Max Verstappen has emerged as the best Formula 1 driver from the 2025 season, according to team principals, drivers themselves, as well as 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.
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.
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
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.
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