While 2025 was a year to remember for Formula 1 in many ways, it was one that a number of drivers will be keen to forget.
Here's how I'd rank those drivers, along with those who I don't think were quite among the 10 best of the season.
21. Jack Doohan
There were many who doubted that Doohan would hold onto his Alpine seat until the end of the season, and the Aussie was unable to prove them wrong.
He failed to score a point in the six rounds he competed in, never crossing the line higher than P13, and made a number of errors.
Would he have been better if given more time and/or a better car? Perhaps, but I can only judge him off what he did during his limited time on the grid.
20. Franco Colapinto
Doohan can take some solace in the fact that the man who replaced him wasn't much better, with Colapinto failing to live up to expectations.
He returned to the grid as an exciting talent after impressing for Williams in 2024, but after recording no top-10 finishes and being comfortably outperformed by teammate Pierre Gasly, his reputation has been damaged.
19. Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda was given a Red Bull seat after a strong opening two race weekends in the RB, but he then struggled immensely alongside Max Verstappen.
He scored points on only seven out of 21 weekends, and he never had the pace to be anywhere near his teammate, losing his spot on the grid for 2026 as a result.
18. Lance Stroll
Another year of Formula 1 and another year of Lance Stroll being completely outperformed by a teammate.
The Canadian was out-qualified by Fernando Alonso in every single round, beat him in just three of 17 Grands Prix where both finished, and scored 22 points fewer.
There were a few good performances, but it's as obvious as ever that Stroll is only an Aston Martin driver because his dad owns the team.
17. Liam Lawson
Lawson's season couldn't have started any worse, with the New Zealander being dropped by Red Bull after just two races having been lightyears away from Verstappen.
Things got better once he returned to sister team RB, with him producing a few strong performances and finishing inside the top 10 on seven Sundays. However, he was still very much second best to teammate Isack Hadjar.
16. Lewis Hamilton
It feels strange putting F1 great Hamilton so low down in such a list, but it was undoubtedly the worst season of his career.
It started well, with a sprint race victory in China, but it was all downhill from there. Over the rest of the season, he failed to score a single Grand Prix podium and rarely troubled teammate Charles Leclerc, with how he compared in the second half of the season particularly dismal.
Some decent drives before the summer break mean that it's too soon to say that his days as a top driver are behind him, but it feels like if he doesn't prove that's not the case next season, it will be his last.
15. Esteban Ocon
I struggled to recall a single thing about Ocon's 2025 season before looking it up, which just about says it all. It wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't good either.
He was expected to establish himself as Haas' lead driver in his first season with the team, but was instead overshadowed by rookie Ollie Bearman, being second-best more often than not in both qualifying sessions and races.
The Frenchman did produce some strong drives and was a victim of bad luck at times, but he'll be the first to admit his season wasn't what he'd hoped it would be.
14. Gabriel Bortoleto
We're now on to the drivers who will be largely satisfied with how they drove in 2025, and the first of them is Brazilian rookie Bortoleto.
He performed really well in qualifying, leading the Saturday H2H with teammate Nico Hulkenberg 12-11, and while his race-day drives weren't quite as good, his excellent run of form in the summer which saw him score points in four out of six races showed he's a real talent.
The 21-year-old lacked consistency, making a fair few errors in races, but all things considered, it was a solid first season on the grid.
13. Nico Hulkenberg
It was a different kind of season for Hulkenberg. For much of his career, the veteran has been rapid in qualifying but has struggled to carry that form into races, whereas in 2025, he had less raw pace but stronger Sunday drives.
His biggest reward for that was finally scoring a podium, ending the longest wait for a top-three finish that an F1 driver has ever had to endure at the British Grand Prix, which was one of many impressive performances.
The 38-year-old wasn't quick enough to fight at the very front of the midfield consistently, and whether that pace has deserted him for good or not could determine how successful he is in spearheading Audi's F1 project, but he remains a top driver.
12. Alex Albon
It was a season of two halves for Albon, who started it as Williams' star man but ended very much in the shadow of Carlos Sainz.
I expected him to be second-best to Sainz in their intra-team battle, but he made a stunning start to the year, scoring points in seven of the first eight rounds including two top-five finishes. However, he then dropped off and failed to finish a single one of the final eight Sundays inside the top 10, whereas Sainz got two podiums in that period.
That may have left him ending the year in somewhat low spirits, but it can't be forgotten that he was perhaps the best driver outside of the top teams in the opening stages of it. The question now is whether he can find that form again in 2026 and avoid becoming little more than Sainz's support act.
11. Pierre Gasly
Gasly recorded the lowest points tally of his F1 career in 2025, but in terms of his driving alone, it was nonetheless another strong season for the Frenchman.
Having to drive what was the worst car on the grid for most of the year, he did the best he could, comfortably outperforming both of the teammates he had and scoring every single one of Alpine's points with some top-class drives.
For the fifth season in a row, Gasly has shown that he's an extremely well-rounded driver, one who deserves a better car than the one he's been stuck in.