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Fernando Alonso has been voted as the best driver of 2010 in AUTOSPORT's exclusive team principals' top 10 poll.

In a now end-of-season tradition, AUTOSPORT asked each of the current 12 team principals for their top 10 driver rankings of the 2010 campaign.

Their individual results, which are kept secret, were then converted into the new points system (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1) and the final scores added up to discover which driver the team bosses believed had done the best job throughout the campaign.

Although Alonso missed out on the world championship following a troubled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Spaniard managed to beat title winner Sebastian Vettel in the team principals' eyes.

Alonso beat Vettel by nine points overall after the votes of all the team principals were added up - moving him up from fourth place overall where he was voted last season.

Although just missing out on the world title, Alonso has said that his 2010 campaign for Ferrari was the best of his career - as he delivered five victories in his maiden campaign for the Maranello outfit.

"I am very pleased to learn that the majority of team principals chose me as their best driver of the year, even if it goes without saying that I would have preferred to receive that accolade in the guise of world champion," said Alonso.

"It is yet another reason to claim this has been an amazing season, despite the disappointment at the final hurdle.

"The team and I fought all the way to the very end, without ever giving up, even when it all seemed like a lost cause: we staged a remarkable comeback. Next year, we will be looking to do better, but I will still remember 2010 as a wonderful year."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali added: "I am pleased and proud that Fernando has been rated by my fellow team principals as the best driver of this past year: he had a fantastic season.

"It is hardly a secret that he is a talented driver, but I must say, on behalf of everyone at Ferrari, that it was an honour for us to work with him from the human perspective. Fernando was a driving force and our aim next year will be to give him and Felipe a car which is competitive at the very highest level, right from the first race."

Vettel, who was the team principals' top driver of 2009 despite not winning the crown, edged out Lewis Hamilton for second place - with Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber taking fourth overall.

Nico Hulkenberg, who was dropped by Williams at the end of the campaign, impressed rival teams enough to be the only rookie to make it into the top ten.

The full results of AUTOSPORT's team principals' top 10 drivers, which includes Ferrari's vote that came too late to be included in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine F1 season review, are:



1. Alonso 229 2. Vettel 220 3. Hamilton 196 4. Webber 146 5. Kubica 129 6. Button 86 7. Rosberg 68 8. Hulkenberg 17 . Massa 17 10. Barrichello 11

AUTOSPORT's exclusive F1 team principals' top 10 was published for the first time in this week's bumper issue of the magazine, which features the F1 season review of a memorable campaign. Get it here.