Our Top 50 drivers of the year… (10th to 6st)

6. Alex Palou

Champion IndyCar

It's hard not to be impressed by the Spanish driver's season, even though he's won his third IndyCar title in the last four seasons! What could be seen as something trivial is in fact extremely difficult, particularly due to the unpredictable nature of IndyCar racing. Palou managed to navigate the pitfalls in both 2024 and 2023, and although he was forced to retire this time, notably at Iowa Speedway due to an error, he managed to maximize his chances even when his car did not seem to be able to take him to the top of the hierarchy. The Palou/Ganassi machine is in any case extremely well-oiled, and all chances are on their side to win a third consecutive title in 2025, as Dario Franchitti managed to do at the wheel of the same single-seater n°10, from 2009 to 2011.

7. George Russell

6th in the world championship F1

Without realizing it, with a single-seater that is much less versatile and consistent than that of McLaren, George Russell has won (on the track) only once less than Lando Norris in 2024. If his success in Austria fell into his arms, his victory in Las Vegas crowned a weekend of ultra-domination! How can we not also mention his false joy in Belgium, where he imposed himself magnificently before being disqualified for a minimum weight of single-seater below the prerequisites. Internally also, King George took the upper hand on Lewis Hamilton, with 4 pole positions to 0 and finishing 22 points ahead of the seven-time world champion. The King's Lynn native made the most of every half-chance and showed that he is now ready to dream bigger. His ranking in our top 50 may seem harsh, but he has almost recorded the same number of points as the 5th and 6th.

8. Carlos Sainz Jr

5th in the F1 world championship

As his departure from the Team was scheduled from the start of the season, the atmosphere could have been icy in the box. However, the Spaniard has shown unfailing professionalism to sign the best season of his career. Winner twice (Australia, Mexico), he shone brightly in the spring, despite an attack of appendicitis that cost him his place in Jeddah. His success in Melbourne, 15 days after going under the knife, was one of the highlights of the year. Also worth noting is his nice pole position won in Mexico this fall. An ultra-tough driver with absolute resilience, the Madrilenian has taken advantage of his time at Ferrari to change the way people look at him. In our top 50, he unsurprisingly comes ahead of drivers such as Oscar piastri or Lewis Hamilton.

9. Laurens Vanthoor

World ChampionEndurance in Hypercar, winner of the 12 Hours of Bathurst

Often a teammate of Kévin Estre this season, Laurens Vanthoor won the world Endurance title in the Hypercar category with the Frenchman and André Lotterer at the wheel of the Porsche 963 No. 6 for what was only the Belgian's second full season in prototype. The Belgian-French duo, teamed up with Ayhancan Güven and Thomas Preining on the famous Manthey "Grello", also took second place in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, which was interrupted by the weather and whose final classification was that of Saturday evening at 23:23 p.m. The 33-year-old's other major achievement in 2024 was his victory in the 12 Hours of Bathurst. Accompanied by Matt Campbell and Ayhancan Güven, the Hasselt native (as Max Verstappen) took his first overall victory on the slopes of Mount Panorama, after a first class success in 2015 with Audi. Lined up once again at the wheel of the Manthey team's Porsche "Grello", Dries Vanthoor's older brother and his teammates dominated the standings of the Australian event despite two penalties.

10. Oscar Piastri

4th in the F1 world championship, 2 victories

Some will consider that he is too high in this ranking given his performance gap with his teammate and vice-champion Lando Norris, others that he is in his rightful place as he has changed face for his second year. So how can we read this season of the Aussie? One thing is certain, he has confirmed an improvement compared to his rookie campaign, displaying in particular a very great consistency: 23 races out of 24 in the points. In addition, he took advantage of a very good McLaren to regularly claim the top of the table even if he sometimes lacked precision, particularly in the second part of the season when Norris had some bad times. Oscar Piastri can however be satisfied with a more than positive season with real progress and especially the first victories of his career. Encouraging for 2025 even if he is aware that he will have to erase these small imperfections to be constantly at the level of the best while his garage neighbor will be keen to take his revenge on Max Verstappen.