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

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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
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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

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B
simrace2 said:
Verstappen. Without the incident in Silverstone and the tire failure in Baku the title fight would've been settled before the last race.
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The same could be said about Lewis if it wasnt for Imola (forced off road resulting in a damaged wing), Monza (Would have clearly finished way ahead of Max) and Spa (another gifted win for Max) its all conjecture but this is literally all you have done to determine who "should" have won. This is regardless of the gifted Yas Marina win....

My Driver of the Year is Lando Norris and not just because I named my new puppy after him. His "almost" win in Sochi proved his worth and if it wasnt for shear bloody mindedness and despiration for his 1st it could have been his 1st.
 
muzikant
I hear a lot of Lando Norris here..he will first have to prove himself in a top team. like Lewis and Max have been doing for years. dealing with pressure is another thing. performing flawlessly every weekend, so we don't know how good he really is, same money for Russel, Leclerc,.......
 
S
This is embarrassing but first year since 1985 I've missed about 50% of the races, partly due to heavy work load, partly because I've followed a lot more of other series than usual, partly due to family related things.

So a flimsy foundation but I'll highligt Checo for having grown into maturity. Of what I've witnessed.
 
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Patrik Marek
This is bit hard to tell, Gasly has been really succesfull , but aslo Leclerc was driving great most of the races, especailly first half of season ( and Sainz for second half)
Lando also had a good season

it definitely won't be Hamilton, as I don't find him doing too amazing in the car he had at his disposal.
Verstappen had some amazing races, but also some silly crashes ( as had Hamilton)

so yeah, too many to pick one above all the others, but if I had to, it would be Gasley
 
Patrik Marek
erba72 said:
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.
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I wouldn't say immediately, he struggled a lot at the begining of the season, which is understandable given that you join new team
 
Peter Kerényi
Max and Lewis were clearly above the rest this year. I rate them equally. They both would have deserved the title, but I am always happy when we have a new race or championship winner.

It was just a crazy year with so many people on the podium. I hope next year will be similar. Also, differences among teammates are remarkable, and how those differences can change from race to race. It is kind of popular to say it's all about the car, but it's not. The state of mind, how the car suits a driver, it's more important and significant than many of us think. Next year we are going to have different cars, different tyres, maybe a couple of surprises regarding driver performance will come thanks to that.
 
Patrik Marek
winston malcolm said:
Here we go Silverstone again.

Well yes , there is a difference between a making a mistake and repeated deliberate forcing off of your opponent , but you already know that.
Being honest with yourself about it though .....well that's another subject
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I think the difference is only in what fanclub are you looking at it from
yes overall Hamilton is cleaner drive ( now) , but look at his early years in F1
 
iZ GunDaM
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.
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. 29 times Hamilton went over track limits in Bahrain
. Very convenient red flag just after Hamilton crashed in Imola
. Sacrificed Bottas for 2 extra points in Monaco
. Max's tyres popped in Baku
. Crashed Max out in Silverstone
. Bottas crashed Max out in Hungary
. Max denied full points for Spa
. Max punished for being driven off track in Monza
. Tuned up monster engine for final races and suspicious as hell DRS
. Max punished for being ran wide and getting rear ended by Lewis
. Favoured by stewards after cutting the corner in Abu Dhabi

And Hamilton still lost anyway. Get over it already, jeez.
 
Terry Rock
I'll give it to Lewis for driving that car back to the point of having the WDC trophy almost won.
I never expected him to catch up after being down 30+ points with so few races left.
Though the Mercedes was quicker in a straight line, he contended well with an RBR car that was better everywhere else on track.
Max did a great job with it...though personally, I thought he was a bit too aggressive in many races.
Honda and Adrian also did a great job to overcome that loss of floor area.
They did a much better job than Mercedes in that regard.
The much smaller but very capable power-plant was a good start.
It allowed Adrian to maximise the sculpturing of that engine cover to allow much better rear flow.
 
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BP
LeSunTzu said:
I guess it's hopeless anyway ;)
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It is a discussion forum so debate is not an issue…but the being respectful part is often what’s missed. I do however agree that making sweeping statements to speak for all fans is never a good idea (and I say this as someone that agrees with his view).
 
BP
Terry Rock said:
I'll give it to Lewis for staying motivated and driving that car back to the point of having the WDC trophy almost won.
Though the Mercedes was quicker in a straight line, he had to contend with an RBR car that was better everywhere else on track.
Max did a great job with it...though personally, I thought he was a bit too aggressive in many races.
Honda and Adrian also did a great job to overcome that loss of floor area.
They did a better job than Mercedes.
The much smaller but capable power-plant was a good addition.
He maximised the sculpturing of that engine cover to allow much better rear flow.
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couldn’t agree more with this…so many point to the Mercedes PU as being superior. While that is very much true, Faster PU does not equal better car, especially not in F1. Red Bull had always had the best aero efficient car for years, they just lacked the PU performance and now they have one that’s strong enough to make their car the full package. Thus, RB was the better car for most of the season until Merc turned the ICE up to 11.
 

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