Formula 1 post-season awards time is here, with multiple news outlets running their own polls to decide the best and worst drivers in multiple different categories.
Autosport crowned Lewis Hamilton as the British Driver of the Year, but Express Sport were not as kind to the seven-time world champion, nominating him for the award of F1’s biggest disappointment.
The Brit finished sixth in the drivers’ championship, two places being George Russell during his debut season with the Silver Arrows, also finishing the season winless for the first time in his career.
Also nominated for the award were Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo, Mercedes and Ferrari.
READ: George Russell makes bold claim about defeating Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari were awarded the title of F1’s biggest disappointment in 2022 after receiving 29.5 percent of the public’s votes, which comes as no surprise following the Scuderia’s early fall from grace in 2022.
The team starting strong, boasting the fastest car on the grid and a competitive driver pairing, however a bundle of strategic errors and reliability issues saw the team fall away from Red Bull in the title race, and even face a late scare from Mercedes to hold onto second place.
Daniel Ricciardo took second spot in the voting after picking up 24.3 percent of the votes, after the Australian was comprehensively beaten his teammate Lando Norris in the standings for the second season in a row, eventually leading to McLaren sacking the 33-year-old in favour of Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were next up in the voting order, with 17.9 and 17 percent of the votes respectively, after the Silver Arrows experienced a below par season by their high standards.
Hamilton was nominated for the award over his teammate most likely due to Russell’s victory in Brazil and ability to finish above Hamilton in the championship.
READ: FIA president sheds light on legal battle
The 37-year-old has suggested that he sacrificed the first half of his season to allow Mercedes to experiment with his set-up and try to solve their early season problems, making it slightly harsh for Hamilton to be branded a disappointment compared to Russell.
Mick Schumacher rounded off the voting with 11.3 percent of the votes after the German was sacked by Haas at the end of his second season with the team, despite showing his obviously quality and potential at times.
Despite being branded a disappointment by Express Sport, Hamilton is set to sign a multi-year contract extension with Mercedes as both team and driver look to return to the top of the championship standings in 2023.