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
Previous article
Autosport Awards 2018: Motorsport stars ready for end of year celebration
Next article
Horner hands Industry Leaders Challenge baton to Wolff
About this article
| Series | General |
| Author | Jack Cozens |
LEGO Ferrari 488 GTE
Why Campos Never Made It Into Formula 1
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...
How Radical's latest machines fare on track
The lightweight sportscar manufacturer has not rewritten the rulebook with its latest machines, but the new SR3 XX and SR10 still provide a step forward on its previous successful models
The real-life racing rogues stranger than fiction
The forthcoming Netflix film linking the world of underworld crime and motorsport plays on a theme that isn't exactly new. Over the years, several shady figures have attempted to make it in racing before their dubious dealings caught up with them
How a GP is thriving in a COVID-free territory
The New Zealand Grand Prix's mix of rising talent and big-name stars thrilled the crowds (yes, remember crowds?) assembled for the Toyota Racing Series meeting at Hampton Downs last weekend and left distant observers craving a repeat
How a much-changed Macau GP kept the party going
OPINION: The 67th edition of the Macau Grand Prix might have been a largely muted affair to the outside world without its international influx and star line-ups, another victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, but organisers deserve huge credit for keeping the party going
Engineer's view: Motorsport's revolutionary braking tool
Although brake pressure and temperature logging is commonplace, measuring and understanding braking performance hasn't been so straightforward. But that's about to change following the introduction of a groundbreaking new sensor
