Following a successful 2022 Formula 1 season, Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team have been nominated in the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Verstappen dominated the 2022 campaign, taking 15 grand prix wins during the year – setting a new record for a single season tally en route to his second F1 title.
Red Bull also comfortably won the Constructors’ Championship, its first since the 2013 season after Mercedes took the accolade every year from 2014.
Verstappen has been nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year, but faces tough competition.
Also up for the prize is PSG forward Kylian Mbappe, Argentina Forward Lionel Messi, pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, tennis legend Rafael Nadal and Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.
Verstappen picked up the award last year, following his dramatic maiden title win after a season-long battle against Lewis Hamilton.
The award has seen F1 drivers win before, notably Michael Schumacher in 2002 and 2004, Sebastian Vettel in 2014 and Lewis Hamilton in 2020, who won it joined with Lionel Messi.
Red Bull has never won the team award, but it has gone the way of F1 before – Renault (2006), Brawn (2010) and Mercedes (2018).
For the 2023 version, Red Bull has opposition in the World Cup-winning Argentina Men’s Football Team, the England Women’s Football Team, the France Men’s Rugby Team, the Golden State Warriors and Real Madrid Men’s Football Team.
