Our Top 50 drivers of the year… (20th to 11st)

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: 10th to 1st (5/5)

20. Charles Leclerc (MON)
7th in the Drivers ranking F1

In terms of pure results, the Monegasque did not have the best season of his career. He did not achieve the seven poles and two victories that accompanied his 2019 season. But after a frustrating 2020 at the wheel of a car non-competitive, the Charles Leclerc had an overall satisfactory campaign. The child prodigy of Team has also signed two pole positions in Monaco and Baku, where he was able to extract the quintessence of horsepower from his engine. In this regard, his retirement from the grid of his national Grand Prix while starting from pole will remain the great regret of his season. His podium obtained at Silverstone, where he played for victory with Lewis Hamlilton, however rings a little hollow next to his teammate's four Carlos Sainz. Symbolically, he also lost 5th place in the championship in Abu Dhabi, that of the best of the others, to the benefit of the Spaniard. Charles will have to do better in 2022 if he wants to remain Scuderia boss. 

Charles Leclerc. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

19. Dennis Hauger (NOR)
Champion of Formula 3

Only seventeenth in F3 in 2020, Dennis Hauger had experienced a difficult year of adaptation after taking the plunge directly from F4, where he was crowned in Italy. But by signing for the dominant Prema team, the Norwegian has completely transformed himself. His errors were rare, his consistency breathtaking, and his superiority over his teammates and opponents obvious. Author of three poles out of seven possible, he won four times in the race, and reached the podium nine times in twenty races, while two thirds of them were contested on a reverse grid. His weekend in Austria, where he delivered a masterclass while never leaving the podium, will remain as one of the highlights of his year.

Dennis Hauger. © Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency / DPPI

18. George Russell (ENG)
15th F1 World Championship, 1 podium

This season, George Russell will have more than ever deserved his nickname “Mister Saturday”. The young Englishman's ability to outperform in qualifying, at the wheel of a speedy FW43B, will have exploded in the eyes of the whole world. The Englishman climbs, for the first time with a Williams, in Q3 at the Austrian GP. He reached a new milestone in Hungary where, despite a 17th place at the start, he slipped through the drops and scored his first points with the Grove team by finishing 9th. And what about his Belgian weekend? At Spa, despite the calamitous weather conditions, he performed an incredible qualifying lap to take 2nd place, which he retained the next day in the conditions we know. For George Russell, 2021 will remain the year of confirmation, and not just that of his future at Mercedes ! 

George Russell. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

17. Kalle Rovanperä (END)
4th in the Drivers ranking WRC
Co-piloted by Jonne Halttunen

Behind Sébastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanperä was one of the great animators of this 2021 campaign. For his second year with the Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Finn gave his rivals a hard time. After an opening 4th place at Monte-Carlo, he became the youngest driver in history to lead the championship at 20 years, 4 months and 27 days thanks to his 2nd position at Arctic. The native of Jyväskylä saw his efforts rewarded later with his first career victory in Estonia beating the precocious record of his current boss Jari-Matti Latvala (20 years 9 months and 17 days against 22 years, 10 months and 7 days for its manager). His second success of the year in Greece then allowed him to secure 4th place in the championship while waiting to play the leading roles in 2022.

Kalle Rovanperä. © Nikos Katikis / DPPI

16. Romain Grosjean (FRA)
Three podiums in IndyCar

The Frenchman has never seemed so fulfilled since he joined IndyCar, following five years of struggles at Haas in F1. Having miraculously returned from the fires of Bahrain, Romain Grosjean loves his new life. Starting cautiously on a program focused on road circuits with the small Dale Coyne Racing team, he stood out with a pole-podium combo at the Indianapolis GP from his third start with the heavy Dallara DW12. Still on the box at the second GP of Indianapolis a few months later, his best race came at Laguna Seca, where he finished third, not without having made a “block pass” to Jimmie Johnson in the famous Corscrew! Proof of his love for American racing, he decided to move to the United States and will discover the legendary 500 Miles of Indianapolis with Andretti, his new team, in 2022.

