Lewis Hamilton wins Hawthorn Trophy for the eighth consecutive time

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has won the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for the 11th time in 15 years, extending his record of winning the award more times than anyone else. The award was handed out at the recently held Motorsport UK Night of Champions.

The award was put in place in 1959 to honor the memory of Mike Hawthorn, Britain’s first F1 world champion and a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning them in 1958 and 1955 respectively. The legendary driver died in a road accident just three months after winning his F1 title.

Lewis Hamilton tops the list of most number of wins, followed by Nigel Mansell having won the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy seven times. Multiple other winners include the likes of Jack Brabham, Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Damon Hill and James Hunt.

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Lewis Hamilton's title loss cost Valtteri Bottas his bonus payment

Valtteri Bottas at the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

Valtteri Bottas revealed that a Mercedes bonus would have come his way if Lewis Hamilton had been crowned 2021 world champion. That was true until the final lap of the season finale at the Yas Marina when a late Safety Car decision played into the hands of Max Verstappen, who clinched his maiden F1 championship title.

This meant that Hamilton's hopes of a record-breaking eight drivers' world championships vanished along with the team bonuses that came from it. When asked about the financial impact of the last-lap incident, the Finn said:

“Yes, you’re right — certain bonuses are tied to certain achievements. Luckily, I hadn’t gotten anything in advance.”

He added that the journey at the German team was worthwhile and thanked his crew for the five years on the team, saying:

“I don’t really measure it like that but at some point, a moment came when there was no need to look at the bank balance anymore. Money is of course a big thing in Formula 1, but I remember where I come from and I have done quite well because of that.”

Bottas is prepared to battle it out in the 2022 season with a new team in Alfa Romeo, paired alongside rookie Guanyu Zhou. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s new team-mate at Mercedes will be George Russell, who steps up to the team after three seasons with Williams as a Mercedes junior.