Well, that was the season that was (as the old cliche goes) and every man and his dog in the motorsports press is doing a top 10 list. Why should Atlas be any different? Here we go...

Schumacher was put in the top 2 by all the editors who voted and for obvious reasons. This is the man who has made Ferrari a force in F1 once again. 3 wins in an imperfect car proved, beyond a doubt that this man is the best driver in F1 today.

Hill silenced the critics this year by finally taking the F1 crown and writing his name in the history books. 9 pole positions, 8 wins and 5 fastest laps shows the superiority of the British driver this season. People will argue that the Williams FW18 was the best chassis of 1996 but that is what F1 is all about.. the best car and driver combination (after all who would have said anything about Senna in the McLaren-Honda).

Villeneuve has had the most impressive debut season many can remember. Once the Canadian got used to his new car, he flew at most cicuits. 4 wins, 3 poles and 6 fastest laps show that he has the talent to become World Champion soon (maybe next year). Again, the car may have been the best, but that is of no concern at the end of a race.. the winner is still the winner.

Irvine gets this high placing simply because of his resilience and speed. 10 retirements in 16 races didn't get him down, lack of testing and the reputation of his team mate didn't slow him down. Irvine is one of the most charismatic drivers at the moment and has the speed to match. When he tested he could always be relied upon to qualify well. Good work fella...

Hakkinen deserves this placing just because of his recovery from the Adelaide incident. The massive crash didn't get him down and was more consistent than David Coulthard. Mika had a chance of victory at Spa but Verstappen's crash ruined his best chance for a long time.

Alesi scored well dispite a lot of stupid mistakes. The former Ferrari driver drove well and was unlucky not to get closer to the front in several races. A brace of fastest laps prove that Jean has the speed to be a winner, but not if he cannot temper his speed with clear thinking.

Berger is another driver who deserved more than he got this season. Berger again showed that he isn't past it and was unlucky not to get a win in the German GP. The Benetton B196 was not to his liking but he made the best of it and, towards the end of the season, was by far the fastest of the Benetton pair.

Coulthard was superb when on form but mediocre when the car wasn't running well. This, I suspect is the reason he didn't place higher. David threw away a win in Monaco with poor strategy (McLaren didn't help matters) but still finished second. Big hopes for 1997 and wins could be on the card if McLaren can get their act together.

Fisichella is the big surprise here. Part of his placing is owed to a joint score with Tarso Marques (by Paul Rushworth) but I've allowed him and Marques to take all the points from the position they were awarded. Anyway, Fisichella dove-tailed his F1 races by diving for Alfa in the soon to die ITC and impressed most onlookers with his speed (dispite being one of the youngest drivers in F1). Fisichella is now rumoured to be in line for Alesi's seat in 1997 if Benetton throw Alesi out.

Herbert made it in thanks to the efforts of the European side of the Atlas operation. Johnny looked to have made a poor choice jumping from Schumacher to Frentzen but by the end of the season, appeared to have the measure of his much vaunted team mate.The performance must have been good as Peter Sauber has signed the Essex man to drive for him until the end of 1998.

Well, that is our top 10 drivers. Some you may agree with, others you won't but they are personal choices and that's all any top 10 can be.