P7: Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso/Red Bull Racing 7.47/10 (157 in total)
It's been an extraordinary 12 months for Alexander Albon. A year ago he became the last driver to be signed up for 2019 as Helmut Marko scrambled to plug a gap in the Toro Rosso line-up. The signs were not all that great for the London-born Thai driver in his first Grand Prix, and 14th in Australia was nothing to write home about. But next time out in Bahrain he earned his maiden championship points and beat team mate Daniil Kvyat to boot. We actually thought he fared even better in the ensuing race in China (where he was tenth, and we gave him a rating of 8.5) and he was definitely on our radar after that. Even so, a typically patchy rookie spell mid-season didn't prepare us for Red Bull's shock decision to promote him to the senior squad over the summer. We feared it might be too much pressure too soon on Albon, but we shouldn't have worried as he took to it like a duck to water and even out-performed his new team mate Max Verstappen over their initial run of races together. It speaks volumes that his lowest rating following his transfer was 7.5, and that there were two 9.0s at Suzuka and Austin. He was cruelly denied a maiden podium in Brazil after being punted out by Lewis Hamilton, but it's surely only a matter of time before he achieves one in 2020.
