F1 All Time Point Standings: Where Does Every Driver on the Current Grid Rank?

The 2023 Formula 1 grid boasts one of the sport’s combined highest points-scoring grids of all time.

The current F1 drivers lineup features three World Champions and these drivers rank amongst the top five highest-ever points scorers.

The F1 points scoring system was revised entirely for 2010, increasing the points awarded for a win from 10 up to 25, as reported by Bleacher Report. It’s therefore not surprising that there is a huge amount of recency bias, with the current crop of drivers achieving high places on the list of all-time points scorers.

Further aiding the modern glut of drivers is the points system rewarding all who finish in the top 10, a point for the fastest lap, points for sprint qualifying races, a more reliable field due to stable regulations, an increased focus on sustainability, as well as far more races.

Drivers on the F1 grid in the year 2000 could only fight for points by finishing in the top six on Sunday, while racing highly-strung V10-engined monsters that gave little consideration to such paltry concerns like fuel consumption or reliability – meaning it was far more difficult for drivers to score points than the modern day participation trophy approach.

With that in mind, Sports Brief runs through where each driver on the 2023 grid ranks in the F1 points all-time ranking list.

319. Nyck de Vries – 2 points

While yet to score a point in 2023, his first full-time season, the Dutch driver made a once-off appearance last year as he raced for Williams when he replaced Alex Albon, who was ill, as per reports by ESPN.

Finishing in ninth, his two points are enough to place him in 319th on the all-time list. While he’ll obviously be hoping to add many more to his list, he is currently tied with names such as Danny Sullivan, Shinji Nakano, and the late Jules Bianchi and Manfred Winkelhock.

258. Oscar Piastri – 5 points

Another 2023 rookie after joining McLaren, the Australian currently ranks 258th on the all-time list after his first two points finishes in the sport.

Finishing eighth in Australia and tenth in Monaco, his five-point tally matches him with names like Mauro Baldi, Ukyo Katayama, Marc Gene, and Narain Karthikeyan.

Encouragingly for Piastri, his average of 0.71 points per race means he’s doing better than all of them.

202. Zhou Guanyu – 10 points

Now in his second year in the sport as F1’s first-ever Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu is establishing a reputation for himself as a solid midfield racer with plenty of potential.

He has scored five points finishes in Formula 1 so far, with his best result an eighth place in the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix. With 10 points on the board, he’s tied with JJ Lehto, Eric Bernard, Howden Ganley, and Pedro Diniz.

116. Yuki Tsunoda – 46 points

The AlphaTauri driver, now in his third year in Formula 1, is the first driver on the list to have a completely unique career points total – putting him in 116th overall.

With 46 points scored from 13 points finishes in his three years with the Red Bull sister team, there are far more points finishes on the way for the Japanese driver as he has stepped into the team leadership role expected of him by Red Bull.

61. Kevin Magnussen – 185 points

At 61st place on the all-time list, and with no disrespect meant at all to the Danish driver, Magnussen’s position is a good example of how the modern points system has skewed the list in favour of current drivers.

With 185 points scored from seven-and-a-half seasons as a full-time F1 driver, his points tally outranks that of several World Champions from yesteryear.

These names include Mario Andretti, James Hunt, John Surtees, Keke Rosberg, Alberto Ascari, Mike Hawthorn, Giuseppe Farina, Jochen Rindt, and Phil Hill.

56. Alex Albon – 208 points

Alex Albon has 208 points to his name, increasing his tally by six following his best finish with Williams at the Canadian Grand Prix, with a Driver of the Day performance to take P7.

The vast majority of his points have come courtesy of his two years racing for Toro Rosso and Red Bull, giving him a total of 197 before he joined Williams in 2022.

50. Lance Stroll – 231 points

The Aston Martin driver is all on his own in 50th place on the all-time list, having scored 231 points during his six-and-a-bit years in Formula 1.

His tally has him just ahead of Jacques Laffite and Clay Regazzoni, while another few points will take him clear of 1997 World Champion and compatriot Jacques Villeneuve to become the sport’s highest points-scoring Canadian.

32. Pierre Gasly – 347 points

The first F1 race winner on our list, courtesy of his victory at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly ranks 32nd on the list of F1 points scorers.

The French driver has 347 points, having just overtaken Ralf Schumacher for 32nd, which also places him just ahead of Carlos Reutemann and Juan-Pablo Montoya.

Next up on Gasly’s list is 31st-place occupier, George Russell, who might be a tougher task to topple.

The likelier targets to fall to Gasly are World Champions, Damon Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart, both of whom have 360 points, while Gerhard Berger is a further 25 points up the road.

31. George Russell – 359 points

Another single race winner after his victory in Brazil last year, Russell is unlikely to be looking over his shoulder back at Gasly due to their respective cars, but will instead be focusing on toppling Hill and Stewart.

With 359 points, even taking the fastest lap next time out in Canada would be enough to do so.

