Vote for your 2018 F1 Driver of the Year

70 comments on “Vote for your 2018 F1 Driver of the Year”

1. 

   ColdFly (@)
   18th December 2018, 7:32

   Hamilton for me
   1. 

      ColdFly (@)
      18th December 2018, 8:23

      as for my full ranking (link with explanations):
      1 Lewis Hamilton  (78,7%)
      2 Max Verstappen (76,0%)
      3 Charles Leclerc (57,4%)
      4 Fernando Alonso  (49,4%)
      5 Daniel Ricciardo (48,5%)
      6 Sebastian Vettel (41,5%)
      7 Pierre Gasly (40,8%)
      8 Esteban Ocon (38,0%)
      9 Nico Hulkenberg (37,7%) – IMO Keith was missed the great things Hulkenberg did with a mediocre package
      10 Sergio Perez (36,3%) – He had a decent year, but not better than Ocon or Hulkenberg overall.
      11 Carlos Sainz Jnr (36,1%)
      12 Kevin Magnussen  (34,3%)
      13 Kimi Raikkonen (32,6%) – maybe we forgot towards the end how far Kimi was behind Vettel on most Saturdays and when the latter didn’t throw his race away.
      14 Valtteri Bottas (32,1%)
      15 Romain Grosjean (25,3%)
      16 Lance Stroll (23,6%)
      17 Marcus Ericsson (22,4%)
      18 Stoffel Vandoorne (20,4%)
      19 Sergey Sirotkin (19,9%)
      20 Brendon Hartley (12,1%)
      1. 

         frood19 (@frood19)
         18th December 2018, 10:27

         @coldfly I don’t understand how you calculated this, but it’s quite a sensible list. subjectively, I would have alonso above leclerc, gasly on par with raikkonen, and stroll on par with sirotkin. I might swap hulk and ocon too, but they’re pretty level in my mind. the hardest driver to rank is vandoorne – I think there are good reasons to have him higher, but equally you can argue he was no better than the williams drivers and hartley.

         hamilton bossed this year. even on his off days he was raking in big points – that is the mark of a serious champion and one who is hard to beat. I can understand why rosberg had had enough; the pressure just to try and look respectable must be enormous; it’s made me appreciate how quick rosberg was, even if his race craft was not at hamilton’s level.
      2. 

         Todfod (@todfod)
         18th December 2018, 10:38

         @coldfly

         I don’t know how you’ve come up the with these numbers. What’s the methodology behind them? While most of them actually kind of fall in to place.. there are definitely some snags. Magnussen shouldn’t be higher than Bottas and Raikonnen . Sainz is definitely flattered as well .. as is Stroll.
         1. 

            ColdFly (@)
            18th December 2018, 10:46

            I gave each driver a score for each race and divided it by total available points. @todfod

            I rate Star performance (getting the most and more out of the car) much more than I penalise Strugglers;
            I explicitly included Quali (but not FP) (e.g. Stroll in Monza);
            Driver’s score poorly with many ‘meh’ races (bottom 3 or 5).
            1. 

               Godwin Joseph (@godwin)
               18th December 2018, 11:03

               You have earned my respect.
            2. 

               Matteo (@m-bagattini)
               18th December 2018, 15:50

               @coldfly and my ax… I mean, my respect too. Well balanced list, I fully agree with you.
   2. 

      Indiana (@indiana)
      18th December 2018, 8:33

      Although I’m in awe of the speed, talent, craft and do or die mentality of Verstappen…there is only one driver who should be ranked nr.1…and thats Lewis. Almost faultless in 2018
2. 

   HUHHII (@huhhii)
   18th December 2018, 7:45

   Hamilton will deservedly win this vote, so instead I voted Kimi just to make myself feel better.
3. 

   hahostolze (@hahostolze)
   18th December 2018, 7:48

   Hulk for being the most underrated driver in this year’s rankings
4. 

   snailspaceslim (@snailspaceslim)
   18th December 2018, 7:54

   Hard to argue against LH really.
5. 

   MacLeod (@macleod)
   18th December 2018, 8:07

   if we use this: Could any of them have given Lewis Hamilton a run for his money in the same car?

