Lewis Hamilton wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Hamilton received his eighth Sports Personality of the Year nomination

Sam Hall

Sunday 20 December 2020 22:59

Lewis Hamilton has won the BBC Sports Personality of the year award for the second time after his record-breaking Formula 1 campaign.

Hamilton was nominated alongside boxer Tyson Fury, cricketer Stuart Broad, footballer Jordan Henderson, snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan and jockey Hollie Doyle.

A winner of the award in 2014, Hamilton was the runner-up in both 2018 and 2019. In total, the Briton has been nominated SPOTY eight times.

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"Firstly, I couldn't have done that without a great group of people that I work [with]. I'm so grateful for all their hard work and I think it's a collaboration," said Hamilton.

"We learn each year. We have to raise the bar. I love that as a driver physically and mentally that's what I'm challenged with but also working with people, having to raise the bar collectively.

"I think it's just a part of my DNA. I love what I do and I've been passionate about it since I was five-years-old so each year I come back and I'm already back to training since I fell ill and I'm already focussed on being better next year."

This year, Hamilton became the driver with the most wins and podiums and tied with Michael Schumacher on seven world titles.

Hamilton, who launched his namesake Hamilton Commission this year and has been a leading voice for equality in F1 and the wider world, gave a nod to Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford who convinced the UK government to provide free school meals throughout the holidays as families struggled to make ends meet during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

He added: "I think this year you have seen so many inspirational individuals and congratulations to Marcus [Rashford] there. There are so many people doing great things out there."

Speaking directly about equality in motorsport, Hamilton said: "I think our sport, it shouldn't matter where you come from. We've really got to fight for gender equality. It shouldn't matter what your social-economic background is.

"So I think we've got to work together collectively and that's really why I put the Hamilton Commission together, to try and find out what the barriers are and break those down.

"It's not about seeing the next me come through particularly, it's about creating equal opportunities and being reflective of the outside world."