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, that we’ll find out only once the driver of the day votes are revealed. One strong candidate was Max Verstappen, who recovered from P20 to finish sixth.
Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first win at Albert Park underlined Mercedes’ promising pre-season form. The Briton finished nearly 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 tough day for McLaren, with home hero Oscar Piastri’s race over before it begun with a crash during a reconnaissance lap some 40 minutes before the start.
His teammate and defending champion Lando Norris finished fifth, one place behind seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg scratched just before the race due to a reliability problem.
Another three cars failed to finish, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar among them.
How to vote for the F1 driver of the day?
The Driver of the Day award in Formula 1 is a fan-voted honor introduced in 2016, recognizing the driver who delivered the most impressive performance during a Grand Prix weekend (not necessarily the winner). It is voted for exclusively by fans worldwide and 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.
Log 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—it’s first-past-the-post (most votes wins).
You can vote early (before the race starts) on the same page. The winner is revealed on the broadcast during the cooldown lap or post-race, and the driver is informed live.