   This says it all who could beat Lewis is the same car. That are just few people, Max, Sebastian, Daniel and Alonso

   If none could then Lewis is the best, If i must be honest then no one (Max came the closest ) could.
6. 

   DEST
   18th December 2018, 8:18

   K-Mag for doing an excellent job. Hope to see him in a red car in few years.
   1. 

      Gabriel (@rethla)
      19th December 2018, 19:08

      As a sticker on the driver seat? :)
7. 

   Robbie (@robbie)
   18th December 2018, 8:53

   Voted for Max because I’m a fan and because of what he did with less car, or at least less Pu. That includes sorting himself and rallying after some really tough lessons were learned in the early stages of the season.
   1. 

      Xcm
      18th December 2018, 19:32

      Max sorted himself? It looked that way until the Ocon incident (more so the earlier part, but the later part doesn’t exactly scream “sorted” either…)
      1. 

         Esploratore (@esploratore)
         19th December 2018, 1:10

         There’s some stuff to blame verstappen for this season, especially early on, brazil isn’t one of them, it was an excellent race.
      2. 

         Gabriel (@rethla)
         19th December 2018, 19:18

         @robbie Im still a firm beliver that what happened in the start of the season was just incidents and bad luck (on Max side). Next year you will see him driving close as ever to that Monaco corner and thats why hes voted #2 in an inferior car and with a season opening which had people calling for his demotion.
         1. 

            Robbie (@robbie)
            20th December 2018, 12:34

            @rethla Agreed.
8. 

   Ipsom
   18th December 2018, 9:22

   Tbh none of the drivers really had a spectacular season for me.

   Verstappen had that abomination of a start to the season, Hamilton was a bit absent at the start and despite being very consistent later I just didn’t feel anything amazing. I mean I can find some major caveat in each and every driver this season.
   1. 

      Ipsom
      18th December 2018, 9:28

      And just to elaborate I would still rank Hamilton as best of the drivers this season (along with most of kieth’s choices)
      1. 

         Tom
         18th December 2018, 17:14

         I’ve seen it mentioned a few times now but I’m not sure Hamiltons start to the season was even bad.

         Australia – he took a great pole and lost the race due to the safety car /strategy

         Bahrain – had a grid drop and was out qualified by Bottas but only by less than .1 which isn’t that bad. An ok race back up to 3rd

         China- I remember thinking he was quite off the pace here but again less then 0.1 off Bottas and finished an ok 4th

         Baku – qualified 2nd which was a solid result for the Mercedes that weekend. His race was scrappy but he still grabbed the win. I can’t remember if a mistake hurt his race or if it was tyre wear in general but I know he wasn’t that impressive in the race.

         Spain – dominant weekend

         From Spain I think he’s been quite solid too.

         So looking back there’s only really Baku and China where he didn’t perform that well. And even then he managed to get a win and his worst result was 4th.
         1. 

            Esploratore (@esploratore)
            19th December 2018, 1:13

            No, china wasn’t ok for a driver of hamilton’s caliber, nor was canada!
9. 

   Mashiat (@mashiat)
   18th December 2018, 9:42

   OK, who voted for Valtteri Bottas as Driver of the Year? Show yourselves.
   1. 

      ColdFly (@)
      18th December 2018, 9:52

      and 3 votes for Kimi, @mashiat.
      1. 

         ColdFly (@)
         18th December 2018, 10:18

         And we’ve got a vote for Sergey Sirotkin.
         IP address same as Internet Research Agency.
         1. 

            TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
            18th December 2018, 16:46

            @coldfly – I fancy it was a bear…
      2. 

         Mashiat (@mashiat)
         18th December 2018, 11:45

         @huhhii has been labeled as one of the suspects for voting for Kimi Raikkonen, driver of Scuderia Ferrari car number 7. We believe that a full-course investigation is underway, and a statement has been issued by Mr. Huhhii.

         Hamilton will deservedly win this vote, so instead I voted Kimi just to make myself feel better.

         This matter will be investigated further. The F1 police are still yet to comment on the matter.
         1. 

            HUHHII (@huhhii)
            18th December 2018, 12:32

            @mashiat Oh man, you got me! How could you know?!? You are such a skillful detective mr. Mashiat! How many penalty does that add up to my RaceFans licence?
            1. 

