Lewis Hamilton won the Action of the Year award as voted for by fans – but he was not present at the FIA Prize Giving gala to collect his gong.
There wasn't much silverware on offer for the Brit this season. He picked up a handful of trophies for podium finishes throughout the season, but did not manage a race win and was a long way from being able to compete for the title.
But there was an award on offer for him at the glitzy FIA gala, held in the Italian city of Bologna on Friday. He was up for the fan-voted Action of the Year award, and came out on top in that category.
Hamilton, who has been travelling since the end of the season, was not at the ceremony to accept the award. But there was a warm round of applause for the seven-time world champion when it was announced.
He won it for his spectacular fight with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez at the British Grand Prix in July. More specifically, it was when he overtook both of them in the same move – a moment immortalised for fans by the cry of "Through goes Hamilton!" from David Croft, commentating for Sky Sports.
That piece of action from Hamilton fended off competition from F3 star Ollie Bearman's overtakes at Zandvoort and moments from Formula E duo Alex Sims and Jean-Eric Vergne.
While Hamilton was absent, Max Verstappen was present at the ceremony as he officially received his trophy for winning the drivers' title. He was joined at the gala by team-mate Perez and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who collected the constructors' championship trophy.
Reflecting on the 2022 season, Verstappen said he had enjoyed his dominant win more than his "emotional" title scrap with Hamilton in 2021. He said: "The emotions are very different, but I think they should be anyway because your whole life you aim for one particular goal and that's to become a world champion for me in F1. So the first one is always an emotional one once you achieve it.
"But this year has been very different. I do think we were more competitive this year, and more enjoyable with how we performed as a whole team. We won the drivers' and the constructors' – we had a lot of victories as a team, so I would say this one is better and more rewarding. But the first one will always be more emotional."
