The top 10 F1 drivers of the 2020 season: 9 - LANDO NORRIS

McLaren's Lando Norris finished ninth in the 2020 F1 World Championship standings and that's exactly where he finishes in our Top 10 F1 Drivers of 2020 countdown... 

Lando Norris began his sophomore F1 campaign on a high with a breakthrough third-place finish and last-gasp fastest lap at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, and it was the start of an impressive season for the young Brit. 

He immediately followed that headline-grabbing performance up with another by charging to fifth place in the Styrian GP a week later to make a stunning start to the campaign. 

Low points came with poin-tless outings in Hungary and Russia and a mechanically-induced DNF in Germany, but Norris recovered impressively to produce a brilliant second half of the season, finishing inside the top 10 - and twice inside the top-five - at the final five races. 

While Norris lost out to teammate Carlos Sainz in terms of points, he edged out the qualifying head-to-head battle with some excellent Saturday showings, the best of which came in Abu Dhabi with a stunning lap for P4 that was just 0.25s off pole position. 

His consistency was key to McLaren beating its rivals to third place in the constructors’ championship despite having an inferior car, with Norris scoring points in 13 of the 17 grands prix and contributing to 48% of the team’s total points haul. 

Norris had already caught the attention with some strong displays throughout his rookie F1 year in 2019, and followed that up with an even better season to demonstrate a clear step forward. 

Having been immediately quick on his F1 arrival, Norris has added control and aggression to his repertoire of skills as ended 2020 with one of his best performances coming as he rounded out the season in Abu Dhabi which he can take great confidence from heading into the winter break. 

After the respectful rivalry he enjoyed with Sainz, Norris will now face an arguably tougher test in 2021 against another driver in the form of his life in the shape of the incoming Daniel Ricciardo as McLaren makes the switch to Mercedes power.