F1 Driver Rankings (after Mexico)

Here are our F1 driver rankings following the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The rankings are based on the drivers’ currently expected levels. They are not an accumulation of grades, not solely based on previous performances, nor based on potential years into the future.

We simply try to determine, in order: Who is the best right now?

1. Max Verstappen

With his superior racecraft and ability to maximise the potential of the car, no driver is currently better than the Dutchman. He’s also willing to bend the rules to his advantage whenever needed – not unlike former greats such as Senna and Schumacher. It’s a shame that he drives dirty, because he would still be the best if he was a clean driver. His final stint in Mexico was one for the ages.

2. Lando Norris

The McLaren team gets more credit for Norris’s recent success than Norris himself. He could be F1’s fastest man based on pure speed, as long as there are no other obstacles. He lacks the ruthless winner mentality, though. The other drivers know they can race him aggressively, and they know their statements in the media will affect his confidence. Recently he has shown more guts and coping much better under pressure.

3. Charles Leclerc

One of F1’s most exciting drivers. No one doubts his one-lap speed, and he improved his racecraft tremendously back in 2024. But he still makes mistakes, and while other drivers make their own decisions, Leclerc is often hesitant and allows Ferrari’s horrible engineers to instruct him on strategy. He’s way ahead of Hamilton on pace, which is a good sign. But he makes more mistakes than an elite driver should.

4. George Russell

Russell reestablished himself as a top-class driver in 2024. He’s super fast over one lap as well as over a race distance, and he’s now the lead driver of Mercedes. With two race wins this year (Canada and Singapore), his performance has been almost faultless. But we know that he isn’t great under pressure, so that prevents him from being ranked in the top 3. His begging for team orders in Mexico was embarrassing to watch. He couldn’t even get close to Bearman when he got the chance!

5. Oscar Piastri

Piastri has taken a huge step up this year, which is common for drivers in their third season. He previously lacked pace compared to Norris, but this gap has been reduced quite a lot. However, the pressure has gotten to him since the summer break. We ranked him #2 earlier in the year, but after his disastrous performances in Azerbaijan, Austin and Mexico, he cannot be higher than #5 at the moment.

6. Alex Albon

Albon’s style is perfect for the midfield. Along with Sainz, he provides Williams with a very strong lineup. Usually better in races than in qualifying, Albon is better than most drivers but probably not an ultra-elite talent. He could prove us wrong by beating Sainz over the course of the season. Albon started the season impressively in Australia, a place where he has traditionally been weak. So that bodes very well for the future. His points haul has been great thus far, but Sainz is slowly catching up.

7. Carlos Sainz

Sainz has been struggling with the handling and reliability of the Williams FW47. But over a long enough timeframe, he should beat Albon. His start to the year was troublesome but at least he earned a podium later on in Azerbaijan. The biggest issue at the moment is consistency in races. If he can improve on that, steady results may finally come. Sainz has shown very good pace recently, often faster than Albon, but something always goes wrong. Sainz was much closer to Leclerc than Hamilton currently is, so that proves he is a strong driver.

8. Fernando Alonso

The most entertaining racer to watch in wheel-to-wheel battles. If you had to watch just one driver onboard the entire race, let it be Alonso. He uses his experience to his advantage and has an easy teammate to “compete” with. Still a very solid driver, but no longer elite. As usual, his form improved around midseason and he is driving very well. ‘Hero of the race’ in Singapore.

9. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton is no longer at his peak but is still a pretty good racer when the opportunity presents itself. His deficit to Leclerc was expected due to his age, as well as the fact that Hamilton was never actually an all-time great like Senna, Schumacher or Verstappen. He simply had amazing cars his entire career. Many mistakes recently, and pathetic that he was cutting corners in Singapore and Mexico.

10. Oliver Bearman

His performances are up and down. Sometimes he’s great, other times he sucks, and errors are still a bit too frequent. But he has huge potential and is already beating Ocon at 20 years old. In the last few races, Bearman has been really, really good. He looks like he is the best of the rookies.

11. Nico Hülkenberg

Hülkenberg has not only revived his career over the last three seasons; he has also made some major adjustments to his driving style. Previously known as an excellent qualifier, he now seems to value race setups more. ‘The Hulk’ finally got a well-deserved podium earlier in the year, and while things are close between him and Bortoleto, the German has higher peaks.

12. Gabriel Bortoleto

Bortoleto showed great racecraft and aggressiveness in the junior series. His record is impressive so far, and with the Sauber being more competitive than expected, he has also done well in F1. He is so close to matching Nico Hülkenberg at this point, which is a great sign. Sadly, he doesn’t have super high peaks. But consistency is also valuable, and Bortoleto has it.

13. Pierre Gasly

An excellent qualifier who lacks some racepace. He tends to drop back in races. A less exciting version of Jarno Trulli, if you will, but at least without the ‘trains’ behind him. Concerning that Franco Colapinto is catching up to him so fast. It appears like Gasly simply doesn’t care at the moment, due to his team not prioritising the 2025 car.

