
Autosport Awards
Baldwin wins Autosport’s Esports Driver of the Year Award
James Baldwin is the winner of Autosport’s 2022 Esports Driver of the Year Award presented by Motorsport Games.


Autosport and Traxion.GG readers have voted the 25-year-old British entrant as the best sim racer this season, ahead of Kevin Siggy, Enzo Bonito and last year’s winner Frederik Rasmussen.
Baldwin has taken four separate championships this year, plus several other notable performances, setting him apart from the competition.
The former World's Fastest Gamer winner racer took home the Alpine Esports, Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports, GT World Challenge Europe Esports and the FIA Motorsport Games Esports Cup titles this season, alongside making the finals of the eRace of Champions and winning a round of the Le Mans Virtual Series.
“It's an absolute honour to win this award, with so much talent out there in sim racing, to be amongst the best in the world is crazy,” said Baldwin, presented by Formula E world champion Stoffel Vandoorne.
“When I first got into sim racing five years ago, competing at the top level seemed impossible, but over time I started to figure it out. I can't believe I’ve won this award. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.
“Thank you to my team, Veloce and my team-mates. Without them, a lot of the success this year wouldn’t have been possible.”
Baldwin follows Sebastian Job and Rasmussen in receiving the award and becomes its third-ever recipient.
Other categories decided by fan voting include International Racing Driver of the Year presented by Pirelli, International Racing Car of the Year presented by Blink Experience, International Rally Driver of the Year, Rally Car of the Year, British Competition Driver of the Year, Rookie of the Year and National Driver of the Year.
Further awards, decided by expert judging panels, include the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, the Gold Medal for lifetime legacy, the Gregor Grant Award for lifetime achievement, Motorsport Promoter of the Year, and Esports Team of the Year presented by Motorsport Games. Moment of the Year presented by Bang & Olufsen and Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future are awards that have returned for 2022.
To find out who our other Award winners are, go to autosport.com/awards

Le Mans Virtual Series: Porsche Coanda dominate 500 Miles of Sebring
Team Redline named Autosport’s Esports Team of the Year

Latest news
Button: Garage 56 entry will show “true NASCAR” at Le Mans 24 Hours
Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button feels that fans will get a “true experience” of NASCAR in its one-off special appearance at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Bird "could've won" second Diriyah FE race if FIA added further extra lap
Sam Bird reckons he could have won the second Formula E race at Diriyah, feeling the FIA should have added two extra laps to the race distance instead of one.
BMW boss Rahal says finishing Daytona was "almost like a win"
BMW team boss Bobby Rahal has described getting the two new M Hybrid V8 LMDh prototypes to the finish on debut in last weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours as “almost like a win”.
Analysis: How an unlikely tie-up won sim racing's biggest race
An unlikely partnership between LMP1 privateer Rebellion Racing and Williams Formula 1's successful sim racing team yielded victory in the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual. Here's how it triumphed in the biggest sim race ever staged
How poor driving standards ruined IndyCar's golden opportunity
The chaotic end to the virtual Indy 175 might be dismissed as "just a game," but the insulting actions of two IndyCar stars may have serious real-life consequences
Why Leclerc's Virtual GP annihilation deserves great credit
The introduction of Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi to Formula 1's Virtual GP last weekend meant it was a step above the franchise's debut two weeks ago. But a dominant performance from Esports newcomer Leclerc stole the show
How the hidden side of being fast has been exposed
'Natural talent' is one of the biggest misnomers going in motorsport, and that is being proven by the way real life racers aren't immediately getting on the pace with the sim racing experts in virtual contests. To change that, they are having to apply the same tools required to be quick in real life
Why F1’s pantomime Virtual GP is fun but unsustainable
F1 Esports' inaugural Virtual Grand Prix last weekend provided brilliant entertainment to those tuning in to watch a mix of F1 drivers and celebrities battle on track, but was a missed opportunity for marketing its own Esports stars. A change of approach is needed if it is to successfully fill the void until the resumption of proper racing
The latest Red Bull exile to return in Esports
Since he was ejected from the programme at the end of 2006, the latest Red Bull junior driver brought back into the fold to race in Formula 1 - in a virtual sense for the inaugural Virtual GP - has had quite the career journey. From ADAC GT Masters and Porsche Supercup to Le Mans and the DTM, here's how a works pro got to relive a long-forgotten dream
Mercedes can be toppled in F1's other title race
Mercedes has not only set new standards in Formula 1, but it's also created a benchmark in Esports. Now its rivals have scrambled to catch up, there's a chance the Brendon Leigh-fronted Mercedes can be stopped
Why World's Fastest Gamer is returning to real-world racing
World's Fastest Gamer is a spiritual successor to the famous GT Academy. After a successful first year, it's returning to the Nissan programme's roots by targeting the real world of racing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.