List of Champions:
2018: Sebastian Vettel
2019: Sebastian Vettel [2nd]
2020: Valtteri Bottas
2021: Max Verstappen
2022: Charles Leclerc
We will go backwards in time, from 2022, to gauge the best tester of Formula 1. In short, official test sessions will be treated as timed points sessions, and each test session over a season counts towards the championship with the points system reflective of that year's championship.
The most recent phase, 2009-2022, will be a little more lenient with what counts as a test, and it is undecided as of yet whether the whole event or each individual day will be counted. 2008 and earlier will be more strict and only count multi-team official tests.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
After two races into 2022, Nikita Mazepin is ahead of Max Verstappen in the standings. Lando Norris won the opening event, with Charles Leclerc taking the championship lead through consistency.
1. Charles Leclerc 44 (1 2)
2. Lando Norris 26 (1)
3. Carlos Sainz Jr. 25 (3 5)
4. George Russell 24 (4 4)
5. Pierre Gasly 18 (2)
6. Sebastian Vettel 16 (6 6)
7. Daniel Ricciardo 15 (3)
8. Lewis Hamilton 10 (5 16)
9. Yuki Tsunoda 6 (7)
10. Sergio Perez 6 (7)
11. Fernando Alonso 4 (8)
12. Nikita Mazepin 4 (8 15)
13. Max Verstappen 2 (9)
14. Alex Albon 2 (9 11)
15. Valtteri Bottas 1 (10 15)
16. Zhou Guanyu 1 (10)
17. Nicholas Latifi 0 (11 14)
18. Mick Schumacher 0 (12 13)
19. Lance Stroll 0 (12 13)
20. Esteban Ocon 0 (14)
21. Robert Kubica 0 (16)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
Lewis Hamilton won round three while Pierre Gasly won round four. It briefly bumped Mercedes up the order, but the sheer consistency and power of Ferrari means that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. are running away with this. Sebastian Vettel has been mad consistent, while Daniel Ricciardo (the 2022 Reject of the Year) is still ahead of Max Verstappen.
CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER AFTER FOUR ROUNDS: Charles Leclerc
1. Charles Leclerc 67 (1 2 3 6)
2. Carlos Sainz Jr. 50 (2 3 5 7)
3. Pierre Gasly 44 (1 2 14)
4. George Russell 44 (2 4 4 9)
5. Lewis Hamilton 36 (1 5 11 16)
6. Lando Norris 34 (1 6 11)
7. Sebastian Vettel 30 (5 6 6 8)
8. Sergio Perez 22 (3 7 10)
9. Daniel Ricciardo 16 (3 10)
10. Alex Albon 16 (5 8 9 11)
11. Max Verstappen 14 (4 9)
12. Lance Stroll 12 (4 12 13)
13. Valtteri Bottas 7 (7 10 15 16)
14. Yuki Tsunoda 6 (7)
15. Fernando Alonso 4 (8 12 12)
16. Nikita Mazepin 4 (8 15 15)
17. Nicholas Latifi 2 (9 11 14)
18. Zhou Guanyu 1 (10 13 14)
19. Mick Schumacher 0 (12 13)
20. Esteban Ocon 0 (13 14)
21. Pietro Fittipaldi 0 (15)
22. Robert Kubica 0 (16)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
Welcome back to BLM! Round 5/7 saw a brilliant win for Carlos Sainz Jr., which took him to the top of the standings by a single point after Charles Leclerc could only manage 6th. Max Verstappen was back on the ball, but obviously far too late for any championship challenge considering his start to the season, while George russell disappointed outside of the points.
Round 6/7, the last event for nine months, saw Verstappen win, with Leclerc second. Leclerc's blinding consistency pushed him back ahead of Sainz, and far away at that. Fernando Alonso got his Alpine onto the podium, which would be a welcome change for a struggling team in this championship. Lewis Hamilton's hopes for the "best of the rest" slot were scuppered when he finished 17th. Mick Schumacher was able to avoid embarrassment by getting 4 points on the board, and himself ahead of former teammate Nikita Mazepin.
