Autosport Awards 2015
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Runaway GP2 champion Vandoorne is here too. "I can't really complain - it's been a record-breaking year," he notes.
Henry Hope-Frost is now picking out some of the stars in the crowd, focusing on the British single-seater aces and tracking down GP2's Alex Lynn and Jordan King, plus FR3.5 champion Oliver Rowland.
The tartan-trousered Franchitti leads the Mercedes contingent off stage.
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On the topic of main rival Ferrari, Costa adds: "They made quite a bit of progress. We know we have a very strong competitor. We will fight for sure, up to the last race."
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"Toto said everything we wanted to say!" Costa jokes as he collects the award. Then finds more to say anyway: "We wanted to demonstrate that we were able to win for a second time. My colleagues worked in every area and I think we achieved almost everything that we wanted to achieve and we put together a car that was a good enough step."
Photo: LAT
A big Mercedes crowd heading onto the stage to pick this one up: Engineering director Aldo Costa, technology director Geoff Willis, performance director Mark Ellis, head of aerodynamics Mike Elliott and chief designer John Owen, plus head of performance engineering Owen Jones and engineering director Hywel Thomas from engine arm Mercedes High Performance Powertrains.
Franchitti announces another Racing Car of the Year for the Mercedes F1 team, for its W06.
Photo: LAT
Three F1 contenders for this one - Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams - up against the Formula E Spark-Renault, Porsche's LMP1 car and the ORECA LMP2.
IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti now comes on stage to present the Racing Car of the Year Award.
He points out that the extent to which Hamilton and Rosberg push each other from the moment Friday practice begins at each grand prix also helps Mercedes put up with any angst.
Wolff goes on to talk about the return of tensions between Hamilton and Rosberg, but adds that the fact the two have "known each other since they were eight years old and have been on holidays" makes the situation easier than if Mercedes had characters less familiar with each other.
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Asked by Rider for his feelings on the way Hamilton is establishing himself outside racing these days, Wolff replies: "We tend to put people in a box, but he needs to find out what kind of freedoms he needs, and as long as he performs it's not a problem."
Wolff jokes that he's "not sure" if he'll pass Hamilton's awards on, and might take them home to wife Susie Wolff instead.
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"I really feel like I'm in discovery mode, trying to set myself up in the world now," Hamilton continues. "How I continue to grow as a driver and a human being... at the moment I just want to enjoy it, and this year I had more time to enjoy it as I won the title with three races to go. I want to enjoy it as long as I can."
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"It's a good feeling to know it's from the public. I've been on that stage from karting. It's a great, great feeling when people appreciate what you do, so I'm very grateful," says Hamilton.
Hamilton can't be here in person this year, but he's recorded a special video message.
Toto Wolff opens the envelope and announces a second straight Autosport Awards double for Lewis Hamilton - he wins both British Competition Driver of the Year and International Racing Driver of the Year.
And we're also running through the shortlist for International Racing Driver of the Year - where it's Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne and IndyCar title rivals Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya in the hunt.
Contenders for this one are F1 Brits Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland, DTM title contender Jamie Green, Le Mans winner Nick Tandy and WRC rally winner Kris Meeke.
We're moving onto the final leg of the Awards, with Toto Wolff coming on stage for the British Competition Driver of the Year Award.
Here's our story on Eddie Jordan's award a little earlier: 
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"It will be a tough year in 2016 as well, we are already focusing on our 2017 car as much as our '16 car," Capito says of VW's WRC focus, with new regulations on the radar.
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Ogier is the winner. He can't be here tonight, but he has sent us a video. "It is a great honour, especially for the third year in a row. I'd like to thank the fans who voted for me."
Now we move onto Rally Driver of the Year. The nominees are Nasser Al-Attiyah, Elfyn Evans, Jari-Matti Latvala, Kris Meeke, Sebastien Ogier and Hayden Paddon.
"It was a fantastic year," Demaison says. He outlines that the plan was to challenge for a title for the first time this year, rather than to be going for a third.
And the award goes to Volkswagen. Motorsport boss Jost Capito is coming up onto the stage with technical chief Francois-Xavier Demaison.
The Rally Car of the Year nominees are: Citroen DS 3 WRC, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Hyundai i20 WRC, Mini All4 Racing, Skoda Fabia R5 and Volkswagen Polo R WRC.
And on Elizabeth Thompson's new Williams opportunity: 
Here's the story on McLaren Applied Technologies' award: 
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Photo: LAT
Mark Higgins will join Steve Rider on stage in a moment to present Rally Car of the Year and Rally Driver of the Year.
Next up, some rallying!
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"This is the first time we've done the award, it's really exciting that Elizabeth has won it as a female engineer," Claire Williams says. "It was a very difficult process, it was two days of really tough testing they went through."
"It was just such a great experience," Thompson says of the two-day testing process at Williams.
Elizabeth Thompson is the very first winner, announced by Claire Williams.
By: Geoff Creighton
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