Max Verstappen voted top driver in 2019

Cape Town - Red Bull's Max Verstappen has been voted the best driver of the first half of the 2019 season, according to a poll conducted by the official Formula 1 website this week.

Fans were asked to select who they believed to be the most impressive in the first half of the 2019 campaign and Verstappen topped the rankings with an average score of 9.07 out of 10.

Verstappen has not finished outside of the top five all season long and two wins in the last four races has helped him narrow the gap to second-placed Valtteri Bottas to just seven points in the World Championship standings.

The Dutchman was clear of Hamilton in the poll, who holds second spot with an average score of 8.23 off the back of a mighty first-half of the season run which has included eight victories in 12 races and resulted in a handsome 62-point lead at the top of the standings.

Rounding out the top three was McLaren's Carlos Sainz with a score of 7.79. The Spaniard has eased into life as a McLaren driver and currently occupies P7 in the World Championship. Back-to-back P5 finishes has put him a mere five points behind Pierre Gasly, who unsurprisingly did not make the top 10.

The most notable big-name absence from the top 10 was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who is having a season to forget overall; but, back-to-back podium finishes to end the first half of the campaign gives a glimmer of hope heading into the final nine races of 2019.

The full top 10

1 Max Verstappen 9.07
2 Lewis Hamilton 8.23
3 Carlos Sainz 7.79
4 Kimi Raikkonen 7.52
5 Lando Norris 7.49
6 Charles Leclerc 7.40
7 Alex Albon 6.85
8 Daniil Kvyat 6.73
9 Valtteri Bottas 6.63
10 George Russell 6.54