The British Driver of the Year is one of several awards at the Autosport Awards that are decided by supporters instead of a panel of industry professionals.
In the most challenging year of his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the drivers’ standings, two places behind his rookie teammate George Russell.
Hamilton concluded the 2022 season without a victory for the very first time in his career since Mercedes was only able to score one victory, which was earned by Russell in Brazil.
Despite this, on 4th December, Hamilton won the fan-voted British Driver of the Year award for the eighth time at the Autosport Awards, edging both McLaren’s Lando Norris and his teammate Russell.
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The 7-time-world champion provided a video in response to receiving the award again even though he was unable to attend the ceremony at Grosvenor House in London.
In the video, He said: “Good evening everyone, I am sorry I couldn’t be there in person but a huge thank you to all the Autosport readers. I still remember my first time at the awards, many years ago,”
“There are some amazingly talented drivers this year, I cannot believe how many amazing British drivers we keep producing, so I am honoured to win this award, thank you so much.”
The Gregor Grant award, which was chosen by a panel of industry professionals rather than by fans, was given to Sebastian Vettel for his lifetime achievements in motorsport.
Over the course of his difficult 2022 season, Hamilton finished on the podium nine times. Mercedes failed to provide either of its drivers with a car that could compete with Red Bull and Ferrari since they were unable to adapt to the new regulations.
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Team principal Toto Wolff claimed that the porpoising problem cost his team half a season’s worth of development and that Mercedes made errors in their physics calculations, which would account for the Silver Arrows’ subpar season-long results.
Russell outperformed Hamilton in the championship, but Hamilton admitted that he compromised a significant portion of the season to work with the team on radical set-up experiments in an effort to find their lost pace. As a result, Hamilton may have been more deserving of the British Driver of the Year award.
Hamilton is expected to sign a new multi-year contract extension in 2023, and he is hoping that Mercedes will give him a car that would enable him to win a record-breaking eighth world championship.
