Your top ten F1 drivers of the last five years revealed

2016 F1 season

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Since 2011 F1 Fanatic readers have been selecting the best drivers during each race weekend.

After almost 100 polls, it’s time to reveal which drivers have been your top picks over the last five years – and who missed out on a place among the leading ten.

10: Nico Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg led convincingly at Interlagos in 2012

Nico Hulkenberg has the unenviable status of being widely considered one of F1’s most impressive drivers not to have been given a chance with a top team.

He arrived in the sport having won the GP2 title as a rookie, a crown he added to his F3 Euroseries and German Formula BMW titles. But late in 2010 within the space of a few weeks he went from scoring Williams’ first pole position for five years to being dropped by the team to make way for Pastor Maldonado and his PDVSA millions.

After a year on the sidelines his 2012 return with Force India yielded another impressive showing in Brazil which saw his first of four Driver of the Weekend wins – despite the fact he only finished fifth after colliding with Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Driver of the Weekend wins

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9: Kimi Raikkonen

A winning start for Raikkonen in 2013

Kimi Raikkonen’s comeback to Formula One since 2012 as been a tale of two halves – plucky underdog heroics with Lotus and a thus-far disappointing reunion with Ferrari. Unsurprisingly, it’s the former which saw him voted Driver of the Weekend three of the four times so far.

A strong showing by Raikkonen early last year in Bahrain suggested he had been rejuvenated by Ferrari’s gains with the SF-15T, but over the balance of the season he was decisively outclassed by Sebastian Vettel. He has an important season ahead of him.

Kimi Raikkonen’s Driver of the Weekend wins

8: Mark Webber

Webber won the poll after Vettel pinched 2013 Sepang win

Over the last three years of his F1 career, Mark Webber was increasingly dissatisfied with the sport’s move towards gimmicks such as DRS and high-degradation tyres. Meanwhile team mate Vettel was piling up the silverware.

However Webber impressed with several wins of his own and at Shanghai in 2011 raced from 18th to finish on the podium. His final Driver of the Weekend came after Vettel disobeyed an instruction to finish behind him at Sepang in 2013.

Mark Webber’s Driver of the Weekend wins

7: Valtteri Bottas

Bottas resisted Hamilton at Hockenheim

One of the breakthrough talents of recent seasons, Valtteri Bottas hit a superb streak of form in the middle of 2014 when he was voted Driver of the Weekend in three consecutive races.

F1 Fanatic readers had already acknowledged his talents after he hustled his uncompetitive Williams to eighth – its best result of the season – on his first visit to the Circuit of the Americas.

Valtteri Bottas’ Driver of the Weekend wins

6: Nico Rosberg

Rosberg has been unbeaten in Monaco since 2013

Nico Rosberg had previously struggled to match Hamilton during their spell together at Mercedes. In 2014, despite Rosberg taking the championship fight until the final round, he was only voted Driver of the Weekend once, at the penultimate race.

But has he now unlocked a new level of performance which could allow him to take the fight to his team mate in 2016? It certainly looked that way late in 2015 when he reeled off six consecutive pole positions and three consecutive victories.

Nico Rosberg’s Driver of the Weekend wins

5: Sergio Perez

Perez won Driver of the Weekend on his debut in 2011

The Pirelli era could have been made for ‘tyre whisperer’ Sergio Perez. Nursing his rubber further and faster than anyone else has always been one of his greatest strengths ever since he won the Driver of the Weekend poll on his debut.

Perez has become a more well-rounded driver since then and in particularly has cut out some of his more impetuous moves. He came of age in the second half of 2015, leading the charge for Force India and putting his highly-rated team mate in the shade.

Sergio Perez’s Driver of the Weekend wins

4: Jenson Button

Last-lap Montreal win for Button in 2011

Jenson Button habitually conjured up brilliant wins in mixed conditions when McLaren were a race-winning force. The team haven’t been that competitive for three years, however, and Button’s efforts have been much less conspicuous as a result.

While both he and Alonso had been regular Driver of the Weekend winners before 2015, the uncompetitive MP4-30 meant both lacked the hardware to demonstrate their talent last year. For the sake of both champions, hopefully that is about to change.

