Every F1 driver to win or be nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year as Lando Norris eyes 2025 award

Follow us on Google Discover

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is set to be named this week, with Lando Norris nominated for the award after his 2025 championship victory.

The BBC SPOTY award is one of the most prestigious in the UK, being awarded to an athlete who is either British or lives and plays a significant amount of their sport in the UK.

Previous sporting stars that have won the award include Tennis stars Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu, athletics champion Mo Farah, and, most recently, track athlete Keely Hodgkinson.

Five F1 drivers have successfully won the award since it began in 1954, while some have also won other awards on the night including Niki Lauda and Sebastian Vettel winning World Sport Star of the Year in 1977 and 2013 respectively.

In 2025, Lando Norris joins an impressive line-up of Formula 1 drivers who have been nominated for the prestigious award, making him the first since Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

F1 drivers who have won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award

Stirling Moss was the first driver to win the award in 1961, beating boxer Billy Walker and tennis player Angela Mortimer. Moss finished third in the Formula 1 season behind champion Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, but clinched the SPOTY after two incredible victories at the season opener in Monaco and the German Grand Prix.

He was also previously nominated in 1957 following his British Grand Prix win at Aintree, the first time a British Constructor had won a race in F1 (Vanwall), but ultimately finished runner-up behind golfer Dai Rees after he guided the European team to Ryder Cup glory.

John Surtees is the only Formula 1 driver to have been nominated and won for a different sport, instead claiming the 1959 award for his motorcycling accomplishments.

Following his retirement from F1 at the end of 1974, Jackie Stewart was awarded the SPOTY in the same year he beat Emerson Fittipaldi to the Drivers’ Championship by 16 points.

It took Formula 1 drivers over a decade to claim another SPOTY award, with Nigel Mansell winning the title in 1986 after an intense season-long battle with Alain Prost who ultimately claimed the championship victory by two points.

Just six years later, Mansell won the award again in 1992, after claiming his only Drivers’ Championship victory with Williams. Mansell’s second SPOTY award became one of the most memorable for a Formula 1 driver, with Williams announcing they were dropping their championship victor for rookie Damon Hill while the ceremony was taking place.

Ironically, Damon Hill was the next driver to win the SPOTY award in 1994 after carrying the team through the tragedy of the season, when his teammate Ayrton Senna was killed at Imola. Despite a horrible season for Williams, Hill put in an impressive performance, finishing second in the championship battle.

Two years later, Hill won SPOTY again after clinching the 1996 title ahead of his teammate Jacques Villeneuve.

Lewis Hamilton is the latest driver to win the award, taking it first in 2014 after winning his second F1 title and first of six with Mercedes. He would go on to win it again in 2020 after clinching his seventh world championship, eclipsing Michael Schumacher.

F1 drivers who were nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year award

Along with Moss losing out in 1957, several other drivers have also been nominated but not won the SPOTY award.

Hamilton has the most nominations that did not lead to an award, having first been nominated in 2007 then again in 2008. He would also get nominations in 2018 and 2019 before winning in 2020.

Jenson Button was nominated but came runner up in 2009 after his title success with Brawn GP, losing out to footballer Ryan Giggs.

James Hunt was nominated in 1976 but came second to figure skating star John Curry, while Jim Clark was also nominated in 1963 and 1965 but came third and second respectively.