Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has been voted as the best driver of the 2019 F1 season by both the team bosses and the British racer’s rivals.
The year-end poll was undertaken by F1 official website where a group of team bosses and drivers were asked to vote, which had unanimous result with Mercedes’ Hamilton being voted as the best driver, having won his sixth drivers’ championship.
Hamilton got 169 points in the team bosses poll with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen second with 146 to his name and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third with 124. Their respective teammates were just behind them but in a slightly different order.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was fourth with 68, followed by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (58) and Red Bull’s Alexander Albon (57). Interestingly, Williams’ George Russell made the cut in ninth with 41 points, despite not having scored any F1 point and finishing last.
The Top 10 F1 drivers in order with their points as per the team bosses:
| POSITION | DRIVER | SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 169 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 146 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | 124 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | 68 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | 58 |
| 6 | Alexander Albon | 57 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | 55 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | 49 |
| 9 | George Russell | 41 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | 38 |
The vote list had Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul, Red Bull’s Christian Horner, McLaren’s Andreas Seidl, Haas’ Guenther Steiner, Racing Point’s Otmar Szafanauer, Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost, Alfa Romeo’s Fred Vasseur, Williams’ Claire Williams and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff.
Selected F1 drivers also voted for their best in a similar way where Hamilton led the way from Verstappen and Leclerc, with the Top 3 remaining the same. The best of the rest had Sainz in fourth with Bottas just behind him in fifth and Vettel only eighth.
There was no place for Albon on the drivers’ Top 10 unlike the team bosses, as they voted to have Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly instead in 10th. The rest of the names remained the same albeit in a different order to the other one.
The Top 10 F1 drivers in order with their points as per selected drivers:
| POSITION | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2 | Max Verstappen |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel |
| 9 | George Russell |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly |
The drivers who voted were Red Bull’s Albon & Verstappen, Toro Rosso’s Gasly & Daniil Kvyat, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas’ Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg & Ricciardo, Williams’ Robert Kubica & Russell, McLaren’s Norris & Sainz and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez & Lance Stroll.
F1 also ran a fan poll to select the ‘Rookie of the Year’, where McLaren’s Norris took the trophy ahead of Albon and Russell, even though the Thai racer had won the FIA award. Norris got 66,240 votes ahead of Albon’s 13,582 and Russell’s 7,100.
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