Max Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing are in the running to receive the prestigious Laureus’ Sportsman of the Year and Team of the Year awards respectively.
The nomination comes as a result of the Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominant performance in the 2022 Formula 1 season resulting in a second consecutive Drivers’ crown for the Dutchman, while Red Bull secured their fifth ever Constructors’ Title in the sport, their first since 2013.
Despite having a shaky start to the season with Verstappen suffering from two DNF’s early on (Bahrain and Melbourne) and with a strong-charging Ferrari lead by Charles Leclerc, Verstappen managed to turn things around and won his second F1 Title in Japan with four races to spare.
Red Bull secured the Constructors’ Crown one race later at the 2022 United States Grand Prix in Austin, a grand prix weekend in which they were hit by the death of their founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Red Bull also were involved in a struggle with the FIA after the team was deemed to have breached the 2021 F1 cost cap, but survived the controversy despite being slapped by a $7-Million fine while their aerodynamic development time allocation has been slashed by 10% for the coming 12 months.
Verstappen collected the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award in last year and in 2023 the double F1 Champion is up against the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, tennis champion Rafael Nadal, NBA star Stephen Curry, and Swedish Olympics star Mondo Duplantis.
Red Bull on the other hand will be competing with Argentina Men’s Football team, England Women’s Football team, Real Madrid Men’s Football team, France Men’s Rugby team, and Golden State Warriors NBA basketball team.
Verstappen and Red Bull are now gearing up to defend their Title in 2023, with pre-season testing set for three days between February 23 and 25.
Verstappen was voted as GrandPrix247 2022 Driver of the Year by our readers, who also chose Red Bull as GrandPrix247 2022 Team of the Year.
? ICYMI…here’s a reminder of all of the Nominees for the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards
? The Laureus Academy Members will select our winners but which of these incredible names would get your vote?#Laureus23 pic.twitter.com/pLi7QyPddh
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) February 20, 2023