Hamilton is F1’s first SPOTY winner since 1996

75 comments on “Hamilton is F1’s first SPOTY winner since 1996”

1. 

   Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
   15th December 2014, 0:03

   LOL at the caption xD just brilliant stuff !
   1. 

      JCost (@jcost)
      16th December 2014, 7:27

      Those Renault people really were hedgy! “Flavio Flave” :)
2. 

   Biggsy
   15th December 2014, 0:04

   I’m sure there’s a world outside of GB too.
   1. 

      Hairs (@hairs)
      15th December 2014, 0:28

      I think it’s more to do with a lack of news on a Sunday before Christmas in the off season, when a lot of race or public facing staff get time off.

      I’m sure Keith would be glad of submissions from other shores, though.
      1. 

         Biggsy
         15th December 2014, 4:48

         I was actually referring to this “Hamilton is F1’s first Sports Personality winner since 1996” as I suppose Schumacher at least must have won a German equivalent of the one in the meantime. :)
         1. 

            Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
            15th December 2014, 8:44

            Saw this after I’d written my comment below. Suffice it to say the headline refers to the specific award mentioned in the story. If that wasn’t obvious, the intro on the home page and at the top of the article reads “Hamilton wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year”, which surely makes it impossible to confuse with any other award?

            I don’t know if there are similar awards in other countries – perhaps other readers can enlighten us…
            1. 

               Sven (@crammond)
               15th December 2014, 16:14

               I don’t know if there are similar awards in other countries – perhaps other readers can enlighten us…

               Both Austria and Germany have the sport-journalists-union elect a sportsman of the year. Austria only once elected an F1-driver, namely Niki Lauda, in 1977. Germany had Karl Kling in 1952 (2 years before he entered F1, though, and mainly due to his win in the Carrera Panamericana), Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips in 1961, Michael Schumacher in 1995 and 2004, and Sebastian Vettel in 2010 elected.
            2. 

               JCost (@jcost)
               16th December 2014, 7:29

               @keithcollantine there other awards but I don’t see anything wrong with your title, it says BBC and that’s clear like water.
   2. 

      Liam McShane (@)
      15th December 2014, 6:45

      Well considering this is a British site…
   3. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      15th December 2014, 8:30

      there’s a world outside of GB too

      Presumably this is in response to the tweet? If so, don’t assume I’m not equally interested to see F1 succeed in other countries as well – of course I am, and I’ve said so before:

      https://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/281003519878774784

      But as I live in Britain I’m obviously better-placed to observe how it is performing here. Television viewing figures in the UK have been poor recently despite British success. But the same was true of Germany last year and I’m concerned by both.

      this is a British site

      No it isn’t – this is a site for F1 fans, regardless of their nationality.

      As has been pointed out countless times before, only around a third of users on the site are British:

      http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/groups/f1/forum/topic/where-f1-fanatic-readers-are-from/?topic_page=5&num=15#post-72133
   4. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      15th December 2014, 8:54

      Yeah, well the BBC mostly caters for the UK though by definition, doesn’t it?

      And its interesting because only a week or 2 back we had articles from people pondering why Hamilton is not as popular in the UK as he should be when compared to previous UK champs, including Button. So this now shows that he is catching up.
      1. 

         Biggsy
         15th December 2014, 13:12

         Maybe they just gave him this award because he’s black.
         1. 

            GongTong (@gongtong)
            15th December 2014, 13:59

            COTD? As long as this was tongue in cheek…
         2. 

            grat
            15th December 2014, 14:02

            No, that’s why they penalized him in Monaco in 2011. :)
         3. 

            Eric (@fletch)
            15th December 2014, 14:02

            Correction. Posted by Bigotsy..
            1. 

               Biggsy
               15th December 2014, 14:34

               Just because you are not informed enough or, for that matter, don’t have a sense of humor, to see where’s the joke in it, doesn’t give you right to insult people from an imaginary moral high-ground. You are throwing around words for which you don’t even know the meaning. Even if I was serious, what that would mean is that I was speaking about positive discrimination. That is something people like you are so excited about, but unless you are presented with it in its PR name, you don’t recognize it. Because the attitude you have towards it is not a product of your thinking, but a product of you doing whatever is the flavor of the day. If you ask me, I say, go by who deserved what, no by color or ethnicity. Not some positive or negative discrimination. But, I don’t doubt the clarity of my conscience and of my intentions, so I don’t feel the need to get the validation from other people that I’m a fair and open minded person, by constantly looking for someone to point the finger at.
               That’s the difference between us. And that is why I can make a joke and take a joke, while you are too scared of what others might think of you, because you are not too confident in your open-mindedness yourself.
            2. 