               Mashiat (@mashiat)
               19th December 2018, 3:10

               @huhhii The charge for your conduct will be:

               – 5 Penalty Points
               – 1 Reprimand
               – A 50-place grid penalty
               – 3 Days of Public Service
               – Cleaning all of Hamilton’s gold chains
               – Being forced to watch the 2017 Russian GP on repeat for the next 24 hours
               – Taken around a lap of Monaco at full speed in a racing car driven by an angry Maldonado

               And if you survive all that,

               – You get one free ice cream.
10. 

    Webbo (@webbo82)
    18th December 2018, 9:55

    Please let us rank them!
    1. 

       ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
       18th December 2018, 15:44

       @webbo82 If there’s workaround for us do this, it would be fabulous!
    2. 

       Gabriel (@rethla)
       19th December 2018, 19:20

       Create numerous accounts until you have given whatever number of votes you think each driver deserves.
11. 

    JohnH (@johnrkh)
    18th December 2018, 10:15

    I went for Hamilton, he won the WDC for a start so that counts for a lot, also he drove smart. He kept out of trouble he let the hot heads around him crash out, while he did what it took to get the points. he went only as fast as he needed to win.
    1. 

       Esploratore (@esploratore)
       19th December 2018, 1:16

       IMO winning the wdc doesn’t count at all, 2016 best driver? Surely not rosberg, hamilton did better with the same car, can be argued about other drivers ofc.

       What hamilton did to win this title makes him the best driver, not that he won.
       1. 

          JohnH (@johnrkh)
          20th December 2018, 20:50

          (@esploratore)

          IMO winning the wdc doesn’t count at all, 2016 best driver?

          Your point that Hamilton was the best driver because he beat his team mate is a bad comparison I think. Bottas had a terrible yr and couldn’t win a chook raffle if he had all of the tickets.
          It’s not just the fact that Hamilton won but the way he won. He drove only as fast as he needed to win. He kept out of trouble even when trouble tracked him down. Which I think I alluded to in the first post.
12. 

    Joao (@johnmilk)
    18th December 2018, 10:21

    I’ve decided to do a usual thing for once, you know me, I’m a generous king.
    So I combined all the rankings into the forum, in order for us to see how our combined opinion compares to Keith’s ranking. The results are as follows

    Community Ranking (Racefans ranking)
    1 – Hamilton (1)
    2 – Leclerc (3)
    3 – Verstappen (2)
    4 – Alonso (4)
    5 – Ricciardo (5)
    6 – Vettel (6)
    7 – Hulkenberg (12)
    8 – Kimi (9)
    9 – Ocon (10)
    10 – Gasly (8)
    11 – Perez (7)
    12 – Bottas (11)
    13 – Sainz (13)
    14 – K-Mag (14)
    15 – Ericsson (16)
    16 – Grosjean (17)
    17 – Sirotkin (20)
    18 – Vandoorne (15)
    19 – Hartley (19)
    20 – Stroll (18)

    Some curiosities.

    Stroll was placed last, not by much, and reading everything it felt like his position was already given at the start of the season

    Vandoorne and Hartley had the same level of performance according to us, I just placed Vandoorne ahead because he was ranked two times 17th while Hartley was only once placed in that position. The racefans ranking placed Vandoorne 15th, none of the rankings in the forum placed him higher than 17th.

    While Sirotkin was placed last, none of us considered that he was the worst, he was however placed 19th two times.

    Pretty much everyone agreed that Grosjean should be placed between 14-16. In the other hand there was some struggle to rank Ericksson, he was placed last, midtable and there was even someone that ranked him 5th (I want some of that smoke)

    Hulk’s rank was completely different from the Racefans table. The lowest we have placed him was 10th, combined he is ranked 7th. But you guys don’t remember FPs, so what do you know?

    At the top pretty much the same. Only one person didn’t pick Hamilton has the number one driver this year, maybe it was the same that placed Ericsson 5th?

    Other relevant aspects is that we placed Ocon ahead of Perez and Sirotkin ahead of Stroll.

