Leclerc voted Driver of the Day after Austin duel with Verstappen

Leclerc pips Verstappen to fan honours in Austin

Charles Leclerc has been voted Driver of the Day for the 2026 United States Grand Prix in Austin, claiming his third fan-vote prize of the campaign after a feisty podium drive for Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc celebrates his Driver of the Day award at the 2026 United States Grand Prix

The nine-time Grand Prix winner scored his second P2 on the bounce with an aggressive and entertaining performance that once again put the Ferrari star on the podium at Circuit of The Americas.

"No one could catch Kimi Antonelli out front, but Leclerc enjoyed a race-long scrap for second place with old adversary Max Verstappen," the official F1 account of the vote noted. Leclerc briefly got ahead of the four-time World Champion on the opening tour, but then had to wait until seven laps from home to pull off his decisive pass to secure the 18 points.

How the vote broke down

Leclerc topped the fan ballot with 25.7% of the votes, edging out Verstappen, who took 24%. Race winner Antonelli claimed 18.7%, while Lando Norris (7.5%) and Lewis Hamilton (5.4%) rounded out the top five.

Charles Leclerc – 25.7%
Max Verstappen – 24%
Kimi Antonelli – 18.7%
Lando Norris – 7.5%
Lewis Hamilton – 5.4%

Leclerc's award comes on a weekend when Antonelli, already on pole from qualifying on 2026-10-25, converted his advantage into a dominant victory in Austin. Verstappen, by contrast, had been the previous recipient of the honour, landing the Singapore Grand Prix Driver of the Day on 2026-10-11 after his maiden Marina Bay win.