Max Verstappen nominated for Laureus World Breakthrough Award

Published on 02 March 2016 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen has been nominated for the Laureus Award, the annual, highly praised international award for the most outstanding athletes in the world. The 18-year old Formula 1-driver is one of the six nominees in the category World Breakthrough of the Year. The Laureus statuettes will be presented in Berlin, Germany, on April 18th this year.

“I am very honoured to be nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award and I really appreciate this recognition from within the sporting world. With two fourth places my first year in Formula 1 was amazing and hopefully many great seasons will follow. Thank you for the nomination", says Max. 

Besides Max, the other nominees in the category World Breakthrough of the Year Award are: the Chilean soccer team, golfer Jason Day (Australia), boxer Tyson Fury (Great-Britain), swimmer Adam Peaty (Great-Britain) and golfer Jordan Spieth (USA). Current Formula 1-worldchampion Lewis Hamilton has been nominated in the category Sportsman, as were also Michael Schumacher (2002 and 2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2014) in the past.

A panel of 2.000 of the world’s leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters created a shortlist of six nominees in five categories: Sportsman, Sportswoman, Team, Breakthrough and Comeback. The nomination for the two additional categories – Action Sportsperson and Sportsperson with a Disability – are produced by specialist panels.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners in all seven categories. The Academy is an association of 55 of the greatest living sporting legends that embrace the principle of using sport to help bring positive social change. Proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards go to support the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which in turn supports projects that improve the lives of young people through the use of sport.