Lewis Hamilton is the DOTD for the Bahrain GP 2025. [Credits: X/ Formula 1]

F1 Commentators Question Driver of the Day Awards- “Pretty Weird Driver of the Day Decisions this Season”!

Bahrain Grand Prix 2025 joins the list of weird Driver of the Day decisions by the fans!

Lewis Hamilton is the DOTD for the Bahrain GP 2025. [Credits: X/ Formula 1]

The Driver of the Day award is the only F1 award that has no relation to performance whatsoever. DOTD is awarded to the most popular driver of the weekend. The voting for the award opens in the later stages of the race. The votes received by each driver are calculated and the results are provided accordingly to the drivers.

The Driver of the Day award can be pretty confusing sometimes. If fans decide to vote for a particular driver for the weekend, there’s no stopping them. Thus, the fate of this award lies in the popularity level of the driver. This award is often criticised for the distribution of votes on basis of popularity.

Saturday: Crashes out of qualifying
Sunday: Recovers brilliantly to finish P8

👏 @OconEsteban #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/zPzHiWyayw
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025

The F1 Driver of the Day awardees for the 2025 season are Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda. These drivers have driven well during the weekend they received their accolade. But, the presence of better performers has left everyone in wonder. Kimi Antonelli himself was surprised about becoming the Driver of the Day. Similarly, Yuki Tsunoda was given preference over his former teammate Hajdar who had his best weekend in F1 so far.

David Croft Questions Driver of the Day Award at Bahrain

The F1 commentators have been quite vocal about the distribution of this award in 2025. They have mentioned constantly that they do not think it was a good idea to award the previous drivers with DOTD. A similar situation was created in Bahrain, with the DOTD award. Lewis Hamilton, who started in 9th place, finished the race in 5th place. It is his first top-5 finish in the Scuderia Ferrari colors.

And your @salesforce #F1DriverOfTheDay is…

LEWIS!!! 👏👏#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/9PkpgxTzVQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025

Hamilton was awarded the DOTD for his achievement in Bahrain. However, the F1 commentators were not impressed while announcing this result. They even called out the “weird decisions” that fans are making every weekend while selecting the DOTD winner. But, if Lewis Hamilton did not deserve the Driver of the Day award, then who deserved it more?

Our Pick for the Driver of the Day

Similar to the Japanese Grand Prix, our pick for the DOTD is a driver from one of the underdog teams. We think Oliver Bearman should be awarded the DOTD. Bearman had faced issues in the Qualifying session. He started the race in dead last with his Haas. However, as the race progressed forward, Bearman overtook drivers left and right to claim a seat in the top-10.

Essential listening 🔊@OllieBearman overjoyed + a cameo from Dad ❤️#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/w6oleKHsvP
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2025

Oliver Bearman’s efforts helped him finish in the top-10 and win his teams a double-point finish. He gained 10 positions in the race and ended up in 10th place in the final driver standings. Yet, fans were unable to notice Bearman’s driving prowess this weekend.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2025

DOTD

Driver of the Day

Ferrari Formula 1 Team

Formula 1

Formula 1 2025 Season

Haas F1

Lewis Hamilton

Oliver Bearman

Rohan Singh

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I work as a Writer at The Playoffs specialising in NHL, Formula 1 and Motorsports. I got into online journalism a couple of years ago. I used to be an intern for a website managing their Formula 1 content and then I served an entire year as a contractual writer.