After finishing fifth in the 2009 drivers' championship, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has been voted the best driver of the season in Autosport magazine's prestigious end-of-season review.
Autosport grand prix editor Mark Hughes credited Lewis with immediately capitalising on MP4-24's performance as soon as the team had effected a mid-season aerodynamic overhaul: "The moment the car's performance window widened, Hamilton was consistently brilliant," he wrote. "His spectacular skill-set was on display from the moment the MP4-24 was given the Nurburgring update that lent it credibility."
The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes engineering team that oversaw the car's resurgence was also singled out for praise, the magazine asking whether the return to form was ‘the biggest seasonal comeback in championship history?'
World champion Jenson Button, who will join Lewis at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in 2010, was second. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel was third.
Autosport's 2009 Formula 1 review edition is available from newsstands from today.