14. Esteban Ocon

We used to think he was underrated, but losing to a young and inexperienced Bearman probably shows that Ocon is fairly rated as a very average driver who isn’t that exciting to watch. Haas should consider moving on already, but Ocon has one of the best agents in the business and is signed to a 3 (!) year deal with Haas.

17. Isack Hadjar

Isack Hadjar almost won F2 on his second try. He’s had some good results in F1 thus far, including a lucky podium, but he’s also driving a pretty good car and sometimes he’s just nowhere to be seen. We believe Hadjar is overrated, but that doesn’t mean he is bad. We’d love to rank him higher than #17, but the field is just full of solid drivers.

18. Yuki Tsunoda

Tsunoda seemed to improve every season up until 2025, but this year has been disastrous. He doesn’t know how to handle the Red Bull and it will likely cost him his F1 career. It’s a shame, because if he had stayed at Racing Bulls, things probably would have gone a lot better.

19. Lance Stroll

How is Lance Stroll still in F1? If his father had any ambitions for Aston Martin, he should have replaced his son a long time ago. While he has scored a decent amount of points, he is still not passing the eye test driving next to Fernando Alonso who at least puts up a fight every race. Stroll is lucky occasionally, though, and sometimes scores points under those circumstances. His big weakness is still wheel-to-wheel racing, and after this many years in F1, he is just not showing signs of improvements in the things that matter.

20. Liam Lawson

Lawson is not a top driver and never deserved the Red Bull seat. He is slower than Hadjar who has less experience. He scored some okay results for Racing Bulls, but that’s mainly due to the car being pretty good and very easy to drive.

Check our current team rankings here!

Overrated drivers

It is useful to pay attention to overrated drivers, e.g. drivers that fans and media praise more than they should. Why? Because identifying the overrated drivers gives us some good betting opportunities. For example, it has always been lucrative to bet against Lewis Hamilton in H2H matchups.

Leclerc, Hamilton, Hülkenberg, Hadjar, Stroll, Lawson

Leclerc is slightly overrated by fans. He is considered by most fans and “experts” to be the second-best driver in the sport after Verstappen with no one else close. The truth is that Norris and Russell are essentially at the same level as Leclerc and commit fewer mistakes.

Hamilton has always been overrated, probably the most overrated driver of all time. The 2013-2016 era was great because Rosberg would beat him 43% of the time in qualifying but Hamilton was usually a big odds favourite and Rosberg would pay too generously. I made a lot of money that way. Now we have a similar situation, you can usually find solid value bets by betting Leclerc (overrated, but not as much) to beat Hamilton; something that the Monegasque almost always does.

Hülkenberg has performed well since his comeback, but he’s been overrated since last year. Magnussen had basically checked out already, and the Haas was a pretty good car. This year, the Hulk had some highs, but in their H2H, Bortoleto – a first year rookie – is almost matching him. Usually, Hülkenberg is a favourite in their odds matchups, so unless it’s a strong track for the German, we can take advantage by fading him.

Hadjar is obviously overrated. People consider him the best rookie this year, but that doesn’t match with what we saw in F2 in 2023-2024 nor what we see when we watch him onboard. Hadjar has the easiest teammate in F1 and a surprisingly good car. In reality, he’s one of the worst rookies this year.

Calling Stroll overrated is a bit funny because everyone already hates him. But people think it’s okay that he’s in F1. It’s not: He should have left the sport ages ago. Stroll in qualifying is an automatic fade in H2H matchups. The bookmakers overrate him, as Alonso usually pay 1.20 which is too high.

Lawson is also overrated. He’s the worst driver in F1, along with Stroll, but some fans think he is decent. He doesn’t have any future in today’s ultra-competitive F1. The only reason why Hadjar looks so good is because Lawson is performing horribly.

Underrated drivers

Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Colapinto

Norris and Piastri are both underrated; especially Norris. Fans regularly say that whoever wins the title will be the most undeserved champion since Button (wtf?) but the truth is that these drivers are both performing at a very high level. Piastri showed huge signs of improvement this year, while Norris is a lot faster and more consistent than people think. He is probably better than Leclerc, as his title campaign is much stronger than Leclerc’s in the first half of 2022. Norris makes fewer mistakes.

Sainz is underrated this year. The Williams doesn’t suit him, but that will change over time. Sainz was a lot closer to Leclerc than Hamilton is now, and that says a lot. There is no way Sainz should be ranked below Hamilton in any driver rankings. Over time, he will probably get the better of Albon, although Albon is a driver that should be respected.

Colapinto has been a bit of a surprise since he came into F1. Despite lacking proper preparation, he performed very close to Albon as a mere debutant last year. And this year he is very close to Gasly, generally being a few tenths off in qualifying but making up for it on Sundays where he’s usually quicker as the race progresses. Colapinto doesn’t have WDC upside, but it will be interesting to see how he develops. His ceiling could be higher than Albon’s and Gasly’s if he is allowed to stay in the sport and gain experience. It is usually lucrative to bet on Colapinto in the race H2H matchups.