All 10 F1 team principals created a ranking of the top 10 drivers for the 2024 season, and
Max Verstappen came out on top with the maximum point score.
After the end of each season,
F1 asks all team principals on the grid to rank the
top 10 drivers based on who they think performed the best.
Based on how these drivers rank in, they are then attributed points - the same as they would in the F1 point-scoring system. So if a team principal puts the driver as the best (1st), he receives 25 points, and the last (10th) receives 1 point. See the F1 point-scoring system in the table below:
F1 point-scoring system
Position | 1🥇 | 2🥈 | 3🥉 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
The final table was created by arranging drivers from best to worst based on the combined scores of all team principals. See the table below.
Top 10 F1 drivers in 2024 as ranked by team principals
Ranking | Team | Driver | Points | Compared To 2023 |
1 🥇 | Red Bull | Max Verstappen | 250 | 🟰 |
2 🥈 | McLaren | Lando Norris | 178 | ⬆️ 1 |
3 🥉 | Ferrari | Charles Leclerc | 121 | ⬆️ 1 |
4 | McLaren | Oscar Piastri | 113 | ⬆️ 3 |
5 | Ferrari | Carlos Sainz | 110 | ⬆️ 1 |
6 | Mercedes | George Russell | 86 | ⬆️ 3 |
7 | Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | 54 | ⬇️ 2 |
8 | Haas | Nico Hulkenberg | 39 | NEW |
9 | Aston Martin | Fernando Alonso | 27 | ⬇️ 7 |
10 | Alpine | Pierre Gasly | 21 | NEW |
Max Verstappen was ranked the best for the fourth consecutive year, which coincides with his four straight drivers' championship titles.
For the first time in seven years, though, a driver earned the maximum score—250 points. All ten team principals unanimously rated Verstappen the best.
Two drivers who
gained the most positions compared to the
2023 team principals' ranking (
3 places up) were
George Russell and
Oscar Piastri.
The one who
lost the most was
Fernando Alonso (
7 places down), whose
Aston Martin gradually seemed slower and slower compared to rivals throughout the season.
Interestingly, all drivers from the top five teams, except for two (Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll), made it into the top 10. This suggests that car performance strongly influences the perception of driver performance.
One more fascinating thing about the table is that it almost
directly reflects the
2024 F1 drivers' championship standings. All drivers ranked
precisely in the same position as they finished the season. The only difference was that
Nico Hulkenberg replaced Sergio Perez.