Formula 1 drivers who have previously won the BBC Sports Personality award
F1 News
The annual BBC Sports Personality award took place last night in Salford, United Kingdom. Max Verstappen was nominated for World Sports Star, but was beaten by Manchester City footballer Erling Haaland. The Dutchman missed out dispited having one of the best seasons in Formula 1 history. Had he have won the award, he'd have joined a very illustrious list in Formula 1.
F1 and World Sports star
Two drivers have won BBC World Sports star. It's an award that dates back to 1960 and has been most frequently won by people who compete in Tennis (17 times) or Athletics (12 times). In 2013, Sebastian Vettel won the award. The German had just won four consecutive World Championships with Red Bull Racing.
Niki Lauda is the other Formula 1 driver to win the award. He did so in 1977 when he won his second World Championship and one year after his horrific accident. Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher never won the award despite being known as two of the greatest Formula 1 drivers.
Other awards for Formula 1 including the main award
F1 might not have had much success in the aforementioned category, but it's different for the main event. A Formula 1 driver has won the main award (Sports Personality of the Year) eight times. A driver has come second or third on a further 10 occasions. The last winner was Lewis Hamilton have arguably his most dominant season in 2020.
Hamilton also won the award in 2014. The British driver came second four times, losing out to boxer Joe Calzaghe (2007), cyclist Chris Hoy (2008), cyclist Geraint Thomas (2018) and cricketer Ben Stokes (2019). Despite Jenson Button's impressive 2009 season, he only managed to come second. Though Button did win the Newcomer Award in 2000.
Damon Hill won in 1996 and 1994, and it was Nigel Mansell in 1992. Such was the success of British drivers in the 1990s. Mansell also won in 1986. Sir Jackie Stewart took the honours in 1973 and Sir Stirling Moss in 1961.
Remarkably, only two motor racing teams have won team of the year. Cooper Motor Racing Team won the inaugural award in 1960, and BRM took the prize in 1962. Sir Frank Williams won the Helen Rollason Award in 2010 for founding the Williams F1 team.