Verstappen misses out on BBC World Sport Star of the Year award

Max Verstappen has missed out on the BBC-World Sport Star of the Year award. The Dutchman was among the six nominees, but did not become the final winner.

Every year the BBC presents a sports award for the best athlete abroad. Britons are therefore not nominated for this award. Frequent winners of the award that has been presented since 1960 are Roger Federer (four times), and Usain Bolt and Muhammad Ali (both three times). Formula 1 drivers have only rarely won, with Niki Lauda doing so in 1977 and Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

In 2021, Verstappen was nominated for his exceptional F1 season. For the first time, the Dutchman was able to compete with Lewis Hamilton, but the controversy of the last race weekend probably didn't help him for this award. In fact, the result was determined with an online vote.

Irish Jockey Rachael Blackmore walked away with the win in the end. Besides Verstappen, Mexican boxer Saul Alvarez, American quarterback Tom Brady, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic and Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson-Herah were also nominated.