#6 Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
At 44, Alonso remains the human equivalent of a high-performance battery. It took nine races to get on the scoreboard - mostly due to bad luck and an ERS failure in Monaco - but once the updates arrived at Imola, the old lion went on a tear.
He wasn't perfect (a late-season spin in Qatar proved he is, in fact, human), but he remains the undisputed heart and soul of Aston Martin.
If his skills are fading with age, the decline is happening at such a microscopic rate that none of his younger rivals can actually see it.
©Mercedes
#5 George Russell - Mercedes
Russell’s 2025 campaign was a study in clinical consistency, marked by fewer unforced errors than almost anyone on the grid.
High-profile victories in Canada and Singapore showcased his peak potential, while his steady accumulation of points anchored the Mercedes scoring effort.
However, a slight question mark remains over his adaptability. While Russell excels when the car is "in the window," he occasionally struggled to transcend the machinery when performance dipped.
Unlike the all-time greats who mask inherent car flaws through sheer willpower, the Briton's pace sometimes mirrored the technical limitations of a sub-par chassis. To climb higher than fifth, he must prove he can drive around a problem.
