Britain’s Lewis Hamilton was on Friday handed the Formula One world championship trophy for the fourth time at a gala ceremony in the sumptuous palace of France’s former monarchy.
With F1 chairman Chase Carey looking on, newly re-elected International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Jean Todt handed the 32-year-old Mercedes driver the silverware he won in Mexico with two races to spare.
“This has been an amazing year,” Hamilton told the audience in the palace’s 18th-century opera. “I hope that next year’s an even better year for all of you. I know for me that I’m going to try to do better.”
Hamilton this year won 9-20 races and set an all-time record of 72 career pole positions.
Asked earlier for his highlight of the season, Hamilton singled out his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone, because of the support he received after the “negativity” surrounding his failure to take part in an earlier London event.
He also told reporters that while he did not like going to award ceremonies or being on stage, he enjoyed watching others succeed.
Mercedes won both championships for the fourth year in a row, but team boss Toto Wolff said this year had been particularly difficult.
“We keep it now,” he said after being handed the constructors’ trophy by Carey.
Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen beat a field that included Hamilton and his Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo to the Personality of the Year award for the third successive year.
“I always try to be honest and straightforward, so I guess that gave me the personality again this year,” the winner of two races this year said. “It was a hard season, but I learned a lot from it.”
Monaco’s Formula Two winner and next year’s Sauber F1 driver Charles Leclerc won the Rookie of the Year award, while Finnish rally driver Esapekka Lappi won the Action of the Year award for a jump in the Rally of Portugal.
British teenager Billy Monger, who in April had his lower legs amputated after an horrific smash in a Formula Four race at Donington Park, was presented with an FIA president’s Special Award.
Monger, who has already returned to driving, walked onto the stage on prosthetic legs to a resounding ovation.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
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