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

11. Kalle Rovanperä

7th of WRC, 4 victories

It is certain that with a meager 7th position in the WRC Drivers' Championship, the son of Harri Rovanperä would not deserve, on paper, this 11th place in our ranking. That would be forgetting that the Finn had voluntarily chosen a partial program, in order to breathe a little and enjoy his youth (he is only 24 years old). The double WRC champion (2022, 2023) started the year badly, going off in the scenery in the Swedish powder (39th), while winning the Sunday Power Stage. There was some improvement with an authoritative success in the demanding Kenya Safari, but a new road accident in Portugal (31st) reminded us how difficult it is for freelancers, however experienced they may be, to get back into the swing of the supercharged Rally1 after several months of hiatus. The summer smiled on Kalle Rovanperä, with two victories in a row in Poland (while he had to replace him at short notice Sébastien Ogier) and Latvia. It should have been three wins in a row if it hadn't been for a hidden rock in a curve on Sunday morning in Finland (abandonment). Still called by Toyota for Chile, he won the event thanks in particular to an exceptional special stage contested at full speed in thick fog. Despite this program of only 7 rounds (out of a total of 13), Kalle Rovanperä is the best performer of the Japanese clan. It is not surprising that his boss, Jari-Matti Latvala, called him back full time to retake the Drivers' crown in 2025. Especially since in the meantime, Rovanperä has flourished in various disciplines: drifting, rally historical, and the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux (1 victory at Imola). Red Bull also did him a favor with a test of a Red Bull F1 in Austria. There's no denying it, Kalle has a great life!

12. Scott McLaughlin

Third of theIndyCar, poleman of the Indianapolis 500

It's well known, "With ifs, we put Paris in a bottle". But if Scott McLaughlin had not been disqualified from the first round of the season, if he had not suffered a clutch problem during the Indianapolis 500 (where he started from pole position) or if he had not been hit by his teammate Will Power in Toronto, the New Zealander could well have won the IndyCar title, right under the nose of Álex Palou. Third in the championship on the evening of the last round in Nashville, McLaughlin is once again the best placed of the Team Penske drivers in the championship. An achievement, considering his illustrious teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden, but especially considering Scott McLaughlin's career so far. The driver of the Dallara-Chevrolet bearing the number 3 manages to make us forget that 2024 was only his fourth season in car, who first conquered the Australian Supercars, a very high-level championship, but in Supertourism, a completely separate discipline. With the confidence of his team, his level on the track and his ability to avoid mistakes, McLaughlin seems to be Penske's answer to the Palou/Ganassi duo. We can't wait to see the two men fight in 2025!

13. Isack Hadjar

Vice-champion of Formula 2, four victories

If bad luck were a person, Isack Hadjar would embody it perfectly. Crashes, mechanical problems... The Tricolore experienced a roller coaster of emotions. But despite all the delays he may have had, he never gave up. His very good performances were finally rewarded and he took off. In total, four Main Races fell into his hands, double the number of 2024 champion Gabriel Bortoleto and more than any other driver in the vintage. Performances that confirmed a certain gain in maturity compared to 2023 when he had suffered in the transition since the F3. At Red Bull, where he is a member of the academy, there is no doubt. The Parisian convinced his bosses to place him at Racing Bulls alongside Yuki tsunoda to become the third Frenchman on the grid. What more could you ask for?

14. ​​Gabriel Bortoleto

Formula 2 Champion, 2 wins

By winning Formula 2, the Brazilian entered the very exclusive club of drivers who have won this antechamber championship to F1 in their first season, joining a very exclusive club made up of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, Charles Leclerc, George Russell or even Oscar piastri. The Auriverde, who had just won Formula 3, had an excellent season, marked by consistency and regularity. Winner of two races in Austria and Monza, he was able to take advantage of the excellent pace of his single-seater prepared by Virtuosi. Since the 3rd meeting of the season, he has simply never missed the points in the main race, even finishing 6 times on the podium in the last 11 rounds. Very logically promoted to F1 at Sauber-Audi, the young man will be a driver to follow in 2025.

15. Antonio Fuoco

Winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans in Hypercar

Antonio Fuoco is the sprinter of the firm of Maranello. In 2023, the Italian had already demonstrated his speed in the flying lap exercise, marking the return of the Prancing Horse in prototype with a pole position at Sebring for the first race of the 499P. Three months later, the Transalpine was once again the fastest to take pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately for him and his colleagues Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina, if Ferrari had indeed won the Sarthe classic, it was to the n°51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi that the laurels of glory had gone. The trident of the n°50 took its revenge in 2024 by winning the flagship event of the World Championship ofEndurance. Individually, Fuoco confirmed his predispositions in the exercise of qualifying, signing another important pole for Ferrari at Imola. The 28-year-old driver was again the fastest at Spa-Francorchamps, but his performance was invalidated due to a car 1 kg below the minimum required weight. The Calabrian also distinguished himself in GT3 this year with a second place at Sebring in IMSA and in contention for victory in Macau before a collision with Raffaele Marciello two laps from the finish. Ferrari rewarded all the work of its protégé, also a simulator driver for the Scuderia, by offering him a driving session in the SF-24 during the post-season F1 tests in Abu Dhabi.

