Although he didn't finish higher than sixth all season, Fernando Alonso still stood out above the crowd.
3. Fernando Alonso
Championship position: 15th (17 points)
It's difficult to rate a top drive in a slow car, but this year Fernando Alonso made it relatively easy. Despite the obvious shortcomings of his McLaren-Honda package, the performances of the two-time world champion still stood out. His teammate Stoffel Vandoorne had a tricky first full season in F1 but should not be underestimated, and the fact that Alonso made Vandoorne look average for the majority of the season says way more about the Spaniard than the Belgian.
His qualifying performance in Spain was particularly impressive as he hauled his MCL32 up to seventh and best of the rest behind the Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull drivers. On a track like Barcelona, there was no way the McLaren was the fourth fastest car yet Alonso was able to find something extra to put his car on the fourth row of the grid. A similarly impressive performance in Hungary also stood out and he followed it up with a sixth-place finish and fastest lap in the race.
Alonso didn't hold back in trumpeting his achievements during the year, often claiming a qualifying lap was the best of his career, while pointing out the performance handicap of running Honda's V6 turbo power unit. Speed trap data on the straights and GPS data in the corners tended to back up his claims up and although he only scored points on five occasions he consistently got the very best from the car.
Perhaps the only poor performance of the year was in Malaysia where he was outqualified and outraced by teammate Vandoorne. But there's not a single driver on the grid who didn't have at least one bad weekend, and in the context of the car he was driving it was by no means a disaster. There was also a suspicion he parked his McLaren early in Belgium after being told there was no chance of rain and therefore no chance of staging a comeback from outside the points, but despite returning to the pits with a perfectly healthy engine he denied the accusations.
Although McLaren insists it wasn't a deal breaker, Alonso also lobbied hard for a switch to Renault power next year and saw his wish come true before agreeing to sign with the team for another season. In a career filled with decisions that put him in the right team at the wrong time, he will hope he's finally found a winning combination in McLaren-Renault next year. He's certainly still quick enough to win a third world championship, but he needs a car to match his talent.