George Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, managing to stay ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. But who impressed fans the most? Well, we will know that only once the votes of the driver of the day are revealed. A strong candidate was Max Verstappen, who recovered from P20 to finish sixth.
Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first victory at Albert Park underlined Mercedes’ promising pre-season form. The Briton finished almost three seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Leclerc more than 15 seconds behind on a cloudy afternoon at the lakeside circuit on Sunday.
It was a difficult day for McLaren as local hero Oscar Piastri’s race ended before it began with a crash during a reconnaissance lap around 40 minutes before the start.
Teammate and defending champion Lando Norris finished fifth, one place behind Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started, and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated just before the race due to a reliability problem.
Three other cars failed to finish, including Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.
How to vote for the F1 driver of the day?
The Formula 1 Driver of the Day award is a fan-voted honor introduced in 2016, recognizing the driver who put in the most impressive performance during a Grand Prix weekend (not necessarily the winner). It is voted on exclusively by fans around the world and is announced at the end of each race.
Go to the official Formula 1 voting page: https://www.formula1.com/en/page/vote (or directly https://www.formula1.com/en/vote.html).
The voting window opens during the Grand Prix (usually after qualifying or during the race) and remains open until shortly after the race ends.
Sign in with your F1 TV account, F1 Fan Voice account or create one (free).
Select your choice from the drivers on the grid (you get one vote per race).
Submit: Be the first to pass the post (win the most votes).
You can vote early (before the race starts) on the same page. The winner is revealed on the broadcast during the recovery lap or after the race, and the driver is informed live.