Our Top 50 drivers of the year… (10th to 1st)

Find all the sections of our Top 50: 

Our Top 50 drivers of the year: 50th to 41st (1/5)
Our Top 50 drivers of the year: 40th to 31st (2/5)
Our Top 50 drivers of the year: 30th to 21st (3/5)
Our Top 50 drivers of the year: 20th to 11st (4/5)

10. Helio Castroneves (BRE)
Winner of the Indianapolis 500

The guardrails at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway still shake from "Spider-Man's" celebration following his fourth 500 victory. However, it had been a long time since the 46-year-old Brazilian had been able to climb the net, since 2017, the year of his last full season with Penske. Forced to focus on the Indy 500 in 2021 with the modest Meyer Shank Racing structure, Helio Castroneves surprised everyone. “No one was thinking about us, and that was the best way to win. » Pushed towards the release last winter by the younger generation, the veteran Helio showed what stuff he was made of despite a second-hand chassis purchased from DragonSpeed. A victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing is also to his credit. Helio Castroneves is not ready to hang it up!

9. Lando Norris (ANG)
6th world championship F1

Behind Max Verstappen, he’s the orange force on the board! In the wake of the Papaya team, the Briton had a great start to the season (4th in Bahrain, 3rd in Imola and Monaco, where he took a lap Daniel Ricciardo). Equipped with incredible driving skills and one of the best speeds on the grid, the young Englishman achieved the best result of his career at Monza (2nd). Starting on pole in Sochi, he saw victory slip away from him due to a downpour, poorly managed by McLaren. Despite a passion that is not always well contained, as evidenced by his exit from the track at Spa, Norris continues to confirm the immense potential that is attributed to him. As stated Lewis Hamilton, in his exhausts in Austria: “Such a great driver Lando!”. True recognize true!

8. Kyle Larson (USA)
Champion NASCAR Cup SeriesEdit

On the sidelines in 2020 after being suspended for racist comments, Kyle Larson returned to the Cup Series this year. Fired by Chip Ganassi Racing and drafted by Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, the Californian made a thunderous return to competition. Now able to fight for victory, the Sacramento native started strong with a first victory in Las Vegas in the 4th round before gradually establishing his domination. Regularly in the Top 5 and even in the Top 3, Kyle Larson added 4 new successes in the regular season before dealing his fatal blow during the playoffs with 5 additional triumphs in 10 races including the final in Phoenix to secure the title ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Larson. © Sean Gardner/Getty Images

7. Elfyn Evans (GAL)
Vice-champion in the World Rally Championship (WRC)

Another failure for Elfyn Evans. As in 2020, the Welshman was defeated by the ogre Sébastien Ogier. But this time, the WRC season better reflected his abilities, where the previous campaign was too brief (7 rounds) to form a definitive opinion. Author of a promising start, he already failed in one breath against his colleague from Toyota Gazoo Racing, Sébastien Ogier, in Croatia. Elfyn Evans opened her account in Portugal but was going to miss out on the summer. Trailing by 44 points with three rounds to go, he turned on the turbo in Finland (victory and Power Stage) and in Catalonia (2nd) to blow off the Frenchman's neck. At the height of the duel at Monza, Sébastien Ogier pushed Elfyn Evans into a small mistake which would block him in 2nd place. On the other hand, the retirement of his executioner will leave him a free rein in 2022.

Elfyn Evans. © Nikos Katikis / DPPI

6. Alex Palou (ESP) 
Champion IndyCar

The players in European promotion formulas didn't want Alex Palou? He went to Japan to rub shoulders with the Super Formula experts (3rd in 2019). Was the horizon blocked in Asia? The Spaniard landed in the States to try his hand at IndyCar. A year of apprenticeship and a contract with Chip Ganassi later, the 24-year-old Catalan burst into the open. The Indianapolis 500 slipped under his nose with one lap to go, but Alex Palou did not give up. His ability to recover from dangerous situations was highlighted at the end of the season. Mechanical breakdown in Indianapolis, accident in Madison, he raised the bar with authority in Portland (1st), Laguna Seca (2nd) and Long Beach (4th) to become the first Spaniard to win a North American single-seater championship. 

5. Oscar piastri (AUS)
Champion of Formula 2

The Australian signed the best run in the history of promotional formulas. He indeed became the first driver to win Formula consecutively. Renault, Formula 3 and Formula 2. Winner of six races, author of five pole positions, just one unit from the record held by Leclerc in 2017, the Prema driver was simply dominant, ending his campaign with 60,5 points ahead of his teammate and runner-up Robert Shwartzman. Speed ​​had been lacking in F3, but he was able to take a step forward this year, to deliver the most successful campaign of his career. Unfortunately, he will not go to F1 next year, or at least not as a starter since he will be reserve driver at Alpine. He is aiming for a seat in 2023, and given what he has demonstrated in F2, it would simply be unfair if he did not get it.

