Driver of the Day
Formula 1 2026 Driver of the Day
Max Verstappen has been voted Driver of the Day 8 times in 2026, more than anyone else. Max Verstappen took the most recent award in Singapore. 6 different drivers have won it across 15 rounds.
Of the 14 votes we can match to a classification, 11 went to a driver who finished on the podium and 5 to the race winner. Between them the winners made up 18 places from their grid slots. The biggest climb was Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan, P8 on the grid to P2.
Latest award · Singapore · Round 17
Driver of the Day
P1
Started
P1
Finished
0
Places made up
8
Awards in 2026
of 15 rounds
Max Verstappen won the race as well — the vote and the result agreed this time. Full classification.
Season leaderboard
| Driver | Awards | Share | Avg finish | Places made up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | 8 | 53% | P2.9 | +11 |
| Kimi Antonelli | 3 | 20% | P1 | 0 |
| Charles Leclerc | 1 | 7% | P2 | +3 |
| Lando Norris | 1 | 7% | P1 | 0 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 7% | P2 | +3 |
| Oscar Piastri | 1 | 7% | P2 | +1 |
Round by round
| Round | Grand Prix | Driver of the Day | Grid | Finish | +/− | Race winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | Max Verstappen | — | 6 | — | George Russell |
| 2 | China | Kimi Antonelli | 1 | 1 | 0 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 3 | Japan | Oscar Piastri | 3 | 2 | +1 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 4 | Miami | Max Verstappen | 2 | 5 | −3 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 5 | Canada | Lewis Hamilton | 5 | 2 | +3 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 6 | Monaco | Kimi Antonelli | 1 | 1 | 0 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 7 | Barcelona-Catalunya | Max Verstappen | 5 | 4 | +1 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 8 | Austria | Max Verstappen | 5 | 2 | +3 | George Russell |
| 10 | Belgium | Charles Leclerc | 5 | 2 | +3 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 11 | Hungary | Max Verstappen | 6 | 2 | +4 | Lando Norris |
| 12 | Netherlands | Lando Norris | 1 | 1 | 0 | Lando Norris |
| 13 | Italy | Kimi Antonelli | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Azerbaijan | Max Verstappen | 8 | 2 | +6 | George Russell |
| 16 | Bahrain | Max Verstappen | 1 | 1 | 0 | Max Verstappen |
| 17 | Singapore | Max Verstappen | 1 | 1 | 0 | Max Verstappen |
No vote recorded for round 9 (Great Britain), which we hold a classification for. The award is published by Formula 1 per race and occasionally lands late.
What this is
Driver of the Day is a public vote held during each Grand Prix and announced shortly after the flag. It rewards the drive fans enjoyed most, which is not the same thing as the best result - voting closes before the chequered flag, so it is scored on what was visible while the race was still running.
Grid is the slot they qualified in and Finish the position they were classified in, so +/− is what they made up between the lights and the flag. A retirement or non-classification has no finishing position, so it scores no delta rather than counting as places lost. The race winner is printed alongside because the gap between those two columns is the whole point: the vote lands near the front far more often than it lands on the winner.
Winners are taken from official Formula 1 results and matched to the calendar round, so the numbering here follows the season as actually run rather than the order races were originally scheduled in. Grid slots and classifications are joined from the same official session results that feed every round page, matched by round rather than by race name so a mid-season calendar change can’t shift a vote onto the wrong weekend.
Because it is scored on the race as it unfolds, it tends to reward the drive fans could see developing - a recovery through the field, a late charge, a defence against a quicker car - over one that was settled at the first corner. That is why a driver can take it without finishing on the podium, and why the leaderboard above is a record of the vote rather than a ranking of who is having the best season.