Ranking the 2021 F1 Drivers from WORST to BEST

We've been grading all 20 F1 drivers after each race of the 2021 season in ABCDEF1 and now it's time to see who came out on top of the entire season!
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[@ChaosEverDecoy]

would be interesting to see a video like this where you rank the races from this year

[@Firebolt1729]

Spa was easily the best race this season, kept me on the edge for 4 hours and don’t forget the legendary fastest lap from Mazepin

[@matthiasehling6763]

@@Firebolt1729 Probably Jeddah...

[@diegobm23]

Yep, I'm here for it

[@daichi6180]

@@Firebolt1729 The Legendary 2021 Belgian Grand Prix

[@alexanderhall1996]

@@daichi6180 the best one for sure! Had us on edge for 4 hours 😍

[@joshwhatley31]

It does feel like after being verstappened, Gasly has now verstappened all his teammates. 😂

[@theglitch312]

Max has blessed Gasly with the *PACE.* May he use it well.

[@Xx-yk6cu]

Verstappen hasn't beaten every opponent

[@Roguescienceguy]

Well he was given half a season. Never had a fair chance really. Politics then pushed Alex in that seat way too early. Luckily both of them still got a chance for redemption.

[@Roguescienceguy]

@@Xx-yk6cu Yep, Daniel did beat him in his first season at RedBull but Max did have the better of him the season after. It was very close with mr consistent in his first year at torro rosso too

[@ValeenP]

learned how to do it from the source

[@bm-lb2dg]

Would love to see an ABCDEF1 based on teams as well as drivers. Sometimes drivers are let down by a bad pit stop or bad strategy

[@gergelystechnicmodels8565]

Based on strategic decisions and teamwork my list would be: 10. Alfa Romeo (Kimi kept crashing into his teammate randomly and the team made some seriously stupid strategy calls with Gio) 9. Haas (Many teammate crashes) 8. Alpha Tauri (Lots of amateurish strategy calls for a team with the fifth fastest car) 7. Williams (Bottled lots of opportunities for points at the start of the year, but they worked really well together in Hungary) 6. Aston Martin (Some inspired strategy calls, some blunders like putting Seb on dries in Turkey, but overall just OK) 5. McLaren (Good strategy but some pitstop blunders. The drivers were so far apart that they could never do anything together. COTA and Monza were the exception) 4. Ferrari (The teammates were always able to attack the field together. Leclerc not starting in Monaco is a huge mistake though) 3. Mercedes (Usually very solid. Made some strategic mistakes and of course the longest pitstop in F1 history) 2. Alpine (Very impressive teamwork. Strategy always on point, Alonso defending for Ocon was mesmerizing) 1. Red Bull (Hardly any mistakes at all. Perez defensive driving made him a perfect wingman and Verstappen always delivered)

[@SuperSteffanus]

@@gergelystechnicmodels8565 Why Ferrari over Mclaren?😊

[@gergelystechnicmodels8565]

@@SuperSteffanus The Ferrari drivers were always close to each other during the races which allowed the strategists to be more creative. Ferrari seemed more consistent in general. And (if I remember correctly) Ferrari also made fewer pitstop blunders.

[@MaxskiSynths]

@@gergelystechnicmodels8565 you need to give the teams a grade then instead of top10

[@Remy-today]

@@MaxskiSynths he did that; Alfa Romeo has a perfect score and Red Bull is lowest due to losing out the WCC.

[@tamryn2967]

This past year has shown how difficult it is to judge drivers in different cars. Lando and Carlos weren’t talked a lot about last year because they were so close together. Now that they have new teammates who were regarded as top 5 last year and beaten them people have actually started to realise how good they are. There’s many drivers on the grid that are hard to judge how good they actually are.

[@geopoliticsweekly]

Totally agree. It’s almost impossible to judge drivers except by their teammates because F1 is based on teams having unequal equipment.

[@geopoliticsweekly]

@Damar Fadlan Hello

[@danilicious2308]

More impressive from Carlos imo, because he had to adjust to a new car while Lando stayed with McLaren. Either way, I fully agree that they both had very solid drives and it'd be interesting if the cars are pretty close to each other and we've got 3 or 4 teams who regularly battle each other for the wins. If McLaren and Ferrari have the cars, the teams at least have the drivers to contend.

[@carlvoxvires]

True. If Russell blitzes Hamilton next season, Latifi would potentially be better than Bottas... not a joke!

[@FADHsquared]

@@carlvoxvires "Dibby dibby doo Latifi is ..."

[@Reyzour]

Seeing Räikkönen spelled Raikonnen for over an hour will be hard to watch.

[@javsjavs8659]

Bruh

[@Reyzour]

@@javsjavs8659 ?

[@javsjavs8659]

@@Reyzour I didn't notice until reading your comment and had 30 minutos of video left lmao

[@risingSilence]

bwoah...

