Formula 1: Way-too-early 2020 power rankings

#4 and #3

Valtteri Bottas had his best career season in Formula 1 in 2019, finishing in a career-high second place in the driver standings with a career-high four victories, a career-high 15 podium finishes and a career-high 326 points. His goal is to improve to the point where he can challenge and beat teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2020. He could very well improve, however, and still end up outside the top three. Ferrari and Red Bull Racing are both slated to improve after coming on strong in the second half of the 2019 season, and let’s not forget the fact that Hamilton is a six-time champion and has had Bottas covered quite comfortably since the pair became teammates in 2017, winning 31 races to Bottas’s seven along with three titles.

Charles Leclerc is the clear-cut number one driver at Ferrari, whether the team choose to accept it or not. He gives them their best opportunity to win races week in and week out, and he showed it in 2019. Ferrari struggled throughout the year on many levels, yet Leclerc, in his first season driving for the team, became the first driver to beat Sebastian Vettel in the driver standings during Vettel’s tenure at Ferrari. He did it with the first two victories of his career and a series-high seven pole positions, and he had two additional victories get away from him through circumstances out of his control.