Top Ten drivers of 2016

[Nitrodaze]

Based on all round performance, who are your top 10 drivers of the 2016 season.

[Zico]

I'll name eight and in this rough order..

Hamilton, Verstappen, Rosberg, Riccardo, Sainz, Perez, Kimi, Vetel.

..and also be prepared to shuffle them slightly, especially the last 5.

[andyone]

I'll name eight and in this rough order..

Hamilton, Verstappen, Rosberg, Riccardo, Sainz, Perez, Kimi, Vetel.

..and also be prepared to shuffle them slightly, especially the last 5.

mine would look similar to yours. except i will remove Vettel on the list. too much cursing. and anger and frustration. not good for a f1 driver to react like that

[Tazio]

Boss, Fred, Verstappen, Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Perez, Sainz, Bottas, Hulkenberg.

[Zico]

I don't feel Vetels swearing should come in to the equation and his driving was largely very good so gonna have to leave him there, sorry.
I knew I'd forget someone... Fred! He should also be in my top 5-6, some great performances in a mediocre car.

[Rollo]

1. Rosberg
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Ricciardo
5. Vettel
6. Bottas
7. Ericsson
8. Bono
9. Raikkonen
10. Grosjean

[driveace]

Hamilton
Alonso
Verstappen
Vettel
Raikkonen
Rosberg
Ocon
Bottas
Grosjean
Ricciardo
Just because Vettel was "Moaner" of the year dosnt affect his placing The funny part for me was when Vettel complained about Verstappens driving to get him on the Podium then his place was taken by Ricciardo

[Koz]

mine would look similar to yours. except i will remove Vettel on the list. too much cursing. and anger and frustration. not good for a f1 driver to react like that

Come on, don't be like that, you've never wanted for Charlie to fuck off?
Think about it, every race rolling start, every shitty inconsistent steward decisions, all those stupid knee jerk reactions... They are all pretty much his fault.

[Koz]

Firstly: RB12 - this chassis would have steam rolled everything if it had a merc engine in it, with a monkey behind the wheel.

Max
Perez
Hamilton
Kimi
Ricciardo
Alonso
Hulkenberg
Sainz
Ocon

[N4D13]

I don't think I could pick out ten drivers and order them as it's very difficult for me to compare their result when in different cars, but I'm going to name Ricciardo as my driver of the year. Even though Max has taken the spotlight from him, it's the honey badger who's been getting the better results. He had to fight against an extremely hyped and talented driver, kept his head down and beat him 10-7 in qualifying and 9-7 in races. Furthermore, he had two race wins taken away from him in Spain and Monaco due to questionable calls or outright mistakes from the team.

I'm glad that we have a driver as exciting as Verstappen and that we're all hyped up about him, but let's not forget that it's Dan who's delivering most of the goods for Red Bull. At least when it comes to actual driving. ;)

[keysersoze]

In order:
Verstappen
Hamilton
Ricciardo
Rosberg
Alonso
Vettel
Perez
Raikonnen
Bottas
Hulkenberg
(11) Sainz

[Nitrodaze]

Ranking the drivers for 2016 is difficult because most drivers did not achieve their deserving performance due to some race day blunders by their team. High on this list was Hamilton and Ricciado. Ricciado should have won three races this year l feel, but only won one due to rare Redbull pitwall blunders. One has to give a thought to Kimi who on a number of his strong weekends, saw his hardwork thrown away by poor team strategy or poor pitstops by Ferrari. I think Sainz would have had slightly better results than he managed this year, partly because the Torro Rosso team were too conservative and made tons of very poor startegy calls which dampened their achievement this season.

Bottas and Massa on the other hand did not even get a chance to fight properly due to the poor car they had this season.

