Hamilton wins F1 drivers' vote for best of 2018

Lewis Hamilton has been voted the best driver in Formula 1 this year by his peers in a poll run by the sport's official website.

Mercedes driver Hamilton charged to his fifth F1 world championship with his best season to date, taking 11 poles, 11 wins and scoring a record number of points en route to beating Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel to the crown.

Hamilton's performances this year have also been recognised by his fellow drivers, who took part in a poll for the official F1 website.

Drivers were asked to rank their top 10 drivers of the year, with points being awarded on the same sliding scale as F1 championship points (25 for 1st, 18 for 2nd, etc.),.

Hamilton topped the drivers' vote ahead of Max Verstappen, who took two wins for Red Bull this year and nine further podium finishes.

Fernando Alonso finished third as he bowed out of F1 in Abu Dhabi, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, who rounded out the top five.

F1 full-season rookies Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were voted sixth and seventh respectively ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, while Kimi Raikkonen took ninth despite enjoying his strongest season with Ferrari for a decade. Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

All drivers except Hamilton, Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and Williams' Sergey Sirotkin took part in the poll.