Every Driver of the Day Since 2016 Explained

Introduction In 2016, as part of Formula 1’s transition into the social media age, the Driver of the Day vote was introduced: Formula 1’s answer to MVP in American Football, and Man of the Match in actual football. In the final stint of each race, fans can vote for who they think has driven best that day in a first-past-the-post system, and the results are published soon after race has finished. It has no effect on the Championship, but it is a nice badge of honour for the drivers to have. So, here’s a summary of who’s been voted Driver of the Day, and why. 2016 The first Driver of the Day vote, at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, went to Romain Grosjean, although it was originally incorrectly given to Rio Haryanto, who had received multiple votes from the same source. It was Grosjean’s first race with the new Haas F1 Team, Formula 1’s first entirely new constructor in six years. Initially, things were fairly typical for a new team, as he and teammate Esteban Gutiérrez qualified on the penultimate row of the grid, at the mercy of the controversial new elimination-style qualifying format. But in the race, while his teammate was busy breaking Fernando Alonso’s ribs, Grosjean took advantage of the red flag to run a long final stint and finished a stunning 6th, giving Haas one of the strongest debuts of any team in Formula 1 history. For the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix, Driver of the Day went to Grosjean again. Here he managed to make the final running of this novel qualifying format work and made it to Q3 to start 9th. In the race he made eight on-track overtakes to go one better than in Australia and finish 5th. Daniil Kvyat was voted Driver of the Day for the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix. He qualified 6th, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 2nd. He came in like a torpedo at turn 1 however and barged Sebastian Vettel into Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen. He held on to finish 3rd, but hey, that’s racing. For the 2016 Russian Grand Prix, Driver of the Day went to Kevin Magnussen. Having spent 2015 on the sidelines, Magnussen was now driving for Renault. He qualified a fairly typical 17th, but by the end of the first lap was up to 10th, and battled with Daniel Ricciardo and eventually finished a season’s-best 7th. Max Verstappen got his first Driver of the Day vote at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Before the race, the Toro Rosso driver had swapped seats with Kvyat at Red Bull, who had caught the ire of the Camp Commandant after his conduct at the previous two rounds. He qualified 4th, and benefitted from Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg doing their best Senna-Prost impersonation, and superior pit strategy over new teammate Ricciardo to win on his debut for Red Bull, and become Formula 1’s youngest ever Grand Prix winner, aged 18 years, 228 days. It was Sergio Pérez who was voted Driver of the Day at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix. He qualified 8th and started 7th, and timed his switch to slick tyres perfectly to finish 3rd. Verstappen got Driver of the Day for the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix. He qualified 5th, but jumped to 3rd at the start, and managed to hold off Rosberg and comfortably beat teammate Ricciardo to finish 4th. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2016 European Grand Prix, held at Baku City Circuit for the first time. He qualified a very strong 2nd, but a gearbox penalty meant he was demoted to 7th. He got to 5th on the first lap, and passed Kimi Räikkönen on the final lap to finish 3rd once again. It was Verstappen again who got Driver of the Day for the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. He qualified 9th and started 8th, and made several gains in the opening stint, getting himself up to 3rd behind both Mercedes. He briefly led the race at one point, and after Hamilton and Rosberg collided again on the final lap, passed a hobbling Rosberg and held off Räikkönen to finish 2nd. Verstappen got his second consecutive Driver of the Day vote at the 2016 British Grand Prix. He qualified 3rd, beating teammate Ricciardo, and in the wet first stint took 2nd from Rosberg. When the track dried out Rosberg took 2nd back from him, but after the race Rosberg was given a 10-second time penalty for receiving illegal instruction from his race engineer on how to fix his malfunctioning gearbox, giving 2nd back to Verstappen. For the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix, Driver of the Day was given to Kimi Räikkönen. A largely uneventful race saw Räikkönen qualify a lowly 14th, but make gains in the race and pressure Verstappen for 5th, but ultimately have to settle for 6th. Driver of the Day for the 2016 German Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo. In his 100th Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified 3rd, and passed Rosberg at the start and held onto this to finish 2nd, debuting the ‘shoey’ on the podium. It was Lewis Hamilton who was voted Driver of the Day for the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton had his car turned inside-out and so was forced to start on the back row, while Rosberg was on pole. He was up to 15th on the first lap and 5th when the race was red flagged on lap 10. He eventually finished 3rd in a race of damage limitation. It was Nico Rosberg’s turn to be voted Driver of the Day for the 2016 Italian Grand Prix. He qualified 2nd, but took advantage of a poor start from Hamilton to take the lead and never looked back, winning by 15 seconds. Sebastian Vettel was voted Driver of the Day for the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix. Several component changes meant he was forced to start in 22nd and last on the narrow street circuit, but there was no stopping the Lion of Singapore, who stormed his way to 5th. Max Verstappen returned as Driver of the Day for the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. He qualified a fairly typical 3rd, behind both Mercedes, but dropped to 5th with a poor start, but after both Mercedes were taken out of the running he managed to finish 2nd, behind Ricciardo. It was Verstappen as Driver of the Day once again for the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix. He qualified 5th but started 3rd, and passed a poor-starting Hamilton at the start, and just about held him off to finish 2nd, behind Rosberg. Verstappen got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote for the 2016 United States Grand Prix. Here he qualified 4th, and was passed by Räikkönen at the start. He repassed Räikkönen in the second stint, only for the gearbox to die on lap 29. Sebastian Vettel got his second Driver of the Day vote at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix. He qualified a slightly disappointing 7th, and in the final stint had a sustained battle with Verstappen for 3rd. Verstappen was cutting corners, which led Vettel to call him a “little f*cker” over the radio and tell race director Charlie Whiting to “f*ck off” for not penalising him. He finished 4th on track, and immediately after the race Verstappen was penalised, so Vettel went to the podium, only to then receive a 10-second time penalty himself for weaving when defending against Ricciardo, and was finally classified 5th. It was Verstappen who got Driver of the Day once again at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix. This was the race where he really put himself on the map. He qualified 4th, but heavy rain meant the race was continually being disrupted by red flags and safety cars. He survived a spin mid-race, but in the final stint went all the way from 14th to 3rd, finding grip where no one else could and making 11 overtakes in 16 laps. For the season-ending 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel was voted Driver of the Day. He qualified 5th, and ran a long middle stint in order to do a short final stint on super-soft tyres. He pitted from the lead and emerged in 6th, passing Räikkönen, Ricciardo and Verstappen, and then closing up to Rosberg, who was being deliberately backed into him by Hamilton in a futile attempt to claim the Championship, and finished 3rd in a photo finish. 2016 ended up being the year of Max Verstappen, as in his first year with Red Bull he received the Driver of the Day vote eight times; followed by Sebastian Vettel three times; Romain Grosjean and Sergio Pérez twice each; and Daniil Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg once each. 2017 The first Driver of the Day for 2017, at the Australian Grand Prix, was Sebastian Vettel. He qualified 2nd, behind Lewis Hamilton, but managed to overcut him after he got stuck behind Max Verstappen, and take the lead and the win. Max Verstappen was then voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix. A misfiring engine meant he went out late in Q1 and only got to set a banker lap before a crash from Antonio Giovinazzi red-flagged the session, and he qualified 19th, but started 16th. By the end of the first lap, he was already up to 7th, and was 3rd when an early safety car ended. He passed teammate Daniel Ricciardo, but later locked up and was passed by Vettel, but still finished 3rd. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix. He qualified 3rd, but passed Hamilton at the start. He pitted just before a safety car but still took the lead from Valtteri Bottas and benefited from Hamilton getting a five-second time penalty for blocking Ricciardo in the pit lane to take his second win in three races. Valtteri Bottas got his first Driver of the Day vote at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix. He qualified 3rd, beating teammate Hamilton by half a second, but 3rd is a nominal pole at Sochi, as he passed both Ferraris on the long run to turn 2, and managed to hold on to the lead, despite Vettel being on his tail in the final stint, to take his maiden victory. