[blackasta]

Charles Leclerc.

Not only because I'm a fan, but inspite of the technical & strategic blunders by the Ferrari team he's managed to grab P3. With correct strategy calls, Ferrari would have for sure won the constructors championship and Charles P2.

[OrangeCar]

Aahh.. it was so hard for me to not click on Sergio Perez and click vote. Just for the kicks of it!

Had I done that, I'm sure checo himself would have called me and asked.. 'are you crazy?'

Nonetheless, it was Charles Leclerc for me. For those amazingly clean overtakes and racing (Max should really learn this from Charles!). Remember his dual with Hamilton, where they race each other and Charles eventually overtakes him (if I recollect correctly). His overtakes are so smooth and almost musical!

[jpcoolguy]

Voted for Charles, who could have been a contender for WDC title, if his strategy team doesn't mess it up as often as they do. His overtakes are a pleasure to watch (and watch them in loop sometimes ) and has been one of the sportive drivers in the grid.

Special mention to Mad Max, immense respect to him on winning the WDC and THAT Brazil race will remain in the memory for a longer time.

He was also lucky in one sense, that the 2nd half McLaren was not driven by Lewis or Nando in their prime, who might have smoked him and would have snatched the WDC. Just for fun though.

[sunilarkt]

Voted for Max! He has shown that he can still win without fastest car in the grid. São Paulo performance was icing on the cake.

[Hayek]

Max for winning the WDC easily despite not having the best car in the second half of the season. But he was so flawless and dominant when he had the best car that he built an insurmountable lead. Feel bad for Checo - he has slowed a bit but the car was probably tougher than others to drive and he may well have done as well as some of those who finished ahead of him in a different car. Wonder who on earth would want to make the potentially career ending move of becoming Max’s teammate?

[idontdrivedoi]

Despite being a McLaren fan through and through, you cannot deny the sheer truth that's the fact of Max Verstappen being the best Formula 1 driver of the 2020s, having won 4 in a row. It would be a disservice to Mr Verstappen to say that he still has time to belong in the conversation of the Prosts, Niki Laudas, Sebastian Vettels and Sennas of the world, because he is in the conversation of these greats and fast approaching the previously unapproachable levels set by Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull car was somehow way worse than previous year (2023 was a Red Bull 1-2 in the driver's standing with a constructor's championship in the bag much earlier) and Sergio "Checo" Perez showed exactly why everybody wants him out. To race in a worse car with a driving partner who isn't much of a driver at all — and to come out on top, simply sensational. For me, the Brazil GP was the turning point where it became clear that Max wasn't just a good driver — he was a legend, for the centuries.

Of course, getting in trouble with the FIA doesn't bode well, but if he continues, he has a high likelihood of smashing through records as he did.

A few honourable mentions:

Pierre Gasly
He made the most out of a subpar Alpine and finished in the top 10 on his own accord. Certainly a class act as a driver.

Charles Leclerc
We would all be lying if we didn't all shed happy tears at the Monaco GP as Charles cruised to his home win as, in the words of the commentators, "the grandstands he saw built as a child now rise for him." With Ferrari somehow not making a stupid car and actually getting their strategy right, it was nice to see Charles win races. I imagine Ferrari being very lethal next year with Hamilton in equal machinery with Charles.

Carlos Sainz
How about winning employee of the month and making your company a billion dollars in your notice period? Well that's what Sainz did as he had an exceptional 2024, with his first win coming right as he was recovering from appendicitis, and then some more. I've always held that Charles and Carlos are nothing without the other, so it is indeed a bit sad to see Sainz make the move to Williams.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
The boys who won us the top award in the championship after a quarter of a century. And they've did so especially young — neither of them were alive when McLaren last lifted the driver's championship 26 years ago. After so many years, it's the orange of Woking which has shone bright on the grid as Norris won us the Abu Dhabhi GP.


Some people I will surely miss

Logan Sergeant
Williams sacked the American mid season and while some found his antics cringe, I found them strangely endearing.

Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull's B Team with a constant identity crisis, known in the '24 season as VISA CARB, unceremoniously fired the Honey Badger after some loss of form. I will miss one of the most entertaining people on the grid.

Valteri Bottas
Max's former partner in equal machinerry now retires, and it would be an understatement to say that one ot the most underrated 2010s drivers has been lost by the sport.

Colapinto
While I'm sure he won't stay away from the grid too long and will find a seat in the grid in 2026, Colapinto has shown insane talent in his first few races alone and he could be a great driver in the making.

[Moto_MP]

Vote for Max as driver of 2024, Although I understand many have flagged his driving as dangerous, but without it racing will be so boring to watch, Noteworthy to say he was punished adequately (at times excessively) every time he crossed the line. His Brazilian grand prix with 17 fastest laps was absolute animal.

Along with that Piastri drove very well for me and without much drama.

Hamilton drove well through the season, asking to retire the car in Qatar just because he was not getting anywhere was a little disappointing, and he did loose a bit of respect there.

Russel might have earned the most hated driver of 2024 title, throwing Max under the bus in Qatar for driving slow when both were on slow lap was just irritating, but Max getting the place back on first corner itself was epic.

[Joe367]

I feel sorry for Esteban Ocon, he was one of my favourite drivers. First he had to leave Alpine team before the last race, was left out from the team's final race picture, left out from the Alpine team group picture and now left out from the TeamBHP driver of the year voting list

[John316_WRC]

Voted for Gasly. He's done really well with an otherwise average Alpine. Hoping 2025 will be his breakout year.

