F1 Oscars: Lewis Hamilton doesn't have one but Michael Schumacher does

Michael Schumacher holds an Oscar statue as Lewis Hamilton looks on — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Oscars

F1 Oscars: Lewis Hamilton doesn't have one but Michael Schumacher does

F1 had its own version of the Academy Awards

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 15 March 2026 17:46

It's Oscars season once again and there is a lot of Formula 1 interest this year in one of the most prestigious entertainment awards given the huge success of the F1 movie.

The film that stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Kerry Condon was co-produced by seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and with a box office taking of over $633million, comfortably doubled its budget.

The 2026 Academy Awards, the 98th edition, will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, and the F1 movie has four nominations including Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.

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However, F1 has previously already had its form of the Oscars - although you may have to be an F1 veteran to remember the short-lived awards. In fact even if you were watching you may have missed it altogether.

The Grand Prix Bernie awards

Back in 2001, it wasn't Liberty Media running the F1 show but Bernie Ecclestone and the F1 supremo decided to host his own F1 awards called the Grand Prix Bernie awards, or just the 'Bernies'.

Now while I can hear many of you uttering 'tsk, typical Bernie' there was a really good cause behind this as the event was to aid iconic F1 safety and medical delegate between 1978 and 2004 Professor Sid Watkins's Brain and Spine Foundation

Now if you think I may be stretching to associate these awards with the Oscars, then all I ask you to do is look at the trophies for these damn things (down below).

They could hardly look any more like Oscar statues with the only difference being these ones have a Bernie Ecclestone on them (of course) so we know exactly what territory Bernie was treading on here, but who were the big winners?

The 2001 Bernies

The awards were confirmed prior to the start of the 2001 season in an event at the Royal Albert Hall, with Michael Schumacher given 'best driver', which was no surprise given he had just won his first world championship while driving a Ferrari in 2000.

Jenson Button was given 'best newcomer' following his impressive debut season with Williams, the great British commentator Murray Walker was given a 'lifetime achievement' award and Sid Watkins was awarded 'Outstanding Contribution'.

However, neither Schumacher nor Button were available to pick up their awards and this was partly because of the ill-timed event clashing with the calendar of the teams testing before the start of the season.

However, one driver did turn up and it was perhaps no surprise it was party magnet and F1 cult hero Eddie Irvine of Jaguar. However, many F1 world champions attended including Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Jody Scheckter, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill.

Sid Watkins, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Murray Walker collect their 'Bernie' awards standing with Berne Ecclestone

So it wasn't until the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of April all four picked up their awards together. If you are wondering why in this article's picture Button looks slightly embarrassed to pick up his award, by this point in the season he was really struggling to get an awful Benetton car in the top 10 and didn't seem to have much answer to the pace shown by team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

If you are wondering why Schumacher has a really cheery grin, then he probably had already realised that he was driving a car that was going to take him to first and second places finishes in 10 of the first 11 races on the way to easily retaining his championship.

Grand Prix Bernie Awards 2001
Award	Winner
Best Driver	Michael Schumacher
Best Newcomer	Jenson Button
Lifetime Achievement	Murray Walker
Outstanding Contribution	Sid Watkins

The 2002 Bernies

It was perhaps no surprise a year later at the 2002 US Grand Prix then when Schumacher retained his award as 'best driver', while Kimi Raikkonen's debut season in a Sauber, which earned him a McLaren move, helped him pick up 'best newcomer'.

Sir Frank Williams, founder of his eponymous team collected the 'lifetime achievement' award'. Paul Stoddart, team principal and owner of everyone's favourite underdog team Minardi (now Racing Bulls), collected 'Outstanding Contribution to F1'.

There was one new award, with Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn was given the 'Technical Excellence' award for creating a Ferrari and Schumacher domination package so good it cured insomnia for everyone watching TV on a Sunday afternoon.

Grand Prix Bernie Awards 2002
Award	Winner
Best Driver	Michael Schumacher
Best Newcomer	Kimi Raikkonen
Lifetime Achievement	Sir Frank Williams
Outstanding Contribution	Paul Stoddart
Technical Excellence	Ross Brawn

The 2003 Bernies

For 2003, the event moved to the NEC in Birmingham in January, and it was bigger than ever, with many celebrities turning up. And this does include the Cheeky Girls as Martin Brundle and David Coulthard may remember.

Recognising the 2002 season, obviously Schumacher won the award for 'best driver' again after cruising to the title in record time by finishing every race on the podium.

Mark Webber's solid first campaign in a Minardi, which included an incredible points finish on his F1 debut at home race Australia, landed him the 'best newcomer'.

Arguably the most prestigious prize was Giancarlo Fisichella earning the full respect of his peers by pipping Schumacher to the 'drivers' driver' award, which was probably in recognition of somehow driving appalling F1 machinery to points positions it had no right to be in for a good few years at that point.

Ferrari's utter domination of course meant 'best car' went to the F2002, while Melbourne's Albert Park picked up 'best circuit'. Now before I continue, as respected as the track is - how on earth did it win this award?

'Lifetime achievement' award went to creator of 'Ron Speak' and McLaren boss Ron Dennis, while 'outstanding contribution' was awarded to the legendary F1 race director Charlie Whiting (those big boots were never filled).

Curiously the 'safety award' went to the HANS (head and neck safety) device, which still hadn't featured in a race before its 2003 debut.

Grand Prix Bernie Awards 2003
Award	Winner
Best Driver	Michael Schumacher
Best Newcomer	Mark Webber
Lifetime Achievement	Ron Dennis
Outstanding Contribution	Charlie Whiting
Drivers' Driver	Giancarlo Fisichella
Best Car	Ferrari F2002
Best Circuit	Albert Park, Melbourne (Australian Grand Prix)
Safety Award	HANS (Head and Neck Safety) device

The awards were getting bigger by the year... and they just ended never to be seen again with little explanation as to why.

The fallout is clear, though Lewis Hamilton may effectively win an Oscar on Sunday night, he will never win a Bernie, so maybe Schumacher's three F1 Oscars gives him the tie-break win as the F1 GOAT when it comes to their joint-seven world championships.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton stars at Chinese Grand Prix, F1 winner left in tears

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Lewis Hamilton Michael Schumacher Jenson Button F1 movie Ron Dennis Ross Brawn