F1 Driver of the Day: Who has won the award in F1 2023?
The Driver of the Day award was first introduced all the way back in 2016 and is awarded to the driver with the highest percentage of fan votes after each race.
Not only did Max Verstappen hoover up a whopping 15 victories during the F1 2022 season but he also collected the most Driver of the Day awards with five to his name for his performances at Imola, Miami, Hungary, Spa and his beloved Zandvoort.
Click here for the full list of F1 2022 Driver of the Day winners and scroll down for the F1 2023 results.
F1 Driver of the Day: Bahrain Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso
Max Verstappen may have cruised to victory in the opening race of the season but it was Fernando Alonso who stole the show with his 99th career podium and only his second since Hungary in 2014!
His run was helped by the unfortunate retirement of Charles Leclerc but stunning overtakes on Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz in areas where passes don’t usually take place ensured he left a strong lasting impression on those voting for Driver of the Day.
Alonso was the clear runaway winner in the poll, but there was also some love shown to Pierre Gasly as he raced from P20 to P9 and to Lewis Hamilton as he battled to P5 in a W14 that is way off the pace compared to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso – 53.3%
Pierre Gasly – 6.5%
Max Verstappen – 6.3%
Lewis Hamilton – 5.5%
Charles Leclerc – 4.4%
F1 Driver of the Day: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
After looking in dominant form in practice, a driveshaft problem for Max Verstappen in qualifying forced him out in Q2 before he could set a representative lap time, leaving him down in P15 on the grid.
His recovery through the field was steady to begin with, but the Safety Car coming out for the stricken Aston Martin for Lance Stroll saw the Red Bull driver take advantage in the pit stop window and leave him a net fourth after the stops were complete. He then leapfrogged his way onto the podium and took a well-earned P2 finish behind Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished second in the vote.
Max Verstappen – 26.3%
Sergio Perez – 19.8%
Fernando Alonso – 14.6%
Charles Leclerc – 7.2%
Lewis Hamilton- 6.7%
F1 Driver of the Day: Australian Grand Prix
Sergio Perez
A chaotic race in Melbourne was tamed by Sergio Perez who put a poor Saturday performance behind him to rise from the back of the grid to P5.
Before the dramatic end arrived, Perez made neat work of cutting through the grid, combing the speed of the RB19 with an aggressive overtaking style.
After the multiple restarts, Perez continued to move up the field and following Carlos Sainz’s late penalty, the Mexican earned P5 to ensure he remains second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Sergio Perez – 21.3%
Lewis Hamilton – 14.3%
Pierre Gasly – 10.3%
Lando Norris – 9.6%
Carlos Sainz – 9%
F1 Driver of the Day: Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Sergio Perez
Strike up another for Perez, who picked up his second Driver of the Day award in F1 2023 after his impressive drive to victory in Baku.
While the timing of the Safety Car did give him that vital helping hand in jumping team-mate Max Verstappen, he had nonetheless been pushing his team-mate hard before that stroke of luck, and after the restart Verstappen had no answer to the pace of his team-mate.
Perez’s sublime performance then allowed him to narrow the gap to Verstappen at the top of the Drivers’ standings to six points.
Sergio Perez – 29.1%
Fernando Alonso – 14.3%
Charles Leclerc – 11.4%
Lewis Hamilton – 9.1%
Max Verstappen – 6.6%
F1 Driver of the Day: Miami Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Verstappen would pick up his second Driver of the Day award in F1 2023 at the Miami International Autodrome, a fitting achievement after a sensational drive.
Starting from P9 after Charles Leclerc’s qualifying crash had ended Q3 early, Verstappen used the alternate strategy of starting on the hard tyres and switching to mediums to devastating effect, much to the surprise of his Red Bull team.
After making his pit stop, Verstappen quickly latched onto team-mate Sergio Perez’s gearbox, passing the Mexican racer who had started from pole and going on to secure a very impressive victory.
Max Verstappen – 27.1%
Sergio Perez – 12.5%
Fernando Alonso – 9.8%
Lewis Hamilton – 8.6%
George Russell – 7.9%
F1 Driver of the Day: Monaco Grand Prix
Esteban Ocon
After a superb qualifying session that saw him eventually start third on the grid after Charles Leclerc’s penalty, Esteban Ocon put in a sterling drive in changing conditions to take his and Alpine’s first podium of the season around Monaco.
Even though former team-mate Fernando Alonso scored his best result of the year in finishing second behind Max Verstappen, Ocon narrowly won the fan-voted award for the Monaco Grand Prix after becoming the first Frenchman to appear on the podium in Monte Carlo since Olivier Panis when he won the race back in 1996.
Esteban Ocon – 23.5%
Fernando Alonso – 22.6%
Max Verstappen – 16.5%
Lewis Hamilton – 7.5%
Charles Leclerc – 6.2%
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