[@d573m]

Not limited to F1 unfortunately. Everyone in England except Liverpool spells it Jurgen Klopp instead of Jürgen Klopp

[@HoopleHeadUSA]

Lando was never the same after that heartbreaking loss 😭

[@philb8437]

Hopefully he'll bounce back next year, I'm sure he will

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

McLaren in general, actually.

[@themightyant.]

Agreed. Needs to learn to be stronger mentally and not let good/bad luck affect his performances

[@fabulouschild2005]

@@philb8437 Lando world champion 2022

[@nurzaman7684]

He lost it himself that oversized kid 🤣 😂 😂

[@ishmeet07]

I feel Bottas' assessment was a tad bit too harsh. He's been asked to steal fastest lap on a couple of occasions when he was in points i think? And more importantly, his pitstops have messed up his races far too many times. Monaco one stands out but there are so many instances where they didn't bring Bottas in, or ignored his suggestions about strategy and he had to pay the price. Yes Bottas might've been below his usual standards but his season is made to look worse because of pitwall decisions

[@lekudos]

We’re in a golden age. This is the best crop of drivers since 2012. Even the new-ish drivers are very good. I find it funny that Max is already one of the most experienced drivers on the grid and he’s only 24!!!!

[@saratchandrab4384]

He is in top 10 of the 20 already?. We have Lewis, Bottas, Vettel, Kimi, Alonso, Perez,Tied with Sainz,DanRic, Kubica (doesn't count)....Damn

[@Allblue1]

yes becuase there is a lot of newbies

[@the1gladiator2]

You don't have to apologize for rating Verstappen the best driver of the season. People just need to stop being so sensitive. Hamilton has had plenty of incredible seasons, this just wasn't his best. He'll get to try again next year.

[@Marcushalberstram749]

I disagree that both of them deserve the title equally. Hamilton produced a Herculean effort and deserved the title if he won it, but Max was simply on another level and deserved it more. The Hamilton fans will disagree with me, but Max has simply been phenomenal. I recall after Portimao everyone was saying how Max wasn't title ready, that the pressure was getting to him, and that he lacked the experience in his first title fight to take it to Lewis. And how he proved every single one of you wrong. He was absolutely faultless all year apart from running off track in Portimao and the post qualifying crash in Jeddah. He's simply been on top of his game every single race weekend, maximizing the red bull package he has which, contrary to what some Lewis fans think, is not the dominant car this year. In fact, RB and Merc have each had the fastest car for roughly the same number of races, the only period it was dominant was from Baku to double Austria, apart from that the cars have been comparable and in the final part of the season Mercedes have been ahead. In contrast, Hamilton has thrown away upwards of 40 points this year. The brake magic in Baku, damaging his car over the kerbs in Austria, struggling for pace in Monaco, fluffing the start of the sprint race at Monza, and even hitting the wall in Imola which he was very lucky to recover from. Ham fans think Max cracks under pressure when their man has made more frequent and more costly unforced errors this season and only remains in the title fight due to misfortune that befell Max and RBR. I can't see how any objective fan can say Max doesn't deserve the title, and arguably more so than Lewis - in his first ever title fight he has simply been the more complete driver than Lewis, and if the Ham fans want to undermine his talent by calling him a dirty driver then so be it

[@keirangeorge9046]

Absolutely spot on! All the people saying Max is undeserving of the title and that Hamilton was robbed are delusional. This was Lewis's scruffiest season in years.

[@Firebolt1729]

Well put. But Red Bull had the fastest car for most of the season imo. I can only recall Mercedes being clearly better in Portugal, Hungary, Monza, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Also if you are gonna call Lewis lucky in Imola, Max was lucky too in Russia.

[@stellar6643]

How are Austria and Monaco mistakes? If you are saying Lewis was lucky in Imola Max was lucky in Russia too. And if you count the start from Monza, then Max too fluffed up the start in Abu Dhabi too and Max fans keep talking about the puncture he got in Baku, if it wouldn’t have happened he would have got 25 points but if Max didn’t get the puncture Hamilton wouldn’t have locked up

[@matthiasehling6763]

@@stellar6643 If you are 8 tenth behind your teammate, you just do shit.

[@brunoalves5339]

With the amount of mistakes that Hamilton made this season, people should be saying that it was one of his worst season of late, but they saying it was his best, it's completely insane.

[@selder_7]

Love that Carlando tied. Imagine what they’d have done together at McLaren this year

[@carlvoxvires]

Smart move from Ferrari bringing Carlos over. Not only set themselves up for an amazing 2022 season, but saved on driver wages, gave Charles a kick in the ass, and pretty much guaranteed 3rd in this seasons constructors

[@thatgreypain]

I can imagine. They could have crashed every race.

