Hamilton, Schumacher, Verstappen, Alonso, Vettel: F1's best 21st century drivers ranked

Most ranking and tier systems have to have an element of personal preference sneak in.

The Telegraph have, however, devised a process to avoid that where possible when it comes to ranking the 25 greatest Formula 1 drivers of the 21st century.

Following on from their list a few yeas ago, they have tweaked the entry requirements.

The two key criteria for this list are as follows: Drivers have to have had multiple podium finishes between 2000 and 2021, and they have to have complete three full seasons in Formula 1.

Thirty five drivers fit these criteria, but The Telegraph have whittled it down to a top 25.

The ranking numbers alongside the names have been reached by a metric that combines race wins, weighted points rankings and how they performed in relation to their teammate.

They also adopted the 2010-2018 method of points scoring down to 10th and applied it to all races from 2000 until the end of the 2021 season. 

So without further ado, lights out and away we go!

25 – Pierre Gasly – 715

24 – Carlos Sainz – 723

23 – Jarno Trulli – 744

22 – Jacques Villeneuve – Rating 750

21 – Rubens Barrichello – Rating 792

20 – Lando Norris – Rating 807

19 – Nick Heidfeld – Rating 836

18 – Felipe Massa – Rating 917

17 – Giancarlo Fisichella – Rating 918

16 – Mark Webber – Rating 1052

15 – Sergio Perez – Rating 1054

14 – David Coulthard – Rating 1131

13 – Valtteri Bottas – Rating 1154

12 – Daniel Ricciardo – Rating 1172

11 – Charles Leclerc – Rating 1178

10 – Ralf Schumacher – Rating 1212

9 – Juan Pablo Montoya – Rating 1244

8 – Nico Rosberg – Rating 1331

7 – Jenson Button – Rating 1685

6 – Max Verstappen – Rating 1699

5 – Kimi Raikkonen – Rating 1789

4 – Michael Schumacher – Rating 2131

3 – Sebastian Vettel – Rating 2439

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