Lewis Hamilton the only driver to snub F1 tradition after another struggling season for Mercedes star
SIR LEWIS HAMILTON was the only Formula One star who opted out of the vote for Driver of the Year.
Max Verstappen won the award for the third consecutive season.
The Red Bull star ran away with the championship after winning 19 out of 22 races in a dominant campaign.
Verstappen’s record-breaking season included a never-seen-before ten wins in a row, while he also set a new points record with 575.
Hamilton finished second in the voting with Fernando Alonso rounding off the top three.
Sergio Perez, who finished second in the F1 standings behind his team-mate Verstappen, placed tenth in the vote.
Drivers are allowed to choose themselves in the secret vote.
A top ten is picked with number one receiving 25 points and number ten just one point.
All F1 drivers took part except Hamilton, who has picked up the gong eight times.
The Brit will be aiming for number nine this time next year as he aims to win the F1 championship for a record eighth time.
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And he has promised Mercedes will be a “different animal” next year.
He said: “It’s always the exciting time of the year because I have seen the car in the wind tunnel.
“I always go by the wind tunnel when I go to the factory and to see it evolving in whichever direction it ends up going.
“As soon as I was leaving, again I popped in just to see where we were and when I come back it’ll be again a different animal.
“But I have full faith in everyone that’s working on it and hopeful that we’ll be in a much more competitive position next year.”