[@matthewd6306]

Most poles and Most wins as well. By far the best driver of 2021.

[@joyl7842]

Let this sink in: Max Verstappen led more laps than the rest of the grid combined this season. That alone should make him more deserving of the DWC.

[@Rusher-zh9wp]

How did Perez do more for Verstappen than Bottas did for Hamilton? Bottas literally took out Verstappen in Hungary

[@juanrahernandez1288]

Bottas cost verstappen 23 points in Hungary however, checo cost lewis points in baku, turkey and the most important race abu dhabi.

[@sigmundferd1359]

@@juanrahernandez1288 lewis cost lewis points in Baku

[@Bahamuttiamat]

@@sigmundferd1359 Perez moving over it was accidentally knocked the magic button.

[@juanrahernandez1288]

@@sigmundferd1359 completely agree but checo did play a small part in lewis mistake.

[@piminat0r]

@@juanrahernandez1288 nah, the wrong setting did, checo had absolutely nothing to do with it

[@Khan-ts2ji]

There is not a single rating in which Max doesn't take the top spot.

[@samgamez9907]

Tire management

[@anthonyiuculano6002]

That's because he was the better driver this year

[@Minifliek]

@@samgamez9907 His maiden win in the Red Bull showed he got the tire management down, i wont say he's the best at it but he is very good at it. USA this year showed that skill aswell he made the super agressive early pitstops work in that race.

[@samgamez9907]

@@Minifliek I’m not saying he isn’t a good driver with potential to do well in the redbull. But this season he wasn’t really on it.

[@Minifliek]

@@samgamez9907 and i am having a hard time thinking of a race where it was bad :p possibly Spain? Well Russia wasnt great on tire management

[@JustMikoo]

It has been an amazing season! Thanks for covering everything WTF1! Can’t wait for 2022!🙏🏼

[@mariusvandenburg1]

Thank you Matt, Katy and Tom for covering the season. Your commentary is preferable and a lot more honest than most commercial outlets!

[@Roeland666]

How do they keep saying that both deserved, when Merc drivers took Max out twice??? Championship would have been decided long before abu dhabi had that not happened......

[@mabra33]

I guess they said it so they don't get a bunch of Lewis stans in their comments

[@Allblue1]

Well on behalf of lh fans: Max deserved that championship Lewis deserved the win in Abu Dhabi. I expected more from lewis and actually no mistakes . and the crashes are ichindents.

[@kristianharalambiev7685]

@@Allblue1 correct from top to bottom. But what rly tickles many the wrong way is when VER stans come in and say HAM is an average or below average driver. Nah... anybody who believes that doesnt know anything about racing

[@Allblue1]

@@kristianharalambiev7685 or f1

[@ega8938]

Only reason why Hamilton was in the championship contention because he and his teammate crashed out Max. Then Pirelli gifted Lewis 25 points but he bottled it. I honestly don’t know why are people saying they equally deserved it.

[@rysmatias]

exactly. i think hamilton deserves that 8th title but not this year. this year was max's season, hands-down.

[@hiran4935]

Oh don't forget that he was saved by red flag in Imola and silverstone as well. He made so many mistakes in first half when the Merc was visibly slower than RB and people tend to forget those.

[@florisbackx1744]

1:28:45 Funny how your own grades as well as the race results clearly state Max had the best season by far, but still say they are equally deserving the title....

[@jeremyclarkson9025]

Hamilton had a slightly inferior car and still bought it down to a title decider. Yes Hamilton drove nowhere near his best for most of the season. But verstappen got involved in some silly incidents which he could have avoided. Also races like Saudi let him down which is why both deserved it. But ultimately masi decided the winner lmao

[@francescagilio3450]

A little biased and long comment about Giovinazzi situation since I noticed it was not so much spoke about(I admit I only noticed it bc of italian commentators): this man had really bad luck, but his team was also the worst one ever, expecially with pit stop strategy. Always losing positions, they were long and done with the wrong timing, but the worst one was in Mexico. He was SIX at the restart, he lost a position on Charles ok, but the team decided to pit him SO early and at the worst timing, because he was then stuck behind Bottas and Ricciardo and when they pitted he lost positions with the drivers with fresh tyres. At the end of the race he did and heartbreaking interview that I will always remember: he's usually a positive guy that sees the best in everything and everyone, but after Mexico he said that he started to believe the voices that the team was sabotaging him because it was unbelievable (this voices started when he asked for slick tyres for the restart in Hungary but the team declined AFTER THEY LET HIM START WITH SLICKS. And there are other examples but this comment is already so long). Another proof was that he discovered WITH THE CHISESE BANNER LIKE THE REST OF US that they signed Zhou and not him. They didn't say a shit to him. At this point, I'm so happy he goes away from that toxic team and goes to a more chill envirorment like FE, because they really don't deserve him, I'm sorry

[@avinashanish3350]

Did everyone just forget about the terrible luck Bottas had or how he was being used as a guinea pig by Mercedes to test engines?