Then, the audience waited nine months to see which Ferrari driver would end up on top. In the November event, Ferrari were so dominant that they took the top three spots! Sainz won, becoming the only driver to win two rounds. But with Leclerc behind in second, the climb was too steep to overtake his teammate. Debutant Robert Schwarzman took home a great third to make a Ferrari 1-2-3, while a brilliant 6-7 for Williams took both their drivers up the order significantly. Liam Lawson and Nyck de Vries also did great to steal some points at the final round.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Charles Leclerc 111 (1 2 2 2 3 6 6)
2. Carlos Sainz Jr. 102 (1 1 2 3 5 7 13)
3. Max Verstappen 68 (1 2 4 5 9)
4. Pierre Gasly 56 (1 2 4 12 14)
5. George Russell 56 (2 4 4 4 9 13 23)
6. Lewis Hamilton 48 (1 4 5 11 16 17 17)
7. Lando Norris 44 (1 6 7 9 11 18)
8. Sebastian Vettel 35 (5 6 6 8 8 10)
9. Lance Stroll 29 (3 4 9 12 13 16)
10. Sergio Perez 28 (3 7 7 10 13)
11. Alex Albon 24 (5 6 8 9 11 14)
12. Fernando Alonso 19 (3 8 12 12 12)
13. Valtteri Bottas 17 (5 7 10 11 15 16 16)
14. Daniel Ricciardo 16 (3 10)
15. Robert Schwarzman 15 (3)
16. Yuki Tsunoda 15 (6 7 10 20)
17. Esteban Ocon 10 (5 13 14)
18. Logan Sargeant 6 (7)
19. Mick Schumacher 4 (8 12 12 13)
20. Nikita Mazepin 4 (8 15 15)
21. Nyck de Vries 4 (8)
22. Nicholas Latifi 2 (9 11 14 14 15)
23. Kevin Magnussen 2 (9 18)
24. Zhou Guanyu 1 (10 11 13 14 15)
25. Liam Lawson 1 (10)
26. Jack Doohan 0 (11)
27. Oscar Piastri 0 (14)
28. Pietro Fittipaldi 0 (15 21)
29. Felipe Drugovich 0 (15)
30. Robert Kubica 0 (16)
31. Nico Hulkenberg 0 (19)
32. Frederik Vesti 0 (22)
33. Theo Pourchaire 0 (24)
Pierre Gasly doubles Sergio Perez's points count. George Russell is the highest placed non-winner. Lance Stroll quite close to Sebastian Vettel in the standings. Robert Schwarzman ahead of five full-time 2022 runners. Alex Albon doing great for Williams, while Sargeant beat Latifi. Mazepin beat Magnussen, while Theo Pourchaire is quite clearly a total scrub.
Charles Leclerc is the 2022 BLM Champion.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
2021 now. In the opening pre-season round, Max Verstappen dominated the event ahead of a big pile of different teams and drivers. The championship was all to play for, especially as Verstappen himself was absent from the following event. In the second race Valtteri Bottas, who had previously finished 17th in Round 1, was victorious and now in the championship hunt himself. Lance Stroll so nearly took the lead in the standings, but was beaten to the punch by Lando Norris, whose 2-4 results were just enough to eek him over the line.
After 2/5 rounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER: Lando Norris
1. Lando Norris 30 (2 4)
2. Lance Stroll 27 (3 4)
3. Valtteri Bottas 26 (1 17)
4. Max Verstappen 26 (1)
5. Pierre Gasly 22 (2 8)
6. Antonio Giovinazzi 18 (5 6)
7. Esteban Ocon 15 (3)
8. Carlos Sainz Jr. 10 (5 13)
9. Daniel Ricciardo 8 (7 9)
10. Nicholas Latifi 6 (7)
11. Sergio Perez 4 (8)
12. Yuki Tsunoda 2 (9 11)
13. Lewis Hamilton 1 (10 15)
14. Fernando Alonso 1 (10)
15. Charles Leclerc 0 (11)
16. Mick Schumacher 0 (12 16)
17. Kimi Räikkönen 0 (12)
18. Sebastian Vettel 0 (13 16)
19. Nikita Mazepin 0 (14 15)
20. Roy Nissany 0 (14)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
2021 ended in farce. Verstappen came back to win round 3, the last of the March events, while absolutely none of his rivals scored anything. It meant that he had a massive lead when the grid returned at season end in December. Trundling around at the back, he did not even bother doing a glory run, and indeed nobody was able to challenge him regardless. Sainz, Gasly, Norris, were all there or thereabouts, but not fast enough to challenge. Indeed, it was people like Nyck de Vries and Robert Schwarzman who turned up last minute to actually challenge Verstappen. With another day, they might just have done so. A final second place for Lando Norris at the season finale (which Max didn't even turn up to) was enough for runner-up, while Sainz was able to steal third from Gasly at the last minute.
