Have Your Say: Who is Your F1 Driver of the Year?

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.jpg
The 2021 Formula 1 season was a drama and action packed season; we want to hear who your Driver of the Year is.

We're just one week removed from the conclusion of the 2021 Formula 1 season. This was a season filled with moments of awe and controversy, and not one F1 fans are soon to forget. The amazing efforts of all of the drivers kept this season compelling, but certain drivers stood out as exceptional this year, and we want to hear from you who had the best season overall. Here are some ideas:

Max Verstappen / Lewis Hamilton - The obvious choices for Driver of the Year would be Verstappen and Hamilton, who battled week after week, each taking turns leading the drivers' points championship. Verstappen was the more consistent of the two and claimed his first championship, but the late season response of Hamilton was also impressive, so there's a strong case for either being Driver of the Year.

Lando Norris - Red Bull and Mercedes were close in points for most of the season. And while this rivalry was heating up, Lando Norris was quietly running in 3rd place in the drivers' standings, ahead of the highly favoured Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. The season didn't finish that way, but Norris' first half of the season was well above expectations, and some poorly timed rain was all that stood between Norris and a deserved win in Russia.

Carlos Sainz - Most of us knew that the Ferrari team of Sainz and Charles Leclerc would have a strong showing in 2021 if given a good car, but there was a sense that Leclerc could steal headlines and establish himself as the top driver between the two. Carlos Sainz impressed everyone this year, collecting four podium finishes and finishing outside of the points only twice.

So let us know in the comments below who you think was Driver of the Year in F1. And remember to keep your comments respectful; we hope to end our Formula 1 coverage for the year on a positive note.

Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool
  • Like
Reactions: Adyl and SixxeGunnar
About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

More in F1 & Motorsport

Comments

P
MAX. Just look at the numbers… with 3 DNF’s outside his control… Silverstone, Baku and Hungary where he lost 75-78 points… without that he would have been champion much earlier in the season. Overall the Mercedes was still the better car this season, which makes Max’s title against Lewis, even more impressive. In general both Max and Lewis were in their own class this year. Best of the rest for me was Sainz… beating Leclerc in his first year at Ferrari…great performance! Honorable mentions… Gasly and Norris.
 
Last edited:
Manuel De Samaniego
In my opinion, it has to be Verstappen. The way he raced all year against Hamilton who has won 7 titles (most of them consecutively) and managed to beat him on the first try when he finally had a car that was a championship contender was highly impressive. On a season where IMO all the drivers had serious ups and downs he was the only one who was always on top of his game (or very close to it) not to say he didn't make mistakes, especially near the end of the year.

He had some serious bad luck and had a good championship lead slashed (like Vettel in 2018) yet he didn't fall back and stayed fighting and making the most of every situation. The way he was always composed despite having the toughest championship fight ever all year long against 7X WDC Hamilton was almost disrespectful.

Last year when he used to often finish 3rd behind Hamilton and Bottas much was said that when he had a good car he would be fighting for the championship, that's very easy to say but IMO it rarely materializes (Ex; Checo was a monster in the Racing Point but in the faster Red Bull he struggled to reach his best level for most of the season) but with Verstappen this was true, he had a very good car this year and he won the championship.

Just my 2 cents, I know it's very easy to start arguments on the internet :) Hamilton was brilliant too, just in my opinion he had a few lower lows (like Monaco, Imola) and some very high highs (Brasil) Russel and Sainz were other standouts for me.
 
BP
My top picks:
Hamilton: in his mid-late 30’s (just 4 yrs younger than Alonso), going toe to toe against the fastest early-mid 20’s driver of his generation and holding his own, and very well could have won it all. Red Bull was the strongest car for most of the races (at least 2/3 of the season): the 2021 regs favoured high rake cars, and as such Max lead many of those races start to finish with no competition, progressively opening the gap each race…when Hamilton does that, the popular opinion is always "Merc is too fast", so the same should apply here if judged impartially. Plus, no car that’s “significantly slower” will grab pole 10 times in 22 races (could have easily been 12 as he clearly had the pace in Monaco and Jeddah), especially if Lewis, who also has insane single lap pace, is in an “overpowered Merc”. Granted he made a few mistakes (one of which was not Silverstone, that was 50/50), but overall kept his cool under pressure and showed grace and composure when he lost the WDC.