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix was Vettel once again. He qualified 2nd, just behind Hamilton, but took the lead at the start. Vettel pitted early, but got stuck behind Bottas, until his very tasty dummy move on lap 25. Hamilton and Vettel both pitted again during a virtual safety car, but Vettel did just as it ended, coming out alongside Hamilton and forcing him onto the grass. Hamilton was on the faster tyre however, and eventually took the lead and Vettel finished 2nd. Vettel got Driver of the Day once again for the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. He was beaten to pole by teammate Kimi Räikkönen, but he didn’t let the Iceman out of his sights, and managed to overcut him on their one-stop strategies and take his first win in the Principality since 2011, and give Ferrari their first 1-2 finish in seven years. Vettel got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote for the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix. Here he qualified 2nd, behind Hamilton, but was hit by a fast-starting Max Verstappen at turn 2 which broke his front wing. This wing broke off on lap 5 and he pitted and rejoined in 18th and last. He ran an aggressive two-stop strategy and managed to pass Sergio Pérez on the penultimate lap to salvage 4th. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix went to Lance Stroll. The rookie qualified an impressive 8th, ahead of his very experienced teammate Felipe Massa. The race was continuously disrupted by safety cars and a red flag, but when the race eventually restarted Stroll was up to 4th. Penalties for Vettel and Hamilton gave him 2nd, and Bottas passed him at the very last second, but he finished 3rd. Bottas was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix. Here he took his second career pole position. He avoided a penalty for a jump start and led all but two laps and once again survived a challenge from Vettel to take his second career win. Daniel Ricciardo got the Driver of the Day vote for the 2017 British Grand Prix. A turbo failure in qualifying meant he started the race in 19th. He got up to 13th during an early safety car but then ran onto the gravel at Luffield on the restart and dropped back to last. From here however he charged through the field to finish 5th. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix was Kimi Räikkönen. He qualified 2nd, behind teammate Vettel, but stayed on his tail the whole race and finished just one second behind. Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix. He started from pole, and survived challenges from Vettel to win on his 200th Grand Prix start. It was Ricciardo who was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Italian Grand Prix. He qualified 3rd, but a series of mind-numbing grid penalties meant he eventually started 16th. Teammate Verstappen gave himself a puncture early on, but Ricciardo calmly worked his way through the field and challenged Vettel for 3rd but eventually finished 4th. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix. He qualified a lowly 5th, but a four-car pile-up triggered by Vettel gave him the lead by turn 4, and all he had to do was hold off Ricciardo to take the win. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Malaysia Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel. His title chances had taken a major dent at the previous round, and they took an even larger one here as he had to replace his power unit in FP3, but the new one then failed as well in Q1 and meant he started last. He gained six places on the first lap, and got up to 4th on lap 30, remaining there for the rest of the race. Of course, he may have been using Räikkönen’s chassis, so it was very convenient of Lance Stroll to crash into him on the cooldown lap. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix went to Max Verstappen. He qualified 5th but started 4th, but got up to 2nd at the start and pressured Hamilton all the way, finishing just one second behind. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2017 United States Grand Prix. He qualified 6th and then got a grid penalty and started 16th. He made enormous gains in the first stint and briefly led the race. He passed Räikkönen on the final lap and finished 3rd on track, but then received a five-second time penalty for the cutting the corner while doing so and was classified 4th. Driver of the Day for the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel. By this point his title chances were hanging by a thread, but he did what he could by taking pole. Verstappen barged passed him at turn 2 and he was also passed by Hamilton, but at turn 3 he clipped both drivers’ right-rear tyres which gave Hamilton a puncture and broke Vettel’s front wing. Vettel got back to the pit lane faster than Hamilton and progressed much faster to eventually finish 4th, but this wasn’t enough to keep his title fight alive. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix. Having just clinched his fourth Drivers’ title, he made a rare mistake by crashing in Q1 and started from the pit lane. He ran a long first stint to take the lead, and eventually finished 4th, just behind Räikkönen. The final Driver of the Day for 2017, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was Valtteri Bottas. Here he took pole, and was able to hold off Hamilton and take his third career win. He may not have won the title, but in 2017 Sebastian Vettel certainly won over the fans, being voted Driver of the Day seven times; followed by Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen three times each; Daniel Ricciardo twice; and Kimi Räikkönen and Lance Stroll once each. Driver of the Day for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix went to Fernando Alonso. 2018 Since returning to McLaren in 2015, things hadn’t exactly gone to plan. Here he qualified 11th and started 10th. He took advantage of the mid-race safety car however to hold off Max Verstappen and finish 5th. From the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, the vote count started being published alongside the result. Here, Pierre Gasly was voted Driver of the Day, with an astonishing 89% of the vote. Toro Rosso brought upgrades which meant he qualified a surprise 6th and started 5th. He was passed by Lewis Hamilton, but retirements for Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen meant he finished 4th. Daniel Ricciardo was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix, with 86% of the vote. After a scare in Q1, he qualified 6th. He ran a very long first stint, and pitted during a safety car triggered by the two Toro Rosso drivers. After the restart he passed Kimi Räikkönen, then teammate Max Verstappen after he ran wide trying to pass Lewis Hamilton for 3rd. Ricciardo did succeed in passing Hamilton, and then Vettel for 2nd, who Verstappen collided with. He then continued his charge and took the lead and the win from Valtteri Bottas with a very dogged move at turn 6. Driver of the Day for the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was Charles Leclerc, with 16% of the vote. There were high expectations for the Ferrari junior following his dominant campaign in Formula 2, and here he finally managed to meet them, as he qualified 14th and started 13th, and made slow progress, eventually settling into 10th. A safety car triggered by the two Red Bulls colliding, and then a crash from Romain Grosjean, which may or may not have been triggered by Leclerc’s teammate Marcus Ericsson, and puncture for Valtteri Bottas meant he finished 6th to score his first career points. Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix, with 15% of the vote. Here he took a comfortable lights-to-flag victory from teammate Bottas by 20 seconds. Ricciardo was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, with 29% of the vote. He took pole, and was controlling the lead at the front despite calls for him to speed up. Mid-way through the race however, he lost the MGU-K and two gears, but managed to hold onto the lead from Vettel and take the win, as redemption for his loss in 2016. Driver of the Day for the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix was Vettel, with 25% of the vote. He took pole, setting a new track record, and led every lap to take a relatively comfortable win. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2018 French Grand Prix, with 18% of the vote. He qualified 3rd and collided with Bottas at turn 1 which forced both of them to pit. Vettel was later given a five-second time penalty for this but still managed to climb to 5th. It was Max Verstappen who was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, with 27% of the vote. He qualified 5th and started 4th and passed Räikkönen on the first lap for 3rd. Bottas retiring from the lead gave him 2nd, and he then pitted during a virtual safety car, but Hamilton did not, ceding the lead to him when he did pit, and Verstappen went on to take the first of his five wins at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 British Grand Prix, with 28% of the vote. He only just managed to seize pole position away from teammate Bottas, but had a poor start and was passed by both him and Vettel. Räikkönen then hit him at Arena and spun him round and he dropped to the back. He worked his way up to 3rd when a mid-race safety car was called. Upon the restart he was involved in a six-way battle at the front, and passed Bottas, but couldn’t pass Vettel and settled for 2nd. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2018 German Grand Prix, with 33% of the vote. A hydraulics failure in Q2 meant he started the race in 14th. He was up to 5th by lap 14, and later in the race Vettel crashed from the lead when rain came down which triggered a safety car. He aborted a pit stop and cut across the final corner, but a very slow stop from Bottas meant he took the lead and the win. Driver of the Day for the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo, with 23% of the vote. Heavy rain eliminated Ricciardo in Q2 and he started 12th. He dropped to 16th on the first lap, but progressed through the field and eventually got up to 5th. He collided with Bottas while trying to pass him with two laps to go and Bottas then gave the position up on the final lap and he finished 4th. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, with 22% of the vote. Rain in Q3 prevented him from taking pole from Hamilton, but here came Sebastian Vettel down the Kemmel Straight on lap 1 to take the lead, which he held for the rest of the race. It was Kimi Räikkönen’s turn to be voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, with 25% of the vote. He took a surprise pole position in qualifying, and while teammate Vettel spun after contact with Hamilton on lap 1, Räikkönen held the lead until lap 45 before his tyres eventually gave out. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix, with 19% of the vote. Hamilton set what many considered to be the ‘Lap of the Century’ in qualifying, but Verstappen was equally impressive, being just three tenths down in P2. Vettel passed him at the start, but Verstappen overcut him in the pit stops to finish 2nd. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2018 Russian Grand Prix, with 45% of the vote. Numerous grid penalties for him and teammate Ricciardo meant they started at the back. In the opening stint he made astonishing progress, getting up to 13th on the first lap, while Ricciardo was only 18th. Ricciardo got up to 6th on lap 12 and stayed there for the remainder of the race, but Verstappen ran an exceptionally long first stint and led the race for 23 laps, and when he pitted, he rejoined in 5th and finished there. It was Ricciardo’s turn to be voted Driver of the Day for the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, with 32% of the vote. A power unit failure in Q2 meant he started 15th, but he made quick progress and got up to 4th on lap 18 and finished there, beating Räikkönen by over 30 seconds. Driver of the Day for the 2018 United States Grand Prix was Verstappen, with 34% of the vote. A suspension failure from hitting a kerb in Q1 meant he couldn’t set a time in Q2 and then received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and started 18th. He made lemonade from lemons though, and gained an astonishing nine positions on the first lap, and then another five over the next eight laps, getting himself up to 4th. He then overcut both Mercedes in the pit stops and finished just one second behind Räikkönen in 2nd. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, with 28% of the vote. He seemed on the cusp of getting his first pole position, until teammate Ricciardo beat him to it by less than three hundredths. He took the lead at the start however, and a hydraulics failure for Ricciardo meant he took a relatively easy win. Verstappen got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix, with 37% of the vote. Here he qualified 5th, and ran aggressive and took the lead from Hamilton on lap 19. He continued to lead until a collision with Esteban Ocon at the Senna S on lap 44, who was attempting to unlap himself, put him into a spin and gave the lead back to Hamilton, with Verstappen finishing just behind in 2nd. The final Driver of the Day for 2018, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was Fernando Alonso, with 22% of the vote. This was to be his final Grand Prix before his impending retirement. He qualified a fairly typical 15th, and ran a long first stint and pitted from 10th and rejoined in 17th and last. He eventually climbed up to 11th, and resorted to cutting corners in an attempt to pass Kevin Magnussen for 10th. This didn’t work however, and he was then given three five-second time penalties, not that it mattered. 2018 was the year of Max Verstappen again, being voted Driver of the Day six times; followed by Daniel Ricciardo four times; Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel three times each; Fernando Alonso twice; and Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, and Kimi Räikkönen once each. 2019 The first Driver of the Day for 2019, at the Australian Grand Prix, was Valtteri Bottas, with 28.5% of the vote. In the off-season, Bottas had pledged he was now ready to fight for the Championship. He certainly meant business when he arrived in Melbourne looking extra fit and with a well-trimmed beard, but he was still beaten to pole by teammate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton however bogged down at the start and Bottas took the lead almost immediately. Hamilton couldn’t touch him, and he led every lap and won by 21 seconds, and also got fastest lap. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix was Charles Leclerc, with 50.23% of the vote. Leclerc had been promoted from Sauber to Ferrari, but in Australia neither him nor teammate Sebastian Vettel had impressed. In Bahrain however Leclerc took a shock pole position from Vettel by three tenths. He dropped to 3rd however at the start, but repassed Bottas at turn 1 on lap 2, and then did the same to Vettel on lap 6. He built a comfortable lead but late in the race lost power as his V6 power unit decided to identify as a V5, and he was passed by Hamilton on lap 48 and Bottas on lap 54 and finished 3rd, only just beating Max Verstappen. Alexander Albon was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, with 17.7% of the vote. The rookie Toro Rosso driver crashed at the final corner in FP3 and so missed qualifying and started Formula 1’s 1000th race from the pit lane. He ran a one-stop strategy and pitted from 11th and rejoined in 16th. He had good pace in his second stint and eventually finished 10th. Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with 17.6% of the vote. He rather stupidly crashed at turn 8 in Q2 and started the race in 8th. He dropped to 10th at the start and ran an extremely long first stint, leading the race for 18 laps. When he pitted, he rejoined in 5th, and had room at the end to pit again and get the extra point for fastest lap too. Max Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix, with 19.9% of the vote. Here he qualified 4th and passed Vettel at the start for 3rd, and held this for the rest of the race. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, with 23.3% of the vote. He qualified a season’s-best 3rd, and managed to overtake Bottas in the pit lane during an early safety car for 2nd. 10 laps later however, he was given a five-second time penalty for an unsafe pit release. He then tried to pass Hamilton for the lead to build a five-second gap, but his only realistic attempt came at the Nouvelle Chicane on lap 76, where he rear-ended Hamilton and they both cut the chicane. He crossed the line in 2nd but was classified 4th. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel, with 24.6% of the vote. Here he took a surprise pole position, seemingly having re-found his mojo, and led the entire race with Hamilton in hot pursuit. On lap 48, Vettel went across the grass at turn 3 and slid back onto the track, alongside Hamilton. He kept the lead, but was handed a five-second time penalty for this, and crossed the line in 1st but was classified in 2nd, failing to break Mercedes’ winning streak, and promptly pulled up at the pit entry, walked through the Mercedes garage, and swapped his and Hamilton’s podium signs around. Lando Norris was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 French Grand Prix, with 26.4% of the vote. He qualified a very strong 5th, but dropped to 7th in the opening stint. He got back up here after his pit stop, but hydraulic problems meant he dropped from 7th to 10th on the final lap. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix was Verstappen, with 74% of the vote, though the first calculation had erroneously given it to Robert Kubica. Verstappen qualified 3rd and started 2nd but went into anti-stall at the start and dropped to 7th. He did a long first stint, and briefly inherited the lead and rejoined in 4th. He went on a charge and passed Vettel on lap 50, Bottas on lap 56, and aggressively passed Leclerc at turn 3 with two laps to go to take his second win at the Red Bull Ring. It was Leclerc’s turn to be voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 British Grand Prix, with 20.6% of the vote. He qualified 3rd, within a tenth of both Mercedes, and was fighting Verstappen in the first stint. They pitted together, and Verstappen came out just ahead, but ran wide at turn 4 and allowed Leclerc back through. They pitted again during a safety car and Verstappen got ahead once again. After more battling he eventually broke ahead, and Leclerc then passed his teammate Pierre Gasly for 5th on lap 36. A collision between Vettel and Verstappen soon after meant Leclerc ultimately won out and finished 3rd. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2019 German Grand Prix, with 20.9% of the vote. He qualified 2nd for what ultimately ended up being a very wet race, and had a shaky start and dropped to 4th. He passed Kimi Räikkönen for 3rd on the second lap, and mid-race pitted for slicks and did a 360◦ spin before continuing. During a second safety car where everyone put intermediates back on and Hamilton had a very slow stop, he found himself in the lead, and set a record-breaking pit stop during the third safety car. He held his lead through another safety car and drying track, and won by seven seconds. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day once again at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix, with 26.2% of the vote. At long last he took his first pole position, and led the first two stints, with Hamilton close behind. Hamilton made a second stop, but on fresher tyres was able to close up to Verstappen and pass him on lap 67, and Verstappen then pitted to set fastest lap and finished 2nd. Lando Norris got his second Driver of the Day vote at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, with 21.2% of the vote. He qualified 12th and started 11th, but had an astonishing start and got up to 5th on the first lap. He held this until the final lap, when his car was bwoken and he pulled over on the start/finish straight, but was still classified 10th. Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, with 34.9% of the vote. He’d taken his first Grand Prix victory at the previous round, though it was a hollow one marred by the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert. He took pole here again, and led the first stint and after the first round of pit stops. As he went onto the slower, hard tyre, Hamilton several times got in DRS range and tried to pass, but eventually gave up after locking his tyres at Variante del Rettifilo on lap 42. Bottas then made a challenge, but was also unable to get past, and he won in Spa, he wins in Monza, Charles Leclerc is the winner of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix was Vettel, with 21.2% of the vote. He qualified 3rd, and teammate Leclerc on pole ran a very slow first stint which bunched the field up. Vettel managed to undercut both Hamilton and Leclerc to take the lead, and went on to take what would become his 53rd and final Grand Prix victory. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2019 Russian Grand Prix, with 22% of the vote. He qualified 3rd, and as was often the case at Sochi, took the lead at turn 2. In the opening stint, he was ordered by the team to give the lead up to Leclerc, but he refused, as that would put him in DRS range of Hamilton in 3rd. So, the team deliberately kept him out longer so that Leclerc would undercut him. When Vettel did pit, he then had an MGU-K failure on his out-lap, and pulled over and triggered a virtual safety car which inadvertently let Hamilton pit and take the lead and the win. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix was Bottas, with 21% of the vote. He qualified 3rd, which due to Typhoon Hagibis took place on the morning of the race, but he passed polesitter Vettel at the start, who almost jumped it, and Leclerc to take the lead. From here he controlled the lead to take his third win of the year. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix, with 20.2% of the vote. He took pole, but was given a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags when Bottas crashed in Q3 and so started 4th. He made contact with Hamilton at turn 2 at the start and dropped down to 8th. He then made contact with Bottas while passing him and got a puncture and dropped to last, but from here he ploughed his way through the field and eventually finished 6th. Alexander Albon was voted Driver of the Day for the 2019 United States Grand Prix, with 17% of the vote. Now promoted to Red Bull, Albon qualified 6th, but a collision with Carlos Sainz at turn 1 forced him to pit and rejoin in last. He ran an aggressive three-stop strategy and climbed his way back up to 5th. Driver of the Day for the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix was Verstappen, with 22.2% of the vote. He took his second career pole, and led the first stint, and was undercut by Hamilton in the first round of pit stops, but quickly retook the lead. He successfully covered the undercut in the second pit stops, and pitted again in a safety car while Hamilton stayed out. Fresher tyres meant he overtook Hamilton again on the restart, and then held the lead at another safety car restart to take the win. The final Driver of the Day for 2019, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was Nico Hülkenberg, with 26.4% of the vote. The Renault driver, who was without a drive for 2020, qualified 10th and started 9th, and was passed by Kevin Magnussen at the start. After his first pit stop, he rejoined in 12th, and climbed back up to 10th. He ran a one-stop and in the latter stages was passed by Sergio Pérez, Daniil Kvyat, and then Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo on the final lap to finish 12th. 2019 was another year where Max Verstappen dominated the fan vote, being voted Driver of the Day seven times; followed by Charles Leclerc four times; Sebastian Vettel three times; Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, and Lando Norris twice each; and Nico Hülkenberg once. 2020 The first Driver of the Day for 2020, at the Austrian Grand Prix, was Alexander Albon, with 15% of the vote. Albon was now a full-time driver at Red Bull, and qualified 5th and started 4th. Early on he passed Lando Norris, and was then passed by Lewis Hamilton, but a retirement for teammate Max Verstappen put him in 3rd. During a late safety car, he pitted for soft tyres and rejoined behind Sergio Pérez for 4th. He repassed him on the restart before another safety car came out, and when the race restarted again, he went after Hamilton, still on old tyres, but Hamilton raced him so hard, and clipped his right-rear tyre as he tried to pass him around the outside of Rauch, spinning Albon off into the gravel. He rejoined in last and then soon after retired with an electrical failure. Driver of the Day for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix was Sergio Pérez, with 34.7% of the vote. In a very wet qualifying, he was knocked out in Q1 and lined up 17th. The race was dry, and he made several moves in the early laps, and ran a long first stint, getting up to 4th before pitting and rejoining in 7th. He passed teammate Lance Stroll and then Daniel Ricciardo, and on the penultimate lap tried to pass Albon for 4th, but made contact and broke his front wing, and stayed out and was then passed by Lando Norris on the final lap and finished 6th. Max Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, with 18.1% of the vote. Here he qualified a disappointing 7th, and on his way to the damp grid, slid off at turn 12 and broke the suspension. Remarkably however, the team fixed it in time for him to start the race. He got up to 3rd on the first lap, and when everyone pitted in the early laps for slicks, he rejoined in 2nd. While Hamilton comfortably broke ahead, Verstappen held off a poor starting Bottas to finish 2nd. Driver of the Day for the 2020 British Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton. He took a comfortable pole, and led every lap with teammate Valtteri Bottas in tow, until Bottas suffered a tyre blowout with three laps remaining. Verstappen, now in 2nd, pitted for fastest lap, giving Hamilton a 30-second lead. On the final lap, Hamilton then suffered a tyre blowout of his own, and crawled around while Verstappen stamped on it. Verstappen wasn’t able to catch him in time, and Hamilton took his seventh British Grand Prix victory, and became the only driver to win a race on three wheels. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, with 31.8% of the vote. He qualified 4th, being surprisingly beaten by stand in Nico Hülkenberg, but passed him at the start. Different tyre compounds from the week before meant he was in hot pursuit of the two Mercedes, who weren’t enjoying the heat. Verstappen ran a long stint and overcut Hamilton and then passed Bottas on his out-lap, and he eventually won by 11 seconds, becoming the first non-Mercedes winner of 2020. Driver of the Day for the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel, with 29.7% of the vote. 2020 had not gone well so far for Vettel, and here he qualified 11th. He ran a one-stop and pitted from 6th for a set of soft tyres and rejoined in 14th. He somehow stretched his tyres for 36 laps and got up to 5th, but was passed by Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz in the closing laps and finished 7th. Pierre Gasly was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix, with 18.9% of the vote. Gasly qualified a fairly typical 12th, and was the only driver to start the race on the hard tyre. He passed Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc in the first two laps and then stayed out during an early safety car and was up to 4th. When he made his sole pit stop, he rejoined in 16th and made huge gains in his second stint and eventually finished 8th. Gasly was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, with 28% of the vote. Here he qualified 10th, and ran here during a very ordinary opening stint. He pitted just before a safety car was launched and rejoined in 16th but then ended up in 3rd when everyone else pitted after the previously closed pit lane was reopened. Leclerc crashed on the restart which triggered a second safety car and then a red flag. When the race restarted Stroll in 2nd ran wide at Variante della Roggia and Hamilton then had to serve a drive-through penalty for pitting when the pit lane was closed, giving Gasly the lead. He then survived a challenge from Sainz to inexplicably become the first French Grand Prix winner since Olivier Panis in 1996. Daniel Ricciardo was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, with 23.9% of the vote. For Formula 1’s first and so far, only race at Mugello, Ricciardo qualified 8th. After the first-lap chaos he got up to 6th, and stayed there after the pile-up at the safety car restart when the race was red-flagged. When the race resumed, he climbed up to 4th and pitted and rejoined in 8th, but undercut Stroll to take 3rd. Stroll then crashing triggered another red flag, and afterwards he briefly took 2nd from Bottas, but then got passed by Albon and finished 4th. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Russian Grand Prix, with 13.7% of the vote. Here he just about scraped 2nd in qualifying, only to be passed by Bottas at the start. Hamilton being handed two five-second time penalties for doing his practice start outside the designated area meant Verstappen inherited 2nd and finished there. Driver of the Day for the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix was Nico Hülkenberg, with 34.7% of the vote. Hülkenberg was without a drive in 2020, but was made a reserve driver for Racing Point. He had filled in for Sergio Pérez at the British Grand Prix and 70th Anniversary Grand Prix after Pérez tested positive for COVID-19; and at the Eifel Grand Prix, Lance Stroll fell ill on Saturday morning. Hülkenberg was in a coffee shop with a friend in Cologne 40 miles away when he got a call from Otmar Szafnauer to come to the Nürburgring. He had 40 minutes with his race engineer before going out in qualifying, where he naturally qualified last. He was helped by the fact that Formula 1 had not raced at the Nürburgring since 2013 and so only seven other drivers had raced there in a Formula 1 car. He gained three places on the first lap, and after a long first stint pitted from 9th and rejoined in 14th. He then made strong gains and eventually finished 8th, earning the nickname “Mr Super Sub”. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, with 18.2% of the vote. Pérez qualified 5th for Formula 1’s first race at Portimão, but he collided with Verstappen on the first lap and dropped to last. From here however he ran a 45-lap stint and lost only one position when he eventually pitted again, but was passed by Gasly and Sainz in the final two laps and finished 7th. Kimi Räikkönen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with 18.6% of the vote. This was the first race at Imola since 2006, and as such Räikkönen was the only driver with any Formula 1 experience here. Despite that, he qualified only 18th. He gained two places at the start, and then ran a very long stint and pitted from 4th and rejoined in 12th, just before a safety car was called. Osama bin Ankle Socks crashed in front of him behind the safety car and Albon spun at the restart and so he finished 9th. Sebastian Vettel was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, with 25.8% of the vote. This was Formula 1’s first race at Istanbul Park since 2011, and the track had recently been resurfaced, and the extremely smooth tarmac did not play ball with the tyres, only magnified when rain came in qualifying, and Vettel qualified 12th and started 11th. The race was wet as well, and Vettel had a lightning-fast start and got up to 3rd on the first lap. During an early switch from full wets to intermediates he was overcut by Verstappen and passed by Albon after a virtual safety car, only for Verstappen to then spin a few laps later. Albon also spun after Vettel’s second stop, and he also passed Stroll, but was then passed by teammate Leclerc. He stuck close to Leclerc, and when Leclerc tried to pass Pérez at the final corner, he ran wide which let Vettel through, and he finished 3rd as the only driver to neither spin nor go off track at any point during the race. Driver of the Day for the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix was Romain Grosjean, with 36.8% of the vote. This was really more of a sympathy vote, due to him becoming the Man Who Walked Through Fire after his crash on the first lap, though I am obliged to point out that that accident was his fault. George Russell was voted Driver of the Day for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, with 48.8% of the vote. In the week leading up to the race, Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19, and so Latte Boi was given the opportunity of a lifetime to replace him and finally prove his worth in the fastest Formula 1 car ever built. His overalls and boots were ill-fitting, and the race was run on a new layout. Despite that, he still qualified 2nd, less than three tenths behind new teammate Bottas. Russell took the lead at the start, and built out a comfortable gap until a safety car was launched on lap 63. Mercedes attempted to double-stack the drivers, but instead got their allocated tyres mixed up, and Russell was sent out with Bottas’ tyres, and Bottas with the same tyres he’d come in on, and after pitting again Russell was behind Bottas in 5th. As the only front-runner on fresh tyres, Russell aggressively passed Bottas, Stroll and then Ocon to get up 2nd, and was reeling Pérez in when he was told he had a slow puncture and was ordered to pit again, despite him not even noticing, and he rejoined again in 14th. He climbed back up to 9th and also got fastest lap to score his first points in Formula 1, but wouldn’t get another chance to go for the win after Hamilton hastily returned for the next round. The final Driver of the Day vote for 2020, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, went to Verstappen, with 21.2% of the vote. Verstappen secured only the second non-Mercedes pole position of 2020, and he managed to comfortably hold off both Mercedes and lead every lap to victory, setting us up nicely for 2021… It wasn’t the dominance he’d enjoyed in previous seasons, but Max Verstappen still won the fan vote in 2020, being voted Driver of the Day four times; followed by Pierre Gasly, Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel twice each; and Alexander Albon, Romain Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg, Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell once each. 2021 The first Driver of the Day vote for 2021, at the Bahrain Grand Prix, was Sergio Pérez, with 27.7% of the vote. After being dropped by Racing Point, Pérez was offered a lifeline by Red Bull following his victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix, with the hope that his experience would serve Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s fortunes better than his young teammates Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon had. Running on medium tyres in Q2 however meant he was eliminated and qualified 11th. Then, his car broke down on the formation lap and forced him to start the race from the pit lane. He made big gains on his two-stop however and eventually finished 5th. Driver of the Day for the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was Lando Norris, with 32.3% of the vote. He qualified 7th, and lost two places at the start in the rain, but from there only went forward and was in 3rd when the race was red flagged. He passed Charles Leclerc at the restart, but was then passed by Lewis Hamilton late on and finished 3rd. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix, with 15.4% of the vote. Here he qualified 4th, just behind teammate Verstappen, and was passed by Carlos Sainz at the start. He then repassed him only to be passed by Norris. He later took 4th back, and briefly led the race but finished where he started. Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, with 22.6% of the vote. Here Hamilton took pole by the thinnest of margins from Verstappen, but Verstappen aggressively took the lead at the start. Hamilton remained behind him after the first pit stops, but pulled a Hungary 2019 and pitted again, reining Verstappen in and passing him with six laps to go, to take his fifth consecutive win at Catalunya. Driver of the Day for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel, with 23.6% of the vote. Now with midfielders Aston Martin, here Vettel qualified a strong 8th and started 7th. He overcut Hamilton in the pit stops and passed Pierre Gasly on his out-lap, but was overcut himself by Pérez, but a retirement for Valtteri Bottas meant he finished 5th. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with 41.9% of the vote. Here Vettel qualified a more typical 11th, but gained two places at the start, and briefly led the race before pitting and rejoining in 7th. A crash from teammate Lance Stroll brought out the safety car, and Vettel then passed Leclerc and Gasly on the restart for 4th. Verstappen then crashing too brought out a red flag, and Hamilton’s brake magic blunder on the restart meant Vettel finished 2nd, giving Aston Martin their first podium. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 French Grand Prix, with 22.9% of the vote. His pole position start was quickly lost to Hamilton, though he managed to undercut him in the first round of pit stops. Knowing he couldn’t hold Hamilton off forever, he used his own strategy against him, and made a second stop, easily passing Bottas, and then Hamilton on the penultimate lap to take the win. Charles Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, with 28.4% of the vote. Leclerc qualified 7th and collided with Gasly on the first lap and broke his front wing and dropped to 18th. He made good ground and rejoined from his second pit stop in 14th. From here he continued his charge, and finished the race in 7th, just behind teammate Carlos Sainz. Driver of Day for the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix was Lando Norris, with 31.6% of the vote. Norris qualified a surprise 2nd, and after Pérez went off track trying to pass him at Rauch was given a five-second time penalty. He held off Hamilton for several laps before he passed him on lap 20, and then Bottas after he pitted. Hamilton picking up floor damage meant Norris repassed him later on and eventually finished 3rd. Such a great driver, Lando. Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2021 British Grand Prix, with 34.5% of the vote. In Formula 1’s first ever sprint race Leclerc qualified 4th and finished 4th, lining up as such for the race proper. He passed Bottas at the start, and then after Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision at Copse took the lead before the race was red flagged. He held the lead from Hamilton when the race resumed, who had to serve a 10-second time penalty for the collision. Intermittent power problems prevented Leclerc building much of a lead, and Hamilton eventually caught and passed him with two laps remaining and he finished 2nd. Driver of the Day for the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was Fernando Alonso, with 28.2% of the vote. Alonso had been fairly inconspicuous upon his return to Formula 1, and this race seemed no exception as he qualified 9th. Bottas going bowling at the start put him up to 7th, and then Hamilton not pitting at the restart gave him 6th. Teammate Esteban Ocon was now leading, and Alonso briefly led before pitting and rejoining in 6th. Hamilton pitted and rejoined behind him, but Alonso managed to hold his old teammate off for 12 laps before eventually locking up at turn 1, but had done enough to prevent a charging Hamilton from taking the win from Ocon, and himself finished 4th after Vettel’s disqualification. No Driver of the Day vote was given for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, but since he set the world’s slowest fastest lap, you may as well give it to Nikita Mazepin. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, with 27.7% of the vote. For Formula 1’s first race at Zandvoort since 1985, Pérez was sent to the back of the grid for exceeding his allocated number of power unit components, and instead started from the pit lane. Initial progress was slow, but he got into a stride in the middle stint and eventually finished 8th. Driver of the Day for the 2021 Italian Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo, with 34.5% of the vote. Here Ricciardo qualified a very strong 5th for Formula 1’s second sprint race, and finished it in 3rd, lining up 2nd following Bottas’ demotion to the back of the grid. He then passed Verstappen at the start to take the lead, and after the first round of pit stops Hamilton and Verstappen had another coming together, taking out his two main rivals. He then led teammate Norris home to a McLaren 1-2, and his first win in over three years. It was Norris’ turn to be voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, with 33.9% of the vote. A smart move to slick tyres at the end of Q3 meant Norris took a shock pole position. Sainz passed him at the start, but he retook the lead on lap 13. He continued to lead, but Hamilton closed in towards the end of the race. Heavy rain came in from the Black Sea in the final six laps, and Hamilton pitted for intermediates, giving Norris a 25-second lead and a 50-second lead over 3rd place. He decided to stay out however, eventually giving the lead up to Hamilton, and when he did pit, he rejoined in 8th and finished 7th. Carlos Sainz was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, with 25.7% of the vote. Putting in a new power unit meant he started the race in 19th, but made progress in the rain, getting up to 9th on lap 17. When he pitted, he rejoined in 10th, and eventually finished the race in 8th. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 United States Grand Prix, with 22.7% of the vote. Verstappen took his ninth pole of the season, with Hamilton as ever in 2nd. Hamilton took the lead at the start, but Verstappen undercut him in the first pit stops. In the final stint he had Hamilton on his tail, but just about kept him at bay, with a little DRS help when lapping Mick Schumacher. Driver of the Day for the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix was Pérez, with 36.9% of the vote. For most of the season, Pérez had failed to deliver as Verstappen’s wingman, but here he qualified a satisfactory 4th. Verstappen took the lead at the start, and Bottas collided with Ricciardo which gave Pérez 3rd. He kept close to Hamilton in 2nd and briefly led the race, and was chasing him in the final stint but was unable to get past, but had prevented Hamilton going after Verstappen for the win. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 São Paulo Grand Prix, with 36.8% of the vote. For most of the season, Hamilton had had a noticeable slower car than Verstappen. Bottas however had been used as a testing mule for new power unit components, which were finally put on Hamilton’s car here. Initially, Hamilton took a comfortable pole, only to be disqualified for his DRS opening being 1mm too wide. He therefore started the sprint race from 20th, and finished in 5th, then receiving a five-place grid penalty for a new ICE. In the race itself he gained four places on the first lap, and was passing people without DRS. Pérez put up a valiant defence, and Verstappen ran them both off the track at Descida do Lago in a futile attempt to maintain the lead, and Hamilton took his third win at Interlagos. Fernando Alonso was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix, with 28.6% of the vote. At the new-to-F1 Losail Circuit, Alonso qualified 5th but started 3rd due to grid penalties for Verstappen and Bottas. He passed Gasly for 2nd at the start, but was quickly passed by Verstappen. A puncture late on for Bottas meant he held 3rd and took the first podium of his comeback and his first in seven years. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with 26.7% of the vote. Verstappen came perilously close to setting the lap of the century in qualifying, until he hit the wall at the final corner and so lined up 3rd. He maintained this, but then took the lead after both Mercedes pitted in the first safety car, even with Bottas backing him up to create a gap for a double-stack, which became a red flag, giving him a free pit stop. He cut turn 1 trying to hold the lead at the restart, before another red flag came almost immediately. Race Director Michael Masi decided to demote Verstappen to 3rd, with Hamilton 2nd and Ocon 1st. He took the lead once again on the second restart, but 20 laps later he cut turn 1 again in order to hold off Hamilton. The following lap he was ordered to let Hamilton pass, and slowed down in the middle of the track, trying to get DRS, and so Hamilton rear-ended him. He successfully played DRS chicken the second time, but Hamilton did eventually pass him, and Verstappen finished 2nd, even with a 10-second time penalty, leaving them tied on points going into the final round. The final Driver of the Day vote for 2021, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, went to Kimi Räikkönen, with 42.8% of the vote. At the Dutch Grand Prix, Räikkönen announced he would retire at the end of the year, more than 20 years after entering Formula 1. Things didn’t start too well as he crashed in FP2, and only qualified 18th. He passed both Williams early on, and rejoined from his pit stop in 18th. Three laps later, his brakes failed, and he went into the barriers at turn 6, and the 2007 Champion ended his career as the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history. Bwoah. Despite his long-awaited title triumph, Max Verstappen was not so dominant in the fan vote in 2021, as it was his teammate Sergio Pérez who won everyone over, being voted Driver of the Day four times; followed by Lando Norris and Verstappen three times each; Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel twice each; and Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz once each. 2022 The first Driver of the Day vote for 2022, at the Bahrain Grand Prix, went to Charles Leclerc, with 28.3% of the vote. At long last, with the return of ground effect, it looked as if it was finally Ferrari’s year, as Leclerc took pole in Bahrain. In the first stint, he had defending Champion Max Verstappen on his tail, and after the first round of pit stops, Verstappen twice passed him only to be repassed again immediately. After a late safety car, a retirement for Verstappen meant Leclerc led teammate Carlos Sainz to a Ferrari 1-2. Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with 26.8% of the vote. Leclerc was caught in a Red Bull sandwich here as he was beaten to pole by Sergio Pérez and ran in between him and Verstappen in the first stint. Pérez pitting just before a safety car gave the lead to Leclerc, and Verstappen started challenging Leclerc in the latter stages. Both drivers played DRS chicken at the final corner, but Verstappen eventually took the lead and Leclerc finished 2nd. Leclerc got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, with 19.7% of the vote. Here Leclerc took pole, and had by far his most comfortable victory, as he led every lap and following a retirement for Verstappen in 2nd took fastest lap and won by over 20 seconds. Max Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with 14.7% of the vote. Here Verstappen managed to get his title defence in motion, as he took pole in the rain by eight tenths from Leclerc. In the sprint race he lost the lead at the start to Leclerc, but better tyre life meant he took it back eventually. In the race proper, which again was wet, Verstappen led every lap while Leclerc had a poor start and later spun and he won by 16 seconds from teammate Pérez, and lapped Lewis Hamilton in the process. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, with 18% of the vote. Verstappen lined up on the second row behind both Ferraris at the brand-new circuit, but passed Sainz at the start and then Leclerc on lap 9, and managed to keep them both at bay and win by four seconds and get fastest lap. Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, with 22.8% of the vote. 2022 hadn’t started particularly well for the seven-time Champion, with Jeddah and Imola being his first races in many years where he had finished outside the points purely on pace. In Spain, he qualified a reasonable 6th, though two places behind new teammate George Russell, but he had a coming together with Kevin Magnussen at turn 4 on lap 1 and got a puncture and dropped to 19th. He wanted to throw the towel in, but the team were encouraged by his and Russell’s race pace, and he eventually finished 5th. Sergio Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, with 27.6% of the vote. Pérez’s spin at Portier at the end of Q3 did look a bit suspect, as while it prevented him challenging the Ferraris for pole, it also prevented Verstappen from challenging as well. Once the wet race eventually got going, he ran in 3rd, but managed to take the lead after undercutting Sainz and Leclerc pitting again because Ferrari. After this, all he had to do was hold the lead to take his first win in the Principality. Driver of the Day for the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was Hamilton, with 14.8% of the vote. With the return of ground effect in 2022 came the return of the phenomenon of porpoising, affecting each team particularly strongly as the only technical director in the paddock who had worked in the original ground effect era was Adrian Newey. This was affecting Mercedes particularly hard on Baku’s long straights and was making the ride very uncomfortable. Hamilton qualified 7th, and gained time by pitting in an early safety car and then passed Pierre Gasly towards the end and finished 4th, but could barely stand afterwards. Leclerc was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, with 21.6% of the vote. Taking on new power unit components meant he started in 19th, and he made a large amount of ground in the opening laps, and pitted from 6th and rejoined in 12th. He made further progress in the final stint and eventually finished 5th. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 British Grand Prix, with 20.7% of the vote. In a wet qualifying, Pérez qualified 4th, and held this after the red flag restart, until contact with Leclerc forced him to pit and rejoin in last. Following this he ran a typically long stint, and was up to 4th when a late safety car came. He dispatched of Hamilton, and went after Leclerc again, forcing them both wide at Club on lap 45. Through went Hamilton, only for Pérez to give himself a fantastic launch off the corner and pass him again almost immediately and finish 2nd. Mick Schumacher was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, with 24.5% of the vote. Ever since he started winning races in European Formula 3 in 2018, it was written in the stars that Mick would give us an eighth Schumacher title, and possibly more. A year spent in a dog of a Haas in 2021 for the incumbent Formula 2 Champion was essentially a waste of time, but in 2022 he had a vastly improved car, but hadn’t yet been able to deliver. That changed in Austria, where he qualified 7th, just behind teammate Magnussen, and in the sprint race battled with Hamilton and eventually finished 9th, doing his best impression of his father in the media pen. Early on in the race proper he got past Hamilton again, and eventually passed Magnussen as well to finish 6th. Carlos Sainz was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 French Grand Prix, with 40.4% of the vote. It was now Sainz’s turn to turn his car inside out and start on the back row, and he gained a lot of ground in the first stint before pitting under a safety car triggered by teammate Leclerc, but was also given a five-second time penalty for being released into the path of Alexander Albon. He rejoined in 8th, and passed both McLarens at the restart. He continued his charge, eventually getting up to 3rd before pitting again and serving his penalty and eventually finished 5th. Driver of the Day for the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix was Verstappen, with 34.2% of the vote. Locking up on his first Q3 lap and then power unit problems on his second meant Verstappen started the race in 10th. He dispatched of Ricciardo, Bottas and both Alpines in the first stint, and then overcut Norris and undercut Hamilton. In the second pit stop phase he undercut Russell, then passed Leclerc, before doing a 360◦ spin to check he was still behind him, and then passed him again. He then undercut Sainz as well to take the lead and win from 10th on the grid. Verstappen got Driver of the Day again at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, with 31.9% of the vote. For changing his power unit and gearbox, Verstappen was demoted from pole to 14th. He managed to gain six places alone on the first lap, and took the lead of the race on lap 12, beating teammate Pérez to the win, who started 2nd, by 17 seconds. Verstappen got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix, with 22.6% of the vote. Here Verstappen had a markedly easier challenge, as he started from pole and held the lead, with pressure from both Mercedes. A virtual safety car triggered by Yuki Tsunoda gave him a free pit stop, and when a full safety car dropped he pitted again, but easily passed Hamilton for the lead at the restart, who had stayed out, and took his 30th win and second on home soil. Nyck de Vries was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, with 24.8% of the vote. The 2021 Formula E Champion was acting as a reserve driver for Mercedes in 2022, and had done FP1 for Williams in Spain, then Mercedes in France, and in Italy did so for Aston Martin. Alexander Albon coming down with appendicitis on Saturday morning meant he was to take over his seat at Williams for the rest of the weekend, and qualified a surprise 13th, beating one-time teammate Nicholas Latifi. Numerous grid penalties meant he started the race in 8th, with Latifi 10th, and in the race he kept out of trouble and finished 9th, while Latifi was 15th. Driver of the Day for the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix was Pérez, with 22.6% of the vote. Pérez qualified 2nd here while Verstappen was a surprise 8th. In a wet race, Pérez took the lead from Leclerc at the start, and went on to lead the entire race, including off two safety car restarts, and even with a five-second time penalty for falling more than 10 car lengths behind said safety car, still won by 2.5 seconds. Sebastian Vettel was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, with 16.3% of the vote. For what turned out to be Vettel’s final race at Suzuka, he qualified 9th, but in the pouring rain dropped to 16th on the first lap before the race was red flagged. He dropped to last after the restart, but during the pit stops jumped all the way up to 6th, and just about held this against Alonso in a photo finish. Vettel was voted Driver of the Day again for the 2022 United States Grand Prix, with 18.4% of the vote. Even with his retirement looming Vettel showed he hadn’t lost his touch, as he qualified 12th and started 10th, but got up to 5th on the first lap. By running a long second stint he briefly led the race, but then had a 17-second stop and rejoined in 13th. From here however he charged on and passed Magnussen around turn 18 on the final lap to finish 8th. Daniel Ricciardo was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, with 24.4% of the vote. The outgoing McLaren driver qualified 11th here but dropped to 13th at the start. Mid-race he had a collision with Yuki Tsunoda and was given a 10-second time penalty. After his stop he rejoined in 12th, but then went on a charge and managed to beat teammate Norris and finish 7th, even with the penalty. Hamilton was voted Driver of the Day for the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix, with 17.1% of the vote. In a wet qualifying Hamilton qualified 8th, but managed to get up to 3rd in the sprint race, and started the race proper in 2nd. After the early safety car ended, he and Verstappen had a coming together at the Senna S and Hamilton dropped to 8th, but worked his way back up to the front and finished 2nd, behind teammate Russell, who finally took his first win. The final Driver of the Day vote of 2022, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, went to Vettel, with 56.6% of the vote. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel launched an Instagram account, and used it to announce his retirement at the end of the year. He qualified 9th, and that evening almost the entire paddock joined him for a run around the track. A less-than-optimal strategy with a very long first stint meant he dropped to 19th when he pitted, and managed to make progress past the two-stoppers, eventually getting up to 10th, and tried to pass Ricciardo but couldn’t, but after the race was reserved a spot on the grid for donuts and was interviewed before the podium finishers. A worthy send-off for the four-time Champion. A shaky start to 2022 ended up with Max Verstappen dominating the Championship, and he once again won the fan vote, being voted Driver of the Day five times; followed by Charles Leclerc four times; Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel three times; and Nyck de Vries, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Mick Schumacher once each. 2023 The first Driver of the Day vote for 2023, at the Bahrain Grand Prix, went to Fernando Alonso, with 53.3% of the vote. In 2023, Alonso jumped ship from Alpine and took the seat left vacant by Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, which proved a wise decision as times were competitive in testing. This was proved by him qualifying 5th in Bahrain. A light rear-ending by new teammate Lance Stroll at turn 4 dropped him to 7th. He soon dispatched of George Russell, and then mid-race, having edged himself for 16 years. unloaded all over Hamilton at turn 10. One Ferrari retiring and him passing the other meant he finished 3rd. Max Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with 26.3% of the vote. Having dominated in Bahrain, some drama was brought to Jeddah with a gearbox failure in Q2 that meant Verstappen started in 15th. He was passing drivers without DRS, and by the time the safety car was deployed on lap 18 he was up to 4th. He then quickly dispatched of Alonso and Russell and finished in 2nd, just five seconds behind teammate Sergio Pérez, who had started on pole. Sergio Pérez was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, with 21.3% of the vote. Pérez’s ability to keep close to Verstappen started to unravel here, as he spun off in Q1 and started the race from the pit lane. After two early safety cars and a red flag he started to progress through the pack, settling in 9th. He later passed Lando Norris and Nico Hülkenberg, and after two more red flags and several crashes eventually finished 5th. Pérez was voted Driver of the Day again at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with 29.1% of the vote. He was 3rd in qualifying, but managed to beat Verstappen to 2nd in the sprint shootout, and then easily passed Leclerc to win the sprint race. Serving as a very nice spoiler for the race itself, he passed Leclerc in the same manner in the race proper, and then took the lead after Verstappen pitted just before a safety car. After this, Verstappen couldn’t get in DRS range, and Pérez took his second win of the year and for perhaps the only time in his Red Bull career managed to beat Verstappen in a fair fight. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, with 27.1% of the vote. Baku served to awake a sleeping giant, as a crash for Leclerc meant a certain pole for Verstappen became 10th, while Pérez started at the front. By lap 15 Verstappen was up 2nd, and we were faced with the prospect of finally getting to see the two Red Bull drivers battle one another, only for Verstappen to pass Pérez on his first attempt and win by five seconds. Esteban Ocon was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, with 23.5% of the vote. By 2023, Ocon had settled well into his role as F1’s latest one-time-winning mid Frenchman, but in Monaco he qualified a surprise 4th, having briefly had provisional pole, and started the race 3rd. Even with the rain he still held onto this throughout the race and got his first podium since his win two years earlier. Driver of the Day for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix went to Lewis Hamilton, with 24.7% of the vote. Mercedes wanted to change things up in 2023, and they did this by giving the car an old livery, keeping the zero sidepod concept, and then wondering why performance hadn’t improved. In Spain, he qualified 5th and started 4th. A small coming together with Lando Norris at the start gave him some floor damage, but he passed Stroll early on and then Sainz after the pit stops to finish 2nd. Alexander Albon was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix, with 28.7% of the vote. Williams had spent 2023 in a similar fashion to 2022: hinting at being midfielders, not that you would know it from Logan Sargeant’s driving. Canada’s long straights played to their strengths, and Albon went fastest in Q2 before the rain came down and lined up 9th. He lost a place at the start, but after pitting during an early safety car, did not pit again, and held off a train of cars to finish 7th, Williams’ best result in nearly two years. Lando Norris was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, with 26.1% of the vote. A raft of upgrades allowed McLaren to finally get their 2023 campaign on track, and Norris qualified 4th, then qualified 