Team principal rankings 2025: Max Verstappen tops again, Carlos Sainz outranks Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen has once again been voted the best driver of the 2025 F1 season by team principals.

He did not win his fifth consecutive Formula 1 world championship by just two points, but the team principals of the paddock have no doubts: Max Verstappen remains the best driver on the grid. In the annual F1 survey among team managers, who are asked to rank drivers from first to tenth based on their performance over the past year, the Red Bull driver dominated the field for the fifth year in a row. Remarkably, since 2016, the four-time world champion has always finished first or second in the team principal vote: a consistency that underlines the recognition from those who actually sign the contracts.

Before Verstappen, the only drivers voted best of the season without winning the championship were Lewis Hamilton (2016), Fernando Alonso (2012 and 2010), and Sebastian Vettel (2009).

While Verstappen’s first place was almost expected, the positions behind him offered more interesting insights. World champion Lando Norris outranked his teammate Oscar Piastri to take second place, although the exact points were not published on the F1 website to avoid deducing individual managers’ votes. In fourth place, as in the Drivers’ Championship, is George Russell, while surprises start from fifth place onward.

Charles Leclerc, fifth in the Drivers’ standings with one pole and all seven of Ferrari’s 2025 podiums, is only seventh in this particular ranking. He lost four positions compared to 2024, when he was judged the third-best driver on the grid. Ahead of him are Fernando Alonso, proving at 44 that he remains one of F1’s most respected drivers, and Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc’s former Ferrari teammate from 2021 to 2024, recognized for an outstanding second half of the season at Williams with two podium finishes.

The final three positions of the top 10 are also noteworthy: rookies Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar rank eighth and ninth. This means that Andrea Kimi Antonelli, despite his promising debut, did not make the top 10, nor did Lewis Hamilton, which was more predictable. Tenth place goes to Nico Hulkenberg, who scored his first F1 career podium in 2025.

Eight out of ten team principals or managers participated in the vote. The only abstentions came from Red Bull and Ferrari, represented by Laurent Mekies and Fred Vasseur.

The official list of voters published by the F1 website included: McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, Williams Team Principal James Vowles, Red Bull Team Principal Alan Permane, Aston Martin Senior Leadership Team, Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, Sauber Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley, and Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen.

This annual ranking serves as a stark reminder that in the eyes of the paddock’s most powerful decision-makers, race-winning machinery is only part of the equation. While Lando Norris may hold the trophy, the collective judgment of the team principals suggests that Max Verstappen’s ability to transcend his car’s limitations remains the gold standard of the sport. As we head toward the 2026 regulations, these scores act as a definitive “power ranking” that could influence future contract negotiations and driver market valuations for years to come.