F1 says Kubica's 'Driver of the Day' award was an error

[July 03, 2019]    LONDON (Reuters) - A technical error led to Williams back-marker Robert Kubica being declared 'Driver of the Day' at the Austrian Grand Prix instead of race winner Max Verstappen, Formula One said on Tuesday.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen takes the checkered flag to win the race Christian Bruna/Pool via REUTERS

Polish veteran Kubica, who has a big fan following but has yet to score a point in his comeback season, finished last and three laps behind the 21-year-old Red Bull driver in Sunday's race at Spielberg.

Despite that, he was declared winner of the fan vote.

The official Formula One website said Kubica had been incorrectly allocated a number of votes and Verstappen had really won 74% of the total.

The Dutch youngster started on the front row, made a poor getaway and then fought back from eighth to win his team's home race for the second year in a row and in front of thousands of his traveling fans.

Verstappen's wheel-banging overtake of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for the lead with two laps to go led to a stewards' enquiry before the race result was upheld.

Leclerc received 11% of the vote and McLaren's Carlos Sainz seven after the Spaniard went from 19th on the grid to eighth.

Formula One introduced the 'Driver of the Day' award in 2016 to increase fan engagement, with the winner announced immediately after the race finish.

Fears that voting would reflect drivers’ popularity on social media more than race-day performances were countered with an assurance that multiple votes from the same source would be weeded out.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)

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