So the 2021 F1 Season is over, arguably one of the greatest seasons in Formula One, and although the official F1 Drivers Championship has gone to Max Verstappen, there’s still time for us to award our 2021 F1 Driver of the Year.
Throughout the season we have been compiling points for various results, and presented these after each race for a driver of the day. But now it’s time to go long and do it for the season.
There’s not just the 2021 F1 Driver of the Year though, we have compiled some mildly interesting stats from the 2021 F1 season as well.
2021 F1 Driver of the Year – Final Points
Here are our final Driver of the Year points. A full explanation for the points is at the end, but essentially our points covers Free Practice, Qualifying, Race, H2H, and other fields throughout the season.
The points system means that the closer a driver gets to 100 points at a single race, the closer to a perfect race that driver has had.
Anyway, here is the final 2021 F1 Driver of the Year points. Note, that Max Verstappen won this with two races to go. Not one lap. Eh?
2021 F1 Driver of the Year – Top Ten Drivers
1st – MAX VERSTAPPEN – 1,509 Points – Championship Position 1st
According to our Driver of the Year points, the Red Bull driver was the best of 2021, and did so reasonably easily with a few races to go.
It was Verstappen’s presence in every session this season, much like Ayrton Senna back in the day. Free Practice, Qualifying, Race, Verstappen was a factor always.
The Red Bull was closer to the Mercedes this season, occasionally better, but nowhere near the clear best this season, so to get two more wins than Lewis Hamilton, and have another cruelly lost in Azerbaijan is proof he was deserving of his World Championship title this season.
It must be said though, that some of his defensive driving tactics leave a lot to be desired. He calls it racing, but really, his defensive tactics actually make it harder to race. as opponents often are faced with avoid or crash. Ff he has an opponent with a little less thought than Lewis Hamilton, he would have had a few more accidents this year. Although the big one in Britain was so avoidable on both counts.
But ultimately, our points have spoken and you can’t deny the speed, and Max Verstappen is our 2021 F1 Driver of the Season.
2nd – LEWIS HAMILTON – 1,328 Points – Championship Position 2nd
Was Lewis Hamilton robbed of the F1 World Championship? You could argue a little bit, but then
In our opinion, Lewis Hamilton is the finest driver since 2000, and potentially the greatest ever. His speed and consistency over his career are hard to match, and he is usually involved in such a low amount of incidents and accidents.
Except for this season. And it seems in any season where he is really tested at the front, like when Nico Rosberg stole the title then retired in the ultimate up yours. Bot the Italian and British GP clashes with Max Verstappen were avoidable, and we think he would have avoided them in previous season’s.
But it’s certainly not all doom and gloom in 2021. His late season charge lit up the championship. His drives in both races in Brazil, and the way he negotiated racing with Max Verstappen in full Mad Max mode was outstanding.
One could argue he was very, very good in 2021, but not great. Perhaps if he had won the title he may have called it a day, with his outside F1 interests, and maybe that has played on his mind a bit this season.
3rd – LANDO NORRIS – 976 Points – Championship Position 6th
Lando Norris completes our Driver of the Year podium, and there wasn’t much between him and Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly. All of whom would have been worthy of third place.
The McLaren driver was sensational this season, taking podiums, and being a genuine threat in some qualifying sessions. His third at the final race in Abu Dhabi was just another example.
If we’re honest, Norris’ second half of the season wasn’t as impressive as the first half, but that was more of a matter of his car’s advantage disappearing as the other teams caught up. But Lando Norris was right up there in the first part of the season. At Round 10 we was just 31 of our points away from Lewis Hamilton in second.
He was unlucky at times in 2021, and had to watch on in second as his team mate got the drought breaking McLaren win, but overall it was a great 2021 and we think he deserved more than the 6th place overall. Happily our Driver of the Year ratings gives him third.
It just feels like he is a real dark horse for 2022 if McLaren nail the new regulations. Excuse us while we visit our nearest bookmaker.
4th – CHARLES LECLERC – 970 Points – Championship Position 7th
Charles Leclerc continues to impress in F1, and this year’s Ferrari allowed him to do that more often.
He was outstanding on street circuits taking poles in Azerbaijan and Monaco and a solid fourth in Saudi Arabia.
Leclerc was also good in qualifying in the first part of the season, only qualifying outside the top four just once in the first six races. And finished fourth or sixth five times in those first six races.
The Ferrari driver was part of a three driver battle all season for the podium in our F1 2021 F1 Driver of the Year, and was third with four and then two races to go, but was pipped by Lando Norris in the last Grand Prix.
