Last year he was No.1 in our rankings but this year Daniel Ricciardo has dropped to fifth. Here's why...
5. Daniel Ricciardo
Championship position: 5th (200 points)
Daniel Ricciardo was the star of 2016 -- and ESPN's driver of the year -- but a tricky season leaves him fifth in our list at the end of 2017. That's not to say Ricciardo has had a bad year, but the quality of his competitors -- especially his teammate Max Verstappen -- means a slight slip in performance results in a much larger slump in the top ten standings.
The 2017 season got off to a frustrating start for everyone at Red Bull after high expectations over the winter were not met in pre-season testing. A lack of correlation between aero performance in the wind tunnel and actual performance on the track saw the development of RB13 start off on the wrong foot, leaving Ricciardo and Verstappen the best part of a second shy of their rivals at Mercedes and Ferrari at the opening races. Ricciardo didn't help matters by spinning out of the opening qualifying session in Australia, but reliability issues meant his race only lasted 25 laps anyway.
Verstappen beat him to the team's first podium of the season in China, but a significant upgrade at the Spanish Grand Prix coincided with Ricciardo hitting his stride and scoring five consecutive podiums in five races -- including his sole victory of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix . That run of podiums was ended by a turbo failure during qualifying for the British Grand Prix, which prompted an impressive fightback from 19th on the grid to fifth at the finish. The potential for a strong result in Hungary was snuffed out by Verstappen clattering into him on the opening lap, something Ricciardo later told ESPN was the most frustrating moment of his year. Another solid run of results between Spa and Japan (including four podiums from five race) hinted at the Ricciardo of 2016, but Verstappen's performances during the same period were arguably more impressive and included a victory in Malaysia.
Throughout the season Ricciardo remained one of the most exciting drivers to watch. He completed more overtakes than any other driver over the course of the season, with a total of 43 passes, and cemented his reputation as one of the latest brakers in the sport. It proved a useful weapon on several occasions and helped mask arguably his biggest weakness in 2017: qualifying.
In 2016 Ricciardo held a one-lap advantage over teammate Verstappen, but in 2017 the scales were tipped 13-7 in Verstappen's favour over 20 races. The Australian has already highlighted qualifying pace as a key area for improvement next year and it will be crucial to a championship campaign if Red Bull can deliver a consistent race-winning car in 2018. He certainly has the potential to return to the top of this list in 12 months, but first and foremost he needs to regain the edge over Verstappen ... and that won't be an easy task.