               Eric (@fletch)
               15th December 2014, 18:43

               look, there are plenty of people on this forum who would think your original post was at least rude and at worst some form of racism. Weather you think it’s a joke or not. So while it’s great that you explain yourself as joking and not a bigot, your original post hid your true awesomeness. So thanks for clarifying. As for your insight into me, you are just spot on. Read me like a book!
               Can we talk about formula one now without talking about skin color?
3. 

   matiascasali (@matiascasali)
   15th December 2014, 0:10

   Fernando Alonso in his Back Street Boys phase…
4. 

   OmarR-Pepper (@)
   15th December 2014, 0:43

   Is the Sports personality of the year only including British people? Is the vote open worldwide or it was restricted to the UK?
   1. 

      Ben (@sirt)
      15th December 2014, 0:52

      British apart from the Oversea’s award which the man in your profile pic won last year.
      1. 

         Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
         15th December 2014, 16:37

         @sirt Lauda also won in 1977.
5. 

   Nick (@nick-uk)
   15th December 2014, 0:48

   What personality?
   1. 

      Biggsy
      15th December 2014, 1:01

      That’s what I’ve been thinking.
      They should just call it popularity contest. This current name implies that it’s about some great deeds in the name of humanity.
      1. 

         Jake (@jleigh)
         15th December 2014, 9:24

         I don’t think you know the definition of personality.
      2. 

         alanore
         15th December 2014, 10:27

         Rory McIlroy as runner up too, the British love irony.
         1. 

            Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
            15th December 2014, 16:50

            I can see McIlroy winning when he completes the Grand Slam, which he might have done this year if he hadn’t lost the 2011 Masters. He was only 9 holes away from having done it already! He might have pipped Lewis in that circumstance, with Lewis winning next year if he gets a 3rd WDC and 2nd consecutive. Interesting to see that Clark and Hill never won the SPOTY award from 63-68.
      3. 

         grat
         15th December 2014, 14:04

         Voted for by the public live during the TV show, this prestigious award will be given to the sportsman or woman whose actions have most captured the public’s imagination

         Well, duh.
   2. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      15th December 2014, 1:40

      I was thinking the same. Lewis is however very good at what he does. I’m stunned that Jo Pavey was not considered the personality of the year.
      1. 

         dirgegirl (@dirgegirl)
         15th December 2014, 10:38

         I voted for her!
      2. 

         Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
         15th December 2014, 16:32

         @peartree Considering how unknown she probably was before the show, I think she did very well. Gareth Bale on the other hand, did abysmally, as does anyone who moves outside of the UK, irrespective of how well they do – in Spain/Europe, not globally, like Hamilton or McIlroy. Total votes were 615,000, or about 1/100th of the population.
         1. 

            Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
            15th December 2014, 18:54

            @fastiesty Jo Pavey’s story is inspirational. How can you not know her. Why would Bale deserve more votes, injured through half of the year which is unfortunate, and for most of the early part of 2014 benched!
            1. 

               Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
               15th December 2014, 18:58

               @peartree I know it, because I follow athletics, that said, at times it’s only on Red Button here in the UK, behind endless repeats of BBC Three content – what does that say about general public awareness of it?

               Bale – Didn’t really know that tbh (underlines my point), however it was said he scored in the Champions League final, Copa del Rey final, and helped the team win La Liga. But I do think that Atletico were robbed in that final minute of extra added time.
            2. 

               Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
               15th December 2014, 19:11

               @fastiesty I meant you plural. UK knows her story. I didn’t watch her race but the news raced the world. Bale did well at times namely the final as you said but ~di Maria had a much better season, better than his replacement and the worlds most expensive marketing stunt.
      3. 

         matt90 (@matt90)
         18th December 2014, 21:51

         I may be wrong, but didn’t she only succeed at a European level? Hugely impressive, especially inspirational, but in terms of the outright result it struggles to compare.
   3. 