But if you take a moment to look for drivers that did something extraordinary this season [2016], these are what some of us would have noticed:-

1. Hamilton's won on a wet race at Monaco. Stretching out the life of his tyres longer than normal to eek out a narrow lead over a very rapid Ricciado. Obviously helped by a rare Redbull pitstop blunder.
2. Hamilton set lap records at Bahrain, Malaysia, Austin, Silverstone, Abu Dhabi to name few
3. Hamilton won his 52nd race win at Interlagos Brasil to make him the second highest race winner ahead of Alain Prost and second only to Michael Schumacher who has 91 wins.
4. Hamilton won more races in 2016 than any other driver on the grid
5. Rosberg break the lap record in Austria during practise one
6. Rosberg won nine races in 2016, second only to Hamilton with 10 races.
8. Rosberg finished on the podium 16 times out of 22 races in 2016
9. Rosberg won the driver's championship by five points
10. Verstapenn was the youngest driver to win a grand prix when he won at Barcelona. And finished 7 times on the podium.
11. Verstapenn's amazing overtakes on a wet race at the Brazillian GP.
12. Verstapenn's incredibly effective defensive driving that inspired a rule change mid season
13. Ricciado won one race at Malaysia and finished 8 times on the podium
14. Perez put the Force India on the podium twice this season at Baku and Monaco
15. Alonso put the Mclaren in fifth place twice this season. This is the highest finish of the Honda-Maclaren in three years.
16. Grojean gave Haas a dream start to the season finishing sixth in Australia and 5th in Bahrain
17. Sainz put the Torro Ross with its 2015 engine in sixth position twice ahead of 2016 shod mercedes and Ferrari engine cars.
18. Nasr's two points for Sauber at a rain drenched Interlagos secured tenth place for Sauber and effectively put Manor into administration
19. Werhlein's tenth place point for Manor which gave manor hope of securing tenth place in the constructors championship for a while
20. Kimi out performing Vettel most of the times this season
21. Vandoone scores Mclaren's first point in 2016
22. Kyvat's in a 2015 Torro Rosso defending from Verstapenn in a Redbull with a 2016 Renault engine at Singapore


I am sure there are a few other scenarios that l have not mentioned.

Hence my top ten drivers of 2016 are:

1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Verstapenn
4. Ricciado
5. Perez
6. Alonso
7. Grojean
8. Sainz
9. Nasr, Wehrlein
10. Kimi

[Tazio]

I am sure there are a few other scenarios that l have not mentioned.

Hence my top ten drivers of 2016 are:

1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Verstapenn
4. Ricciado
5. Perez
6. Grojean
7. Sainz
8. Nasr
9. Wehrlein
10. Kimi
Fred put the POS McLaren into 10th place ahead of Massa, and Sainz, outscoring his teammate by more than double points. That easily puts him in the top 5 IMHO

[Nitrodaze]

Fred put the POS McLaren into 10th place ahead of Massa, and Sainz, outscoring his teammate by more than double points. That easily puts him in the top 5 IMHO

I realized that as soon as l posted and amended my post immediately.

[Tazio]

I realized that as soon as l posted and amended my post immediately.
;)

[anfield5]

1. Rosberg - Great start to the season, did what was needed in the last third of the year with minimal risk, totally professional job
2. Mad Max - raw talent in abundance when he harnesses it he will be something really special
3. Ricciardo - fast reliable, determined
4. Perez - two podiums for FI, generally strong all season
5. Hulkenberg - slightly overshadowed by Perez, but still good
6. Alonso - Usually had the less than rapid McHonda further fprward then the thing merited, still possibly the best all round driver on the grid
7. Vettel - Started well, but poor car loaded pressure on and he started to wobble
8. Bottas - Williams car not as good as last season, showed signs of the potential race winner we know him to be
9. Hamilton - whinge, moan... moan, whinge got rather tiresome, shame someone with the talent hes undoubtedly has is such a spoiled brat.
10. Wehrlein - did the impossible and scored points for Manor, has potential

[Zico]

9. Hamilton - whinge, moan... moan, whinge got rather tiresome, shame someone with the talent hes undoubtedly has is such a spoiled brat.


