strong> 8.999<\/h5>\n

Stunning and effortless pace, made more apparent by how he gets around the McLaren\u2019s odd traits in a way that left Daniel Ricciardo bewildered. Ready to win lots of races if the car\u2019s right.<\/td>\n

\"Lando<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Carlos<\/h5>\n
6.<\/strong> Carlos Sainz<\/span><\/strong> 8.7<\/strong><\/h5>\n

This guy is so impressive in the way he can meet the demands of any situation. He worked away at it and by end of his first Ferrari season had closed the gap to Leclerc almost completely.<\/td>\n

\"Carlos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Fernando<\/h5>\n
7.<\/strong> Fernando Alonso<\/span><\/strong> 8.5<\/h5>\n

Took about half a season to return to his previous amazing level. The expertise and the understanding of the race and tyres is all still there and the speed is barely dimmed.<\/td>\n

\"Fernando<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Pierre<\/h5>\n
8.<\/strong> Pierre Gasly<\/span><\/strong>\u00a08.3<\/strong><\/h5>\n

He\u2019s always there, pushing the car\u2019s limits, pulling the little team along with his aggressive push to the front. Relentless and mentally strong. Results weren\u2019t quite on par with qualifying though.<\/td>\n

\"Pierre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Esteban<\/h5>\n
9.<\/strong> Esteban Ocon<\/span><\/strong> 7.8<\/strong><\/h5>\n

A tough, doughty competitor, he was determined not to let Alonso walk in and take
\nthe team off him \u2013 and he succeeded in this. Breakthrough victory will only make him better.<\/td>\n

\"Esteban<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Valtteri<\/h5>\n
10.<\/strong> Valtteri Bottas<\/span><\/strong> 7.0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Was at least able to give Hamilton more race day support than P\u00e9rez was able to do at Red Bull. Still has the speed to occasionally outqualify Hamilton, but race performances are still patchy.<\/td>\n

\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"author":752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[118712,122078],"tags":[126506],"issue_decade":[],"issue_year":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/842488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/752"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842488"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/842488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842551,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/842488\/revisions\/842551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842488"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=842488"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=842488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}