Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton picked up two awards at the 2017 Autosport Awards.
Just over a month after securing his fourth F1 title, Hamilton received the International Racing Driver of the Year award and British Competition Driver of the Year award, both of which are voted for by fans.
“It’s been a long, long journey,” Hamilton said. “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.”
The Awards played a big part in Hamilton’s early career. Attending the ’95 Awards at just 10 years old, Hamilton met McLaren’s Ron Dennis for the first time. He claims it’s here that he got his shoe in the door with the man that would be his first F1 team boss.
This is Hamilton’s fifth International Racing Driver Award and sixth British Competition Driver Award.
Mercedes was also honoured during the evening. The Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ was crowned Racing Car of the Year.