      Glimiril (@glimiril)
      15th December 2014, 2:10

      Personality comes in many ways, like strength of character, being aware that success depends on others and thanking them. Just a few examples. Another personality trait you can see on this page, is the willingness to be negative towards others for what ever reason, if indeed there really is one.
      1. 

         Chapor (@chapor)
         15th December 2014, 4:34

         Comment of the year.
         1. 

            Chris (@tophercheese21)
            15th December 2014, 6:08

            Yep!
         2. 

            zippyone (@zippyone)
            15th December 2014, 10:07

            Indeed!
      2. 

         McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
         15th December 2014, 9:26

         Brilliant stuff.
   4. 

      LuvinF1 (@luvinf1)
      15th December 2014, 2:49

      Lewis and for that matter Nico as well displayed tremendous crowd pleasing personalities at the Austin COTA autograph session. I was impressed by them and the equal adoration of the crowd.
   5. 

      Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
      15th December 2014, 8:30

      If you can start an argument just by mentioning the award, you know you’ve got the name of it absolutely right! (see Driver of the Weekend)
6. 

   McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
   15th December 2014, 1:08

   It's personality award isn't it, no offense to Hamilton he's the best driver this year but his comments like "he's not German", "we're not friends" made it irrelevant I'm not a Rosberg fan, but He ended their feud in Abu Dhabi and showed great sportmanship, but in my mind Monaco and Belgium still questionable.
   1. 

      Karthik M
      15th December 2014, 5:12

      Rosberg has also said he is not german but just prefers to race under their colours, and Rosberg also claimed that he and Lewis were not friends. So I have no idea where you are going with that comment. And Rosberg ended the feud he started, but nothing gave Lewis back the 32 points Nico cost him.

      And coming to the point of saying things that doesn’t merit the SPOTY, what about “He was lucky” in Italy, “They are British people” in Spa and his general cockiness in the build up to Abu Dhabi?
   2. 

      John H (@john-h)
      15th December 2014, 7:39

      The problem is in the title. When they announce the award, they say something like “the champion sportsman of the year award goes to…” which isn’t really the same.

      Of course, as with all awards it doesn’t really matter in so much as its amusing when people get so bothered about them and start saying negative things to let off steam.
      1. 

         Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
         15th December 2014, 16:40

         @john-h Exactly, it’s basically Sportsperson of the Year, as voted for by the public, after a committee decides who is on it. If they choose badly, we’re left with Hong Kong democracy.. I don’t see anyone getting worked up about that?! ;) Ah, that was so 2011..
   3. 

      anon
      15th December 2014, 8:02

      Well, it is a comment that technically isn’t incorrect – whilst Nico has a German racing licence, he officially is a dual national (German/Finnish) and originally entered the motorsport world with a Finnish licence – but it was still a clumsy response to the question put to Hamilton.
      1. 

         McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
         15th December 2014, 9:15

         Yeah you’re true, but its not cool to say that.
      2. 

         grat
         15th December 2014, 14:12

         Not really. It was poor reporting. Hamilton was smiling when he said it, and Rosberg, standing nearby, was also amused.

         However, that doesn’t contribute to the Prost/Senna feud that the media was so desperate to recreate. Anything either driver said was run through a microscope for something that might be offensive to someone somewhere.

         They’re both very determined, passionate athletes who know there’s only going to be one champion a season. You can’t expect them to be all smiles at each other all the time– that would be insincere, and not quite human.
7. 

   TheBullWhipper (@thebullwhipper)
   15th December 2014, 3:40

   It was nice to see Lewis take the BBC SPOTY, he was nominated in 2008 but I think that would have been too soon in his career and personally would have felt him an unworthy recipient. We as the viewing public have watched Lewis mature in front of us, shared his highs and dissected his lows. He has taken the British public on one heck of a ride these last 8 seasons and I for one honestly feel that the right person was given the honour.
8. 

   pH
   15th December 2014, 7:55

   Wow, I’ve read that the guy in the picture is Alonso and I trust Keith, but looking at it I still can’t believe that the guy on the right is FA. Looks completely different. Could it be an elaborate joke? :-)
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      15th December 2014, 8:31

      Nope, it is definitely him!

      http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/13/caption-competition-65-alonso-button/alon-2002-2/
      http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/13/caption-competition-65-alonso-button/alon-2002-1/
      1. 

