As we draw closer to the last corner of 2017, we take a look to the five drivers that performed the best this year and won our hearts.
A few days ago we wrote an article about the best cars of 2017 from all the motorsport world and you can find the list by clicking here. Now, it’s time to take a look at the best drivers who races across the globe from January to November.
#5 Fernando Alonso
You can never stop talking about Fernando, even in the off-season. The Spaniard is preparing himself for the 24H of Daytona which is next month. This year was one of the worst of his career. Started with ambitions, but the Honda engine was indeed a disappointment. But the two-times world champion in terms of driving, made the difference again and outperformed the car in many occasions. His 7th place in Barcelona and the great overtake on Sainz in Hungary were some of his highlights. His first attempt at Indy 500 was impressive, fighting for the win even though he retired in the end. A well deserved 5th place in our list was the least we could do.
#4 Josef Newgarden
A driver who impressed many this year and made our list was the newly crowned Indycar champion Josef Newgarden. The new addition in the Penske Team proved to be a tough cookie against his more experienced teammates such as Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Newgarden impressed everyone in 2017 and in such a young age, you know he has a bright future in motorsport.
#3 Ricky and Jordan Taylor
To be honest with you, I couldn’t really choose between them and decided that both the Taylor brothers will take the number three spot on the list. Driving for the Wayne Taylor Racing, they won the 36H of Florida (Daytona 24H and Sebring 12H), went to win the first five races of the season and ended up as champions in IMSA for 2017 in style. Their driving was indeed impressive and dominated fair and square. Jordan also made an excellent appearance at Le Mans with Corvette in a year full of racing for the Taylor brothers.
#2 Brendon Hartley
You can always recognize a champion from his appearance and his body language. Brendon Hartley is not an exception and takes a well deserved 2nd place on the list. The Kiwi drove exceptionally this year and won almost everything. He won the Dubai 24H with Porsche in January and less than a month later he made a great appearance in Daytona, even though the #22 ESM Nissan DPi wasn’t the fastest car. He later went to win the 24H of Le Mans driving the race of his life alongside his teammates to prevent a surprising win from an LMP2 team. In total he won 4 races in WEC and became for the second time world champion in the series. Then, the opportunity came from Red Bull to race for Toro Rosso in F1 –with no time in the simulator- and his debut has really impressive proving he is now a really fast driver. He secured his drive in F1 for the next season and to celebrate it, won the final race in IMSA at Petit Le Mans with ESM. Hartley had indeed a great year racing and probably the best of his career.
#1 Lewis Hamilton
If you could describe Lewis Hamilton’s season in one word, that word would be “incredible”. But you just can’t, it’s not enough. The Briton had perhaps his best year in racing, driving extremely well and went on to win the world championship. Now, as a 4 times world champion, he is mature, fast and hungry for more. His determination to win was ecstatic, smashed a lot of records this year with the most important being the number one spot in total pole positions in the history. He overdroved his “diva” in many races and proved he can be considered as one of the best of all time.
Congratulations Lewis Hamilton on winning the number 1 spot in our list and best of luck to everyone in 2018.
