Verstappen voted Driver of the Year by RaceFans readers for fourth year running

22 comments on “Verstappen voted Driver of the Year by RaceFans readers for fourth year running”

1. 

   David BR (@david-br)
   25th December 2024, 14:34

   Congratulations Verstappen and all his fans. Seasonal greetings to everyone here, thanks to Keith, Will and anyone else at Racefans for their constant good work all year round. A prosperous and more peaceful New Year for everyone, wherever you are in the world, in 2025.
   1. 

      Jungle
      26th December 2024, 11:23

      Thumbs up! Nice comment. Lets do it all again next year eh…
   2. 

      MichaelN
      26th December 2024, 12:03

      Well said, and remember: it’s just £12/y to subscribe and support the site! Go do it.

      You can still post without logging in if you, like me, prefer to do so.
2. 

   dutchtreat (@dutchtreat)
   25th December 2024, 15:33

   From a Williams-Carlos Sainz supporter (Isn’t everybody?)
   Congrats to Max. I think he can win many more DWC with being less aggressive.
   Good luck Sergio, you had a great career.
   Happy New Year and good luck to all the talented rookies.
3. 

   F180 (@f180)
   25th December 2024, 17:19

   If Lewis starts to mold Ferrari at his liking and start winning all pro Schumacher fans will give their allegiance. That is way Sainz was given the boot. Legendary teams need a super star to become legendary, so Lewis reign is coming again. A far better story to tell, take the keys of Schumacher and be the all-time champion with Ferrari.

   Mercedes can’t overcome Toto stealing reflectors and become legendary. Too much politics and less racing. A bit the same with Horner and Brown. Drivers are the children playing with dad’s toys going to the extreme with Stroll. Williams lost in countless shareholders meetings.

   When will Liberty notice this? The balance is broken. Too much politics and “business” and no racing. F1 won’t have again a superstar able to pull a rabbit from a bad car (hat). It will become a boring procession of fancy cars in a soulless circuit in an unnamed desert being Verstappen, Alonso and Hamilton the last of their kind with Piastri, perhaps.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      25th December 2024, 20:57

      Except not everyone who was a schumacher fan will switch to being a fan of another driver just because said driver comes to ferrari.

      I just think hamilton to ferrari is interesting cause it’s unusual, a bit like if schumacher had gone to mclaren back then.
   2. 

      MichaelN
      26th December 2024, 12:02

      Most of the core Schumacher-fans from the 1990s are now in their 40s or 50s. They’re probably beyond the fanboy stage of watching F1, if they’re even still interested.

      But it’s definitely true that if Hamilton wins at Ferrari, it’d add something extra to his already very long accomplished career. It’d be unfair to say he still has something to prove, but as so many drivers have said before, Ferrari is just special.

      I’m also curious to see how the English media is going to handle Hamilton at Ferrari. We’ll see.
   3. 

      El Pollo Loco
      27th December 2024, 0:03

      This was a very odd post.
      1. 

         F180 (@f180)
         28th December 2024, 14:14

         Going back to the year when Schumacher retired and Rosberg was beating him, a lot of discussions were around his legacy, reckless driving and his tactics. He wasn’t happy while he had a fan base boasting his 7 WDC. Winning in a Ferrari is very polarizing but at the end a lot of sympathy is given to a Ferrari driver. There’s a bit of emotions for Ferrari fans waiting Ferrari to win again, put Lewis in Schumacher’s level and claim the 8th WDC as part of a Ferrari fairy tale. Certainly they will forget when Hamilton moped the floor with Vettel. In a world full of tribalism the Hamilton’s camp will be the tribe to belong against camp Toto, Horner, Max, George, Brown. Indeed McLaren vs Ferrari will be the story to tell, legend vs legend, Red Bull turned into a soft drink maker and Mercedes lost in Ross Brown shadow. Lewis will in rear popularity in old and new fans, a legend joining a lengendary team and satisfy the need of fans to have a hero against all evils.
4. 

   El Pollo Loco
   25th December 2024, 19:43

   That was interesting.
5. 

   Esploratore (@esploratore1)
   25th December 2024, 20:59

   Interestingly, after 2016 it didn’t happen any more that a driver is voted driver of the year here without winning the championship!

   But I’m guessing, from what I recall, there was not much of a reason to vote anyone but hamilton in those years and now ofc verstappen, there’s not been drivers who did demonstrably better in comparable equipment.
6. 

   Hakk the Rack
   25th December 2024, 21:23

   Ricciardo in 2016? Sorry?
   1. 

      EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
      26th December 2024, 1:31

      I do not explicitly recall how the voting went that year, but we all know that Danny was a very popular driver. He had multiple podiums, beat his multiple world champion teammate, and was an alternative to the ongoing domination of Mercedes.

      Maybe in hindsight the vote would not have gone the same way, but is it really as surprising as your comment suggests?
   2. 

      MichaelN
      26th December 2024, 15:01

      What’s surprising about it? Rosberg being champion made Hamilton an odd pick, while Ricciardo was third in the standings and had a solid season while Verstappen got settled and Ferrari had a lackluster season with no wins.

      By 2016 a lot of people were pretty bored of the Mercedes solo-show, too, so Rosberg didn’t get much credit for his season.
   3. 

      El Pollo Loco
      26th December 2024, 23:58

      You’re missing the obvious answer: he wasn’t watching F1 in 2016. He probably came along in 2021. Ricciardo would have been a deserving selection for DOTY in 2014, 2015 and 2016. All three of those seasons were packed with amazing performances by DR who finished P3 in the WDC multiple times.
      1. 

         Hakk The Rack
         27th December 2024, 13:04

         I’m a fan since 1987, Bronco, but still surprised he won that one, yet MichaelN is quite correct about the reasoning behind this one.
   4. 

      El Pollo Loco
      27th December 2024, 0:02

      2010: Hamilton is an even crazier DOTY selection. Well, it’s not when one consider these selections are a mixture of people voting what they actually believe and just as many voting for their favorite driver, especially if the other main option is a driver they really don’t like.
      1. 

         DrG (@drgraham)
         2nd January 2025, 16:15

         Another stats watcher…

         Hamilton was a wheel bearing at the end of the year and some ridiculous fuel issues from taking that year.

         While fighting his current WDC team mate.

         Everyone else made hard work of it.

         Without such barriers.
7. 

   fawkes
   27th December 2024, 0:54

   Hamilton should’ve won the 2014 and 15 DOTY, period. He absolutely crushed in 2015, and had no reward from the fans. Verstappen did the same in 2022-2024 and won. Why not Hamilton?
   1. 

      El Pollo Loco
      29th December 2024, 4:24

      He also had one of the most dominant cars in history w/extremely mediocre drivers like Massa and Bottas in what was often the second fastest car (certainly in 2014). You can feel better because he was given a totally unearned 2012 DOTY. Anyway, this isn’t truly a representation of how well a driver did each season. It’s part performance and part which driver has the most fans.
      1. 

         DrG (@drgraham)
         2nd January 2025, 16:20

         Oh you really really have a problem

         I will ignore you from here on..there are dozens of legitimate scribes that allocate that year to him. Five leading car failures – you know back when they had far fewer races?

         Had a look – suspect you are an Alonso now MV fan..
8. 

   DMC
   28th December 2024, 1:29

   If driver of the year was about extracting the most fom mediocre equipment Alonso would win every time.

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