All of Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 colleagues voted him the 2023 driver of the year, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton.
This year, the Dutchman had an incredibly dominant season, winning 19 of 22 races. His accomplishments have also been acknowledged by his fellow competitors, who chose him as the best performance in an official Formula One survey.
However, one noteworthy exception existed. Out of the drivers who participated in the poll, 19 of them were identified; Hamilton’s name was the only one from the current crop of F1 stars that was absent.
Those who did participate were asked to rank their season’s top ten performers. The drivers’ cumulative finish positions were then calculated using the same points system from the races.
Naturally, Verstappen, the undisputed winner, finished first on the list, probably with ease. Hamilton was ranked second on the list despite not participating in the poll himself; his fellow drivers recognized him for being third in the championship, behind only the Red Bulls.
The only other player to outscore Hamilton throughout the 2023 season was Sergio Perez. However, his underwhelming performance in the all-conquering Red Bull RB19 caused him to only place tenth in the drivers’ standings.
George Russell, who placed eighth in the drivers’ standings but outside the top 10 as voted by his peers, was notably absent. Considering that the British driver has previously acknowledged that his second season with Mercedes was a personal write-off, the Brit won’t be shocked.
Oscar Piastri, a rookie for McLaren who finished ninth on the list, took his place. Piastri had an outstanding debut season. The other newcomer was Pierre Gasly, who came in ninth place following a strong debut campaign with Alpine.
After eight podium finishes for Aston Martin in a season in which he turned 42 but showed no symptoms of slowing down with age, Fernando Alonso was voted third. Despite being 18 years younger than the Spaniard, Lando Norris just made it into the top three, but his contributions to McLaren were acknowledged when he was voted ahead of Charles Leclerc, who finished ahead of him in the drivers’ standings.
Carlos Sainz finished one spot behind his Ferrari teammate in sixth place, despite being the only driver outside of Red Bull to win a race in 2023. He also held that position with Alex Albon, who won the respect of other drivers by guiding Williams to a seventh-place finish in the constructors’ championship.
