Lewis Hamilton awards snub explained

Lewis Hamilton received criticism at the weekend for not attending the annual Autosport Awards in London.

The Three-time world champion won the British Competition Driver of the Year award at the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane.

However, he did not attend the event which he previously described in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel as: "like our Oscars but it completely sucks - it's not really good."

It has now come to light that Hamilton's absence was in fact because he was in Finland attending the funeral of former McLaren doctor Aki Hintsa.

Hamilton was close to Dr. Hintsa, having worked with him from an early age during his time at McLaren.

During the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton's helmet featured a tribute to the doctor who passed away recently after losing his battle with cancer.