Autosport Awards
F1 champion Lewis Hamilton gets another Autosport Awards double
Lewis Hamilton added two more titles to his 2018 haul, sealing the British Competition Driver and International Racing Driver of the Year presented by Pirelli Autosport Awards categories
Hamilton won his fifth Formula 1 world championship this season, beating Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to the crown with a commanding performance in the second half of the season to equal Juan Manuel Fangio's tally of titles.
He won 11 of 21 races - equalling his personal-best season haul from 2014 - during a campaign in which Hamilton and his Mercedes team faced their sternest challenge from rivals Ferrari and Red Bull since the start of F1's V6 turbo-hybrid era.
His Award wins, voted for by Autosport readers, were his sixth in both categories.
Hamilton did not attend the reception at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, but sent a video message to acknowledge his awards.
"I just really wanted to send a message; I'm sorry I can't be there with you," said Hamilton.
"Autosport has been something that I've followed for so many years, I remember my first time there in 1995 and getting to meet so many great people and I know it's an incredible event and it gets better every year.
"I want to say a big thank you to Autosport and the fans who vote for me - thank you so much for your support throughout the year.
"And [to] all the other nominees and contestants, and winners, congratulations.
"2018 hopefully has been an amazing year for you as it has been for me.
"I want to wish everyone an amazing Christmas with the family, hope you stay focused for 2019. I wish you all the best."
Both prizes were collected in person by Hamilton's brother Nicolas, who joked that "you have the most important Hamilton on stage" and said he plans to race in the British Touring Car Championship again in 2019.
Lewis Hamilton beat fellow F1 drivers Vettel, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso - who will step away from F1 for 2019 - plus respective IndyCar and Formule E champions Scott Dixon and Jean-Eric Vergne to the International Racing Driver of the Year award.
His ex-McLaren F1 team-mate and 2018 Super GT champion Jenson Button, Formula 2 title winner George Russell, DTM title combatants Gary Paffett and Paul di Resta and FE championship contender Sam Bird were the drivers Hamilton beat to the British Competition Driver award.
Autosport Live coverage of the main part of the Autosport Awards evening begins from 9.15pm UK time
Autosport Awards 2018: Motorsport stars ready for end of year celebration
Horner hands Industry Leaders Challenge baton to Wolff
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands
The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"
From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...