    Just want to end by saying that this isn’t my ranking, are we clear?
    1. 

       frood19 (@frood19)
       18th December 2018, 10:31

       @johnmilk thank you for doing this. it’s fascinating to see what the consensus is. COTD surely?
    2. 

       ColdFly (@)
       18th December 2018, 10:36

       great work @johnmilk, this is almost worth its own article.

       PS did you include both of your own rankings ;) @johnmilk
       1. 

          Joao (@johnmilk)
          18th December 2018, 10:38

          @coldfly ah! I didn’t, I should have, maybe it would be more to my liking
    3. 

       ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
       18th December 2018, 15:46

       Long live the King!
    4. 

       Gabriel (@rethla)
       19th December 2018, 19:23

       Thanks for your personal list @johnmilk
13. 

    montreal95 (@montreal95)
    18th December 2018, 10:28

    The Racefans ranking had veered between 100% correct to reasonable to downright lunacy(when I saw Hulkenberg in P12 I wanted to call it F1Lunatic but then I remembered it’s called Racefans now, and it spoiled the fun). However Hamilton is the undisputed P1 and an all time great. One that in decades to come people will be proud to tell they watched him race live same as Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna and Schumacher.

    Here’s my final rating of all 20:
    1) Hamilton
    2) Alonso
    3) Verstappen
    4) Leclerc
    5) Vettel
    6) Ricciardo
    7)Hulkenberg
    8) Raikkonen
    9) Gasly
    10) Ocon
    11) Perez
    12) Magnussen
    13) Sainz
    14) Bottas
    15) Grosjean
    16) Vandoorne
    17) Eriksson
    18) Sirotkin
    19) Hartley
    20) Stroll
    1. 

       ColdFly (@)
       18th December 2018, 10:38

       weird. Alonso made it 2nd in your 2018 ranking, but missed the cut to be amongst Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna and Schumacher.
       @montreal95
       1. 

          montreal95 (@montreal95)
          18th December 2018, 11:22

          @coldfly I do consider Alonso as one of the all time greats but I just wanted to limit the list to the absolutely undisputed ones. Otherwise I would have definitely added him. Not a fan of his but a great admirer of his driving skills. I’d have also added Brabham, Ascari, Graham Hill, Gilles, and(yes I know) Vettel. But some of these are not undisputed and I didn’t want to start an OT discussion
          1. 

             Joao (@johnmilk)
             18th December 2018, 11:30

             and Pedro Lamy
             1. 

                montreal95 (@montreal95)
                18th December 2018, 23:06

                @johnmilk You are a great admirer of Lamy’s driving skills then? 😉
             2. 

                Joao (@johnmilk)
                19th December 2018, 0:05

                Just saying it how it is @montreal95

                Not biased or anything
             3. 

                montreal95 (@montreal95)
                19th December 2018, 1:05

                @johnmilk I trust your claim of impartiality completely.
    2. 

       Mclaren
       19th December 2018, 11:54

       @montreal95 Your all time list is too long. Hamilton towers above all British drivers and Moss never won a title.
       1. 

          montreal95 (@montreal95)
          19th December 2018, 18:34

          @Mclaren Winning a title is a subjective criteria for greatness. Otherwise just trust the stats count the titles, equal great with winningest and the whole discussion is meaningless. Moss is considered an all time great by most even if you disagree. Greater than many others who won titles even multiple ones.
14. 

    Pjotr (@pietkoster)
    18th December 2018, 11:36

    Max verstappen. After his one hour interview I really found out how less we all know and how much we all pretent to know about racing. Even the 99% of the paddock has no clue. His problems with mapping, tyres, the Renault engine etc, it is a miracle how he ended the season so good. The same for Ric btw.
    1. 

       hahostolze (@hahostolze)
       19th December 2018, 6:18

       @pietkoster what interview ?
       1. 

          Pjotr (@pietkoster)
          19th December 2018, 16:47

          The interview is on Dutch television. Link on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Cqh6avd8c
    2. 

       David BR (@david-br)
       19th December 2018, 10:58

       Brilliant driver with some bad (race-ending or race-losing bad) driving throughout the year. So no cigar. Just no.
15. 

    Patrick (@paeschli)
    18th December 2018, 11:51

    For objectivity’s sake, it would make more sense to run this poll before you’ve influenced our opinions Keith
    1. 

