It's the age-old question: Who would be crowned Formula 1 champion if it was a spec series with everyone behind the wheel of the exact same car? Engineering and car performance has always been a significant factor in results over the decades and so it's hard to compare drivers and come up with a definitive ranking.

But we all love to do it anyway! And so, over the last few weeks, we've polled some of our readers asking which driver they believe would win the title if everyone drove the same car. Almost 5,000 of you responded and two names in particular were more popular than the rest.

Despite his status as favourite to be crowned world champion this year, George Russell received the fewest votes of the five drivers offered as specific options. He received just 172 of the 4,901 votes - a measly 3.51 percent - edged out by the current defending champion Lando Norris who was only backed by 184 of you.

Current championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, and Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri, who led the standings for six months last term before a late-season collapse saw him finish third, were not included on the list of five specific options. In total, 304 of you voted for 'other', suggesting that, again, only a small percentage think either of those drivers is the best in the business.

Charles Leclerc, renowned as one of the best qualifiers in F1, was backed by 429 of you, taking 8.75 percent of the vote. But there is a huge gap then to his Ferrari team-mate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Even at the age of 41, 30.34 percent of our readers, 1,487 respondants to the poll, think the Brit is still the quickest driver around.

But there is also another significant jump then to the man who topped the poll. Taking almost half of the votes, 47.44 percent, was Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion who 2,325 voters named as the driver they think would still be the strongest contender for glory this year - if his Red Bull car wasn't so slow.

But while many clearly still believe Verstappen is the most skilled F1 driver around, there is a strong chance that this season may prove to be his last on the grid. He turns 29 in September this year but is already considering what life after F1 might look like, having conceded he is not enjoying being behind the wheel of this new generation of cars.

Key to his retirement decision will be the impact that the rule changes, agreed earlier this week in a vote of F1 stakeholders after weeks of consultation with drivers and team bosses, have on the action going forward. In total, 12 rule changes have been agreed and are set to be voted through by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, with most taking effect before next weekend's Miami Grand Prix.