But when the two finally faced each other in the Sports Personality of the Year voting it was Hoy that came out on top. Keith Collantine reports.

Lewis Hamilton may be the youngest person ever to win the Formula 1 world championship. But it wasn’t enough for him to follow in the footsteps of Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill as the latest F1 driver to become Sports Personality of the Year.

Three-times Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Hoy pipped Hamilton to the coveted accolade yesterday.

Hoy captured 283,630 votes to Hamilton’s 163,864. Third-placed Rebecca Adlington had 145,924 votes.

Hamilton also finished runner-up last year as well, when finished second in the world championship. The last Formula 1 driver to win Sports Personality of the Year was Damon Hill, when he won the F1 title in 1996.

Loeb defeats Coulthard in Race of Champions

Spectators at the 21st Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium were treated to a night of sensational upsets – but once again no British winner.

The ‘dream team’ pairing of Michael Schumacher and F1 winner Sebastian Vettel retained Germany’s crown in the nation’s cup. But Schumacher was knocked out by American NASCAR star Carl Edwards in a major quarter final upset.

The next big surprise of the evening came as defending two-time RoC winner Mattias Ekstrom was pipped by Britain’s Andy Priaulx by less than a second in their quarter final.

Priaulx narrowly lost in the next round to five times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, setting up a showdown between Loeb and F1 retiree Coulthard in the final.

Coulthard knocked out Edwards in the semis – despite crashing his KTM X-Bow at the final corner and crossing the line with his front right wheel seriously askew.

Loeb won the first round of the three-part final in the special RoC buggies, but Coulthard tied the score by winning in the X-Bows.

They were back in the buggies for the final round and Loeb beat Coulthard to the line by a scant 0.32 seconds to win.

It’s the third time Loeb has won the Race of Champions. The French star tested a Formula 1 car last month amid speculation he could make a shock switch from rallying in the future. Yesterday’s impressive performance was further indication he has the talent to ply his trade in any motor sport he chooses.