       BMF66
       18th December 2018, 16:38

       Was thinking the same. Monkey see monkey do.
16. 

    Jere (@jerejj)
    18th December 2018, 12:27

    I voted for LH, so, therefore, my answer to ‘Was the champion the best driver of 2018?’ is Yes.
    What about the four other drivers who won races this year?
    – DR: The unluckiest driver of the season, but even that aside wasn’t really a match for his teammate.
    – MV: Bad start to the season followed by a great turnaround of things.
    – KR: Improved on his previous four Ferrari-seasons since returning to the team.
    Could any of them have given Lewis Hamilton a run for his money in the same car?
    – Yes.
17. 

    paulipedia (@paulipedia)
    18th December 2018, 14:03

    Everyone seems to have got it pretty spot on. You really have to vote how each driver did in their team and the car they had. Lewis was almost perfect, Leclerc was great and Max messed it up too many times.

    Teams of the year
    Mercedes
    Sauber
    Redbull
18. 

    Bleu (@bleu)
    18th December 2018, 18:49

    This is probably the easiest such poll in this decade. As an individual season Hamilton this year is right up there with Alonso’s 2012 but back then other top drivers had also better seasons than biggest best challengers this year.
    1. 

       Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
       19th December 2018, 0:23

       @bleu

       Comparing Lewis’ 18 to Alonso’s 12? I guess I must have missed something.
19. 

    hyoko
    18th December 2018, 21:35

    Charles Leclerc, I’m eager to see what can he do next year with a (hopefully decent) Ferrari. My expectations: Seb is going to miss his year with Dan Ricciardo as a teammate.

    Too bad he’ll not be driving for Merc. And Max won’t, either.
20. 

    Esploratore (@esploratore)
    19th December 2018, 1:07

    Voted for alonso, my 2nd best performer, cause I felt with the car he drives he’d have got few votes, and look, he did! But hamilton was ofc the best performer this year and I’m not surprised to see him win this poll, apart from alonso the other drivers lacked speed (ricciardo, raikkonen, bottas) or had the speed but made too many mistakes (vettel, verstappen) to really compete with hamilton.
21. 

    Scottie (@scottie)
    19th December 2018, 4:16

    In future, it may be more interesting to run this article before you go through your driver rankings, as the votes will be less influenced by your articles?

    It wouldn’t have changed my vote, but there is room for influence in the world which could have altered the activity in this article.
22. 

    David BR (@david-br)
    19th December 2018, 10:56

    Hamilton, as though there’s any doubt.

    PS; I prefer Keith’s opinion first, I wouldn’t want him to be influenced by ours :0)
23. 

    Gigantor (@kbdavies)
    19th December 2018, 13:21

    Lewis Hamilton has now won the Racefans (F1 Fanatic) Driver of The Year poll more times than any other driver.

    Can anyone confim this?
24. 

    EC (@dutch-1)
    19th December 2018, 17:20

    This poll is so predictable. With the large English fan base Hamilton will win every year, even if he crashed in every race. The system with only one vote for one driver makes it very difficult to get a more balanced result.
    So maybe you could consider a system where every voter can decide who is their number one, two and three. Give 3 points for the number one, 2 points for second and one point for third and see who gets the most points. Probably still Hamilton but not with so much distance to the rest.
    1. 

       Gabriel (@rethla)
       19th December 2018, 19:27

       Not that i care about Brits voting for Hamilton but your idea is great and often asked for.
    2. 

       Gigantor (@kbdavies)
       19th December 2018, 20:46

       @dutch-1

       But if Lewis will still win it using YOUR proffered method, that kinda negates your comment about the poll being “so predictable”, or your unfounded accusations that he is only winning because of the large English fan base.

       So, it your issue that Hamilton wins the DOTY poll, or that the gap he wins it by is too large?
       1. 

          Gabriel (@rethla)
          20th December 2018, 6:41

          @kbdavies
          Lewis will win anyway, theres nothing stopping the brits. The rest of the list will be more nuanced however since all the brits can vote for their 2nd and 3rd driver aswell and aint just locked up in clicking on Hamilton.

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