[@Gl-my8fw]

They remembered him taking cars out in hungary and screwing up every chance he got. He has zero ability to pass or defend.

[@JM45001]

@@Gl-my8fw not quite but okay...

[@dohtje5029]

Yah he was being tested for the ICE exploit Merc used later in the season

[@WsXr4de0n]

It's the same with Leclerc's luck and Seb's, Seb saw his race ruined multiple times.

[@kristianharalambiev7685]

@@sosexyimsexy1673 get out of here bot

[@charles-antoinemartel-roy]

To be fully honest, I think Lewis Hamilton wasn't at his most focused at the start of the year, I think maybe he needed a while to be fully motivated again? I can see how 2019 and 2020 back to back might have done this, he won both years so dominantly. Sometimes that comes with a feeling that if you try your hardest, there's no competition, and it took Max really starting to run away with it for him to wake up.

[@looktothefuture84]

That's Lewis every year though...

[@charles-antoinemartel-roy]

@@looktothefuture84 arguably not, I don't think he was that out of focus in 2017 and 2018 after losing to Nico, I think Mercedes really just out developed Ferrari pretty hard. Because if we look, he wasn't making many mistakes, as much as him and Merc just didn't have the pace/strategy some weekends. He got pole in Australia by like 7 tenths both years. Also when he was at Mclaren, he wasn't really like that either.

[@aidanmagee2269]

Yeah that makes sense cause that’s exact what happened in 2016, 14 and 15 he won convincingly then in 2016 when someone could actually match him he took time to bed into season but also like 2016 his last half of the season was just mesmerising especially both Brazil races in 2016 and 2021

[@DavidCP524]

Lewis just isn't the most consistent driver. Even in his most dominant seasons, he only won 11 races. It's not that impressive in a dominant car with a submissive teammate.

[@aidanmagee2269]

@@DavidCP524 ‘he ONLY won eleven races’. Are you fuckin delusional, there has only ever been two seasons in f1 history in which a driver has got more wins than that

[@benlaender4352]

When talking about Hamilton you used Imola as an example where he managed to recover although he made a mistake caused by the weather. What you guys seemed to have completely forgotten is that Lewis manged to stop before the barriers and just put it in 1st and drove right into the wall

[@ericokurowski]

Yep, and broke his wing in the process. It was really two mistakes.

[@bretthenri9635]

and unlap under the safety car, although i heard that’s illegal

[@benlaender4352]

@@bretthenri9635 no he didnt he unlapped himself under red flag which is common procedure but more than luck for Hamilton in that situation

[@sbinotto3780]

@@benlaender4352 agree, completly overlooked He would have finished maybe 6th without the red flag

[@user-ot4wm2fh8g]

Kimi nowhere? Finished like P11/12 nearly every race he didn’t get points in whilst Gio was down in P15/16. He was crap in quali but miles ahead of Gio in basically every race. Had half the number of blue flags Gio had over the season, over double the points and that also includes losing 2 points in Imola for a harsh penalty that even the stewards admitted was a stupid rule, being blocked by Gio from a point in Turkey etc… Also need to factor in he missed Monza and Zandvoort…

[@nickrous2110]

They just are so biased because of his age for sure. Kimi easily deserved 15th place above the other four. He would even have more points than Rusell if the Spa race actually took place

[@zTeaTheCoffee]

wait have your really rated bottas below perez? checo has been mediocre at best with very few bright spots. yes he was alright in abu dhabi, and it was his first season, but bottas had over twice as many podiums, 4 more poles, 3 more fastest laps, and despite dismal luck finished 36 points ahead in the standings, helping merc secure the title. honestly a yoke.

[@Yahniboy]

In his fifth year at Mercedes with the fastest car and struggled to pass midfield cars. One win and if he wasn’t leading he was basically useless

[@amirnicolai3830]

He's just retired and we've already forgotten how to spell Raikkonen's name

[@Lillith.]

Did you really have to proof it?

[@rhysdawes7681]

Brilliant video think this is the best way to do driver rankings without recency bias!

[@fabriziomendelzon8673]

Katy, in 2019 Sainz was definitely one of the stars of the season

[@simonholmqvist8017]

I'm saying Gasly for Merc.

[@sumitblogs15]

on race pace I would still put Max and Alonso on top ....

[@WilliamWilson-yc2xf]

It's been a great year. Thanks guys.

[@nicksowerby6116]

Kubica finished higher in the standing in his 2 race run than Mazepin did racing in every race this season.

[@carchocolate93]

Mazepin p21 in a 20 driver championship

[@martakosti2702]

Thank you team and happy holidays! thank you for the wonderful & funny season :D

[@astroandyborgloh]

Thank you for all the work and the entertainment. Hope, you have a wonderful Christmas.