(Valtteri Bottas' results surely have to be the most bizarre of the lot).
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Max Verstappen 52 (1 1 17)
2. Lando Norris 48 (2 2 4 11)
3. Carlos Sainz Jr. 35 (3 5 6 13)
4. Pierre Gasly 32 (2 5 8 12)
5. Lance Stroll 29 (3 4 9 18)
6. Robert Schwarzman 27 (1 10)
7. Valtteri Bottas 26 (1 12 16 17)
8. Nyck de Vries 26 (1)
9. Yuki Tsunoda 20 (2 9 11 14)
10. George Russell 20 (4 6 18)
11. Liam Lawson 18 (2)
12. Antonio Giovinazzi 18 (5 6)
13. Daniel Ricciardo 18 (7 7 8 9)
14. Sebastian Vettel 15 (3 13 16 17)
15. Esteban Ocon 15 (3 13 16)
16. Oscar Piastri 15 (3)
17. Kimi Räikkönen 12 (4 12)
18. Pato O’Ward 12 (4)
19. Lewis Hamilton 11 (5 10 15)
20. Zhou Guanyu 14 (5 8)
21. Sergio Perez 10 (8 8 9)
22. Fernando Alonso 9 (7 9 10)
23. Juri Vips 8 (6)
24. Nicholas Latifi 6 (7)
25. Nick Yelloly 6 (7)
26. Charles Leclerc 1 (10 11 11)
27. Pietro Fittipaldi 1 (10)
28. Mick Schumacher 0 (12 15 16 19)
29. Antonio Fuoco 0 (13)
30. Nikita Mazepin 0 (14 14 15)
31. Roy Nissany 0 (14)
32. Logan Sargeant 0 (15)
Max Verstappen is the 2021 BLM Champion.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
It was yet another strange season to behold in 2020, as Mercedes were fastest out of the gate and more or less stayed there. Sergio Perez took an early lead in the second test, but really it was either Hamilton or Bottas who were in the running, and they between them took strong results day after day. It was so close that by the end of the fifth day, we were looking at an absolute tie of results from both the Merc drivers with two rounds to spare. At the sixth round, Bottas took a second win and was able to defeat Hamilton in a straight fight.
Further back, Perez lost steam while Verstappen picked up lots of late points. Drivers like Gasly, Ricciardo, and Kvyat were all very consistent, while surprise victories were picked up by Räikkönen and Kubica. The main runners did not take part in the year-end test, but that didn't stop Fernando Alonso from returning briefly to take a brilliant win in Abu Dhabi.
Also Charles Leclerc's year was a disaster.
Final Standings
1. Valtteri Bottas 78 (1 1 2 7 9 13)
2. Lewis Hamilton 62 (1 2 5 7 9 13)
3. Max Verstappen 60 (2 2 6 4 8)
4. Sergio Perez 54 (2 3 3 7)
5. Daniel Ricciardo 42 (3 3 7 7 11 11)
6. Pierre Gasly 40 (2 5 5 9)
7. Robert Kubica 38 (1 4 13)
8. Sebastian Vettel 35 (1 6 10 13)
9. Daniil Kvyat 33 (4 5 5 10)
10. Lance Stroll 32 (3 4 8 10)
11. Esteban Ocon 31 (3 6 8 8 12 19)
12. Kimi Räikkönen 26 (1 12 18)
13. Fernando Alonso 26 (1)
14. Alex Albon 22 (4 6 10 10 14)
15. Nyck de Vries 18 (2)
16. Charles Leclerc 16 (4 8 11 13)
17. Stoffel Vandoorne 15 (3)
18. Nicholas Latifi 12 (4 12 14 15)
19. Carlos Sainz Jr. 12 (6 8 11 12)
20. Lando Norris 11 (5 10 14 17)
21. Yuki Tsunoda 10 (5)
22. George Russell 10 (7 9 9 15)
23. Antonio Giovinazzi 8 (6 12 15)
24. Juri Vips 8 (6)
25. Antonio Fuoco 6 (7)
26. Callum Ilott 4 (8)
27. Kevin Magnussen 2 (9 13 14 16)
28. Zhou Guanyu 2 (9)
29. Jack Aitken 1 (10)
30. Romain Grosjean 0 (11 11 12 16)
31. Robert Schwarzman 0 (11)
32. Sebastien Buemi 0 (12)
33. Marino Sato 0 (13)
34. Roy Nissany 0 (14)
35. Mick Schumacher 0 (15)
Valtteri Bottas is the 2020 BLM Champion!
