The glitz and glamour of the 2010 Autosport Awards
Celebrations and acknowledgement are far from over for the new Formula One World Champion, Sebastian Vettel. The youngest title winner in the sports’ history embraced yet another special trophy last night.
Sunday saw the 2011 Autosport Awards ceremony in London, an event as big as the Oscars for the motor sporting world. After having bagged several awards and trophies in the past few years, the driver finally claimed the International
Racing Driver of the Year Award.
The grand event attracted drivers as well as all other important team members in the field gracing one of the most glamorous and sparkling events of the year. All the drivers who have been entertaining the racing world over the
years have been recognised for their immense talent and struggles in these awards for around three decades now. Fans from all over the world play the decisive role in these awards by their votes.
Only two years ago, the Red Bull driver made his mark by winning the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, after having received a huge number of votes from the fans. Now, after having claimed the first Championship of his career, the German
received the most prestigious award last night. Last year, the McLaren driver Jenson Button was awarded the International Racing Driver of the Year after having winning the 2009 Drivers’ Championship with Brawn GP.
This year Red Bull Racing has enjoyed a double celebration as it bagged the Racing Car of the Year award as well, for its super-speed RB6. The team’s car has been evidently the fastest all through the season on the track, and the
award came as no surprise to the team.
A big surprise for everyone was seen in the category of the British Competition Driver of the Year. The British ace, Lewis Hamilton and the 2009 Champion Jenson Button were overshadowed by the superb performance of Dario Franchitti.
The IndyCar Champion has bagged the title of the American series Indianapolis 500 for the third time this year.
The year’s new entrant, Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber won this year's ‘Rookie crown’ at the ceremony. The Japanese driver has shown some very spectacular performances around the season as he was seen making some very impressive passes
and had been one of the most energetic and high spirited drivers on the track, all through the year.
Moreover, some other awards were also distributed, which were of great significance and they were not decided on the basis of public voting rather expert opinion was taken for these special awards.
The Pioneering and Innovation Award was awarded to McLaren. The British squad had been the first one this season to come up with the F-Duct technology, following which all the Formula One teams soon adopted. It is a clever, drag-reducing
device providing great speed, especially in the long straights. Although many of the teams came up with their own version of the device, yet all were not able to gain a similar pace.
The ‘John Bolster Award’ served as a perfect farewell for the tyre supplier, Bridgestone which will not be seen in the upcoming season of Formula One.
The very special and of course very prestigious award, the ‘Gregor Grant Awards for Lifetime Achievement’ was presented to two legendry personalities of the racing world, the three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart and the veteran
Rubens Barrichello. The record-breaking driver started his 300th grand prix this year and has been among the best ranking drivers of the sport for two decades now.
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