George Russell picked up a commanding victory over Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in the Express F1 end of year awards. The 24-year-old secured the British Driver of the Year prize by a comfortable margin ahead of his Mercedes team-mate and the McLaren star.
Russell won almost two-thirds of the 14,464 votes with 63.2 per cent backing him. The former Williams star picked up Mercedes’ one and only victory of the season with a commanding drive at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
He was also consistent, finishing outside the top five on just three occasions all year. Russell also becomes only the third driver to finish ahead of Hamilton in identical machinery as he opened up a 35-point lead in the final race.
In an interview with RACER magazine, Russell stressed beating Hamilton had made it a “successful year”. He explained: “I think we went through the stats, and statistically I finished ahead of my teammates, I think like 95 per cent of the time, in the five years prior to my year here.
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Norris finished 85 points ahead of Ricciardo but could be set for a tougher test when highly-rated rookie Oscar Piastri joins next season. Meanwhile, just 13.1 per cent of Express Sport readers selected Hamilton for the award in a miserable year for the seven-time champion.
Hamilton’s P6 in the Drivers’ Championship was his lowest-ever finish since his F1 debut. The Mercedes driver also failed to maintain his 15-year run of picking up a victory in every season as the Silver Arrows struggled to compete with Red Bull.
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