Verstappen Driver of the Year say F1 bosses, interesting Top10

Team principals are polled every year to establish who their choice F1 driver has been over the course of the past season conducted by F1.com who explained the process: "For the sixth year running, we asked each of the grid’s 10 team bosses to submit their list of the top 10 drivers of the year, under the proviso their individual ranking would remain secret.

"We awarded drivers scores based on the current F1 points system, with the top driver in each list receiving 25 points down to one for 10th. Scores were then combined to create our ranking.

"The F1 team principals who took part in the vote were: Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Bruno Famin, Christian Horner, Mike Krack, Guenther Steiner, Andrea Stella, Franz Tost, Fred Vasseur, James Vowles, Toto Wolff."

Verstappen delivered a season for the ages, the best witnessed in F1 thanks to the marvellous Red Bull RB19 he mastered as no one else could, namely teammate Sergio Perez. The double World Champion simply got better and better as the year developed until he bagged his third title way before the season ended. An inevitable natural first pick for anyone.

Fernando Alonso shot up six spots as team bosses realised there was still 'fire and brimstone' in the oldest driver on the F1 grid. How he galvanised Aston Martin was inspirational. Putting the Spaniard second-best.

He was followed by an upwardly mobile Lando Norris, whose superb season impressed the guys who signed the cheques, so much that he climbed up three spots to P3 on the TP's most-wanted list.

In contrast, the biggest drop in driver 'shares' were for Mercedes driver George Russell who slid down six places to P9 on the list albeit one better than Perez in P10. The Mexican was thoroughly beaten by Verstappen, losing form inexplicably which did not impress the bosses who rated him better last year.

Charles Leclerc's shares also dropped a couple of points while Carlos Sainz's were up one after a mediocre season for Ferrari. They lie P4 and P6 respectively on the Boss List. Lewis Hamilton was the fifth most desired driver by F1 TPs, down one from last year after yet another winless season in the top flight.

Knocked off the top ten list are Sebastian Vettel (P10 in 2022) and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas (P9). In their place came Williams driver Alex Albon whose escapades impressed enough to put him P8, bettered by sensational McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri in P7 on the 'guy I would like to drive my car list' that is arguably more meaningful than how the 2023 F1 drivers' title race ended.

Notably out of the F1 TP top ten list in 2023, were the likes of Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda.