George Russell has been awarded the prestigious Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for his efforts in the 2022 Formula 1 season ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix. The trophy is named after Mike Hawthorn - the first British World Champion who secured the title in 1958, before retiring from racing. Hawthorn was killed in January 1959 in a road accident in Surrey. Awarded to the British or Commonwealth driver who finished highest in the previous year's Drivers' standings, Russell picked up the award from Motorsport UK chief David Richards at Silverstone. His fourth-place in the standings with 275 points and a maiden win at the São Paulo Grand Prix was enough to end Lewis Hamilton's long hold on the trophy - stretching back to 2013 when Mark Webber secured the honour. Hamilton is the most successful driver, having won the award 11 times, with Nigel Mansell and Jenson Button picking it up seven and five times, respectively. Every British World Champion has won the award, including the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and James Hunt. The most successful non World Champion is David Coulthard who won it five times but could never better second place in the standings.
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George gets his hands on the famous Hawthorn Memorial Trophy. 🏆🤩 The trophy is awarded to the best placed @F1 driver from Britain and the Commonwealth from the previous year. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/UhefRs3flS — Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 7, 2023
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