[@bizarrebunny5579]

My opinion: 1)Max 2)Lewis 3)Lando 4)Pierre 5)Carlos 6)Charles 7)Fernando 8)George 9)Esteban 10) Checo 11) Seb 12) Mick (I will fight for this) 13) Bottas 14) Danny Ric 15) Stroll 16) Nicky 17) Kimi 18) Yuki 19) Gio 20) Kubica 21) Mazepin

[@Firebolt1729]

I would swap Lando and Carlos.

[@samgamez9907]

@@Firebolt1729 agreed. Lando fell off too much at end of season

[@piotrstefanski8831]

1.Verstappen 2.Hamilton 3.Norris 4.Sainz 5.Gasly 6.Leclerc 7.Alonso 8.Russel 9.Perez 10.Vettel

[@dohtje5029]

Mick is difficult, did outperform his teammate alot.. But well it was Mazepin... But also was the most expensive driver in terms of crash damage this year, made alot of big mistakes wich cost Haas alot of money they really didn't have..

[@bizarrebunny5579]

@@samgamez9907 I’d just argue that in 3/4 of the last races he got punctures and in the other one the red flag screwed him over big time. So his drop off isn’t necessarily his fault- also considering that the McLaren just forgot how to be fast in the back end of the year and Ferrari had kept their developed engine until the last few races

[@jackishy1261]

In leclercs defence he was gifted 2 podiums one in Hungary and somewhere else so if that didn’t happen he’d be behind Norris and leclerc

[@Wheeler_Deals]

Kate, Carlos was in the top three drivers of the year in 2019!? How have you been able to underrate him again?

[@imsgoalie1]

Color matching your background to youtube's website was a clever move, and really looks great! Nice job.

[@AntoineThisdale]

I remember seeing the Magic Button incident and thinking to myself: "That's the season mistake"... its sad but that Driver mistake pretty much cost Hamilton the championship.

[@atto_3]

Not really since Max's tyres blew out in the same race and so neither driver benefitted or lost from it.

[@AntoineThisdale]

@@atto_3 one is a mechanical failure. One is a driver error. Huge distinction.

[@fabriziomendelzon8673]

Alonso would’ve still been fighting for P3 with Bottas and Perez even if Bottas didn’t have a puncture

[@czyrusbalaong7946]

1st half I'll say Lando did a great job

[@philb8437]

Up with the big boys ? You guys totally are big boys and girls ! Amazing work this season. Merry christmas and happy new years to you too

[@zetavasuki931]

i feel like you were too hard on lando's second half of the season, yes in zandvoort and turkey he was off the pace, also off the pace but was running a really old engine, mexico engine penalty still got points, brazil turn 1 accident still got points, quatar was 4th until he got a puncture still managed points, jeddah 5th then redflag ruined his race but recoverd to points, and abu dhabi 4th another puncture still got points. in all these races he had badluck he was able to recover and score when dann ric couldnt score on raw pace. if he never had bad luck he would be scoring the same points he was scoring at the beginning of the season.

[@vasamodi9382]

His streak of bad luck in the second half is unbelievable. No matter how much he tried or how good he drove, his races just went to hell so consistently like clockwork. Vettel and Bottas also had very bad luck. I just hope they will have better luck next season.

[@nurzaman7684]

@@vasamodi9382 he lost Russia by himself, in Qatar he lost points cuz he doesn't know how to save tyres (just look at Alonso who got a podium and no puncture on same strategy), he isn't unlucky he is just shit 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@vasamodi9382]

@@nurzaman7684 I don't know why you replied to me like that since I never mentioned Russia or Qatar in particular. But now that you mentioned them, he actually lost Russia because McLaren thought the rain wouldn't fall any harder. They told him this but it wasn't aired because it wasn't dramatic. His shouting was not good, sure, but it didn't change anything because his team (and many more teams) didn't have the crucial information. Leclerc, Perez and Alonso all lost positions that race staying out, not just him. And his puncture in Qatar was unrelated to tyre saving. His hard tyres was on just 23 laps at that point, even fewer laps than the soft tyres he began the race with. He nursed that soft tyres for like 25 laps, longer than everyone else. So don't bother with the narrative that he can't save tyres since it's obviously false. I also find it interesting that you chose these two races when there were races that he actually made mistakes or lacked pace. They just don't have ready-made narratives floating around the internet like these two. So I suspect you don't really have any knowledge about his races. You just wanted to talk smack. Then feel free to say that he is shit all you want. Just go and say it to someone else because I have no interest in this type of talks. In the end all of these are just meaningless words. If he's good, then he's good. If he's not, then he's not. Your words or my words on the internet don't change the reality in any way.

