Verstappen misses out on prestigious Laureus Award for second year in a row

On Monday night, the Laureus World Sports Awards were presented again. Max Verstappen was among the nominees, but was not voted best sportsman of 2023 in Madrid. That honour went to Novak Djokovic.

The Laureus Award is a prestigious award also known as 'the Oscar of sport'. Last year, Verstappen was also among the nominees. Then, too, he missed out. Footballer Lionel Messi - partly because he won the World Cup with Argentina - won the sports award in 2023. So his successor is Djokovic.

Max Verstappen previously won the sports award in 2022, but the three-time world champion once again missed out on a second election this year. The other nominees were footballers Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and athlete Noah Lyles.

Several sports greats such as Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi and Verstappen have all received the award before. Formula 1 world champions Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have also won in the past.