F1, the 10 ‘bosses’ pick the best of 2022: Verstappen and Leclerc smile, Hamilton and Sainz don’t

New recognition for Max Verstappen

More recognition for Max Verstappen, who after winning Formula 1 World Championships in 2021 and 2022 was also elected best driver by the ten team principals in a poll conducted in the aftermath of the season’s end, the result of which was published Tuesday night on F1’s official channels.

Each ‘boss’ had ten preferences available, each of which was worth as many points as are awarded during races (25 for first, 18 for second, and so on). Verstappen routed the competition with 207 points, beating out Ferrarista Charles Leclerc, who stopped at 144. Third was George Russell with 127 points, beating, in the particular ranking, Lewis Hamilton (100 points for the multiple world champion). Even further back was the other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, who finished seventh with 68 points, behind Sergio Perez (91) and Lando Norris (81).

Closing out the top 10 are Valtteri Bottas (67 points), Fernando Alonso (29) and Sebastian Vettel (24).