[@WsXr4de0n]

Stroll getting an A in Monza is a travesty when he ruined seb's race

[@saiyerugara9038]

Hmmmm... P7 whilst beating Alonso and being not too far off Sainz is an A- imo.

[@Pepe-dq2ib]

Mazespin was the most consistent driver and rarely lost position on race days.

[@sudhanjaya]

Great job throughout the 2021 season, guys! Looking forward to "your" next season!

[@casesully50]

This goes to Matt Tom or Katy. I'll bet you $10 that by winter testing. Michael Masi will still be race director.

[@vertigo545]

funny how they say they both deserved the championship equally when this obviously shows who had a better season...?

[@brocaraton]

You guys cant even compliment Max without saying something even better about Lewis. “Max had an incredible season… but both deserved the championship equally well.” Max was a better driver by a mile.

[@liddad]

I really like the graphic down the left hand side, would be nice if it was possible to have the drivers week-to-week ABCDEF1 ratings shown on that in the future

[@adam346]

Charles kept getting into weird sticky situations through over-driving the car and could have over-taken Seinz if he pulled back a little bit. Honestly if Charles were coached a little better he would be a title fighter in a Merc or Red-Bull. But I also think that of Lando, Honey badger and George and I am willing to bet there is a lot more to it then that.

[@Lillith.]

It's insane how close it got between Hamilton and Verstappen. Verstappen had 3 retirements, 1 P9(Hungary), and P1 or P2 (10-8) 18/22 races this season. Hamilton had 1 DNF (Baku he was listed), 1 P15, 1 P7, 1 P5, 1 P4, 1 P3, and P1 or P2 (8-8) for only 16/22 races. If you look at their seasons, Hamilton shouldn't have been as close as he was. But Hamilton got lucky in Hungary and Silverstone where he got at least 31 points on Verstappen (Verstappen one place below Hamilton on both -2 for P9) that he shouldn't really have. Where Verstappen got 7 points that he shouldn't really have. Baku was bad for both, the whole tyre blowout and magic button were bad luck. Monza and Silverstone were waiting to happen, Hamilton got really lucky to finish GB after the contact. Hungary he was lucky to not be in the middle of Bottas' bowling tournament. Almost got hit, but got away without a scratch on his car. Abu Dhabi was bad luck for Hamilton, he should have won that race.

[@rohananil1266]

Well I would've agreed about Hamilton deserving the win of the last race if it wasn't for the absolute bullshit off the track move he pulled to get the lead on verstappen. That wasn't even remotely close to being neither fair nor legal as max had pulled a perfect dive bomb and contrary to Brazil, actually stayed inside the white line. Hamilton should've come behind the red bull or given back the position but it was decided as no investigation necessary and he just ran away with the lead. That whole race was filled with bad calls, Max just had the luck going for him when it really counted.

[@felixbb1445]

@@rohananil1266 “perfect dive bomb” they would have crashed if Lewis didn’t yield. Which max knew because if they were to crash max would have been a championship winner. I cannot support that kind of driving. Haha the last couple of races it was almost as max were the “torpedo” aimed at Lewis. So I think it was fair, and Lewis was robbed the race win. (And no I am not a Lewis fanboy, I am a ferrari fanboy. And yes I am a bit salty at the steward for not letting sainz be part of the max and Lewis fight at the end)

[@rohananil1266]

@@felixbb1445 okay, so let's get this right. Not acceptable for you does not mean not acceptable to the rule book. Dive bombs are perfectly legal, leading car gets to set the racing line provided he stays in the white line. F1 has always been a dangerous sport and i don't think it would be much fun to watch if all the drivers were bottases. Lewis might have been robbed, i don't really want to comment on that part, but if he had won, i could've said the same about max being robbed cause of the kind of record breaking season he's had and what Lewis pulled there was completely illegal, and the onboard cam shows Lewis steering away from the corner instead of trying to come back after going off track. He should've been made to give his position back or taken a penalty but nothing happened. And that is as big of a robbery as any other. Edit: and I dont want to hear anything about max being a torpedo against Lewis, Lewis has actually proved himself to be one many times.

[@_qwe_fk_1700]

@@felixbb1445 Lewis should have covered the inside but did not.

[@felixbb1445]

@@_qwe_fk_1700 yes… kinda weak defending from him the whole season actually. Nothing like leclerc vs max on silverstone

[@ZanWK5678]

Bottas below both Ricciardo and Perez is a fallacy. The gap in performance and results between VER/PER and NOR/RIC was arguably much greater than the gap between HAM/BOT.

[@sbinotto3780]

Yes, but there is also the expectations placed on him being in arguably the best car on the grid Add to that performances like in imola, baku, hungary and russia and i feel his evaluation is justified

[@Allblue1]

@@sbinotto3780 and not a new team mate

[@TP_Gillz]

Thanks WTF1 for all the work this year. If you ever fancy an American voice for a podcast sometime, I would gladly voulenteer!

