2013 AUTOSPORT Awards

Laughter from the crowd as Lauda jokes about his first retirement from the sport on stage with John Watson. There's clearly a little bit of needle about Lauda's departure from Brabham – but to his credit, the Austrian ends with a smile and says he has happy memories of the time.

Anecdotes from Watty now – plenty of banter between the pair.

Lauda looks incredibly emotional on stage and the applause isn't stopping! Whistles from the crowd for the capped triple world champion.

The F1 legend took on a managerial role with the Mercedes grand prix team this season, and his epic 1976 title battle with James Hunt found a new audience thanks to the hit movie.

Lauda delivered the 1975 F1 title and was on the way to a repeat in '76 before the fiery Nurburgring accident that almost killed him.

He made an extraordinary recovery and missed just two races, then came within a point of the world championship in the famous Fuji finale – spawning the Hollywood blockbuster almost 40 years later.

Lauda won the crown again in 1977 before leaving for Brabham and then walking away from F1 completely in mid-79 to spend three years focusing on his airline business.

In 1982, Lauda was enticed back to F1 by McLaren, beating Alain Prost to the 1984 title by just half a point before retiring for good at the end of '85.

With the release of RUSH in 2013, the heroics of the 1976 Formula 1 season have been enjoyed by a global cinema audience.

The Gregor Grant Award goes to Niki Lauda.

We start with Gregor Grant Award for lifetime achievement.

John Watson is invited to the stage to make the presentation.

Tonight's gala dinner has just wrapped up in the Great Room and the guests are watching video highlights of a compelling motorsport year.

Next up was the coveted National Driver of the Year Award, with nominees from BTCC, British F3 and GT.

After an intense championship battle in the popular tin-top series, Andrew Jordan rounded out his BTCC title year with the Award from AUTOSPORT's readers.

AUTOSPORT Awards 2013: Andrew Jordan wins National Driver Award

Earlier tonight, the show began with the pair of national racing awards, presented by Lotus Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean.

First up was British Club Driver of the Year, which is open to drivers in TOCA supports or below.

Dan Cammish was presented with the Award following a dominant season - 24 wins from 24 starts - in British Formula Ford.

AUTOSPORT Awards 2013: Daniel Cammish wins British Club Driver

The majority of tonight's Awards are voted for by you, AUTOSPORT's readers. This year the voting system was also available online, with subscribers making their choices from a list of nominees.

Find out more about the nominees

Leading the star-studded cast of motorsport guests this evening is four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, with fellow F1 drivers Romain Grosjean, Paul di Resta, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton and (from 2014) Daniil Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen also in attendance.

There is a wealth of driving talent scattered throughout Grosvenor House this evening, including World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier, GT ace Oliver Gavin, Scottish IndyCar hero Dario Franchitti and a DTM triumvirate composed of 2013 champion Mike Rockenfeller, Gary Paffett and Andy Priaulx.

On the legends side, we have Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, John Surtees, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart.

Stage

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2013 AUTOSPORT Awards in association with Mercedes-Benz, from the Grosvenor House hotel in central London.

The stars of world motorsport are on hand for the 32nd AUTOSPORT Awards, which celebrates the finest achievements after a season of intense competition.

The main presentations are about to begin and you will find out who the winners are - live - right here on AUTOSPORT.com.