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While Max Verstappen is the man who has dominated the competition in the 2023 F1 season, there is another name that has been voted by fans as the star to watch.

After helping to turn around McLaren’s campaign, Lando Norris was named the best non-championship driver at last season’s annual GPfans awards. The new annual award is decided by reader votes, and Norris beat out existing contenders.

Verstappen was the undisputed best driver last season, winning 19 out of 22 races to claim his third world title, so it felt only right to recognize the Dutchman alongside the best of the rest. Norris did not win any of the other three races, but with 42% of the vote (when counted), the British star beat a number of strong opponents.

Norris almost doubled the votes of world title-winning drivers, including Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who finished third and fourth in the world championship. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri finished fourth with 10% of the vote, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz received just 3% of the vote, although he was not the only Red Bull winner of the season.

Norris finished sixth in the world championship, still leading for McLaren, just one point behind Alonso and Charles Leclerc. Supporters appear to recognize his impressive performance since 2023, with six second-place finishes, including the Silverstone Grand Prix, despite having yet to win an F1 race.

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