[@rcrude8866]

Would it be funny in a cruel way if after the most exciting season we have had, the regulations next year that was sat there to make F1 exciting again would lead to one team dominating again?

[@zqzj]

Haas is going to kill it next year

[@pietrodicanio9404]

if that would be Ferrari I’ll laugh every race seeing mercedes 3rd

[@InekeD81]

If there’s a team who pulls a Brawn GP 2009, I’m there for it.

[@thatonenigeriansformula]

@@InekeD81 true cuz while the engines in 2009 didnt change the body drastically did and a new team came out on top , hopefully tye same happens , but haas NEEDS to be merc or red bull powered

[@robertbroadbent2522]

That can 100% happen

[@Richardtv1968]

Max won the most GP’s this year, most podiumfinishes ever in a season, 10 polepositions, was twice taken out blantently by a Mercedes therefore not scoring points, Max had the most fia rulings and decisions against him. Max is the undisputed and deservedly F1 Worldchampion this year. The villainzing in the british media was from the get go and it was relentless

[@fourthdeconstruction]

I'm sorry but Norris and Russell were too high on your list. I don't know if it was a little bit of bias as UK citizens. Something to improve but I hope you can improve on this. Thanks for your videos and podcasts for 2021 season!

[@grommile]

the real goat is Jim Clark none of these youngsters ever went round the Nurburgring in a bathtub rocketship

[@educortazarc]

Charles always ranks a bit too high on these

[@Guinnessdrnkr1234]

Charles is overrated. He's a first lap idiot that's drives desperately when he is not having a good weekend with qualifying.

[@saiyerugara9038]

He was the better Ferrari driver in 2021 tbh.

[@kevinotoole3466]

Good show Lads, well done!

[@RiddyckHester]

Katy freezing during Stroll and not using the Monaco meme was a major missed opportunity

[@stephenkonstantinou6218]

They should have used the lance stroll replay to cut to the sponsors

[@Alexander27463]

Most races were Charles finished ahead of Carlos, Carlos was only 1 or 2 places behind, they were fighting with each other an awful lot but the team was handling it pretty well

[@piyushpatil4679]

Kimi Raikkonen will also be the number one in F1 no matter which year, because he is Kimi Raikkonen, the Finnish James bond

[@HoopleHeadUSA]

Thank you WTF1 for all the amazing content throughout this spectacular season!

[@binbin6878]

This is gonna be spicy

[@gregmcpherson5671]

Valtteri is always judged harshly. He's better than that

[@danimusat3491]

I mean in the last 5 races Lando was very very unlucky.Mexico he had to start from the back, Brazil the incident with Sainz(although he was more or less on fault), Quatar the puncture, Saudi Arabia bad lcuk at the first restart and had to restart from the last place, Abu Dhabi puncture again...

[@lukebartlett704]

I literally think this is like the third ranking drivers I’ve watched now

[@pandababu25]

I couldn't watch the Abu Dhabi review because of how hard it was to go through the entire race all over again

[@samgadoury5531]

why is everyone putting Kimi below Gio??? Kimi literally scored over 300% more points this year.

[@republikadugave420]

What is Katy on about...Alonso is the best rookie we have seen in years..

[@lolumo]

Interesting how everyone forgets that Masi handed Bahrain to LH

[@bullymaguire14]

Bro cult lh is so ignorant...

[@brandoncasas9261]

I absolutely hate the "gifted win" or "gifted podium" argument. Talking specifically about Perez, the whole: he was "gifted" the win because of Max´s tire failure or Lewis´ mistake. If Perez hadn´t been right behind Max the whole of the race, he wouldn´t have been able to win. If he hadn´t had the pace to come out in front of Lewis after the pit stop, he wouldn´t have won because of his mistake, him just being there is one of many factors that could have caused the mistake. I´m talking about Checo here, but this really applies for any driver that gets a "fortunate" good result (although I didn´t hear a "Sainz was gifted a podium in Abu Dhabi because of Checo´s retirement" just saying)

[@Bahamuttiamat]

@Brandon Casas Great point, without the lengthy pitstop, checo would've emerged ahead of max...

[@carlvoxvires]

Just shows how strong Ferrari will be next year if they produce a good car with the new regs🤞Also if McLaren get a strong car next year and seriously want to go for the constructors, they should look at swapping Riccardo for Gasly... just a thought...

[@axmyoz]

You guys did Perez dirty.... In my opinion!

