FIA confirms when Lando Norris will finally receive F1 trophy | F1 | Sport
The wait is almost over for Lando Norris who will finally pick up his trophy for winning the Formula 1 drivers’ title at the end of this week. The FIA has now confirmed the time that its Prize Giving ceremony will start, giving the Brit an indication of when he will be able to get his hands on his accolade.
This year, the FIA has headed east to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to host its Prize Giving gala on Friday, December 12. That is also the day of the presidential election, though the outcome of that vote is hardly shrouded in mystery as election rules blocked the three candidates who had announced public plans to run against incumbent Mohammed ben Sulayem from appearing on the ballot paper.
What is certain is that Norris will get his hands on his trophy, having been forced to only look but not touch in Abu Dhabi at the weekend. The McLaren driver will be present at the gala, which the FIA has now confirmed is scheduled to begin at 6pm UK time.
The F1 drivers’ trophy is traditionally the final award of the evening to be presented, with prizes given out to the winners of all other FIA-sanctioned racing series’ first. Last year, Max Verstappen finally collected his fourth trophy around two-and-a-half hours after the ceremony began, which means Norris can expect to be handed his prize at around 8.30pm UK time.
Most sports tend to hand out the trophy to the winning team or athlete almost immediately after a contest has finished. Football teams celebrate in a ceremony either on the pitch or in the stands when the league or cup is won, while the same is true for tennis, golf and an array of other sports.
But it has been the FIA’s long-standing tradition to give out trophies at an end-of-year gala. Norris is experiencing the sort of wait that the likes of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have all gone through themselves in the past.
McLaren will also finally received their prize for winning the constructors’ championship, despite making their success official more than two months ago at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Though they will be presented with the real trophies, neither McLaren nor Norris will be able to hold onto them. Instead, both can order a replica which they can then keep once delivered by the FIA, which will continue to look after the real prizes themselves.
The current drivers’ championship trophy was designed in 1995 and has enough room on its spiral design for 100 years’ worth of signatures from title-winners. The trophy for the winning constructors is particularly eye-catching because it is adorned by the logos of the winning teams, rather than having the names of them engraved.
