2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg has revealed his top five drivers of 2020, in addition to praising a few other racers who didn’t quite make the cut.
He gave his former Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton the top spot in his ranking, ahead of Max Verstappen, describing them as being in a “league of their own” this year.
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Rosberg said it was a close call between Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Leclerc for third, but ultimately picked the Ferrari driver as he has done an “amazing” job maximising the performance of the SF1000 this year.
“I’ll go for Leclerc for P3, because what he got out of that Ferrari was amazing this season and the way he beat Vettel, who’s also one of the best of all-time, I mean incredible talent. And to beat Vettel in that way, Leclerc number three,” Rosberg said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel on Friday.
Fourth place went to Daniel Ricciardo, with Pierre Gasly getting fifth place for “improving so much this season” and putting in a stellar performance to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Rosberg also praised Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg for having a strong 2020 season.
Surprisingly, Sergio Perez wasn’t mentioned by Rosberg despite the Mexican winning last weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix and being consistently strong all season long.
Perez will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix towards the back of the grid irrespective of where he qualifies today due to a grid penalty for a power unit change.
He will eagerly be looking to cut his way through the field on Sunday in a bid to maintain P4 in the Drivers’ Standings.
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