Jenson Button’s Driver of the Weekend wins

3: Fernando Alonso

Alonso charged from 11th on the grid to win at Valencia

Alonso led the championship for months in 2012 and came within three points of taking a third title. It wasn’t to be, but he frequently topped the Driver of the Weekend poll during his stint at Ferrari – even when he wasn’t on the top step of the podium.

Like Button, it was slim pickings for him in the 2015 McLaren. At times Alonso’s frustrations with the car seemed to get the better of him, and more than once he threatened to park it.

Fernando Alonso’s Driver of the Weekend wins

2: Sebastian Vettel

Vettel at his imperious best at Singapore in 2013

Vettel netted three of his four world championships during the last five seasons but at times some felt the performance of his Red Bull gave him too great an advantage. It’s perhaps to be expected that despite having taken 32 wins in the past five years he has less than half as many Driver of the Weekend poll victories.

The past two seasons have been more difficult for him and this seems to have prompted some re-evaluation of his efforts. He even took one Driver of the Weekend poll win during his win-less 2014 campaign.

His 2015 season compared as well as any of his world championship years in the eyes of F1 Fanatic readers, who also voted him Driver of the Year in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Sebastian Vettel’s Driver of the Weekend wins

1: Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton prevailed in a close fight with Webber and Alonso at the Nurburgring in 2011

Half of Hamilton’s 20 Driver of the Weekend poll wins came before had the crushing Mercedes W05 and W06 at his disposal. His 2012 season was especially impressive but the unreliability of the McLaren MP4-27 ultimately thwarted his title ambitions and prompted a move to Mercedes which has proved highly successful.

Hamilton has often said he prefers to win races after scrapping with his rivals rather than dominating from the front, and this seems to resonate with F1 Fanatic readers. His triumphs at the Nurburgring in 2011, Monza in 2014 and the Circuit of the Americas in 2012 and 2014 demonstrate that wins earned through passes on the track are always well received.

Lewis Hamilton’s Driver of the Weekend wins

NB. Where two drivers had the same number of wins the number of races they had started over the past five seasons was taken into account. If this failed to produce a winner the highest voting percentages were used.

All the Driver of the Weekend winners, 2011-2015

Among the drivers who failed to reach the top ten are Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, each of which have won Driver of the Weekend three times. Impressively, Verstappen took three wins in his first championship season last year.

Romain Grosjean is the only other driver to have won more than once and not place in the top ten.

And there’s an unwanted record for Felipe Massa – he’s the only driver to have competed in all five of the last seasons without being chosen as Driver of the Weekend once.

The other Driver of the Weekend winners:

Over to you

Which F1 drivers have impressed you the most over the past 12 months? Have any received too little recognition from F1 Fanatic readers?

Have your say in the comments.

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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70 comments on “Your top ten F1 drivers of the last five years revealed”

  1. Interesting article!
    Ketih, which race has Schumi won? And Sutil?

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      8th January 2016, 12:38

      Schumacher – Belgium 2011
      Sutil – Brazil 2011
      @andycz

        1. @andycz @coldfly I’ve added a list for the other drivers.

          1. Cheers Keith, but there is a misspeling I think – Kamui won it in Japan 2012? Kevin and Kamui have both Australian 2014…

  2. ColdFly F1 (@)
    8th January 2016, 12:35

    interesting stuff.
    shouldn’t this be (also) as a percentage of races started.

    Of course the major impact will be Webber a few places up, Verstappen barnstorming the top 3, and NASR/Bianchi higher.

  3. It’s weird looking at how many DOTW Hamilton got for 2011 especially considering by rights he should have had China as well. My over riding memory of that year was poor form from him but when you actually recount the year he was either on fire or nowhere.

    Also we’ve got the wrong Australian in that list, my manner of brain fart ended up awarding Malaysia 2013 and China 2011 to Webber?

    1. *what manner of brain fart (whoops)

    2. In 2011 Hamilton only made one clear unforced error, in Singapore. He was only actually slower than JB in 3 races.

      1. @lockup Depends on what you mean by “unforced”, considering he was racing with Massa at the time. He also hit Webber in Canada, spun in Hungary and collided into Kobayashi in Belgium.