16. Pierre Gasly

10th in the Formula 1 World Championship, a podium

Reading the start of the season ofAlpine in 2024, finding Pierre Gasly so well placed in our ranking is almost an achievement. And yet, this 16th place in our Top 50, the Norman deserved it! Always there even in the worst moments, the Rouen native wore the arrowed A this year, especially after the summer break: credited with only six points at mid-season, he finished the 2024 campaign with 42 units, or 34 points scored between August and December! At the wheel of an A524 that became more and more efficient over the course of the Grands Prix, the Tricolore was able to get the most out of his machine at the end of the championship to allow the French team to finish in an honourable and flattering 6th place in the Constructors' Championship, with the highlight being an incredible podium in Brazil shared with his teammate Esteban Ocon.

17. Sébastien Ogier

4th in the World Rally Championship, three victories

Sébastien Ogier has had a rather strange season in 2024: until August, the Gapençais was, as he had been for the past three years, a "simple" part-time Toyota driver. Still performing well at 41, the eight-time WRC world champion lined up great performances with three wins and three 2nd places in his first seven outings! However, faced with the difficult situation of its regular drivers in the Drivers' and Constructors' championships, Toyota expressly mobilized Sébastien Ogier to try to save the day in both championships. Entered in all the rallies until the end of the season, the Frenchman experienced a series of misadventures and accidents that deprived him of a 9th WRC title. However, he succeeded in his mission by helping Toyota beat Hyundai on the gong at the Constructors' Championship, during the Rally of Japan.

18. Niklas Nielsen

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Hypercar

It is the zenith of a career that has had some detours. A prodigy of karting, Nicklas Nielsen never managed to make his way to Formula 1 due to lack of budget. The Dane then left the Ferrari Challenge, where he was champion in 2018, to climb the ladder to Ferrari's Hypercar program. It was with the Maranello firm that Nielsen became the third driver from the Pearl of the Baltic to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after his namesake John Nielsen and the legend Tom Kristensen. The Hørning native had the privilege of crossing the finish line first, a double relief. On the one hand because it was necessary to make a daring strategy work on the part of his team, but above all because a door problem could have ruined everything. If the Drivers' title did not fall into the hands of the trio he forms with Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen has in parallel WEC distinguished himself in other championships by winning the GT3 category of the 4 Hours of Barcelona in ELMS with Formula Racing, his team at the time Ferrari Challenge. The Dane also won the Watkins Glen event in IMSA in the LM P2 category in the company of the Frenchwoman Lilou Wadoux.

19. Felipe Nasr

Winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in GTP, IMSA Drivers' Champion in GTP

It was difficult to separate a driver from the duo formed by Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr this season, as the two men dominated the 2024 North American Endurance Championship. In nine races, they scored no fewer than seven podiums, their worst result being a seventh place in the Indianapolis event held in the deluge. By winning the 24 Hours of Daytona from the start, they placed themselves in pole position to clinch the American title, like their colleagues Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor in the WEC. Above all, they improved the record already held by Porsche in Florida, with 19 victories now, along with Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden. If we preferred to highlight the Brazilian, it is because it was the former F1 driver who had the delicate mission of crossing the finish line first at Daytona, resisting the comeback of Tom Blomqvist (Cadillac). It is also thanks to his overtaking of Louis Delétraz (Acura) fifteen minutes from the checkered flag that the future champions won their second victory of the season, at Watkins Glen.

20.Lewis Hamilton

7th in the F1 world championship

It was obviously very difficult to rate Lewis Hamilton this season. With a driver of his caliber and his track record, expectations are undoubtedly higher than for the rest of his teammates. The Englishman divorced his team when they had a year left to share their lives together, which probably did not help to create a serene context. The Briton shone, at times, like at Silverstone where he went for a superb 9th victory at home, signing an absolute record in the process. He also inherited the victory in Belgium after the disqualification of his teammate George Russell. The soon to be forty-year-old has also had quite a few moments of holes, missing the qualification for Q3 seven times in 2024, and entering the top 5 only ten times in Grand Prix. His upcoming season in red will allow us to know if he still has the sacred fire in him. In the meantime, he is only the 8th highest ranked F1 driver in our top 50.