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
The 2019 season could be seen as the last of the "serious" championships. Two events of four days each, plus the two end-of-year tests. That's ten rounds, so a season we'll have to chew through. Here's how the standings looked like after the first four rounds.
Championship Leader: Nico Hulkenberg
1. Nico Hulkenberg 39 (1 6 8 10)
2. Sebastian Vettel 38 (1 4)
3. Daniil Kvyat 34 (1 6)
4. Charles Leclerc 34 (1 6)
5. Daniel Ricciardo 32 (3 3 9 11)
6. Alex Albon 30 (2 4)
7. Kimi Räikkönen 28 (2 5)
8. Romain Grosjean 25 (3 7 8)
9. Valtteri Bottas 24 (4 6 8 11)
10. Max Verstappen 22 (4 5)
11. Carlos Sainz Jr. 20 (2 9)
12. Lando Norris 18 (2 11)
13. Kevin Magnussen 17 (3 9)
14. Antonio Giovinazzi 16 (5 7)
15. Lewis Hamilton 13 (5 9 10 12)
16. Sergio Perez 7 (7 10)
17. Pierre Gasly 7 (7 10)
18. Pietro Fittipaldi 4 (8 12)
19. Lance Stroll 0 (11 12)
20. George Russell 0 (13 13)
21. Robert Kubica 0 (14)
You see correctly, folks: Nico Hulkenberg leads the championship. During the first two days, the Ferraris took a win each while allowing fair play for the other to dominate. From there, we saw consistent results from the likes of Ricciardo and Albon, not to mention Kvyat and Räikkönen. Regardless of the day they were all able to take front-row results, convincingly putting themselves in the running against the Ferrari juggernaut. A dreadful season for Lewis Hamilton, although teammate and 2020 BLM champion Valtteri Bottas' results have improved almost sequentially day by day. We shall see if the gap is small enough for Mercedes to bridge it - they have more time than in the following years to do so.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
With eight rounds now run, Vettel's charge returned after a glimmer of challenge from his teammate Charles Leclerc. Hulkenberg dropped out of contention rather quickly, showing that his win was probably a fluke, while the McLarens and the Mercedes found a late stride to jump up the order.
Championship Leader: Sebastian Vettel
1. Sebastian Vettel 91 (1 1 3 4 4)
2. Charles Leclerc 66 (1 1 6 7 13)
3. Nico Hulkenberg 60 (1 4 6 6 8 10 10 13)
4. Lando Norris 59 (1 2 3 11)
5. Alex Albon 56 (2 2 4 6)
6. Carlos Sainz Jr. 54 (1 2 6 9)
7. Daniil Kvyat 50 (1 5 6 7)
8. Daniel Ricciardo 47 (3 3 5 8 9 10 11 12)
9. Valtteri Bottas 43 (3 4 6 8 8 11 11 13)
10. Romain Grosjean 43 (3 5 7 7 8 9)
11. Kimi Räikkönen 42 (2 4 5 9)
12. Pierre Gasly 37 (2 4 7 10)
13. Lewis Hamilton 34 (2 5 9 9 10 10 12 12)
14. Max Verstappen 30 (4 5 6 11)
15. Antonio Giovinazzi 30 (5 5 7 8)
16. Sergio Perez 25 (2 7 10 12)
17. Kevin Magnussen 22 (3 8 9 10 12)
18. Lance Stroll 21 (3 7 11 12)
19. Pietro Fittipaldi 4 (8 12)
20. George Russell 2 (9 11 13 13)
21. Robert Kubica 0 (11 13 14)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
In the end, Sebastian Vettel won the championship with some ease. The only late changes came with a bizarre win by George Russell, after Valtteri Bottas finally got a win on the scoreboard for Mercedes. This put the Finn (the 2020 champion) with over double the points of his teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton, who has yet to win a championship.