Leclerc did OK in the head to head against a decent team mate, winning 13-9 in qualifying. And finished ahead of his team mate twice as often as the reverse.
5th – PIERRE GASLY – 956 Points – Championship Position 9th
The Alpha Tauri driver was super impressive this season, with his qualifying prowess to the fore in so many races. In fact, he became so consistently good on a Saturday that it became almost boring to see the Alpha Tauri consistently in the top six.
Gasly finished in a group of drivers including Perez, and the two over achievers (Norris, Leclerc) above for average gird position for the year.. But looking over the past six rounds, Gasly was best of the rest – highest non Red Bull / Mercedes driver.
His big let down, and one that probably cost him more points and podiums was missing the start and dropping places on the first lap. Gasly was second only to Valtteri Bottas for total places lost on the first lap this season. he also only had two Grands Prix where he made positive movement at all.
He did beat his team mate in qualifying by 21-1, which is a season record for all drivers.
The way he has bounced back from his Red Bull dumping has been admirable, and surely he gets another go with a big team. Like the Alpine. Although, the way Alpha Tauri finished the season, it may be the better bet anyway.
6th – VALTTERI BOTTAS – 861 Points – Championship Position 3rd
We unfairly called Valtteri Bottas Nottas a lot in our race reports this season, such was the mediocrity on racedays from the Finn. You can’t really blame him, getting dumped from your seat with so many races to go will demotivate, but he was hardly setting the world on fire before then.
His race starts were a big part of the problem, he ended up with the worst total net positions gained/lost on the first lap this season. He gained places in just two race starts this season, and he wiped out a lot of front runners at the wet Hungarian Grand Prix.
Valtteri was no slouch this season though. He took three pole positions, took one win and another nine podiums. Good stats for any driver. But on the days he wasn’t on the podium, he was just a little Nottas. He did admirably against Lewis Hamilton in the grand scheme of qualifying.
Bottas moves to Alfa Romeo next season, and will probably be a revelation in a car not on the front line, away from the pressure of being Hamilton’s team mate at the front.
7th – CARLOS SAINZ – 810 Points – Championship Position 5th
A good first season for Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, at least in comparison to the other major mover from the 2021 off season – Daniel Ricciardo who replaced him at McLaren.
But it was the Australian who took a win this year with his old team. Sainz had to settle for three podiums, with his finest drive at Abu Dhabi likely to be forgotten forever with the chaos further up the road and up the chain at the final race.
Sainz is taking momentum into next season, with not only the podium, but he outqualified his team mate 6-3 in the last nine races. A run that includes Norris’ fine second place on the grid in Russia.
8th – SERGIO PEREZ – 702 Points – Championship Position 4th
Funny old season for the Rd Bull numbers two.
It was certainly up and down, with the downs not quite enough to get him the usual boot from Red Bull that we have seen for the non Max driving team members.
The Mexican driver did get the one win this year – inherited after some bad luck for his team mate. But that was one of his better weekends.
Beaten 20-2 in qualifying is really no shame considering his team mate became World Champion. He did only did beat Verstappen in race once.
Pere earned another four podiums this season, and had more fourth places than anyone this season.
He may seem low in our Driver of the Year points system, but his nearest comparison in Valtteri Bottas and he they share so many similarities in 2021. And to be fair, the drivers above did tend to outperform their cars more.
But for all of the above, his work in holding back Lewis Hamilton in the final race in Abu Dhabi will guarantee him a spot at Red Bull forever.
9th – FERNANDO ALONSO – 593 Points – Championship Position 10th
Was the comeback worth it? At times you could say no, on the occasions he couldn’t get out of Q1, which happened twice in 2021, but then there were some storming performances. Like in Qatar where he got his only podium of the season.
Alonso also scored points on 12 occasions this season.
The battle of the Alpines was tight this season, with the qualifying record tied on 11-11, and the race results also tied on 9-9. We remove race H2H if only one driver finishes and the retirement is not driver error.
Alonso will go around for at least next season, and one hopes he will get a final win before he leaves F1 again.
10th – ESTEBAN OCON – 560 Points – Championship Position 11th
Ocon had a hot and cold season, three failures to get out of Q1 in the first nine races, yet two top six qualifying efforts in among that too.
But then came that glorious day out in Hungary where he became a race winner.
He should have got another podium too in Saudi Arabia, but was stolen from him within metres of the finishing line.
As above, he was a match for Alonso in the head to head stats, and certainly held his own against the former World Champion.
