Erling Haaland Reveals His Favorite F1 Driver Months After Beating Max Verstappen for ‘Sports Personality of the Year’

Max Verstappen is on a winning streak and with 9 consecutive wins, he’s aiming to break his record of 10. Besides that, Dutchman has achieved many records from being the youngest F1 driver to having the highest win rate in all of F1 history. As Max Verstappen continued to dominate the tracks, there was one area where he got beaten.

At the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year awards, Max Verstappen’s accomplishments of the season were enough to get him nominated, but not win the award. Instead, it was taken away by Erling Haaland the Manchester City striker. Following the award function in December 2023, Erling Haaland was interviewed by beIN Sports, where he revealed who his favorite F1 driver is, and it’s not Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton defeats Max Verstappen in Erling Haaland’s list

During the interview, the Manchester City striker was asked about who his favorite Formula One driver. To this Haaland replied, “[Lewis] Hamilton,” and that led the interviewer to say, “He’s very fast” and the striker agreed. While many were expecting the footballer to give tribute to his contender for the SPOTY award, the Norwegian revealed that he was in Team Lewis Hamilton.

While Max Verstappen has been busy breaking records in F1, other contenders like Haaland (Football), Simone Biles (Gymnastics), Siya Kolisi (Rugby Union), Aitana Bonmati (Football) and Novak Djokovic (Tennis) were all doing the same in their respective sport. Erling Haaland managed to score 52 goals in all competitions, as he made his debut in English Football. He also broke the record for most goals in a Premier League season between 2022-2023, scoring 36 goals in 35 matches.

Read More – F1 Rumor: Christian Horner Attempted to Transfer Adrian Newey Out of F1; Chief Technician Not Happy With the Current Situation

However, this is not the first time that Max Verstappen was left behind at the SPOTY. Back in 2023, Lionel Messi took home the award, leaving the 3-time world champion high and dry for the title. But this is not the only time he has been nominated for the award. The super quick racer has been accumulating awards for years, and despite Haaland’s say, he will be the SPOTY for many fans all over.

How many awards has Max Verstappen won so far?

Max Verstappen has won around 18 major awards for his performance in the sport. This is besides the 100 trophies he has received for finishing on the podium. One of the earliest awards that the Red Bull driver achieved was the FIA Action of the Year in 2014. This was followed by winning the FIA Personality of the Year, FIA Rookie of the Year, Autosport Rookie of the Year, and FIA Action of the Year in 2015 making it probably one of the best rookie years any Formula One driver has had.

The trend continued in 2016 as Max Verstappen brought home the Dutch Sportsman of the Year award. The other 3 accolades presented to the driver were the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy, FIA Personality of the Year, and FIA Action of the Year. 2017 was a slower year compared to the previous ones with him winning just the FIA Personality of the Year. Similar 2019 came with just the FIA Action of the Year award before things picked up in 2021 again granting him the titles Dutch Sportsman of the Year and Autosport International Racing Driver of the Year. 2022 was a little better as he bagged the same awards as 2021 and added the Laureus Sportsman of the Year into the mix.

Last year, although Verstappen didn’t win the BBC SPOTY title, he did get the Best Driver ESPY Award and the Autosport International Racing Driver of the Year. The world of sports is extremely competitive and opinions will differ from person to person. That being said, do you think Max Verstappen should have won the BBC SPOTY award in 2023? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Read More – Toto Wolff Refuses to “Fall in the Trap” of Replicating Christian Horner’s Old Complaints