15. Charles Milesi (FRA)
Winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans (LM P2)

From Team WRT in WEC at COOL Racing in ELMS, Charles Milesi has had a string of good performances this season. Incisive in qualifying all year long, he took advantage of the misfortunes of sister car number 41 to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 category. The 20-year-old Frenchman even had a grand end to the season with Robin Frijns and Ferdinand Habsburg to finish at the top of the general classification. The icing on the cake was that Milesi tested the Toyota Hypercar at the WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain. In the meantime, he made a detour to the ELMS and the COOL Racing team with which he signed two pole positions for his only two appearances with the prototype of the Swiss team, at the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and 4 Hours of Portimão.

Charles Milesi, surrounded by his teammates and the boss of WRT. © Germain Hazard / DPPI

14. Esteban Ocon (FRA)
Winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix & 11th in F1

Esteban Ocon has been one of the most difficult drivers to classify. The Norman won his first Grand Prix victory by dominating the Hungarian round last summer. Unquestionably, the Norman deserves his place in this top 50. In the scenario of victory and the chronology of events, the victory of Pierre Gasly at Monza more than a year ago has surely indirectly attenuated the impact of his, but it is important not to minimize its impact at all costs. With Fernando Alonso, he knew how to maximize the performance of his Alpine thanks to a great end to the season, which saw him narrowly miss the podium in Jeddah, and take a good 5th place in Qatar two weeks before. He was one of the great architects of the 5th position ofAlpine in the constructors' championship. 

13. Fernando Alonso (ESP)
3rd in the Qatar Grand Prix

The advantage with the Asturian Taurus is that he never leaves you indifferent. The risk of bringing the wolf into the fold Alpine was real given the guy's past. However, the helping age (41) as well as a break away from the “toxic” (his words) environment of F1 transformed him. Like a good wine, the double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has added new qualities to its old palette. Fernando Alonso has a sense of the collective: his determined defense against Lewis Hamilton in Hungary saved the day of his teammate Esteban Ocon. Sharp, endowed with a knowledge of racing which allows him to take advantage of every opportunity, he knew how to lead his mount to third place in Qatar. His consistency saved his team's 5th final position, but Alpine will have to provide more efficient equipment in 2022. Because beware of sleeping water…

This battle was everything.

Old rivals @alo_oficial and @LewisHamilton put on an incredible show on Sunday ⚔️#HungarianGP (I.e. #F1 pic.twitter.com/LGqPXTU1VR

- Formula 1 (@ F1) August 1

12. Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)
World ChampionEndurance & Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

José María López falls just short of the Top 10 in our Top 50 drivers who marked the 2021 season. The Argentinian, however, entered the pantheon of motorsport a little further by winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his teammates Kamui Kobayashi et Mike conway. After many years of bad luck, the crew of the No. 7 Toyota finally reached their holy grail by winning the Le Mans classic. Already world champion in WTCC and WEC, the Argentinian added a second world title in Endurance to his list of achievements. Next season, the 38-year-old driver will test himself in IMSA since he was present at Daytona for pre-season testing with Ally Cadillac Racing before being made official for the Florida race where he will meet Kobayashi alongside Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller. An opportunity to add a new line to an already impressive track record.

Jose Maria Lopez. © François Flamand / DPPI

11. Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP)
5th in the F1 Drivers ranking

He is the surprise of the 2021 F1 season. Promised for the role of number 2 behind Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr. proved his detractors wrong, including, it must be said, certain members of our editorial staff. Extremely consistent, the Madrilenian was a valuable element for Ferrari in the fight for 3rd place among the Manufacturers against McLaren. With 20 points finishes in 22 races, no retirements and above all 4 podiums (Monaco, Hungary, Russia and Abu Dhabi), the Iberian signed a record season (164,5 points) confirming his obvious progress. The icing on the cake was that Carlos Sainz Jr. stole 5th place in the championship from his teammate during the final round of the campaign. Work and efforts praised by the Maranello staff which could help him negotiate a contract extension this winter.

Carlos Sainz. © DPPI