Verstappen wins 2021 Driver of the Year Award

Max Verstappen has won Autosport's 2021 International Racing Driver of the Year Award. In the process, the Dutchman defeated Lewis Hamilton, among others.

Every year, Autosport hosts a ceremony that honours the best racers of that year. In the International Racing Driver category, Verstappen competed against Lewis Hamilton, Alex Palou and Nyck de Vries. Of course, as Formula One world champion, Verstappen was no surprise winner of the award on Sunday night.

Verstappen himself was not present at the ceremony but did thank his fans and team through a video message. Christian Horner accepted the award on behalf of his pupil and talked about the growth that the Dutch driver had experienced. Verstappen joins an illustrious list of non-British winners, that include Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Sebastian Vettel.

In addition to the award for Verstappen, Red Bull Racing also beat Mercedes' Formula 1 and Formula E teams in the battle for the International Racing Car Award. Oscar Piastri won the award for best Rookie in 2021 and Lando Norris received the Award for the best British racer.