Verstappen Snubbed Dutch Sportsman Of The Year Award Despite Historic Season

Thursday, 21 December 2023 at 15:00

Max Verstappen didn't get the Dutch Sportsman of the Year Award despite achieving arguably the most dominant season Formula One has ever seen.

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen won his third consecutive Formula One title during the 2023 season after winning 19 out of 22 races.

The Dutchman built a huge fanbase in the Netherlands over his successful years, and Formula One has become one of the most popular sports in the country.

While some might argue achieving one more title is not that special, the way in which Max Verstappen managed to do it was extraordinary, according to many F1 experts.

The 26-year-old broke historical world records for most wins in a season, most consecutive wins in a season, most points in a season, most laps led in a season, most podiums in a season, and many more.

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The principal of a rival Scuderia Ferrari team recently admitted every single team principal in F1 would like to have Verstappen on their team.

In terms of how great a season can get for a driver in Formula One, it does cannot possibly get better than what the triple World Champion achieved in 2023.

However, all his achievements were not enough to score the Dutch Sportsman of the Year Award, which was snatched by cyclo-cross champion and World road champion Mathieu van der Poel.

The cyclist also achieved what has never been achieved before as he is the first person ever to win both cyclo-cross and road World Championships in the same year.

Van der Poel also won two prestigious races during this year - Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. Such a combination has only been achieved two other times in the history of cycling.

While this doesn't tell much to somebody who isn't a fan of cycling, van der Poel's incredible 2023 season is comparable to some of the greatest in history, just like Max Verstappen's in F1.

All in all, Verstappen probably won't be too upset by not winning the award as he already won it three times in the past, during the years 2016, 2021, and 2022.