Alonso: back in F1 at 40 and is driving like he never left. Obviously not in a car that can compete for wins, but whenever he's in a unique situation that provides opportunities, whether offensive or defensive he's handled it brilliantly. Very happy to see his return and hope Alpine can be more competitive in the coming years.

Norris and Sainz (tie): The former McLaren teammates had another great year...Lando getting a bit more serious and really showing amazing pace (as long as lady luck didn't leave him), and was one bad/unlucky call from his first win. Carlos has steadily improved season after season, ending P5 this year (his highest ever)...4 podiums and very consistent...I think he turned a few heads at Ferrari by beating Leclerc with only 1 podium (though Charles has had bad luck, but so has everyone at some stage).

Perez: I have to give props to the newly crowned Mexican Min. of Defense...he adopted to the seemingly untamable #2 RB car faster than his predecessors and then drove his behind off and defended like no other (and the vast majority of it was clean). He understood the assignment and passed it with flying colors*, so well done to him.

*(unlike Bottas 2.0...3.0....7.11...to whom it may concern: I can't keep up with his revisions...but he would have been better off if he played the #2 part willingly instead of being "forced" into it. I mean, Merc just had the Hamilton/Rosberg fiasco...why did he think they wanted another round of that? Anyways...)

Honorable mention goes to Verstappen: As I said earlier, he is obviously the fastest driver of his generation, no question there. He's had moments of brilliance...but he just needs to temper his over-aggressive style of attack/defense. I don't mind aggression, but he took it way too far in too many races. Running your car to the track limits is not "making the corner" if you have someone on your outside; that's just poor sportsmanship. Also, the "this is what you get when you don't leave space" comment was ridiculous with his past and future moves.

March 20, 2022 can't get here soon enough...
 
Last edited:
erba72
I'll go a bit different and say Carlos Sainz Jr.
He has proven to everyone that he is a really fast and really talented driver by immediately being on same level as Charles if not better at times. On the top pf that he barely makes any mistake.
 
Badwheels
I am going to post something a little off topic, just for thought. Most of the year it seemed like RB had a "better" car until the last 4 races. People have argued back and forth about maybe Max would have locked this championship up if it hadn't been for Silverstone and Monza.

Some people believe that the F.I.A. robbed Lewis of the championship in that last race because of the rulings.

I find it funny that no one seems to discuss whether or not Max would have been as close as he was to even win ( and don't get me wrong, he drives very well) or start a debate about the Silverstone or Monza incidents, if the new regs about ride height hadn't killed both Merc and Aston Martin"s superior speed from last year. If the F.I.A. stole the championship, it was then, not at the end of the season.

Now anyone that doesn't bring a fully developed brain to this discussion will be "Kvyatted".
 
P
Botmeister said:
Max Verstappilton? ;)

As a dutchman my choice is obvious. Max has shown the world he's a legend in the making. And hopefully his carreer will be as beautiful as Lewis'. Would love to see these two in action again next season, but as of now nothing is certain yet.
Click to expand...
:confused:I agree with you, but above all because he is half Belgian too! ;) Seriously, he's a great pilot, like Hamilton, but this year is the Belgian-Dutch year! hehehehehe! (guess what nationality I am?). :p :D
We are a great community, I think.:thumbsup:
Thanks to Racedepartment and the designers of our beautiful simulations for that.
Merry Christmas to everyone wherever you live.:)
 
R
Max because he would've wrapped this up way beforehand without Lewis's insane luck and Max's awful luck. He was by far the better driver and was in a worse car the entire season. Wins the WDC without winning the WCC.

It was only after Mercedes had to lobby for tyre changes and pit stop rules and removal of flexi wings that it could finally give Lewis a car OP enough to challenge for the title after the Austrian rounds. Bottas was level pegging with literally Massa post V8 era, yet he still fought for wins and was only just behind Lewis. Checo could only get close to Max's level in two or three races.
 
jongen
The better driver of the year is either Hamilton or Verstappen. I'll pick Hamilton, but really only just. They were the class of the field.

