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Three Kiwis featured on prestigious ‘Top 50 Drivers of the Year’ list

by Matthew Sampson
December 24, 2024
in General
0

Scott McLaughlin, Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy have been recognised amongst the best drivers of the 2024 season.

Renowned publication AutoSport published their prestigious ‘Top 50 Drivers of 2024’ over the weekend, with Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen once again claiming the top spot.

He was followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris as Formula 1 locked out the top three positions.

IndyCar Champion Alex Palou was fourth, ahead of McLaughlin, the highest-ranked Kiwi or Australian, in fifth. On his way to third place in the IndyCar Series, McLaughlin, 31st on the 2023 list, took seven podiums, including three wins.

Had he not been excluded from the results in the season-opener following Penske’s ‘Push-to-pass’ scandal, he would have been level on points with Palou at the conclusion of the season and won the title by way of a tiebreaker for having more wins.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Formula E World Champion Pascal Wehrlein, World Endurance Champion Kevin Estre, duel Super Formula and Super GT champion Sho Tsuboi, and WRC champion Thierry Neuville complete the top ten.

Evans is the second-best Kiwi in the standings, ranking in 17th, the same position he was in 2023. The 30-year-old from Auckland was the runner-up in the Formula E World Championship, taking six podiums, including two wins. His efforts, combined with Cassidy’s saw Jaguar TCS Racing win the Constructor’s Championship for the first time.

Evans also won the 2024/25 season-opener in Brazil earlier this month, becoming the first ever driver in Formula E to drive from last on the grid to win a race.

Cassidy follows his teammate in 18th on the 2024 list, dropping 10 places from his 2023 eighth-placed rank. He took eight podiums, including two wins, on his way to third in the Formula E World Championship.

Cassidy looked set to clinch the Driver’s Championship, only to spin out of the lead in Portland and face issues in both London E-Prix races to score just six points points across the final four races, paving the way for Wehrlein to win the title from Evans.

Oscar Piastri was the highest-ranked Australian in 13th, while Supercars champion Will Brown was 22nd, Will Power 25th, and Matt Campbell 35th.

The 2023 list featured eight Kiwis, five of whom do not feature in 2024. This includes Brendon Hartley (16th in 2023), Scott Dixon (18th in 2023), Shane van Gisbergen (20th in 2023), Liam Lawson (29th in 2023), and Tom Blomqvist (32nd in 2023).

AutoSport’s Top 50 Drivers of 2024

1Max Verstappen
2Charles Leclerc
3Lando Norris
4Alex Palou
5Scott McLaughlin
6Carlos Sainz
7Pascal Wehrlein
8Kevin Estre
9Sho Tsuboi
10Thierry Neuville
11George Russell
12Nicklas Nielsen
13Oscar Piastri
14Laurens Vanthoor
15Joey Logano
16Kyle Larson
17Mitch Evans
18Nick Cassidy
19Colton Herta
20Kalle Rovanpera
21Pierre Gasly
22Will Brown
23Nico Hulkenberg
24Renger Van der Zande
25Will Power
26Felipe Nasr
27Lewis Hamilton
28Sebastien Buemi
29Mikkel Jensen
30Dries Vanthoor
31Sebastien Ogier
32Gabriel Bortoleto
33Mirko Bortolotti
34Ryan Blaney
35Matt Campbell
36Maro Engel
37Fernando Alonso
38Kelvin van der Linde
39Alex Albon
40Tadasuke Makino
41Ott Tanak
42Oliver Rowland
43Pato O’Ward
44Jake Hill
45Laurin Heinrich
46Yuki Tsunoda
47Tom Ingram
48Isack Hadjar
49Esteban Ocon
50Antonio Felix da Costa

Header Image: Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment

Tags: Autosport Top 50Mitch EvansNick CassidyScott McLaughlin

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