Max Verstappen failed to follow in Lionel Messi’s footsteps as World Sport Star during the BBC’s Sports Personality Awards on Tuesday evening. The award for the best foreign athlete with the most impact went to Manchester City footballer Erling Haaland.
Verstappen started his battle to add a third championship to his list of achievements in 2023 with two world titles and a mountain of self-confidence in his pocket. Although the year started excitingly – Verstappen and Sergio Pérez shared the victories in the first four races – there was no stopping the Dutch driver after that. Of the eighteen subsequent races, the Red Bull driver won no fewer than seventeen, bringing him to nineteen out of 22 at the end of the season and thus his third world title.
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Choice has been made
He also led more than a thousand laps and took the highest winning percentage in one season from Alberto Ascari. Verstappen’s unprecedented season also earned him a nomination at the BBC, where he was nominated in the World Sport Star category. To win this prize, he had to battle names such as Haaland, Novak Djokovic, Simone Biles, Aitana Bonmati and Siya Kolisi. Ultimately, the people voted and the choice fell on Haaland, the Norwegian super striker of Manchester City who tore the Premier League to pieces last season with his many goals. Verstappen is therefore not following in Messi’s footsteps.
2023-12-20 08:42:29
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