F1 team bosses – only eight of them – have chosen Max Verstappen as the best of 2025 season ahead of champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen has been voted driver of the year for the fifth season in a row by Formula 1’s team principals in our annual poll, despite missing out on the championship by two points. We asked each of the grid’s 10 team bosses to submit a list of their top 10 drivers of the year under the proviso their personal rankings would remain a secret. We then handed scores out based on the current points system, with the top driver in each list earning 25 points down to one for 10th. Scores were then combined to create the ranking.
Verstappen, who won six of the last nine Grands Prix, earned the top plaudits from F1’s bosses, with World Champion and seven-time race winner Lando Norris slotting into second. Oscar Piastri, the championship’s early pace-setter, was voted P3 by the bosses, which aligns with where he finished in the standings. Mercedes’ George Russell was fourth, two places higher than he managed in this poll last year, after a strong campaign that yielded two wins and a further seven podiums.
Fernando Alonso may not have had his strongest season, but his efforts behind the wheel of a difficult to drive Aston Martin impressed bosses to put him P5, four places up on last year. The veteran double World Champion edged out his fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who slotted into sixth after a super second-half of the year that yielded two podiums. Charles Leclerc was seventh after a tricky win-less season with Ferrari, while Haas driver Ollie Bearman was the highest new entry and the lead rookie in P8. Red Bull-bound Isack Hadjar was the second new entry after a strong debut season with Racing Bulls, with veteran Nico Hulkenberg – who took his first podium at the 239th attempt – completing the top-10.
Only eight team bosses voted with Frederic Vasseur and Laurent Mekies skipping the vote. The ones who did are Toto Wolff, Andrea Stella, Steve Nielsen, Ayao Komatsu, Jonathan Wheatley, James Vowles, Alan Permane and leadership team of Aston Martin.
Here’s the list – Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly miss out after featuring in 2024:
Here’s tier system for teams in F1 2025
Here’s stats from Pirelli
[The story is as per press release]