Kimi and MP4-20 awarded

Kimi Raikkonen was crowned International Racing Driver of the Year ahead of Fernando Alonso at last night's prestigious Autosport Awards, which is voted for by readers of the magazine. Kimi wasn't the only one to get awarded: the Team McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 won the Racing Car of the Year.

The Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, attended the event in London to collect the trophy, which was presented by former World Champion Nigel Mansell.
On receiving his award, Kimi Raikkonen discussed his highlights of the year, "I guess all the wins for sure. The Japanese Grand Prix was one of the great moments, and Monaco was a good place to win. It could have been better this season but I am happy. It is always exciting to fight, and of course we wanted to win, but that is part of the game - and still it was one of the best years for me in Formula One."

Ron Dennis collected the award, for Racing car of the Year, on behalf of the team, "I'm a bit mystified why I'm up here because there are so many people behind this Grand Prix car. It doesn't matter whether it is rallying or Grand Prix racing - it is hard to win. McLaren Racing has a team of 136 engineers and designers and they designed the car using a matrix system with cross functional responsibilities. All of this talent is what goes on behind us and I'm here to take the award for them. One person I have to acknowledge is Adrian Newey, who has got a challenge ahead of him and I wish him well. This season was a great battle and I have to complement Pat Symonds and Renault, who started the season very well by winning the first three races and the last."