F1 team bosses name Hamilton as top driver of the year
Madrid, Dec 17 (efe-epa).- British racing driver Lewis Hamilton, who secured his seventh Formula One world title this year equaling the record of German legend Michael Schumacher, has been voted the top driver of the 2020 season by F1 team bosses in an annual survey.
Hamilton – who also broke Schumacher’s record for most F1 race wins with 95 victories so far – received 171 points in the poll, two more than his last year’s winning tally.
The list of top 10 drivers elected by the team principles doesn’t necessarily follow the F1 standings, which was evident this year as Dutchman Max Verstappen – who won the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday – was elected the second best driver with 156 points, despite finishing third in the championship behind Finn Valtteri Bottas.
The poll, released on the F1 website on Thursday, was carried out among Cyril Abiteboul (Renault), Christian Horner (red Bull), Simon Roberts (Williams), Andreas Seidl (McLaren), Guenther Steiner (Haas), Otmar Szafnauer (Racing Point), Franz Tost (AlphaTauri), Fred Vasseur (Alfa Romeo) and Toto Wolff (Mercedes).
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto did not take part in the survey, in which each team principle had to elect their list of top 10 pilots, with the first receiving 25 points, the second 18, the third 15 and so on.
Monaco’s Charles Leclerc – eighth in the championship standings – was chosen the second best driver with 132 points, followed by Australian Daniel Ricciardo (95), Mexico’s Sergio Perez (82), Brit George Russell (75), Belgian-British Lando Norris (45), Spaniard Carlos Sainz (37), Bottas and Frenchman Pierre Gasly (tied for ninth place with 27 points). EFE-EPA
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