Bortoleto, Ecclestone among winners in 2024 FIA Prize Gala

Darshan Chokhani

11 hours ago

The champions of 2024 season were rewarded in FIA Prize Gala event held in Rwanda, while some other awards were presented too.

The 2024 FIA Prize Giving Gala was held in Kigali in Rwanda in Africa this time, where the champions and runners-up got their trophies. They were joined by some other special award winners, whose recipients were only revealed during the ceremony, especially the Action of the Year.

The F1 side had Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc take his third-place trophy, as McLaren’s Lando Norris made his first appearance to collect his first trophy at the pinnacle of the sport after finishing second. Likewise, Zak Brown, Andrea Stella and Oscar Piastri were present to take the constructors’ crown.

It was their first time as well to collect the big trophy which they after 26 years. As has been the norm for the last four seasons, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his first place trophy as well. The Dutchman completed his community service prior to the event to check on the FIA Affordable Car camp.

Before the F1 drivers had their honour, the night saw champions and runners-up from karting, Cross-Country championship, WRX, WRC, WEC, F3, F2 and Formula E pick up their respective trophies, but only handful of the championships were handed their trophies in worldwide broadcast.

Among the separate awards, the FIA Rookie of the Year went to 2024 F2 champion and to-be Sauber F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto – as chosen by the Divers’ Commission – for his good show in his rookie season in F2 where he took the title after beating Isack Hadjar in a good fightback.

Bortoleto joined the likes of Daniil Kvyat (F1), Max Verstappen (F1), Alex Albon (F1), Charles Leclerc (F2 & F1), Yuki Tsunoda (F2), Zane Maloney (F3), Kevin Hansen (European Rallycross) and Oscar Piastri (F2 & F1), to win the FIA Rookie of the Year award, ahead of his bigger step in 2025.

Moving on to the FIA Action of the Year, this time they awarded championship-wise rather than group all in one. Previous winners in the category include Kimi Raikkonen (F1), Verstappen (four times, three in F1 and one in F3), Esapekka Lappi (WRC) and Teemu Suninen (WRC).

The winners of Action of the Year –

Karting: Kenzo Craigie (for his pass in PF International)

Rally-raid: Loic Mindaudier and Mathieu Serradori (for stopping to move a competition bike in Dakar 2024)

World Rallycross: Klara Andersson (for use of Joker to pass two cars in Hungary)

Formula E: Sam Bird (for his pass on Mitch Evans to win 2023/24 Sao Paulo EPrix)

World Endurance Championship: Julien Andlauer (for his pass at Eau Rouge in 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps)

World Rally Championship: Adrien Fourmaux (for a high jump and landing in Safari Rally)

Formula 1: Sergio Perez (for his double move on Fernando Alonso & Carlos Sainz in Chinese GP sprint)

The FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem also awarded Heritage Cup winners, while his Innovation Medal this year was handed to Bernie Ecclestone for his outstanding work in F1. A new Lifetime Achievement award was inaugurated and presented to rally legend, Michele Mouton.

The award ceremony also saw Norris retract from his earlier comment of ‘no talent, only luck’ which he said after Verstappen took the win in Brazil. The win pretty much sealed the Dutchman’s title and was showcased in a F1 video montage during the Gala in their presence.

But when Norris stepped on stage to collect his second-place trophy, the Brit chose to retract that comment while praising Verstappen for his F1 title win. “First of all, I retract that comment back there, where I said it was all luck, no talent,” he said. “You know how the media changes things.

“First of all, congratulations to Max. What he did this year, what he did in Brazil, of course, was incredible. I’m the first one to acknowledge such a thing when I’m the one going up against him. It was a tough season, of course. I tried to put up my best and give the best battle that I could, but this year was not enough.

“At the same time, sometimes I’m happy to finish second to Max, because I think it’s an achievement to do a lot better than that. A wonderful year for myself. A lot of achievements. A lot of improvements from myself — but I also know that I need to step it up and do more than I did this year, so I’m excited to look forward to next year and try to do the same.”

Here’s brochure for winners: https://issuu.com/issufia/docs/fia_awards_2024_for_digital_v2?fr=sZTQ4Nzc3MTc1MzI