The two drivers have dominated the rankings over recent years, finishing as the top two every year since 2016. But this is the first time that Verstappen has emerged ahead.
In what has become a long-standing tradition created by Autosport, each of the F1 team bosses were asked to pick their top 10 drivers of the year.
The individual results are kept secret – so the team principals can answer honestly – and the tally totted up using F1’s point structure that runs from 25 points for first down to 1 point for 10th.
For the first time since he entered F1 in 2015, 2021 world champion Verstappen came out on top – earning 188 points compared to Hamilton’s 174.
Lando Norris moved up to third overall off the back of a hugely impressive season with McLaren, which included him taking his maiden pole position at the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Erik Junius
He was the highest climber in the top 10, along with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr, both gaining four spots on their 2020 positions, while the returning Fernando Alonso was fifth.
Despite their wins in the Azerbaijan and Italian GPs respectively, Sergio Perez (fifth in 2020) and Daniel Ricciardo (fourth) have fallen outside the top 10.
The nine team principals who took part were Toto Wolff (Mercedes), Christian Horner (Red Bull), Andreas Seidl (McLaren), Laurent Rossi (Alpine), Otmar Szafnauer (Aston Martin), Fred Vasseur (Alfa Romeo), Franz Tost (AlphaTauri), Jost Capito (Williams) and Gunther Steiner (Haas). The only team that did not take part was Ferrari.
2021 rankings:
1. Max Verstappen 188pts
Up 1
2. Lewis Hamilton 174pts
Down 1
3. Lando Norris 100pts
Up 4
4. Carlos Sainz Jr 70pts
Up 4
5. Fernando Alonso 63pts
Re-entry
6. Charles Leclerc 58pts
Down 3
7. Pierre Gasly 56pts
Up 3
8. George Russell 44pts
Down 2
9. Valtteri Bottas 43pts
No change
10. Esteban Ocon 41pts
Re-entry
Past two seasons
2020
1 Hamilton
2 Verstappen
3 Leclerc
4 Ricciardo
5 Perez
6 Russell
7 Norris
8 Sainz
9 Bottas
10 Gasly
2019
1 Hamilton
2 Verstappen
3 Leclerc
4 Bottas
5 Vettel
6 Albon
7 Sainz
8 Ricciardo
9 Russell
10 Norris
