Hi reader! welcome back to another article. Below we're going to rank the drivers going into the 2021 season based on current skill. Once we're done with that I'll select some tasty rankings to go more in-depth on, and predict whether they're more likely to move up or down based on their performance in the season.
Power Rankings:
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Daniel Ricciardo
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Sergio Perez
6. Sebastian Vettel
7. George Russell
8. Valterri Bottas
9. Pierre Gasly
10. Carlos Sainz Jr.
11. Lando Norris
12. Fernando Alonso
13. Lance Stroll
14. Yuki Tsunoda
15. Esteban Ocon
16. Kimi Raikkonen
17. Mick Schumacher
18. Antonio Giovinazzi
19. Nicolas Latifi
20. Nikita Mazepin
Will their stock move up, or down?
Valterri Bottas: Down
What a tough year it's been for Valterri. In three years with Mercedes, he's managed just 9 wins, and has never come closer than ~80 points towards winning the title. As far as his top flight aspirations are doing, they're over. Zero. Zilch. What's expected of Valterri is to hold down that second slot on the grid. Much like Albon for Red Bull, he's struggled to accomplish that; only reaching those heights due to the massive performance increase of the car over its rivals. Russell's drive in Sakhir was likely the nail in his Mercedes career, and we'll likely see him pop up at Alpine or Sauber in 2022.
Sebastian Vettel: Down
Im hype about the prospects of Seb in a non-Ferrari next year. For any of us who have followed F1 for a while, you can almost hear the demotivation over the radio every time he comes on to speak. After 5 tough years with the Tifosi, it's probably the best thing for both sides to move on. While he won't be winning races in this new car, Seb thrives off of having an easy teammate. If there is one on the grid, Stroll is probably up there. This gives Seb the freedom to develop, and really launch his car far up the grid. We'll see if his decline is just a matter of aging (hence the down prediction), but if it isn't he could easily justify his placement on this list.
Lando Norris: Up
To be honest, Lando's ranking in the field is so difficult to place. He had a solid, but inconsistent first season. Then he matched Sainz blow-for-blow in 2021. I'm hoping this trajectory continues for 2022, but for now it just feels like we don't have enough data to place his current skill. One things for sure though, if this were based on drivers for the future, he'd be in the top five. Based on that alone, I'm confident saying he's likely to rise in stock during the 2022 season. Plus he's just so damn like-able. How could I not say this?!
Fernando Alonso: (Hopefully) Up
Yeah, telling you how a 40-year old Alonso will fair in new machinery is not an easy job. I've gone for a somewhat neutral 11th, but if he drives anything like his past self, expect him to exceed that in 2021. Not too much to say. Great driver returns, but we'll see if he matches his pre-departure form.
Sergio Perez: Down
I'm so glad Red Bull chose Perez over Albon. Despite his charm, Albon lacked the grit needed at a top team like Red Bull. Especially with the ruthless minds of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko behind the garage. That being said, it will be the test of Sergio's life going into 2021. He's battled with good teammates like Hulkenburg and Button, but not ones on the level of prime Verstappen yet. (Although Button was that good at some point). It's going to be a challenge, but I'm excited to see if it's a challenge he can take.
George Russell: Down
It's almost impossible to fathom, that after the sweeping success George experienced in Sakhir, that he could still be underrated. That being said, he did achieve the .026 seconds off pole in a car where the pedals were bunched up around his legs. Provided he had the car setup to his liking, it would have been a near assured pole. People also tend to forget how good Valterri Bottas is. He was the second best talent of the modern Williams era behind only Nico Rosberg. In terms of drivers, he's probably somewhere between 6th and 8th best on the grid. As a result, George will still surprise some people when he makes it to Mercedes in 2022. But for now, his stock is likely to fall early on. That being said, his talent will only increase, and his drive will be more than warranted in the future.
Mick Schumacher: Up
Let me be the first person to tell you the hype around Mick Schumacher needs to be tempered a bit. His name is massive, but his career is short. He's also famous for starting slow, and this will only amplify in a massively complex world like Formula 1 That being said, he has successfully grown into every season he's been faced with. If he gets more than one back-marker year with Haas, I expect him to move as early as 2023. Not sure the potential will show and/or grow in 2021 alone, but his desire mixed with adaptability is likely to put on a show for 2022.
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