Third place is the real debate. Other than fringe choices (Alonso, Perez, Ocon), all of which were good enough but nowhere close to the actual best drivers, it seems like the real competition is between Gasly, Russell, Sainz and Norris.

I'll immediately dismiss Norris. In my opinion, his 2021 was somewhat akin to Stroll's 2020: a fantastic first half (recall Stroll, in a Racing Point, was 4th midway through the season), followed by an inconsistent and disappointing second half saved by a stunning performance which got ruined by their team's tyre management - they both could've won their first race. It might be British bias hyping him up, it might be that he genuinely looks like a real nice guy, and I will say that I took him for a midpack driver before 2021 started; now, I think he does have the chops to be WC one day. His stock definitely went up, he outdrove his car in the first half, but he faltered down the stretch. He generally has somewhere between the 5th and 8th best car. In the first 10 races, he finished worse than 5th once; in the 12 next ones, he only finished in the top 6 once. He had a reasonably good season, clearly top half, but he fell off too quickly. Still, he showed me some flashes, like Leclerc has done for the past two years, of being a potential WC.

Then, let's put Russell aside. He had a fantastic campaign, and while I'm sick and tired of hearing David Croft call him "Mr. Saturday", he thoroughly deserved it - only Gasly has so thoroughly beaten his teammate that badly. A Williams podium (technically), and some unimaginable results at the year's start make him a contender. Unfortunately, his Sunday performance isn't there yet, and I think he has room there to grow (just as he did with his reaction to the Imola incident). I certainly think he can, and I sure hope he does as he's my favorite driver on the grid along with Bottas, but while it was a thoroughly solid campaign, I think it's a solid A, but some have been better.

Carlos Sainz is someone I didn't see coming at all. I thought he'd be fine but get clearly beaten by Leclerc. I think Leclerc had a better season despite having fewer points, so I certainly wouldn't make the case that he was the third best driver of the year. That being said, given how he's the new guy adapting to a new car, and he managed to garner more points than Leclerc, I am highly impressed by his performance. I thought he'd be a Bottas, but maybe he has the moxie to be a Rosberg.

---


Pierre Gasly is the man I clearly put into third place. Any comparison to Tsunoda (my disappointment of the year) is a bit iffy, as he thoroughly beat him, outqualifying him 21-1. It also makes it tricky to know how good that car actually was. In any case, finishing above both Alpines and both Aston Martins, and breathing down Daniel Ricciardo in a McLaren is exceptional. He has no business finishing in the top 6 a total of nine times, much less qualifying in the top 6 sixteen times.

Top 6 means that he's above the majority of Ferrari/McLarens. In an Alpha Tauri. That is ludicrous.
That's more than Leclerc (10).
That's more than Sainz (11).
That's more than.... PEREZ (12)!
That's more than both McLarens put together.

Top 6 is arbitrary, sure, pick 5, 7 or 8 and we get different results, but I want to illustrate the point that Gasly is extraordinarily fast, he is solid in both race and qualifying, and most of all, he was exceptionally consistent (something Perez, Bottas, Sainz, Russell and especially Norris weren't).

I reckon if he was Pete Gasly from Yorkshire, we'd hear about the injustice of him being in a back midfield team, because what he's accomplished in an AT this year is remarkable. Very easily the third best driver of the season as far as I'm concerned, far behind the top 2 and far above the next contestants (probably, in order, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Bottas and Norris).
 
Last edited:
P
not a fan of both championship contenders, but Verstappen wrongs nothing this year. Even at the end, with a RB clearly non at the apex, he was a pain in the ass for both mercedes. Always doing its best. Sometime over the limits (but hamilton did the same in Imola and Silverstone, so...stop complaining please). So, Verstappen clearly shows us a masterclass commitment as a driver. And he won, that it's not bad
 
D
jongen said:
The better driver of the year is either Hamilton or Verstappen. I'll pick Hamilton, but really only just. They were the class of the field.

Third place is the real debate. Other than fringe choices (Alonso, Perez, Ocon), all of which were good enough but nowhere close to the actual best drivers, it seems like the real competition is between Gasly, Russell, Sainz and Norris.

