MAX VERSTAPPEN was named the 2025 Drivers’ Driver of the Year, while Lewis Hamilton dropped out of the top ten for the first time ever.
Each season, F1 asks the drivers to rank their top 10 performers of the year.
Points were awarded as they are in races, with first place scoring 25 points, while the votes are kept anonymous, with most choosing not to pick themselves.
Almost every driver chose to take part, with only Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg absent.
Hamilton was booted out of the top ten for the first time since the poll started eight years ago.
Verstappen was voted top of the list by six drivers, meaning he won the award for the fifth time in the row, despite Lando Norris being crowned world champion this season.
The Dutchman missed out on a fifth consecutive driver’s title by just two points in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Norris came in second, the same as last year while George Russell snatched P3 from Oscar Piastri.
There was a silver lining for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc coming in fifth, ahead of sixth-place Carlos Sainz.
The Spaniard, who was replaced by Hamilton at Ferrari, bagged two podiums for Williams, and the team’s first since 2021.
Two rookies appeared on the grid in Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar, while Alex Albon appeared for the first time in eighth.
Fernando Alonso climbed two spots to be the seventh-best driver.
Hamilton finished 86 points behind his teammate Leclerc, and did not finish on the podium in a Grand Prix all season for the first time in his career.
The British 40-year-old did win the sprint race in China in March.
Hamilton arrived at Ferrari last season having spent 12-years racing for Mercedes where he won six of his seven world titles.
His title rival from 2021, Verstappen, said it was not nice to watch Hamilton struggle last term.
The Red Bull driver said: “It has obviously not been a nice season for him at Ferrari.
“You notice that in everything, including the onboard radio. I have to tell you, it really hurts to see him like that.
“For me, too, to be honest. I don’t like seeing that.
“Stopping, I don’t know, because I don’t think he’s giving up. Lewis will definitely be there.”
The Dutchman also highlighted how difficult the transition from Mercedes to Ferrari has been for the Brit.
He said: “If you don’t feel secure or comfortable within the team dynamic you cannot be yourself and that has an impact,”
“You leave a team that has been your second family in Mercedes and you have built up such a career with them.
“Everyone benefited off that, Mercedes and Lewis and then going in a completely different route is not easy, plus you are going up against a guy (Charles Leclerc) that has been there for a while. It is very tough.”