Zsolt Baumgartner surprise winner of Driver of the Day for Aussie GP

2016-Aus-GP-Zsolt-BannerAfter a chaotic first attempt to hand out a brand new trophy – for the most exceptional performer in each race – the official Formula 1 website announced today that highly regarded Hungarian driver Zsolt Baumgartner has clinched the first ever Driver of the Day award.

Baumgartner, 35, retired from the race twelve years ago with an electrical failure in a Minardi PS04B, yet led early polling in the fan-decided vote.

However, the integrity of the voting process was quickly brought into to question, after one particular driver received an extremely sudden surge of votes on Sunday afternoon.

French driver Romain Grosjean unexpectedly emerged as frontrunner, sweeping the polls with what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to hijack the system, with thousands upon thousands of votes registered for the run-of-the-mill midfielder in only a matter of hours.

“Unfortunately, certain internet users with nefarious goals attempted to exploit the vote for their own gain,” said an F1.com staffer, who has asked to remain anonymous. “Why would anyone vote for the person who actually drove well? This is supposed to be a popularity contest. We can’t let other people’s opinions get in the way – this award was designed to service our own agenda.”

Bernie Ecclestone himself was similarly unimpressed with proceedings, and was left wondering what to make of the fanbase he had worked so hard to cultivate.

“I can’t understand it, these young people on their compwhatsists and phoneymathings,” he said. “It should all be done with pencil and paper, you can’t cheat with that kind of system.”

He was equally bemused with the populist choice of Grosjean for the award; “Why wouldn’t they just be sensible and vote for Hamilton?” He queried. “He is the best driver, the world champion. Who cares about these other people? They are no good for the sport. If you ask me, Lewis should win it every weekend.”

However, after several hours of sifting through and removing all the faked and duplicate votes, Baumgartner was declared the winner of the trophy, to the delight of the Minardi driver.

“I am very happy to have been given this award,” he enthused. “It will make an excellent decoration for the spare bathroom – I’d been looking for a new toilet roll holder, but this will save me the trip to the DIY store.”

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