Natalie Pinkham shares who her driver of the day was – apart from Max Verstappen – at the Spanish GP

Follow us on Google Discover

Journalist Natalie Pinkham has selected her driver of the day from the Spanish Grand Prix after excluding Max Verstappen.

Pinkham was asked the question on the F1 Nation podcast after an interesting race in Barcelona.

However, it was only really interesting when you took Max Verstappen out of the equation.

The Dutch driver dominated the entire weekend and wasn’t seen again after the first corner.

Contact between Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris ruined the McLaren driver’s day after a brilliant qualifying session.

Carlos Sainz couldn’t capitalise on his front-row qualifying result at his home Grand Prix and eventually drifted into fifth place.

It was Mercedes driver George Russell whom Pinkham named as her driver of the day at the Spanish Grand Prix.

After failing to qualify in the top ten and hitting teammate Hamilton in the process, he had a brilliant Sunday.

It may be a sign that Mercedes’s latest upgrades could now make them the second-fastest car on the grid.

Pinkham names Russell her driver of the day at Spanish GP

Asked to give out the award without including the faultless Verstappen, Pinkham said: “I think I’m going to have to go for George Russell because I think he had a very difficult day in qualifying.

“He was beating himself up about the contact with Lewis [Hamilton].

“He was able to shrug that off and come through despite pouring rain inside his helmet, he was able to see beyond the sweat and pull through for a podium.

“That was great, but I thought Lewis as well as equally deserving because his second place never looked in doubt.

“OK, it was still a long way off first, but it still represents a massive step forward for Mercedes.”

Russell remained fifth in the Drivers’ Championship but closed the gap on Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.

He’s still 23 points away from teammate Lewis Hamilton but will have some credit in the bank after finishing above him last season.

Pinkham will be hoping that unlike after the Spanish Grand Prix, she doesn’t need to exclude Verstappen from her driver of the day selection.

His domination, although impressive, is making the race to win both championships rather dull.