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FAN POWER RANKINGS: Who did you vote as the top 10 drivers of 2021 so far?
We asked you to assess the drivers' performances this season so far, and thousands of you have had your say. So now it's time to find out who has been impressing you most this year...
Our panel of judges produces its own F1 Aramco Power Rankings after each race, with Max Verstappen currently top overall, Lando Norris second and Lewis Hamilton third after 11 rounds. But how did you, the fans, vote? And how do the Fan Power Rankings differ from our judges' Power Rankings?
Scroll down to find out...
You've chosen championship protagonist Max Verstappen as your top driver from the first half of the season. With five wins – including a dominant display in Austria and supremacy at Imola – the Dutchman has been on sterling form this season. Were it not for a run of rotten races at Silverstone and in Hungary, plus that agonising Azerbaijan retirement, Verstappen's championship position would probably have matched his Power Ranking position at the top of the tree.
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Level with Verstappen, according to you, is McLaren's Lando Norris. And he's had a stunning season so far, scoring points in every race bar Hungary where Lap 1 chaos took him out. Oh, and he's already scored three podiums this season, sitting third (yes, third) in the championship ahead of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas.
George Russell is next in your Power Rankings list, with the Williams hotshot having scored his first points for the team after an impressive drive in Hungary. You've acknowledged that points aren't the only marker of brilliance, with Russell impressing in Austria as he battled Fernando Alonso; qualifying a stunning eighth at Silverstone for back to back Q3 appearances; and taking an accomplished P12 finish at Paul Ricard.
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Just behind Russell is Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. The Monegasque took a stunning pole in Monaco and proved it wasn't a fluke at the next race in Azerbaijan, and has scored points in every race that he's finished. Oh – and he took a podium in Great Britain after one of the most impressive drives of the whole season.
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A whisker behind Leclerc in the rankings is his team mate Carlos Sainz, who's settled in to life at the Scuderia with aplomb. After Leclerc's DNS at Monaco, Sainz stepped in for a maiden Ferrari podium, adding to that success in Hungary with solid points scores from Styria to Silverstone. No wonder that team boss Mattia Binotto has branded him part of the "best line-up" in F1.
Level with Sainz is AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, who's squeezing everything out of the Red Bull sister team's machinery. The Frenchman has made Q3 in all but two rounds this season and took a brilliant P5 at Silverstone – with fastest lap – plus capitalised to take a solid podium in Azerbaijan. With 50 points so far, he's more than halfway to his 2019 tally – when he spent half the season with Red Bull.
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Next up is Fernando Alonso, who produced a heroic Hungary drive to hold off a charging Lewis Hamilton for 10 laps, and help team mate Esteban Ocon to his maiden victory. The Alpine driver also enjoyed the debut F1 Sprint that saw him gain six places in a thundering start, and, having scored points in the last six consecutive races, has the longest running current points-scoring streak on the grid.
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The championship leader is ranked eighth in the Fan Power Rankings, with that Silverstone crash bound to live long in the memory. Hamilton managed a solid recovery to P3 in Hungary after a Mercedes strategy gamble went wrong after the red flag restart, while wins in Portugal and Spain came after on-track passes on rival Verstappen. Azerbaijan saw him make a late mistake and lose any chance of victory, while he struggled to P7 in Monaco too. With Red Bull and Verstappen looking super-quick, it's clear Hamilton is facing his toughest championship challenge in years.
Sebastian Vettel has shrugged off any potential post-Ferrari blues by starring at Aston Martin, finishing fifth at Monaco and jumping on late chaos to take second place in Azerbaijan. The Hungarian GP would be the highlight of his season if not for the disqualification that cost him P2 – but that did little to shake the fans' opinions of the four-time champion.
And in 10th place on the Fan Power Rankings is Hungarian Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon, who has held his ground at Alpine against the toughest of team mates in Alonso, consistently scoring points this season. P7 in Portugal was his early season highlight and, after failing to score points from Baku to Austria, Ocon bounced back in some style at the Hungaroring...
MISSING OUT
Red Bull's Sergio Perez was the driver to miss out on the top 10 in the Fan Power Rankings, just behind Ocon in terms of score. The Mexican won in Azerbaijan but had notable struggles in the Silverstone Sprint and Grand Prix – with retirement in Hungary hampering his efforts to recover.
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