[sainyamk95]

Originally Posted by Joe367

I feel sorry for Esteban Ocon, he was one of my favourite drivers. First he had to leave Alpine team before the last race, was left out from the team's final race picture, left out from the Alpine team group picture and now left out from the TeamBHP driver of the year voting list

I thought I was the only one who noticed! xD

While I personally voted for Piastri, I would like to change my vote to Hulkenberg, who was absolutely on fire all year long. His comeback has been slightly underrated and I am quite sad to see him leave the re-energised Haas for Sauber, who I do not see doing much better for the next 2 to 3 years.

Additionally, I cannot take this poll seriously when Lawson, Colapinto and even Perez and Stroll (oh how I hate that man) have a vote while he doesn't! And no Ocon!!

[Akmal]

How would have Lando performed in a Sauber or KMag in the McLaren? may be we'll never know, except for Stroll, where the car doesn't matter because they all beach the same. So its hard to decide who is the best driver. However, Max is in different league with faultless driving. Cant wait for 2025 with Lewis in Red and if McLaren can keep up the momentum, then the battle will be epic.

[libranof1987]

Toss up between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen, because, Verstappen. He had a stellar season, first dominating with the fastest car on the circuit, and then, making the most of what was the 4/5th fastest car on the grid. He races hard, creates opportunities and tries to get the best result. Even after having won the Driver's Championship.

Piastri, because of how well he's progressed and the results he's been able to deliver after the performance upgrades. Lando seems to rely more on having a superior car, but Piastri seems to have champion-material.

So, Piastri for this year.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Voted for Max. He has proven that he can win a championship in a car that is not the best on the grid.

Plus there should be someone on the grid who can speak his mind: whether it is on the FIA or the heavily biased British media.

[suhaas307]

Voted for Max.

There was no doubt that he outperformed the car this year. He had a good start to the season by capitalising on a rocket ship of a car, but once the competition caught up to Red Bull, you could see Max extracting everything he could from the machinery provided.

Some weekends the car was reasonably competitive, and on others it was a dog’s dinner! And yet, he managed to drag it to a minimum 6th in every race that he finished this year!

Except for his questionable antics in Mexico where he attempted to yeet himself and Lando off the circuit, he has been flawless.

Charles is a close second for me, as he too outperformed that Ferrari.

If I could downvote a driver, it will have to be four:

1) Lando Norris: He threw away on several Sundays, the pole positions that he managed to secure on Saturday. He made some glaring errors, unfortunately. Elite drivers will not throw away opportunities provided to them. Max and Lewis have both capitalised the moment they were provided even a sniff at the title. And opportunities to fight for the title don’t come every year.

2) George Russel: despite winning a few races this year, he has shown that he isn’t quite the elite driver that some made him out to be. He was so easily caught out by Alonso’s tricks earlier this year in Australia (or was it Canada?), causing himself to have a crash, and his sub-par behaviour with Max during Qatar qualifying where he deliberately drove fast towards the queue and then started needless drama with the stewards has to be questioned. He is a good driver with great pace, but also suffers from tunnel vision (Australia this year and Singapore last year come to mind).

3) Sergio Perez: A moment of silence for the solitary vote he has received. But he has been quite poor even when the car is up to the task. Failing to qualify through to Q3 on multiple occasions this year, getting involved in massive shunts with back-markers, and generally struggling for pace and grip throughout the year, it was painful to watch, particularly in Mexico. The few races where he showed some promise, like Baku and Qatar, he managed to screw up. I get that he brings a lot of sponsorship money to the team, but it truly baffles me to see him retain his seat at a team that hasn’t hesitated to chop up drivers mid season on several occasions.

4) Lance Stroll: Do I really need to elaborate?

[ryosuke]

I am not allowed to vote but here are my thoughts of the top 5 drivers for me! I am a Hamilton fan but I agree to some members here that this was a terrible season for him. Yet he is just about 20 points adrift from his teammate shows why he is the 7-time champion. Silverstone would be my favourite race of the year hands down.

1. Charles Leclerc: Incredible race craft this entire season and had he not had those 3 bad races post Monaco, he would have been the front runner for the Drivers championship alongside Max. The tyre management, defensive driving, overtakes, holding race pace even on old tyres, wheel to wheel fights, every thing of the master class was spot on! Hope to see him as a champion soon.

2. Max Verstappen: Every body under estimated his talent last year citing that he has an undefeatable car and hence he was bound to be the champion. This year he actually proved why he is the champion. And his team mate is the last amongst the drivers of top 4 teams! The fact that he would have still won the championship even if you just considered the last 14 races shows the calibre of the racer that he is. Being a champion in a 2nd or sometimes 3rd fastest car in the grid, is an achievement which Super Max should be Super proud of.

3. Nico Hulkenberg: Driving a last placed car of 2023, consistently putting Haas in the Q3 in qualifying and in points on racedays shows the driver that he is. He also has this feat of putting Haas in points continuously for 3-4 races even when there was no safety cars. Incredible driving by the Hulk throughout the season to put Haas on 7th in constructors, wished it ended at 6th though.

4. Oscar Piastri: This man will soon be a legend. The win at Baku was just phenomenal! Absorbing sustained pressure from Charles for over 20 laps and to be able to drive the way he drove in just his 2nd season is just magical! Cool as the Ice man Kimi, wit and humour of Seb, this man is bound to be a champion one day!

5. Carlos Sainz: This man had an incredible season. Not as flashy as Charles or Max but gets the job done silent in the background was Chilli's style this season. The ability to hold pace and constantly fight for podiums was amazing. Hope he returns to a podium team soon in the near future.

P.s. Personal opinion that Lando needs to work on his pressure handling abilities and starts to become a worthy champion. He makes too many mistakes even when not under pressure and hence couldn't capitalise even though he had the fastest car since Miami!

Cheers,
Ryosuke