Sebastian Vettel Named Driver of 2009 Formula 1 Season by Team Bosses

Sebastian Vettel may have only come third in the 2009 world championship, but he has been rated as the season’s best driver by team bosses.

The driver ratings were taken from all ten team principals to figure out who the key men in the paddock believe was the star driver of the year.

And it is Vettel who has come out on top, over world champion Jenson Button – with last year’s number one rated driver, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, coming a close third.

The full AUTOSPORT F1 Team Principals’ top ten results for 2009 are:

 1. Sebastian Vettel       76
 2. Jenson Button          67
 3. Lewis Hamilton         65
 4. Fernando Alonso        39
 5. Rubens Barrichello     35
 6= Kimi Raikkonen         30
 6= Mark Webber            30
 8. Felipe Massa           19
 9. Robert Kubica          10
10. Adrian Sutil           8

Vettel was clearly delighted about being ranked as the best driver by team principals, but equally knows that the real target is to achieve the number one spot on track.

“It’s an honour to be recognised after such an exciting season with many ups and downs,” he told AUTOSPORT. “However, the votes won’t help me be faster on the track next year and it will still be down to me to prove myself again next season.”

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner, who joined in fellow team principals in contributing his own rankings for the vote, was equally happy with the outcome.

“Sebastian had a great year in 2009 and I am certain he has the makings of a future world champion,” Horner told AUTOSPORT.