Max Verstappen has earned his fourth straight nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. The prestigious honor will be handed out on April 21 in Madrid.
No word yet on whether the F1 champion will actually show up this time – he skipped last year’s ceremony.
Verstappen faces some serious competition. He’s up against pole vault sensation Armand Duplantis, cycling star Tadej Pogacar, tennis phenom Carlos Alcaraz, and swimming standout Léon Marchand. Tennis player Jannik Sinner was originally nominated too, but got dropped from the list after receiving a ban.
This isn’t Verstappen’s first rodeo with the Laureus Awards. He’s been nominated three times before but has only taken home the trophy once – back in 2022 after clinching his first F1 world title. That year, he beat out an impressive lineup including marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, tennis great Novak Djokovic, Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel, NFL icon Tom Brady, and soccer star Robert Lewandowski.
## McLaren in the spotlight too
McLaren has also caught the judges’ attention, landing a nomination for World Team of the Year.
The papaya-colored squad pulled off quite the comeback in 2024. Under Andrea Stella’s leadership, they transformed from a mid-pack team to Constructors’ champions – their first team title in a whopping 26 years.
They’re facing stiff competition though. The Spanish national football team, Real Madrid, Barcelona’s women’s football team, the Boston Celtics, and Team USA basketball are all vying for the same award.
The last F1 team to win was Mercedes back in 2018, following their fourth straight Constructors’ championship.
## About the Laureus Awards
Started in 2000, the Laureus Awards are pretty much the Oscars of the sports world.
Verstappen isn’t the first F1 driver to get this recognition. Michael Schumacher won it twice (2002 and 2004) after his fourth and sixth world titles. Sebastian Vettel grabbed it in 2014, and Lewis Hamilton won in 2020, sharing the honor with soccer legend Lionel Messi.
The 2025 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year nominees are:
Carlos Alcaraz
Armand Duplantis
Léon Marchand
Tadej Pogacar
Max Verstappen