:D

Dude, Cmon... the thread is about the top ten drivers.
However much of a bellend Hamilton is, is largely irrelevant . Like him or loath him, he should still be up in the top 3 imo...

[anfield5]

:D

Dude, Cmon... the thread is about the top ten drivers.
However much of a bellend Hamilton is, is largely irrelevant . Like him or loath him, he should still be up in the top 3 imo...

Fair enough, but I still rate Perez's podiums in a Force India, as more impressive than Hamilton winning a few races in a totally dominant car

[The Black Knight]

1) Lewis Hamilton - reliability cost him the championship and despite losing three qualifying sessions alone he still outqualified his teammate comprehensively. Along with Max and Alonso he is currently the best out there.
2) Max Verstappen - just a joy to watch. It took him a while to get up to speed in RBR but he was very close to Ricciardo, especially in the last quarter of the year, he was getting qualifying sorted out and bettering Danny more and more. Put in the drive of the season in Brazil. Lacks some consistency but is top class! Winning his first race with RBR having only sat into the car for the first time a couple of days earlier is also just amazing.
3) Daniel Ricciardo - Tremendously strong season and held up well against Max. There are signs that Max was getting the better of him as the year wore on and, given the age gap and relative lack of experience is why he is behind Max in my list.
4) Rosberg - improved massively as a driver this season. Was more consistent than ever before and he beat Hamilton more times than ever before. Shame he has decided to run away like a coward and not defend his title.
5) Alonso - 54 points in that piece of shite? Need not say more there.
6) Perez - podiums, outshining vastly over-rated Hulkenberg. Really maturing and coming along strong as a driver.
7) Raikkonen - improved vastly this year compared to previous years. I think the car and personnel suited him better. I'd like to see the old Kimi from the McLaren days back in F1. There were some signs throughout the year this year that he may be returning.
8) Grosjean - did a great job in Haas scoring points in the first race. Complains a little too much I felt considering it is such a new team but did a great job overall.
9) Carlos Sainz- continues to prove every week what a top driver he is. He is one of my favorite drivers on the grid. He carries himself well and is tremendously fast. I can't wait to see him in a top car.
10) Daniil Kvyat - felt so sorry for Kvyat, it must have been devastating to be dropped unfairly like he was from RBR. Nonetheless he eventually came back and his battle with Max in Singapore showed his true worth. I think he's a fabulous driver and I hope he shows just how good next year. Came on strong towards the end of the season and was deserving of better treatment imo.

[journeyman racer]

On the contrary. As opposed to being a coward, Rosberg is F1's all time greatest troll.

You're only as good as your last race, and Rosberg won the championship in his last race.

I would list a top 10. But I'm trying to decipher who was best, Rosberg or Ricciardo?

I mean. Even if Verstappen drove for RB the whole season, Ricciardo would've flogged him anyway. He just doesn't have a flashy drive to excite the plebs.

Rosberg would've won the championship with a race to spare (at least) if he didn't get battered by other drivers during the year, and moving over for Hamilton at Monaco due to team orders.

[The Black Knight]

A troll he is not. If he was a real man he'd defend his title. He's just a weak minded wimp really. Shame though, for such a fantastic driver to bow out in such a cowardly manner.

[journeyman racer]

That post confirms he's a troll.

[The Black Knight]

We'll settle on weak-minded troll then!

[Zico]

Fair enough, but I still rate Perez's podiums in a Force India, as more impressive than Hamilton winning a few races in a totally dominant car


Fair enough.

Just to clarify.. Yep, Imo Lewis has character flaws and I find him hard to like too but I have to admire him as a top drawer driver.. great to watch, very, very good. So good he became a bit careless and took his eye off the ball recently with all that wanting to get into R&B hobnobbing with Bieber, Rhianna etc etc etc... and that annoys me about him too.... but... he is very good. :/ ... and I can't take that away from him.