However, it was the Ferraris, followed by the Mercs, McLarens, and Toro Rossos, who dominated the season. It was very refreshing to see so many drivers on the podium, although the roster of drivers was noticeably smaller than in years past.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Sebastian Vettel 109 (1 1 2 3 4 4)
2. Charles Leclerc 84 (1 1 2 6 7 13)
3. Valtteri Bottas 69 (1 3 4 6 8 8 11 11 13)
4. Lando Norris 67 (1 2 3 6 11)
5. Daniil Kvyat 65 (1 3 5 6 7)
6. Carlos Sainz Jr. 64 (1 2 5 6 9)
7. Alex Albon 62 (2 2 4 6 7)
8. Nico Hulkenberg 60 (1 4 6 6 8 10 10 13)
9. Romain Grosjean 53 (3 5 5 7 7 8 9)
10. Pierre Gasly 49 (2 4 4 7 10)
11. Daniel Ricciardo 47 (3 3 5 8 9 10 11 12)
12. Kimi Räikkönen 43 (2 4 5 9 10)
13. Sergio Perez 37 (2 4 7 10 12)
14. Lance Stroll 36 (3 3 7 11 12)
15. Max Verstappen 36 (4 5 6 7 11)
16. Lewis Hamilton 34 (2 5 9 9 10 10 12 12)
17. Antonio Giovinazzi 32 (5 5 7 8 9)
18. George Russell 30 (1 9 9 11 13 13)
19. Kevin Magnussen 22 (3 8 9 10 12)
20. Esteban Ocon 12 (6 8)
21. Pietro Fittipaldi 8 (8 8 12)
22. Nicholas Latifi 1 (10)
23. Roy Nissany 0 (11 12)
24. Robert Kubica 0 (11 13 14)
25. Sean Gelael 0 (11)
Sebastian Vettel is the 2019 BLM Champion!
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
2018 has a whopping 14 rounds: 8 pre-season, two in May, two during the summer break at the Hungaroring, then two at Abu Dhabi. The season began with a strong start for Sebastian Vettel and the Mercedes drivers, but it was Fernando Alonso who provided the breakthrough result. At round 3, it was so snowy in Spain that nobody bar the home hero set a time. This meant that he got a default win which, along with a seventh place at the fourth round, pushed him to the top of the standings ahead of the earlier leading Valtteri Bottas. After the first set of rounds this is how the order looks.
CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER: Fernando Alonso
1. Fernando Alonso 41 (1 5 7)
2. Sebastian Vettel 40 (1 3)
3. Valtteri Bottas 36 (2 2 12)
4. Lewis Hamilton 33 (1 6)
5. Stoffel Vandoorne 33 (2 3)
6. Carlos Sainz Jr. 28 (5 5 6)
7. Daniel Ricciardo 25 (1)
8. Kimi Räikkönen 15 (3)
9. Max Verstappen 14 (4 9)
10. Nico Hulkenberg 12 (4 11)
11. Kevin Magnussen 12 (4 11)
12. Pierre Gasly 9 (6 10)
13. Lance Stroll 8 (7 9)
14. Robert Kubica 6 (7)
15. Sergey Sirotkin 4 (8 13 15)
16. Brendon Hartley 4 (8)
17. Sergio Perez 4 (8)
18. Esteban Ocon 2 (9)
19. Romain Grosjean 1 (10)
20. Charles Leclerc 1 (10 13)
21. Marcus Ericsson 0 (11 14)
22. Nikita Mazepin 0 (12)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
Sebastian Vettel retook the championship lead and held it pretty strongly. Despite only five finishes, he is a head taller than Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in the challenging Mercedes. While Alonso's lead was usurped, he has at least managed to stay consistent, and even leads Hamilton in the standings now. Further back there are no major surprises. Kimi Räikkönen is not prospering compared to his teammate, while neither is Max Verstappen.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
The final six races of the season start with even more victories for Sebastian Vettel, and pretty soon he has an almost unassailable lead. I say almost, because Bottas ended the year very close to his score, but it was from a long way back. Vettel dominated otherwise, while the occasional big moment from Verstappen or Vettel's teammate Räikkönen bumped them up the order. There were a few quiet runners who collected points, like Ricciardo, Sainz, and even Giovinazzi. Antonio Giovinazzi must surely go down as the star runner of 2018, having beaten no less than twelve of the actual full-time runners in 2018.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
As in the real thing, the only people who matter in the 2017 championship are the Mercedes, the Ferraris, and Jolyon Palmer. Two wins apiece for the frontrunning teams, with Räikkönen putting in the best laps to just edge him into the lead.
