THE BEST DRIVERS OF THE CENTURY - SO FAR
Autosport’s Top 50 drivers of the year rankings always cause controversy and debate – both within our office and the wider motorsport world. It’s our attempt to assess and highlight the best performers each season, but that doesn’t stop some fans (and even drivers) getting very cross about the final list.
The 2021 Top 50, which was topped by Formula 1 world championship runner-up Lewis Hamilton, was the 20th edition. Since the inaugural list in 2002, 292 drivers have appeared in the Top 50, some consistently, some just the once, while others have fallen in and out as their careers ebb and flow.
Autosport launched the Top 50 in the 19-26 December 2002 issue of the magazine, when it covered only six pages as opposed to the 26 in 2021, and much of the original premise remains: “We’ve tried to spread the drivers around the different categories of motorsport as much as possible. Some have received bonus points for versatility, others for shining in adversity. All of them, though, are bloody good drivers, and this is our salute.”
To mark the milestone, we thought it was time to tot up all the scores to find out which drivers have been the outstanding performers this century – or, at least, since