         Robert (@gicu)
         15th December 2014, 9:16

         I know Briatore was a crook but I didn’t expect him to hire someone with guns like those. Also, the photo in the 1st link could easily be a meme.
      2. 

         bosyber (@bosyber)
         15th December 2014, 22:43

         I found this caption competition, and the other photos from that shoot, an amazing blast from the past @keithcollantine, and I think a lot of us had a lot of fun with it!
9. 

   CountryGent (@countrygent)
   15th December 2014, 8:21

   Congratulations to Lewis; I wonder how many votes for Rory McIlroy were registered from Monaco…?

   One thing that slightly soured the occasion for me was the exclusion of Andrea de Caesaris from the montage of sporting names that are no longer with us. Obviously he’s no Sir Jack, but his death was deemed newsworthy by the BBC earlier this year, and in that regard I hoped to have seen him included. Yes, the inclusion/exclusion issues for a piece like this are huge, but versus some of the other names included I thought Andrea warranted a place.
10. 

    kull
    15th December 2014, 9:16

    When are the next set of rankings coming @keithcollantine ?
    They seem to be taking longer than usual thisbyear.
    Also I request you to do the teams rankings as well, your rankings are usually thost unbiased.
    1. 

       Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
       15th December 2014, 9:34

       Thanks very much! The driver rankings will continue later on today.

       I can’t see myself expanding it to teams rankings as well though – so much of their success is down to the performance of their car, and that’s largely reflected in the constructors’ championship standings.
       1. 

          ColdFly F1 (@)
          15th December 2014, 9:50

          and @keithcollantine did the statistical article on car performance 2 days ago.
       2. 

          Fsoud (@udm7)
          15th December 2014, 14:00

          Quickly..!
11. 

    TJD Swansea
    15th December 2014, 9:34

    What a hypocrite ! In his speech he talked about “… carrying the Union Jack”. Bah ! He is a multimillionaire deliberately living outside the UK so that he doesn’t have to pay taxes to the Exchequer. He ought to be ashamed of himself. Never mind , the rest of us who cannot afford to live abroad will carry on paying the taxes that this great country needs to keep afloat !
    1. 

       Calum (@calum)
       15th December 2014, 10:09

       You can see proof of him carrying the union jack in the photo at the top of this very article! ;)
    2. 

       zippyone (@zippyone)
       15th December 2014, 10:20

       Of course he is and so would you if you were him! Don’t forget F1 drivers have a limited number of career years.

       As for Lewis’s tax contribution, why should he give half his earnings away when you have tax-dodging multinationals like Amazon, Starbucks and Google getting away with billions of £s in tax! His tax dodging is a drop in the ocean.

       “Amazon, which had sales in the UK of £3.35bn in 2011, only reported a “tax expense” of £1.8m.”

       How come Button and Coulthard don’t/didn’t get this tax-dodging bashing nonsense?

       P.s. This country is not so great anymore which has absolutely nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton’s tax dodging!
    3. 

       Philip (@philipgb)
       15th December 2014, 10:35

       How much of that money does he earn in Britain?

       Only one race here last time I checked.

       He all also as you said, doesn’t live here or use the services those taxes pay for. So why should he pay them?

       Hamilton does a lot of charity work, I don’t begrudge him not paying tax to be used for bank bailouts.
    4. 

       KeithR (@)
       15th December 2014, 10:39

       Almost as bad as Jenson Button and his Union Jack helmet but sneakily living in Monaco to avoid paying taxes. And as for DC and his Saltire helmet, living in, er, Monaco. What a treacherous trio.

       Anyway I’m grateful that some people take the time to express their pain that Lewis won something. Gives a clue to the personality he and Anthony have needed to get where they are. And apparently we have 7 more years to look forward to – time to get used to it, perhaps? :)

       PS he’s snowboarding in Colorado right now ;)
       1. 