        1. If you watch carefully @david-a, in Spa Koba turned into him. Webber could have left more room – taking the middle of the track was a bit asking for it knowing he was there, and Hungary was in part because the team put him on the wrong tyre.

          I call Singapore unforced because although yes he was attacking Massa there was just no explanation for him putting his wing there.

          1. @lockup
            Some of these excuses are quite poor tbh. Hamilton was to blame for Spa, he drifted right while Kobayashi was still there, and crashed into him. The incident was the opposite of what happened between Jenson and Lewis in Canada.

            He was fully to blame for his crash with Webber in Montreal, who left him more than a cars width into turn 1. Also, Lewis wasn’t even alongside Webber until Mark began turning.

            His spin in Hungary was completely his own fault, and being on a bad strategy is not an excuse for that. He also ran off the track in Malaysia (allowed Webber through) and Silverstone on several occasions at Brookland. He left Massa no space in Japan either, and was at least partially to blame for both his accidents in Monaco.

          2. Kobayashi turned into him @kingshark. Hungary was a mistake, sure, and he was on the wrong tyre. Monaco was the difference between Schumi and Maldonado, and Massa closing the line and going off in the tunnel. The stewards had become a running joke by India. He made some other errors too omg. It wasn’t a good year, but it gets exaggerated. He was still faster than his teammate in the large majority of races, unlike Seb in ’14. (Not that I don’t rate Vettel massively too).

          3. @lockup – Spa was purely Hamilton’s fault. He admitted that. In Hungary he spun while on supersofts which were, if anything, better suited to drizzly conditions than softs, it’s easier to keep the temperature. In Monaco he was penalised correctly as well. Button was clearly better in 2011, no doubt.

          4. At the time I though Hamilton was to blame for Spa. But video evidence did make me think that although Hamilton pushed Kobayashi to the edge of the track, it was within the limit and ultimately it was Kobayashi turning in that caused the contact. I think Hamilton was slightly careless in that he probably did think he was past Kobayashi when he wasn’t, but that doesn’t actually mean he took the action that caused the incident.

            Hamilton didn’t have a great 2011 overall, largely because Button had one of his best seasons and was brutally consistent and when Hamilton messed up this made it appear especially lazy/sloppy. But Hamilton still had some stellar performances regardless. That a season with clear stand-out performances ranks as his lowest says a lot for his ability.

  4. Monaco 2012? Maybe…

    Impressive Tally for Hamilton. Going well in not the best car seems to capture F1 fanatics.. Guiltyas charged…

  5. Ok, now, who is going to go through all those poll-results and award points to the top-10 most voted drivers of each race?

    1. Anyone with a bit of excel prowess could complete that task in mere minutes!

    1. Last five years, and yes, it is difficult to believe that 2010 was 6 years ago!

  6. Its incredible to see how Vettel’s perception has changed. He didn’t win a single DOTW poll in 2010 although he won the championship. It took until 2011 Italian GP (that pass on Alonso while on the grass finally made people vote for him I guess) to win his first. And he had just 4 DOTW wins although he had 3 WDCs by the end of 2012. And his nadir was yet to come with the 2013 Malaysian GP team orders controversy where many felt he did wrong.

    From that point on, Vettel has only gone up and up in people’s perception, in spite of having his worst season on track in 2014. His DOTWs since 2013 are just one less than Hamilton’s!

  7. There are a few DOTW results I would disagree with, like China 2011, Spain 2011, Abu Dhabi 2011, and Malaysia 2013.

    Having watched China 2011 over again not too long ago, I would give that race to Rosberg. Only he took the absolute maximum out of his car. He was contending for victory with the WO2, which was a clearly inferior car to the MP4-26 and RB7. Unlike Webber or Hamilton, he also didn’t get outqualified by his teammate.

    The fact that Hamilton won the DOTW polls in Spain 2011, Korea 2011 and Abu Dhabi 2011 tells me that this site was very harsh towards Vettel that year. In Spain he held Hamilton behind him when Red Bull appeared to have worse tyre dry. In Korea he overtook Hamilton on the opening lap and won. In Abu Dhabi, Hamilton choked in Q3; yet on all occasions, Hamilton got the DOTW vote for some unbeknown reason.