I'll immediately dismiss Norris. In my opinion, his 2021 was somewhat akin to Stroll's 2020: a fantastic first half (recall Stroll, in a Racing Point, was 4th midway through the season), followed by an inconsistent and disappointing second half saved by a stunning performance which got ruined by their team's tyre management - they both could've won their first race. It might be British bias hyping him up, it might be that he genuinely looks like a real nice guy, and I will say that I took him for a midpack driver before 2021 started; now, I think he does have the chops to be WC one day. His stock definitely went up, he outdrove his car in the first half, but he faltered down the stretch. He generally has somewhere between the 5th and 8th best car. In the first 10 races, he finished worse than 5th once; in the 12 next ones, he only finished in the top 6 once. He had a reasonably good season, clearly top half, but he fell off too quickly. Still, he showed me some flashes, like Leclerc has done for the past two years, of being a potential WC.

Then, let's put Russell aside. He had a fantastic campaign, and while I'm sick and tired of hearing David Croft call him "Mr. Saturday", he thoroughly deserved it - only Gasly has so thoroughly beaten his teammate that badly. A Williams podium (technically), and some unimaginable results at the year's start make him a contender. Unfortunately, his Sunday performance isn't there yet, and I think he has room there to grow (just as he did with his reaction to the Imola incident). I certainly think he can, and I sure hope he does as he's my favorite driver on the grid along with Bottas, but while it was a thoroughly solid campaign, I think it's a solid A, but some have been better.

Carlos Sainz is someone I didn't see coming at all. I thought he'd be fine but get clearly beaten by Leclerc. I think Leclerc had a better season despite having fewer points, so I certainly wouldn't make the case that he was the third best driver of the year. That being said, given how he's the new guy adapting to a new car, and he managed to garner more points than Leclerc, I am highly impressed by his performance. I thought he'd be a Bottas, but maybe he has the moxie to be a Rosberg.

---


Pierre Gasly is the man I clearly put into third place. Any comparison to Tsunoda (my disappointment of the year) is a bit iffy, as he thoroughly beat him, outqualifying him 21-1. It also makes it tricky to know how good that car actually was. In any case, finishing above both Alpines and both Aston Martins, and breathing down Daniel Ricciardo in a McLaren is exceptional. He has no business finishing in the top 6 a total of nine times, much less qualifying in the top 6 sixteen times.

Top 6 means that he's above the majority of Ferrari/McLarens. In an Alpha Tauri. That is ludicrous.
That's more than Leclerc (10).
That's more than Sainz (11).
That's more than.... PEREZ (12)!
That's more than both McLarens put together.

Top 6 is arbitrary, sure, pick 5, 7 or 8 and we get different results, but I want to illustrate the point that Gasly is extraordinarily fast, he is solid in both race and qualifying, and most of all, he was exceptionally consistent (something Perez, Bottas, Sainz, Russell and especially Norris weren't).

I reckon if he was Pete Gasly from Yorkshire, we'd hear about the injustice of him being in a back midfield team, because what he's accomplished in an AT this year is remarkable. Very easily the third best driver of the season as far as I'm concerned, far behind the top 2 and far above the next contestants (probably, in order, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Bottas and Norris).
Click to expand...
Wouldn't dispute your personal ranking of Norris, but to correct the record, his performances didn't drop off at all in the latter half of the year. Rather he got unlucky several times, plus Ferrari's new engine spec put Mclaren behind on raw pace.

Hungary - qualified well then got taken out by Bottas.
Spa - had the raw pace for pole in the wet, then crashed when the track was effectively unsafe. Denied the chance to use his pace to recover in the 'race' because there wasn't one.
Zandvoort - poor qualy but outraced Daniel
Italy - out-qualified Daniel and could just as easily have won but ironically was rewarded for his better qualifying by getting blocked by Lewis's bad start in the sprint race. Matched Ricciardo's race pace for the 1-2.
Sochi - almost won but for team call
Turkey - well ahead of Daniel
USA - legit beaten by Daniel (probably his worst weekend)
Mexico - ahead of Daniel again
Brazil - strong qualy but retired to a racing incident with Sainz on lap 1
Qatar - ahead of Daniel again
Saudi - strong qualy, screwed over by red flag
Abu Dhabi - exceptional qualy, would likely have been third without a late puncture

Norris delivered the goods every weekend, except the USA, and even then wasn't far off his teammate.
 
