Lewis Hamilton has come out on top in Formula 1’s own 2020 driver poll while Daniel Ricciardo ended up third in the vote.
After a year in which Hamilton won the world championship for a record-equalling seventh time, his peers saw fit to declare him the best driver.
Second in the vote, which was conducted by F1’s official website, was Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, who was behind only the Mercedes duo in the drivers’ standings at season’s end.
Ricciardo was another who polled above where he finished in the title race, by two spots, taking third in the minds of his fellow drivers.
The result came after the West Australian drove his R.S.20 to two podiums in his second and final season with the Renault F1 Team, ahead of a move to McLaren.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), and George Russell (Williams, Mercedes) also fared better in the vote than the championship proper, filling fourth through sixth as compared to real world results of eighth, 10th, and 18th respectively.
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The latter’s lowly position in the standings belies the impression he made while filling in for Hamilton in the Sakhir Grand Prix, when a calamitous pit stop and subsequent puncture cost the young Briton a likely victory.
Sergio Perez (Racing Point) was seventh in the poll compared to fourth in the drivers’ championship, while the top 10 was rounded out by Romain Grosjean (Haas), Carlos Sainz (McLaren), and Alex Albon (Red Bull).
A notable omission from the top 10 was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who scored two wins and a further nine podiums in finishing runner-up to team-mate Hamilton at 124 points adrift.
Voting was based on the current F1 points system, with 25 points awarded to the primary preference, down to one for the 10th.
Drivers were allowed to vote for themselves but reportedly did not necessarily do so, at least not as their primary.
A total of 15 drivers took part, namely: Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Antonio Giovinazzi, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat, Nicholas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, and Max Verstappen.
Formula 1 2020 driver poll
| Pos | Driver | WDC |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 1 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 3 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 5 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 8 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | 10 |
| 6 | George Russell | 18 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | 4 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | 19 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | 6 |
| 10 | Alex Albon | 7 |
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