Realistically, with a decent season, Russell can eye becoming one of the sport’s top 20 points-scorers this year, with several retired World Champions within range.

These include Mika Hakkinen and Niki Lauda, who are on 420 and 420.5 respectively, while Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet are a little further up the road on 482 and 485.5 each.

26. Esteban Ocon – 393 points

Yet another driver with a sole race victory, due to his win at the Hungaroring in 2021, Ocon can still move further forward on the list of all-time points scorers, despite the fact that his Alpine is unlikely to be a race winner this year.

As mentioned with Russell, several World Champions remain within reach, and Ocon leapfrogged countryman Romain Grosjean with his points in Canada last time out – with Mika Hakkinen and Niki Lauda next in his sights.

23. Lando Norris – 440 points

At 23rd on the list with 440 points, Norris can eye up a top-20 position by year-end, given he’s circa 40 points down on Mansell and Piquet.

Nico Hulkenberg may be within reach, given his less competitive machine, but the German has an 87-point lead over Norris as he holds 20th on the all-time list.

20. Nico Hulkenberg – 527 points

Nico Hulkenberg made his F1 debut at the exact race where the revised, higher-weighting points system was introduced – the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.

With 527 points scored in the years since, albeit with interruptions, Hulkenberg may still be able to make some inroads into those ahead of him, despite his uncompetitive Haas this year.

Norris is likely to close the gap over the remaining races this year, and is just eight points behind David Coulthard.

But Hulkenberg is 87 points down on three-time F1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, meaning any further progress up the table is unlikely this season.

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15. Carlos Sainz – 850.5 points

Sainz ranks 15th on the all-time list, having overtaken four-time World Champion, Alain Prost since the start of the 2023 season.

Sainz is now 52 points clear of the French driver, with 850.5 points to his name, with his next opponent on the table being Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc

14. Charles Leclerc – 922 points

While Sainz boasts a points average of five per race, Leclerc’s is an impressive 8.38, despite his reasonably bad luck throughout his F1 career.

While Leclerc has lost ground to Sainz since the start of 2023, he’s not likely to be looking back at his teammate’s progress, and is instead more likely to be thinking about toppling 13th-place Mark Webber, who is 125.5 points clear.

Felipe Massa is a further 107.5 points up the road in 12th place, meaning Leclerc may have to wait until next year to climb up the points table.

9. Sergio Perez – 1327 points

Perez has been racing in F1 for more than a decade uninterrupted, having made his debut a year after the revised higher points system was introduced.

Moving into ninth place ahead of Ricciardo thanks to a fourth-place finish in Spain, he is still well behind eighth-placed Michael Schumacher. He’ll need a big season from here to overtake the German legend, but it’s doable.

6. Valtteri Bottas – 1792 points

Bottas replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedes in 2017, with the more placid Finn settling into a supporting role to Lewis Hamilton, as the British driver set off on a four-year streak of titles that was only ended by Max Verstappen in 2021.

He has 1791 points on the board so far, and 1327 of those came courtesy of his supporting years at Mercedes. The rest are from a few years in the midfield at Williams between 2013 and 2016. Bottas is unlikely to add a huge amount more during 2023 as he and Alfa Romeo struggle to score.

The Finn has scored just five points in 2023, almost 400 points behind Fernando Alonso, while the closest still-active racing driver behind him is Sergio Perez. With some 450 points between them, Perez will close up but isn’t likely to overtake any time soon.

4. Fernando Alonso – 2178 points

Having made his F1 debut at the same time as Raikkonen, Alonso has had his career similarly divided in half, although he is enjoying a long career in which his competitive Aston Martin is allowing him to add even more points to his tally.

Alonso isn’t far behind third place on the all-time list, but is unlikely to close that gap, given that it’s Max Verstappen up next.

3. Max Verstappen – 2206.5 points

The Dutch driver overtook Alonso for third place on the all-time list courtesy of his win over the Spaniard at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Verstappen has raced his entire career under the new points system, with Red Bull also becoming dominant at the point where extra points started to be handed out for the fastest laps and for sprint events.

With 41 wins and 85 podiums to his name, Verstappen is climbing the stats lists and is already amongst the highest-ever points scorers, as he now has 2206.5 to his name.

However, given there are only circa 400 points left up for grabs in 2023, moving up to second place on the list is out of reach this year.

1. Lewis Hamilton – 4507.5 points

Unsurprisingly, Lewis Hamilton tops the list of all-time F1 points scorers. Hamilton has had an uninterrupted career since making his debut with the front-running McLaren in 2007, with the majority of his career coming under the higher-points system.

With a front-running car for most years of his career, Hamilton’s relentless consistency and ability to maximise results have resulted in some truly frightening dominance.

He rarely fails to achieve the very best result his car is capable of and, combined with a lack of self-inflicted mistakes, the British driver is on a points tally of 4507.5 after the Canadian Grand Prix. Had he had the benefit of the extra handful of years with the newer points system, he would have been on 5000+.

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