    As for Malaysia 2013, that was a sympathy vote for Webber more than anything else.

    1. There are so many I disagree with as well @kingshark, but on balance the poll normally gets the most obvious result. Most people who vote tend to go on race performance above all, but as it is DOTW rather than DOTR you have to look at it more holistically. That’s why I always disqualify people from eligibility for my DOTW vote if they get out qualified by their team mate.

    2. “unbeknown reason”

      Lets take a look at some possible reasons then…

      Korea – Easy, only race that year that a Redbull was not on pole position and it was Hamilton that managed it, Redbull went to take the next 15 poles and its the same today when a non-merc is ever on pole.

      China – Well Hamilton started third and beat both Vettel and his own team mate to become the first man to win that GP more than once.

      Abu Dhabi – He won the race but Vettel’s early exit means we didn’t get a fight for the race.

      Last but not least, it is based visitors poll and I guess the visitors made their choice.

      1. @xusen In China DOTW was given to Webber though. And although Hamilton took pole in Korea, Mclaren’s drivers really blew other clear chances for pole, like Monaco, Hungary, Italy, Abu Dhabi and Japan. That can’t be said as often about the non-Mercs of the last 2 years.

      2. @xusen

        Korea – Easy, only race that year that a Redbull was not on pole position and it was Hamilton that managed it, Redbull went to take the next 15 poles and its the same today when a non-merc is ever on pole.

        Apart from the fact that Red Bull’s average advantage in qualifying was about 0.380 seconds in 2011, while Mercedes’ advantage in 2015 has been almost double that (about 0.720 seconds). Also, McLaren had the car to be on pole in Malaysia, Monaco, Hungary, Abu Dhabi and Japan. Hamilton just blew it.

        In the race, he literally put up no fight whatsoever to Vettel steaming passed him on lap 1. For the same reason, Rosberg got bashed a lot for allowing Hamilton by so easily at USA 2014.

        How Hamilton won all of those DOTW votes (Spain, Korea, Abu Dhabi) over Vettel boggles my mind.

        1. Well that’s simple. It was the perception of Vettel that upset the fans. Mercedes’ drivers have a more dominant car but also a better perception. It’s probably because Red Bull had a reputation of bending the rules.

          1. It was the perception of Vettel that upset the fans.

            Where did that perception come from? The notion that he was winning in fantastically dominant cars was always a media creation with dubious basis in fact. If that wasn’t obvious at the time it should be now, when we’re reminded on a regular basis of what a genuinely dominant F1 car looks like.

          2. Red Bull’s dominance was not just a media creation at all. I completely disagree.

        2. Vettel would be the clear winner here if he was not German. The majority on here are British or sympathetic to Brits and the Brits just love successful Germans. Does not matter though the whole thing is so subjective the only objective data is the titles as thats the whole point of the sport.

      3. @xusen Webber 100% deserved China 2011. Do you not remember the race? He started 18th in the race, and fell back to 19th after his first stint. He was without KERS for most of the race, and had to overtake without its help. And he was running at a pace 2 seconds faster than anybody else at the end and some points of the race, leaving him just about 5 seconds off Hamilton with the same strategy. And how you could vote for Hamilton over Webber, I never will know.

    3. @kingshark Webber was outqualified by his team-mate in China 2011? Yep, he’d qualified 18th on merit that day. Oh wait…

    4. Bahrain 2012. Vettel leads all practice and qualifying sessions, gets pole and wins the race. Raikkonen wins DOTW for his tire strategy.

  8. And there’s an unwanted record for Felipe Massa – he’s the only driver to have competed in all five of the last seasons without being chosen as Driver of the Weekend once.

    Poor Felipe, just when we all thought he had stopped being F1’s whipping boy.

    1. @geemac
      To be honest, I really can’t think of a single race in the past 5 years where he’s particularly stood out. He was excellent in some of the late-2012 races (Suzuka, Korea, USA, Brazil), but I’m not sure if he deserved DOTW over the eventual winner in any of them.

