Sirotkin a contender for Driver of the Year - but we think we know why...

Sergey Sirotkin might be languishing at the bottom of the drivers' championship standings with a race remaining of the 2018 season, but the Williams driver clearly has a lot of supporters – as evidenced by his eye-catching surge up a fan vote for driver of the season.

Sky Sports put it to the public to decide 2018's best racer. Lewis Hamilton lead the way earl on, but he has been overtaken by a rapidly improving Sirotkin – not something we've had cause to say until now all year…

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Anyone reckon this Driver of the Year vote has been... compromised?#F1 #AbuDhabiGP #Williams pic.twitter.com/8A6r5hZsD2 — GP Fans Global (@GPFansGlobal) November 19, 2018

UPDATE

He is now in the lead!#F1 pic.twitter.com/Fi1BXzbHqg — GP Fans Global (@GPFansGlobal) November 19, 2018

The Russian's solitary point so far in 2018 came at the Italian GP, where he was classified 10th after Romain Grosjean's disqualification – so where is all the support coming from?

Well, we might have just found the answer.

The 'Formuladank' community on Reddit appears to hold the answer, with numerous threads opened up displaying the Russian being backed in the vote.

The Subreddit is home to a lighter view of the sport – but things have clearly gotten serious in the attempt to see Sirotkin hailed for his 2018 efforts.

Although Sirotkin has bested Williams teammate Lance Stroll more often than not in 2018, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could be his final race in F1 for a while, with reports claiming that Robert Kubica will replace him in 2019, with an announcement reportedly set to come at the Yas Marina Circuit this week.

MORE: 'Williams to announce 2019 driver at Abu Dhabi GP'