Rio Haryanto admits he was surprised not to win Driver of the Day for the Australian Grand Prix despite leading the vote before the results were announced.
In the hours following the Melbourne race Haryanto, Indonesia's first F1 driver, held a clear led in the fan vote for the inaugural award introduced earlier this year. That was despite the fact the Manor driver had been running last before retiring with a driveshaft issue during the red flag stoppage.
The award eventually went to Haas driver Romain Grosjean for his lauded drive to sixth on the team's debut. After announcing the result, the F1 website stated: "In the interest of fairness, multiple votes identified as originating from the same source were not counted".
Grosjean's victory prompted complaints from Indonesian fans on Manor forums and surprised the driver himself, who had seen the tally saying he held a comfortable lead the day before the result was announced.
"I don't have the record in my hand, but obviously I thought I was winning -- and then the next day it was very different," Haryanto said. "But there is nothing we can do. It is what Formula One Management does."
When it was first announced, Lewis Hamilton declared the fan vote a "pointless exercise", with the Melbourne vote arguably highlighting the issue of fans voting for favourite drivers rather than on individual performances.
Asked if it would have been embarrassing to have beaten Grosjean given the vast contrast in their race results, he replied: "Not really...I have huge followers back home and again we have a huge population. A lot of people support me.
"I have huge fans and a lot of people supporting me. Even in GP2 when we had a voting system of who had the best car liveries, or who had the best helmet design, I was always on top. I am really grateful I have a huge amount of support.
"It is up to the fans. They are the ones who vote. I am thankful. It means they are really supporting me, even when I don't have a great race. They still are very loyal fans."