      1. You are quite right, he didn’t. As nice a chap as he is he has to be nearing his sell by date, particularly with the likes of Alex Lynn lurking in the shadows.

  9. What an interesting article. Bravo! top 5 drivers.

  10. It’s a pretty good ranking but i think few things should be changed:
    1. Ricciardo should be 10 instead of Hulkenberg.
    2. And Certainly Sebastian Vettel Should Have Been Number 1. (For Sure – 100%)

    When Sebastian Vettel was at Red Bull:
    When he won a race or the champion – Most People would always “He wins because off the car.”

    Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes:
    Whenever Lewis Hamilton wins a race or championship – Everyone says “He’s the Best Driver.”

    Comparing how they beat their team-mates, i’d say Vettel has certainly proven that he is better than Hamilton.

    1. Awesome comment, you are the man…

      Now go read the article and comment something that is related to it.

      1. What’s your problem…

        1. Karthik is obviously a LH fan. I agree with Sameer

          1. Karthik Mohan
            9th January 2016, 6:05

            This is an article of how many times each driver has won the Driver Of The Weekend poll, not a ranking of any sort. Vettel and Hamilton have both won the DoTW poll when they have had supreme machines and the not-so-fast machines. It is how much every driver impressed in each race that is reflected here. This poll doesn’t say Hamilton is better than Vettel. Read the article. Atleast read the title, understand what it is about before you comment. How is Ricciardo supposed to have more DoTW poll wins than Hulkenberg in the last 5 seasons when Ric only started in late 2012, in a goddamn HRT? Oh why do I even bother replying? It’s like talking to a wall.

      2. thank you for your compliments

    2. That only makes sense if you consider Webber and Rosberg to be equal.

      1. That would be a silly assumption all right, considering the result when Webber and Rosberg drove together.

        1. Haha, nice one!
          This is another quite irritating notion. That because Rosberg is fairly close to Lewis, he must clearly be better than Webber.
          However while on track it is abundantly clear he is not in the highest echelon if drivers, he is not on Hamiltons or Vettels level.
          While a very good driver there is no evidence whatsoever that he is any better than Webber or Button. He is only thereabouts because Hamilton “lets” him win through his own inconsistency. But then again the same could be said when Jenson was his teammate.
          TL;DR: Nico is comparable to Jenson and Mark and Lewis should really be beating him clearly. That he is not doing so is solely down to Lewis inability to go and win 5 races in a row – no matter against which teammate and in which car!

    3. Ya it should be vettel for his outstanding 2014.The top drivers like Alonso and Hamilton were never got schooled like this in their whole career.

      1. @manas Except Hamilton in 2011 or Alonso in 2004.

  11. I still think that sometimes it’s rather the surprise of the weekend or the most noticed driver of the weekend, who wins the poll. For instance, I believe that Mark Webber should not be in the top 10. Vettel was clearly the better driver at the 2013 Malaysian GP and I am also not sure Webber was the best at the 2011 Chinese GP, which was dominated by newly-born DRS and Pirelli tyres. It is rather surprising to see that Romain Grosjean has not made the top 10 and that Felipe Massa has never won the vote. In my opinion, Heikki Kovalainen deserved to win at least one or two times during his Lotus/Caterham years, too.

    Anyway, this is another interesting article, the top three are widely recognised as the best three drivers of the current era and Rosberg and Button are often considered to be “the best of the rest”. So these polls should definitely be a part of F1 Fanatic in the future as well.

  12. People have short memory. Fernando made some epic races in that wheelbarrow of a Ferrari. I felt when he left us. He’s still my man. Shame he’s often on the right car at the wrong time

    1. I agree 100% that’s how I felt after he left Ferrari as well

    2. True story. I suspect he’s got a lot of second places on the dotw votes, probably due to the Red Bull and Mercedes design teams.

    3. Yes and that’s really great and all but he’s been so convincingly overshadowed by bis younger competitor I actually doubt anyone will see him as the greatest of this generation. When they look back. Achievements do matter in the end you know.