3rd for the sprint shootout but finished 9th in the sprint race, and in the main race was passed by Hamilton at the start, but repassed him mid-race, had complained numerous times of him abusing track limits, and was later passed by Pérez and finished 5th, as one of the few drivers not to get penalised for track limits violations. Norris was voted Driver of the Day again at the 2023 British Grand Prix, with 45.5% of the vote. Here the full gains of McLaren’s upgrades became plain and clear to see, as Norris qualified 2nd and teammate Oscar Piastri was 3rd. Norris took the lead from Verstappen at the start, only for him to inevitably pass him on lap 5, and Norris finished just four seconds behind. Driver of the Day for the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix was Pérez, with 20.7% of the vote. Having been largely anonymous since Miami, it seemed like it would continue for Pérez at Hungary as he qualified 9th, with Verstappen 2nd. He got up 2nd before pitting, rejoined in 7th, and later in the race passed polesitter Hamilton and Piastri to finish 3rd. Verstappen was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, with 15.5% of the vote. Having dominated the race the previous year, it came as little surprise when Verstappen took pole by eight tenths, and like with the previous race took a gearbox penalty and had to start 6th. He took pole in the sprint shootout however by an extremely narrow margin, and briefly lost the lead to Piastri but still won. In the race proper he gained two places at the start, and took the lead from Pérez on lap 18. After a small wobble at Eau Rouge in light rain, Verstappen disappeared, and even suggested doing an extra pit stop for practice, but stayed out and won by 22 seconds. But despite that, even with no safety cars, nobody was lapped, demonstrating how small the field spread had become. Driver of the Day for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix was Alonso, with 20.9% of the vote. The Alonso hype train had died several races ago after Aston Martin slipped behind Mercedes and McLaren, with little to no help from Daddy’s Cash, but in Zandvoort there was some encouragement as Alonso qualified 5th. It was amateur hour for the pit walls in the opening laps when the rain came down, and Alonso pitted on the second lap and only dropped to 7th, and after everyone pitted for slicks again was up to 3rd. When the heavens opened again near the end of the race and it was red flagged, he jumped to 2nd as Pérez had pitted just before. On the restart he tried to have a go at Verstappen, but settled for 2nd. Carlos Sainz was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, with 31.5% of the vote. The Italian Grand Prix is always a high-pressure event for Ferrari, with the Tifosi out in full force. He met the challenge though, by taking pole, and holding Verstappen off for 14 laps. In the latter stages of race he was passed by Pérez as well, and against teammate Leclerc there were some very close calls, most from Leclerc, but they managed to finished in formation in 3rd and 4th. Sainz was voted Driver of the Day again at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, with 21.2% of the vote. There was something in the water in Singapore, as both Red Bulls were eliminated in Q2 in qualifying, leaving Sainz to take his second consecutive pole position. He led the entire race, and in the latter stages, Norris, Russell and Hamilton all closed up to him. As Mercedes were on the fresher tyres, Sainz cleverly decided to bring Norris into DRS range each lap to hold him off against them, while keeping himself out of reach; an interesting variation on Hamilton’s tactics at Abu Dhabi in 2016. And it worked, as Osama bin Latte Boi crashed on the final lap and Sainz became the only non-Red Bull winner of 2023. Oscar Piastri was voted Driver of the Day for the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix, with 28.2% of the vote. The rookie was now getting into a stride after being given a vastly improved car, and here he qualified 2nd, beating his teammate. Norris passed him at the start, and he had to pass a one-stopping Russell later on and took his first career podium. Piastri was voted Driver of the Day again at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, with 27.9% of the vote. Piastri was on a high having just got his first podium, and in Qatar he qualified 3rd, but during his interview was told he was pinged for track limits and dropped to 6th. Wonderful. Overnight track changes meant there was a short acclimatisation session before the sprint shootout, where Piastri shockingly took pole. In a sprint race with three safety cars, he managed to hold off Verstappen and take a sort-of win that’s not really a win. A crash between Hamilton and Russell at the start of the actual race moved him up to 2nd, and despite being at night and in November, the heat and humidity made it a trying and testing race for every driver. He held position on a mandatory three-stop strategy, and with Norris in 3rd, it was his turn to win out at Team Twink and finish 2nd. Driver of the Day for the 2023 United States Grand Prix was Norris, with 26% of the vote. McLaren’s good form continued in Texas, and Norris qualified 2nd, behind Leclerc, and was 4th in the sprint shootout and finished there in the sprint race. He took the lead from Leclerc at the start of the race proper, but soon after the first pit stops, he was passed by Verstappen. In a failed attempt to undercut him in the second pit stops by running a shorter stint on hards than Verstappen on mediums he essentially threw the win away, and then got passed by Hamilton later on, but Hamilton’s subsequent disqualification gave him 2nd. Norris was voted Driver of the Day again at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, with 29.5% of the vote. Power problems, a lockup, and then a yellow flag meant Norris qualified 19th and started 17th. It wasn't until the mid-point of the race that he started making progress, and was up to 10th when the race was red flagged. He lost four places on the restart, but was the only driver making gains after this and finished in 5th. Norris got his third consecutive Driver of the Day vote at the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix, with 26.1% of the vote. He qualified a disappointing 8th in a Q3 halted early by rain, but started the race in 5th. In the sprint shootout he took pole, only to be passed by Verstappen immediately and finish the sprint race in 2nd. A lightning-fast start in the race proper meant he went up to 2nd from 5th. He tried to challenge Verstappen for the lead in the early laps, but fell back and finished eight seconds behind. Pérez and Alonso had a classic battle for 3rd, but the teenage girls put their foot down and gave the vote to Norris. Driver of the Day for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix was Charles Leclerc, with 21.6% of the vote. Leclerc took his fifth pole position of 2023 around the streets of Sin City, only to immediately lose the lead to Verstappen. However, he repassed him in the first stint and Verstappen received a five-second time penalty, only for a safety car to come out soon after Leclerc pitted, giving Verstappen and Pérez a free pit stop. After the race restarted Leclerc lost, then gained the lead from Pérez, then lost it again to Verstappen, and then 2nd to Pérez, but by divebombing him on the last lap managed to finish 2nd, just behind Verstappen. The final Driver of the Day vote for 2023, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, went to Yuki Tsunoda, with 24.2% of the vote. Tsunoda had an interesting 2023 where he had assumed the role of team leader at AlphaTauri and gave his all in a car that usually gave little back. In Abu Dhabi he qualified a career-best 6th, and ran a long first stint and became the first Japanese driver to lead a race since Takuma Sato in 2004. This however was a bit too long, as he dropped to 11th when he pitted, with no more planned stops. Despite that, he held on and briefly got up to 3rd, but started getting passed by the two-stoppers, including Hamilton on the final lap, who then ran wide after passing him, meaning he finished 8th. 2023 may have been a record-breaking year for Max Verstappen, but he wasn’t breaking records with the fan vote, as Lando Norris was voted Driver of the Day five times; followed by Sergio Pérez and Verstappen three times each; Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz twice each; and Alexander Albon, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda once each. Conclusion Since 2016 there have 166 races and 165 Driver of the Day votes. 25 drivers have won the vote since then, and exemplified by the fact that I have recited his name 148 times in this video so far, Max Verstappen has dominated it, being voted Driver of the Day 39 times, followed by Sebastian Vettel 23 times; Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez 14 times each; Charles Leclerc 12 times; Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo 10 times each; Fernando Alonso six times; Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen five times each; Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz four times each; Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean three times each; Nico Hülkenberg and Oscar Piastri twice each; and Nyck de Vries, Daniil Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Nico Rosberg, George Russell, Mick Schumacher, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda once each. Some of these are sympathy votes, some are a retirement gift, some are more of a popularity contest, but in most cases they’re justified, and considering what he’s achieved since 2016, it’s hardly surprising how many votes Verstappen has got. That’s all for this video, thanks for watching. Don’t forget to like, comment, share and subscribe. Follow me on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads @brook_f1. Also join my Discord server, subscribe to my Spotify page and check out the DRS Train Podcast: links in the description. A huge shoutout and thank you as ever to my Patreon subscribers; do subscribe to my Patreon if you want early access to audio-only versions of each video, as well as a few videos that YouTube won’t allow me to put up, and I’ll see you all next time.