MIGHTY MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS. AGAIN. AND AGAIN.

Freshly minted four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen has topped two prestigious polls for his winning efforts through season 2024.

Firstly he was voted the drivers' driver by his grand prix rivals and then he led the annual Top 50 driver rankings by respected British publication Autosport.

Lando Norris repeated his runner-up sport in the world championship with second place on the drivers' vote, while Charles Leclerc was rated as the first loser by the journalistic crew at Autosport.

In good new for Australia's motorsport fans, Oscar Piastri was rated fifth by his rival drivers – up three places from his rookie season with McLaren in 2023 – although he only managed 13th in the Top 50 poll (https://www.autosport.com/topic/top-50-drivers-of-2024/2640/).

Surprisingly, Piastri was easily beaten by former Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin in the Top 50 contest as the IndyCar racer came in at position five. Another Kiwi, Formula E racer Mitch Evans – a long-time protege of Mark Webber, who also manages Piastri – was placed 17th with Supercars champion Will Brown in 22nd.

Other Aussies to do well in the Autosport poll were IndyCar racer will Power at #25 and Porsche pilot Matt Campbell at #35 after a solid season for Porsche in GT and Le Mans racing.

The long-term Autosport poll often throws up surprises, as it tries to compare vastly different efforts in vastly different championships.

Kyle Larson, a NASCAR racer who is widely regarded as the most versatile racer in US motorsport, was only placed at #16 and Lewis Hamilton was ranked a lowly 27th, compared to his Mercedes-AMG team mate George Russell at #11.

Things were much the same for the Benz boys in the F1 drivers' poll, which was run for the seventh time at the end of the 2024 season.

Russell jumped into the Top 10 for the first time at #4 as Hamilton, completing a hit-and-miss final season, slumped by eight spots to #8.

The full Top 10 is: 1. Max Verstappen (same place), 2. Lando Norris (+2), 3. Charles Leclerc (+2), 4. George Russell (new entry), 5. Oscar Piastri (+3), 6. Carlos Sainz (same); 7. Pierre Gasly (+2), 8. Nico Hulkenberg (new entry), 9. Fernando Alonso (-6), 10. Lewis Hamilton (-8).

Most of the grand prix drivers took part in the poll, although rookie racer Oliver Bearman – who raced for Ferrari and Haas – did not take part and neither did F1 refugee Logan Sargeant after his firing from Williams.

The full list of drivers who voted is: Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson, Charles Leclerc, Kevin Magnussen, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu.

And the most notable absentee – Max Verstappen.