  13. I find it very interesting that when Vettel was on his winning streak with RBR it was “all the car” and not in the least bit driver ability; but when Hamilton dominates in a way Vettel has not, in a car that is far more dominant than the competition, he is suddenly Senna reborn. Couldn’t be the car…could it? Jus sayin…

    1. Hamilton won Driver of the Weekend four times last year. Vettel did six times in 2013. I think you’re exaggerating rather a lot.

      1. No, plenty of people feel EXACTLY that way

      2. @keithcollantine How many times did Vettel win in 2011? Much less than Hamilton in any of his seasons ever I suppose (not a Vettel fan)

      3. But SEB won 13 races in 2013 so 6 DOTW isn’t actually that mich. I haven’t looked it up but I’m pretty sure Seb won a grand slam or two while mit being voted DOTW.
        I mean Seb got 3 DOTW in 2015. With 3 wins. Yet for his 11(?) wins (and many of them were mighty close that year) in 2011 he got the same amount of DOTW.
        3 from 11. That is just ridiculous.
        Just be honest, the hatr was strong back then. Really unfair IMO.

    2. You’re right. It amazes me how completely immune to criticism Hamilton is. I mean literally no one ever says even the slightest negative thing about him it’s just a constant barrage of praise for both his driving and his lifestyle. I can’t actually believe no one has yet noticed that the Mercedes was consistently the fastest car both years. You would really have thought that would have been brought up before now by someone. How did we all miss it?

      1. Vettel almost always beat Webber, likewise Hamilton over Rosberg.

        The main contest for so many fans is Vettel v Hamilton. IMO those two are the best. There were doubts about Vettel’s true talent when he kept winning in the RB, it looked too easy. I think the way he has got the best out of that Ferrari, the only one who could get on the top step other than the arrows, has improved his standing in many F1 fans’ eyes.

        For 2016: at the moment Hamilton has already got the best car and top talent. There will be big pressure on Vettel this year to see what he can produce as that Ferrari improves. Looking forward.

    3. Honestly, I would say that in a sport with over three quarters of the teams being based in Britain, watched by Brits more than any other nation – chances are it is because he is British. Practically everyone I know who likes him is British, and those I know who are not British do not actually get what all of the fuss is about. Don’t get me wrong, he is a fantastic driver – but people comparing him to Senna? Really?

      First of all, they are incomparable. How can you compare drivers who raced in eras that were so different? Senna when cars were horribly unreliable and as dangerous as they were with fewer races on the calendar compared with today. Furthermore, when Vettel surpassed Senna’s win tally in less races than he did, nobody seemed to notice. When Hamilton equalled Senna’s tally in once race more than it took Senna, everyone went crazy about how great Hamilton is. Sorry if I have missed something obvious there.

      Hamilton is a very special driver, but forgive me for thinking that in 2014 and possibly 2015 as well – about half of the grid could have won the championship in a Mercedes.

      But hey, what’s to say that Vettel won’t win the next three at Ferrari, equalling Schumacher for seven titles?
      Very excited for the coming season!

    4. Seriously, no one thinks like that at least on this website.

    5. 100% agreed

      1. Indeed, I don’t care if he comes from Mars and the car’s built on the Death Star, he has more global recognition than the rest of the drivers put together, here in LA, folks actually know who he is and many of my workmates who didn’t know F1 from can of soup think the guys a pretty cool character; damn fine F1 ambassador IMHO.

    6. Your about the millionth person that has said this. Yawn

  14. I prefer Ricciardo and Verstappen above Perez and Button. I rate Ricciardo’s wins alongside 4times WC Vettel higher then the stunning performances by Perez, which often led to surprising podium finishes in minor cars. Although Button had a good season alongside Hamilton, the performances by 2015’s sensation Max Verstappen deserve a place in the top-10.

  15. One and only R. Kubica!!!

  16. Button Pure professionalism. Never let the situation at McLaren get to him or his job on track and for someone who is supposedly not in the top tier or drivers matched and eventually beat the most complete driver in F1 .

  17. I like this because I can link this post when someone comes says that Hulkenberg is too over hyped and that Perez doesn’t get enough recognition.

  18. Generally agree with the list order.

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