Last edited:
jongen
danclark said:
Wouldn't dispute your personal ranking of Norris, but to correct the record, his performances didn't drop off at all in the latter half of the year. Rather he got unlucky several times, plus Ferrari's new engine spec put Mclaren behind on raw pace.

Hungary - qualified well then got taken out by Bottas.
Spa - had the raw pace for pole in the wet, then crashed when the track was effectively unsafe. Denied the chance to use his pace to recover in the 'race' because there wasn't one.
Zandvoort - poor qualy but outraced Daniel
Italy - out-qualified Daniel and could just as easily have won but ironically was rewarded for his better qualifying by getting blocked by Lewis's bad start in the sprint race. Matched Ricciardo's race pace for the 1-2.
Sochi - almost won but for team call
Turkey - well ahead of Daniel
USA - legit beaten by Daniel (probably his worst weekend)
Mexico - ahead of Daniel again
Brazil - strong qualy but retired to a racing incident with Sainz on lap 1
Qatar - ahead of Daniel again
Saudi - strong qualy, screwed over by red flag
Abu Dhabi - exceptional qualy, would likely have been third without a late puncture

Norris delivered the goods every weekend, except the USA, and even then wasn't far off his teammate.
Click to expand...
I like a good discussion! Clearly there's a case to be made for Norris, but you make it better than I do.

I'd reply succinctly with:
1. He wasn't bad in the second half, not at all, but he seemed more like 2020 Lando than early 2021 Lando. That's quite solid, I still rank him above Alonso and Perez.
2. In early 2021, Lando was legitimetely, I think, at Verstappen and Hamilton's level. But throughout the year, he went from "I can beat anyone but the top 2" to "I'm expected to beat my struggling teammate".
3. I'll grant you that Ferrari surged. Still, even by late season, it wa the closest car to McLaren in pace, and even if it had become a truly far better car, he dropped more than 2 places on average.

All in all, I feel like in the first 10 races, Norris performed like an all-time great. Afterwards, he performed all right but nothing exceptional. A mix of S tier and B tier.

If we are going by tiers:
S - HAM, VER, GAS
A - RUS, BOT, LEC, SAI, NOR
B - PER, ALO, OCO
C - RIC, VET, STR
D - GIO, RAI, LAT, MSC
E - MAZ, TSU
 
O
Lewis, came back from a poor start to the season to dominate.

We all know who actually won their 8th championship without the rule change to gift the title to someone else.

Lewis and Merecdes didn't spend all their time trying to call the others cheats when their car was slower, the class act on every front by team and driver.

The teams, drivers and fans all know who is the 2021 Champion, regardless of whose name ended up on the trophy.
 
D
peppepino said:
not a fan of both championship contenders, but Verstappen wrongs nothing this year. Even at the end, with a RB clearly non at the apex, he was a pain in the ass for both mercedes. Always doing its best. Sometime over the limits (but hamilton did the same in Imola and Silverstone, so...stop complaining please). So, Verstappen clearly shows us a masterclass commitment as a driver. And he won, that it's not bad
Click to expand...
It makes me laugh how so many of you seasoned F1 watchers laud the ability to go too fast into a corner and drift across the track and force the other driver off the road.

I prize late braking, leaving room and going wheel to wheel, but hey each to their own.
 
Damage Inc
onehundredandfive said:
Lewis, came back from a poor start to the season to dominate.

We all know who actually won their 8th championship without the rule change to gift the title to someone else.

Lewis and Merecdes didn't spend all their time trying to call the others cheats when their car was slower, the class act on every front by team and driver.

The teams, drivers and fans all know who is the 2021 Champion, regardless of whose name ended up on the trophy.
Click to expand...
You and those who think the same way do NOT speak for everyone. So please don't try to.
 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Mike Smith
Article read time
2 min read
Views
10,576
Comments
113
Last update

Share this article

What's needed for simracing in 2024?

  • More games, period

  • Better graphics/visuals

  • Advanced physics and handling

  • More cars and tracks

  • AI improvements

  • AI engineering

  • Cross-platform play

  • New game Modes

  • Other, post your idea

Results are only viewable after voting.
See comments…
Back
Top