[@davidrubinstein5359]

Perez gets no respect, smh 🤦‍♂️

[@Bearcat299]

"more than Bottas has done for Lewis" Valtteri... had... a... bad... ENGINE ! wow... how have almost nobody heard about that... Litteraly Toto say it to Valterri after Q3 I really feel for Valtteri, everyone attack him on this last race but he was not able to do something... Bottas is 9th not 13th, how can he be that low with Perez that high, he destroy him in qualif and races and have been way more unlucky during the year... Still don't know why so many people dislike him

[@_qwe_fk_1700]

high quality journalism

[@mx9616]

Evan though Hamilton made mistakes in silverstone he made it to the final round equal on points????? WTF is that statement, only because he made that "mistake" in Silverstone he managed to be equal on points...

[@elliotttalksf1825]

This is a good idea for a podcast.

[@calhounsmith8802]

Tommys final thoughts, brilliant

[@idiotwalkin1]

Have you guys ever done the podcast in the same location? If so then when will you guys do an in person podcast?

[@backyardeconomist]

Can you guys make a 2022 predictions video?

[@bluessi2378]

Max Lewis Carlos/Lando Leclerc Gasly Alonso Bottas Russell Seb Danny/Perez Ocon Stroll Mick (tho we havent seen his true pace) Kimi Gio Tsunoda Latifi Mazepin

[@nightnomad635]

This is a driver rating.... Not a nutella obsession rating 😂😂. But you should do a podcast about the FIA, Race Stewards, Michael "Sassy". Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year

[@youknowwho3206]

If Max had finished all of the races like tommy said (he would have had 11 wins and 11 second places), factoring in the fastest laps and only giving him the ones he had, and not the ones he could have gotten had he finished the race (6) then he would have had just under 87% of Max points (also factoring in Belgian Halfpoints race)

[@imsgoalie1]

Katy, in the same thought, said both men deserved to win the championship equally, but then said over the course of the season, Max was clearly the stronger of the two. I don't know how these two thoughts can coexist in the same mind.

[@emersons.s.oliveira8722]

Mazepin took 21st place in a championship with 20 drivers...

[@jakbrooksrl]

my personal list - 20. Nakita 19. Mick 18. Giovanazzi 17. Kimi 16. Latifi 15. Stroll 14. Yuki 13. Vettel 12. Bottas 11. Ocon 10. Ricciardo 9. Charles 8. Alonso 7. George 6. Checo 5. Sainz 4. Gasly 3. Lando 2. Lewis 1. Max

[@ellarosexx25]

Lando is an amazing driver he's achived so so much this season and I'm not just saying this because I'm a massive fan I'm saying it because I believe it! His nest season (so far)

[@mbszd6832]

I like Tsunoda, but if Kvyat would be beside Gasly. They would be 5th or 4th in the championship. He might have gotten the same dnf's but the finishes would've been solid.

[@benpriest1418]

I would like to see a more rigid approach to the ratings next year. Ie a B is awarded where the driver has achieved what was expected. Verstappen and Hamilton got a lot of A's and A*'s just for winning/2nd which is what is expected, the only time they got lower was due to the occasional driver error.

[@ogreman2229]

Sainz may not have the absolute pace of a few other drivers but he is the picture of consistency. Such a valuable commodity for a team!

[@mawile3037]

What Katy said about Vettel: I look forward to the day that he becomes what Niki and Prost are for Merc and Renault respectively, ofc that's if he wants, but it would be nice to see Old Man Seb in the paddock On Gasly Ham Vet nando and Checo all of them have a foot out the door simply because of their age no doubt who ever leave's first is where he will end up at the same time, he really doesn't have sponsors that can help him, no sponsors that I know off anyway, RB drivers typically don't, that's the whole idea behind their model, they pave the way for drivers that are already good, Sainz is kinda an exception

[@highexecutor]

I don't think Checo's win in Baku was gifted, if anything he was gifting the win to Verstappen by keeping Lewis in place for must of the race

[@dennisp.6265]

OF COURSE Gasly finishes P6 in the ABCDEF1 rankings.

[@mr.malcolmthegreat]

I would put Perez above both RUSSEL and Alonso

[@gdm.antonis]

According to that leaderboard Ferrari has the best duo 👏

[@andreasdejong1846]

Would be nice if there was a certain driver rating for each season so you could see how this season would rank historically, without looking at podium or race win statistics alone like people usually do. I would at least be interested to see how often in the past Hamilton actually did better than this year over the course of a whole season.. It would also be interesting to discuss which drivers performed better over a whole season than Verstappen did or which season saw the most 'championship-worthy' drives.

[@captainminor246]

To be fair to Gary, in Imola Mick was calling to retire when it was totally unnecessary

[@mclarenF1race]

Bottas Goes Bowling!!! ... was the funniest moment.. 🤣 STRIKE!!! 🇭🇺 HUNGARY!! He is A VERY LIKABLE GUY THOUGH!!! Hot tubs in minus weather wow dude!!! 👌🤣🤣🤣 NUTJOB LOL