Oscar Piastri. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

4. Pierre Gasly (FRA)
9th in the F1 Drivers ranking

Winner of his first Grand Prix in 2020 and extended at Alpha Tauri, Pierre Gasly wanted to use the 2021 season to continue to gain momentum. A task carried out to perfection by the Rouennais. If his AT02 suffered in the race compared to its competitors, the Norman was able to make it shine in qualifying. Sparkling in the exercise, the Normand got into Q3 18 times in 22 Grands Prix, beating his teammate at the same time Yuki tsunoda during the first 21 rounds of the year. On Sundays, Pierre Gasly was less lucky with a few retirements and poor performances even if he was able to achieve some good performances such as his podium in Azerbaijan or his 4th places in the Netherlands and Mexico. Results which allowed him to achieve his best personal season with 110 points at the end of the day and a 9th place. A good omen for the future. 

Pierre Gasly. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)
8th WRC World Rally Champion title
Co-piloted by Julien Ingrassia (FRA)

Scheduled for 2020, Sébastien Ogier finally postponed his retirement until 2021. Time for the Gapençais and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia to treat themselves to one last dance after 16 years of collaboration. From the outset, the French duo made an impression by winning an 8th Monte-Carlo, synonymous with a record, setting the tone for the rest of the season. Often disadvantaged by his position as opener, Sébastien Ogier was able to take full advantage of his Toyota Yaris Rally1 with which he was very consistent throughout the campaign. Apart from his 20th place at the Arctic, the Frenchman has always finished in the Top 5 while scoring points in 11 of the 12 Power Stages contested. In metronome, he will sign 4 other successes (Croatia, Italy, Kenya and Monza) to conclude his collaboration with Julien Ingrassia with an 8th world crown.

2 – Lewis Hamilton (ENG)
F1 world vice-champion, 8 victories

Until the final laps of the last Grand Prix of the season, Lewis Hamilton had done everything in his power to win an 8th world title. A record coronation in the history of a sport that he has continued to transcend, of which he will have written the most beautiful golden pages. After the cruel, and controversial, final in Abu Dhabi, Sir Lewis knew how to play appearances to leave Max Verstappen to his ecstasy as a neo-world champion. It is to his credit as an immense sportsman to keep face, to not lower his eyes when the doors of immortality slam in your face, even though they have so often welcomed you.

So what could he possibly be thinking? What could he have done better and more this year, at the wheel of a W12 so supercharged that it exhausts its engines? What can we learn from a season that has already been written into the history books of motorsport? Memories, obviously, but above all a truth: nothing contributes more to the beauty of Formula 1 than a duel between two drivers with generational steering skills. For a long time, Lewis Hamilton was criticized for cannibalizing the sport he made his own, for suppressing any hope of rebellion against his empire and for stifling any suspense over the identity of the champion. Thanks to Max Verstappen, his biggest defeat, we may not have seen everything from Lewis Hamilton. His greatest victory has yet to be written. It's not knowing the man well to think that he will leave happy with a silver medal around his neck.

Lewis Hamilton. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

1. Max Verstappen (PB)
F1 world champion, 10 victories

“Max, Max, Max, Super Max!” Who else but him to be at the top of our ranking of drivers of the year? Max Verstappen not only put an end, in style, his own at that, to Lewis Hamilton's hegemony over Formula 1, he achieved the ultimate accomplishment that his immense talent promised him. For the first season in which he had in his possession a car capable of shaking up the established order, the Dutchman shone like never before. If his masterful steering, his aggression on the track, his arrogance off the track, his hatred of defeat and his obvious refusal to compromise with his adversaries have not left him, Max Verstappen has stripped himself of the ugly faults which slowed him down its meteoric progression.

He doesn't score enough pole positions? He hits 10.
Does he damage his tires too quickly? He became an expert on the subject.
Is he asking too much of his car? His RB16B is a solid fighter plane with him behind the wheel.
Is he not used to dictating the tempo of races? His Grands Prix in Styria, Austria and the Netherlands are pure masterpieces.
Is he too young and unstable? He has never seemed as serene as this year and no one before him had resisted the psychological war with Lewis Hamilton for so long.

And the Dutchman paid to know it, in his flesh. His spectacular clash at Silverstone, with the English master at the end of a mind-blowing skirmish, will undoubtedly remain one of the moments of the year. The moment when the artists' joust turned into a gladiatorial battle. True to his reputation, Max does not change his way of being. It goes somewhat beyond the limits in Brazil and Saudi Arabia by playing with track limits and safety distances. But no one will take away his Emirati success, synonymous with a title, acquired with his teeth and in the circumstances we know.

Max Verstappen. © Germain Hazard / DPPI