2021 F1 Driver of the Year – The Rest
Daniel Ricciardo did win the Italian Grand Prix in style, much to our joy, but there were way too many poor weekends, and behind Lando Norris a little too often in outqualifying. New team his season, new car next season. Time could be running out for a title charge.
George Russell’s points peaked after his brilliant performances in qualifying at Belgium and Russia, but faded in the latter parts of the season / after he was announced by Mercedes to be their driver for next season. He’ll want to improve on his Mr Saturday tag for next season.
The Aston Martin drivers had the occasional really good days out, and were good enough for solid midfield. The battle between Vettel and Stroll was closer than one would have thought at the start of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen retired for a second time, which is always going to be a shame, but showed some flashes of the old speed. Antonio Giovinazzi showed glimpses of his new speed, and seemingly even more so when battling for his seat and subsequently given the arse for 2022. The Italian did deserve another but at the same hardly set the world on fire either. The incoming Zhou will do that one way or another you feel.
Tsunoda and Latifi were well thrashed by their tea mate during the season. Although Latifi showed a lot of consistency, if not outright speed. The same can’t be said for Tsunoda who was reasonably erratic and error prone. The Red Flag king of qualifying. But his result in Abu Dhabi sort of justifies another season in the Alpha Tauri.
And finally Haas, who if it weren’t for Mazepin would have been almost invisible this season. Mick Schumacher showed glimpses of speed, but ultimately weighed down with the car. Mazepin was the worst driver in 2021, and is likely to go back to back next season.
2021 F1 Season Statistics – Head to Head
There were some close H2H battles in the 2021 F1 Season, and a few where one was clearly better than the other. Here are the mildly interesting facts.
- Max Verstappen won the season for the H2H battle, being bettered just three times during the season.
- Yuki Tsunoda waited until the final race to beat Pierre Gasly in Qualifying.
- Nicholas Latifi outqualified Mr Saturday twice in the last four races of the season.
- Only Mick Schumacher had a perfect qualifying record against their team mate in the second half of the season.
2021 F1 Season Statistics – Qualifying
Another stat for the 2021 season that sees Max Verstappen topping the field. You get the feeling by now thar despite the last race, last lap shenanigans, Max Verstappen was indeed the driver of the year anyways.
But here are some quality qualifying stats visuals from the 2021 F1 season, and some points of interest.
- Only Valtteri Bottas managed to have made it all Q3 sessions this season. Although Verstappen and Hamilton’s were technical and tactical.
- Nikita Mazepin was the only season-long driver to never make it out of Q1.
- Max Verstappen never qualified lower than third once into Q3.
- Pierre Gasly had the fourth best average qualifying position in the second half of the season.
- Charles Leclerc was kings of the streets.
- Lewis Hamilton was the kings of qualifying on the modern tracks in 2021. Max Verstappen was the best on classic tracks. Even Bottas outqualified (on average grid position) Lewis Hamilton on classic tracks. Although, the 20th place start in Brazil does influence that.
2021 F1 Season Statistics – First Lap Progress
A good race start makes all the difference, and for some this season really cost them a decent Sunday and season.
Here are the points of interest.
- Kimi Raikkonen hadn’t lost a place at the start until the fourth last race of the season.
- Lance Stroll was a surprise second for positions gain, given he had a reputation previously of being one to cause other people dropping places on the first lap.
- Pierre Gasly made positive first lap movement just once in 2021, but still ended up in a better net position than Bottas.
- Charles Leclerc may have been higher, but his two first lap incidents cost him in the overall net position. His race starts were positive or zero aside from those two.
2021 F1 Season Statistics – Free Practice
A few points of interest from Free Practice throughout the 2021 F1 Season…
- Max Verstappen highlights his consistency throughout the season with the lowest average position for the season. Interestingly he ran the second fewest total laps.
- Max Verstappen topped the season for first place finishes at the end of Free Practice sessions with 23. Lewis Hamilton was next best on 16. Seven drivers topped a session this season.
| Max VERSTAPPEN | 23 |
| Lewis HAMILTON | 16 |
| Valtteri BOTTAS | 13 |
| Sergio PEREZ | 5 |
| Pierre GASLY | 2 |
| Charles LECLERC | 2 |
| Fernando ALONSO | 1 |
- Nikita Mazepin finished 64% of all Free Practice sessions in last place.
- Williams completed the most amount of laps in Free Practice with 3,118 followed by Alpha Tauri, Ferrari and Mercedes as the other teams with 3000+. Red Bull ran the fewest.