          Robbie (@robbie)
          15th December 2014, 13:23

          I want to live in a world where people are not forced to live their whole lives in the country of their birth, if they would rather go elsewhere. Especially not merely for their tax input. Millions move to other countries all the time. Is the only difference whether or not they have to pay taxes? Is it a fact that LH is only in Monaco for the tax savings? Does he contribute nothing to that economy, nor in the UK? Even if it is in other ways besides taxes? Is he doing something illegal by doing so? So it’s not that LH et al isn’t paying taxes in Britain…it’s that he supposedly isn’t paying any?

          Furthermore, in my experience governments famously treat our tax dollars like they are a bottomless pit of money from which they are entitled to continuously draw, all the while squandering at least a third of them with greed and inefficiency. Taxes shouldn’t need to be nearly so high if they were efficiently administered, and if they were reasonable for the services provided countries would likely attract people and businesses, rather than repel them.
          1. 

             KeithR (@)
             15th December 2014, 17:04

             Yes exactly @robbie, rich people are simply international these days, as the government will eventually find out with a shock horror discovery that even more are moving abroad, in response to the shallow mansion tax/stamp duty/50p income tax policies.

             If they want rich people to live in the UK, they have to motivate them. Though Nicole and Lewis have a flat in London now, apparently, so he’ll be paying the tax his accountants think he’s due to pay.
    5. 

       Matthew Coyne
       15th December 2014, 16:43

       What a ridiculous comment – You don’t have to pay taxes to be proud to be British, hell I’m not proud to know that I pay my taxes so that our government can throw them away on rubbish, I’d rather be living in a tax haven myself so I don’t have to fund our stupid government.

       Lewis races for Britain every time he goes out there, he constantly goes on about how proud he is to be british and how grateful he is to the british fans, he sports the union jack every weekend and did a lap of honour with the union jack when he won in abu dhabi, the only thing he doesn’t do is sing the anthem which no drivers do these days!

       If you want something that someone should be ashamed of then look at Rory Mcillroy, a man who has CHOSEN to play for the Republic of Ireland in the 2016 Rio Olympics rather than Great Britain, he was quite happy to be the favourite for the BRITISH sports personality of the year though, I was absolutely made up when I saw his sad little face when he only came second and I hope he never gets nominated again.
12. 

    tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    15th December 2014, 10:45

    Love the caption!

    Really delighted to see Lewis win SPOTY, especially given the snotty ‘below the line’ comments in some UK newspapers – obviously, some people have deep-seated issues with him, but it seems that they’re just a (very vocal!) minority.
13. 

    maxthecat
    15th December 2014, 11:50

    All this “Hamilton doesn’t pay UK tax” crying is a joke. Every one of you would do the same if you earned that money. Who in their right mind would want to give George Osborne 1/2 their earnings?!
14. 

    The Blade Runner (@)
    15th December 2014, 11:50

    Whatever your opinions of Lewis, it’s great to see someone from the world of F1 get SPOTY.

    I said in a recent thread that he could be the key to introducing younger fans to the sport. Exposure like this will really help.

    The fact that he also really, really deserved the award helps!
15. 

    ColdFly F1 (@)
    15th December 2014, 12:17

    Must be F1 silly season; the main talking points: 1) discussion if the site is UK-centric; 2) where should Lewis pay his taxes; 3) review of 12 year old photos.

    Could be a long winter!
    1. 

       David BR2
       15th December 2014, 12:54

       Yeah, flip-flops, slightly flared trousers, khaki and grey combos, and clean-shaven – it’s a fashion-crash I could do without on a Monday morning!
    2. 

       The Blade Runner (@)
       15th December 2014, 13:48

       Re: 1) and 2) – Seems to be the norm these days i.e. always look for the negative and apply maximum cynicism. The irony is that by making that statement I am doing the same. Grrrrr!
16. 

    pluk (@peteleeuk)
    15th December 2014, 12:34

    “Disappointing semi for Romain”
    (snigger)
17. 

    Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
    15th December 2014, 13:06

    Disappointing semi for Romain (Lotus)
    “I won’t say that I wasn’t frustrated,” said Romain afterwards.

    Now if that’s not innuendo i don’t know what is.
18. 

    SauberS1 (@saubers1)
    15th December 2014, 22:53

    He deserves this.

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