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Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet, Sebastien Ogier, Marc Márquez, Charles Leclerc and Derek Warwick celebrated at 2017 Autosport Awards

Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet, Sebastien Ogier, Marc Márquez, Charles Leclerc and Derek Warwick were among the big winners in Sunday night’s Autosport Awards.

Held on the first Sunday of December, the week after the last F1 Grand Prix of the year, the Autosport Awards brings the season to a close, celebrating and recognising outstanding achievement across the racing world. Often referred to as ‘the biggest night in motorsport’, the 2017 Awards proved to be an international star-studded and glamorous occasion with guests including Damon Hill, Robert Kubica, Freddie Spencer, Gil de Ferran, John McGuiness, Chase Carey, Susie Wolff and the most successful sailor in Olympic history, Sir Ben Ainslie.

For the first time, the Awards were presented by Lee McKenzie and David Coulthard and covered 14 categories spanning club racing to World Rally Championship, MotoGP and Formula 1, the majority of categories voted by fans. And viewers were able to watch the Awards on a live global broadcast on Motorsport.tvAutosport.com and Motorsport.com.

Lewis Hamilton received two accolades for both the International Racing Driver of the Year and the British Competition Driver of the Year. Hamilton won his fourth F1 World Championship this season, surpassing his idol, and previous Autosport Award winner, Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 career pole positions in the process.

Hamilton, who first attended the Awards at 10 years old, thanked Autosport and the motorsport fans who voted for him to win both awards.

“It’s been a long, long journey. I remember being at the Autosport [Awards] in 1995 for the first time … it’s great to see that it’s still doing wonderful things and still reporting great news to the world.

“I just wanted to congratulate all the nominees and all the other winners that are there this evening. Congratulations on your years. I hope you have an amazing Christmas coming up and I wish you all the best for 2018.

“Let’s keep raising the bar. Let’s keep pushing. It’s great to see England producing such great talent still.”

Three-time F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet was honoured with the Gregor Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motorsport.

Nelson, said: “Firstly I would like to say thanks to Autosport for bringing me here after many years and also I want to thank all the racing teams that gave me the chance to drive. Most importantly, I want to say thank you to those who worked with me for many years.

“The time I had in motor racing was fantastic. To learn and work with a team was the most important. There is something that I want to say to everyone who is participating in motorsport. Racing taught me so many things in life, to be more responsible, to be on time and all of the things have made me successful outside of motor racing also.”

Speaking about his sons racing, Nelson said: “It’s much easier to race, than to see your son racing. For me, with racing, even with all the problems winning and losing is easy, but to watch the boys is very difficult.”

Derek Warwick, who stepped down as President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club this year, also received the Gregor Grant Award, joining previous winners including Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss, Alain Prost and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Five-time consecutive WRC champion, Sebastien Ogier claimed International Rally Driver of the Year while his Ford Fiesta WRC machine won the title of Rally Car of the Year.

Speaking about winning the title with an independent team, Ogier said: “This title is definitely very special. Everyone is very proud as it is not often you can achieve this in motorsport. There is so much passion in the team and everyone has worked very hard to achieve the Championship, so I am definitely enjoying this moment here tonight and receiving this award. This year means a lot for me. Even if it was the fifth title, this one was a bit different.”

The Mercedes F1 W08 EQ Power+, the car that secured Mercedes AMG F1 team’s fourth consecutive World Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ World Championship, was crowned Racing Car of the Year.

19-year-old Monégasque driver, Charles Leclerc was crowned Rookie of the Year. The Ferrari Junior dominated this year’s FIA F2 Championship, the first driver since 2009 to win the championship in his rookie season.

Four-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Márquez earned the title of Rider of the Year for the second consecutive time since the award was introduced in 2016.

Martins Zalmans was named the AUTOSPORT Williams Engineer of the Future, the award introduced two years ago to unearth emerging engineering talent. In the third year of the award, Zalmans joins Williams Martini Racing on an initial two-year placement in an accelerated development programme.

The John Bolster Award for outstanding achievement in motorsport was presented to the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) to mark the 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours and was collected by president Pierre Fillon.

After scooping two awards last year, Lando Norris took to the stage again after a stellar year in FIA F3. He was crowned National Driver of the Year. Enaam Ahmed, the 17-year old BRDC British F3 Champion and McLaren Autosport BRDC Finalist, collected the award for British Club Driver of the Year.

Dan Ticktum claimed the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, which offers the winner an F1 test and the opportunity to join the McLaren Young Driver Programme in 2018. The Award has given 28 British drivers their first opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car, including Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti, Anthony Davidson and Paul di Resta.

London-born Ticktum (18) competed in Formula Renault Eurocup and GP3 this season. He also claimed a thrilling win at the Macau GP last month, taking the lead at the final corner of the race.

“I had an amazing weekend in Macau and this has exceeded that,” said Ticktum. “I cannot put into words how proud I am right now to have won this award.”

“It’s been an incredible experience right from the outset. The two days [of assessment] were incredibly difficult and having to wait six weeks to find out who the winner was agonising to say the least.”

Speaking via a video greeting, FIA President Jean Todt said: “I want to send my warmest congratulations to the actors of this great season, as well to the organisers of this evening. One week before the FIA General Assembly and the FIA prize giving on 8th December, the Autosport Awards are a great ceremony that rewards, every year, the big names of motorsport.

“Of course, Autosport Magazine is part of the history of motorsport. The public vote is also a particularity that reinforces the popularity of this event. I’m sure the drivers and cars rewarded this year will be great champions who have marked the season.”

The Autosport Awards 2017 were produced by Motorsport Network – the world’s largest independent automotive and motorsport-related digital platform, connecting millions of people who love motorsport and cars. The network also produces & manages key industry events including Autosport International.

For more information, visit www.autosportawards.com

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