Formula One stars Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Christian Horner swept the honours voted by fans at the 36th Autosport Awards Gala in London last night, while three-time world champion and safety campaigner Sir Jackie Stewart won the top accolade, the Autosport Gold Medal.
Over 600 guests, including World Champions, team bosses and motorsport series leaders attended the prestigious blue riband annual event that celebrated the great moments of the 2023 racing season.
World Champion Max Verstappen was voted International Racing Driver of the Year by Autosport readers for a third time after a dominant F1 season with 19 wins, a new record. Norris took the British Competition Driver accolade.
In an emotional Gold Medal ceremony for three-time F1 World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, there were tributes from fellow Scot and four-time INDYCAR champion Dario Franchitti and HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain as the Scot collected the Autosport Gold Medal, for a lasting legacy. Stewart’s crusading work on safety in the 1960s and ‘70s, a brutal period when over 100 drivers were lost, set the sport on a course to reduce fatalities and serious injuries and saved many lives among the next generations of drivers.
“Motorsport is a wild business but there are a few people who made Jackie Stewart; my Mum and Dad. My Mum was a much better driver than my Dad! My brother Jimmy, John Waddell, David Murray and everyone at Ecurie Ecosse, Ken Tyrrell, Walter Hayes, Ford and Cosworth, Rolex, Moet & Chandon, all those at Stewart Grand Prix and Paul Stewart,” he said. “For me to receive your award I am very, very proud indeed. I am very grateful. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for having me here.”
The climax of the evening saw 18 year-old Joseph Loake unveiled as the latest winner of the £200,000 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award that has set previous winners like George Russell, Lando Norris, Jenson Button and David Coulthard on the road to F1 glory. Last year’s winner Luke Browning has just won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. The presentation of the cash prize and a test in an F1 car was made by Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 team Sporting Director Andy Stevenson and Johnny Herbert, a Grand Prix winner and a judge of the intensive driving assessments.
Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team principal and star of Netflix’ Drive to Survive Christian Horner picked up a Lifetime technical achievement award for overseeing seven drivers’ World Championships and six Constructor’s championships. The team won 21 of this season’s 22 Grands Prix, an outright record. He was presented with the award by Gary Fegel, the owner of Autosport and its parent company Motorsport Network.
“My wife has played a key role, and all partners do, with 22 races. The back end of the year has been particularly tough. To achieve what the team has with 21 wins from 22 races is outstanding,” said Horner.
“It’s been a tough season and we’ve seen a few things happen this year that were incredible.”
The Moment of the Year was won by the Ferrari team that triumphed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a 50 year absence from the elite class at the French Classic.
It was not only drivers and teams that scooped prizes. This year’s awards also featured three industry focused awards; Brand Partnership of the Year, Pioneering and Innovation and Promoter of the Year, which was won by Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
The Awards also played host to the F1 Academy prizegiving, with Spain’s Marta Garcia the inaugural champion. The event was held at its traditional venue of Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, entertaining some of the most renowned personalities in motorsport.
The full list of awards and winners were as follows:
- British Competition Driver of the Year – Lando Norris
- International Racing Driver of the Year – Max Verstappen
- Autosport Gold Medal – Sir Jackie Stewart
- Lifetime Achievement – Christian Horner
- Rookie of the Year – Oscar Piastri
- Racing Car of the Year – Red Bull Racing RB19
- Moment of the Year – Ferrari wins 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Promoter of the Year – Silverstone for British GP
- Rally Driver of the Year – Kalle Rovanpera
- National Racing Driver of the Year – Freddie Slater
- Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award – Joseph Loake
- Brand Partnership of the Year – Gulf for Gulf Williams Fan Livery competition
- Pioneering and Innovation – Toyota for work on hydrogen power in motorsport
Highlights of the 2023 Autosport Awards will be broadcast on Sky Sports F1 in the UK and on Motorsport.tv from Friday December 6th.
James Allen, President Motorsport Business and F1 liaison at Motorsport Network, parent company of Autosport, said:
“There were so many highlights tonight; from Sir Jackie Stewart receiving the respect and adulation of the motorsport industry as he collected the prestigious Autosport Gold Medal, through to the Le Mans winning Ferrari team collecting a well-deserved award for their historic triumph.
“We were also delighted to collaborate with F1 and Susie Wolff to bring the F1 Academy prizegiving to the Autosport Awards. Next year the series will be on the support card for seven F1 Grands Prix and will do a lot to increase female representation and visibility at the higher levels of the sport. And we have had a positive response to the new industry-focused section of awards, which recognise excellent work by promoters, sponsors, technologists and other sectors of the motorsport industry. There will be more of that in 2024.”
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