Championship Leader: Kimi Räikkönen
1. Kimi Räikkönen 50 (1 1)
2. Lewis Hamilton 49 (1 2 7)
3. Valtteri Bottas 43 (1 6 7 8)
4. Sebastian Vettel 36 (2 2)
5. Max Verstappen 33 (2 3)
6. Jolyon Palmer 31 (3 4 8)
7. Daniel Ricciardo 25 (3 5)
8. Kevin Magnussen 24 (4 4)
9. Romain Grosjean 16 (4 8)
10. Felipe Massa 15 (3)
11. Nico Hulkenberg 14 (5 9 9)
12. Sergio Perez 14 (6 7)
13. Antonio Giovinazzi 12 (5 9)
14. Esteban Ocon 10 (5)
15. Daniil Kvyat 9 (6 10 13)
16. Marcus Ericsson 8 (6 11)
17. Stoffel Vandoorne 7 (7 10)
18. Carlos Sainz Jr. 4 (8 11)
19. Lance Stroll 2 (9 11)
20. Fernando Alonso 2 (10 10)
21. Alfonso Celis Jr. 0 (12)
Yes, you have now just remembered Alfonso Celis Jr.
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
The fight between the top two teams started to include the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen, although neither were able to take a win for their efforts. A few great performances from Bottas and Räikkönen were not enough to defeat Lewis Hamilton, who during the first in-season test at Bahrain was able to cement his dominance over the championship with five remaining races. It seems unlikely that he will be toppled, but Ferrari are strong this year and will likely continue their challenge until the end.
Shout-out to Felipe Massa as well, hanging in there with the best in his swansong season.
Championship Leader: Lewis Hamilton
1. Lewis Hamilton 122 (1 1 2 2 5 6 4 7)
2. Valtteri Bottas 94 (1 1 4 5 6 7 8 8)
3. Kimi Räikkönen 90 (1 1 1 3)
4. Sebastian Vettel 78 (1 2 2 3 9)
5. Felipe Massa 68 (1 2 3 5 12)
6. Daniel Ricciardo 66 (2 3 3 5 6)
7. Max Verstappen 63 (2 2 3 4)
8. Nico Hulkenberg 42 (5 6 6 7 7 9 9)
9. Kevin Magnussen 38 (4 4 5 8)
10. Jolyon Palmer 36 (3 4 8 8 10 13 14)
11. Esteban Ocon 33 (3 5 6)
12. Antonio Giovinazzi 30 (2 5 9)
13. Romain Grosjean 30 (4 4 8 10 10)
14. Sergio Perez 24 (6 7 7 8)
15. Daniil Kvyat 23 (4 6 9 10 13)
16. Carlos Sainz Jr. 21 (3 8 9 11)
17. Lance Stroll 20 (5 7 9 9 11 13)
18. Stoffel Vandoorne 14 (7 7 10 10)
19. Marcus Ericsson 8 (6 11 11 11 12 12 13)
20. Sean Gelael 4 (8)
21. Pascal Wehrlein 2 (9 11 11 13)
22. Fernando Alonso 2 (10 10 11 12)
23. Alfonso Celis Jr. 1 (10 12)
24. Oliver Turvey 0 (12)
Murray Walker at the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix wrote:The other [Stewart] driver, who nobody's been paying attention to, because he's disappointing, is Jan Magnussen.
