Lewis has won a prestigious Laureus Award at the 2008 Awards

Ceremony in St.Petersburg, Russia.

After collecting the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award, for his remarkable debut season in Formula 1, he said "I remember last year I was in Bahrain for a test and watched the Laureus Awards on the television in my hotel room and now I am here with all these amazing people - it has been a fantastic year and I am very grateful for this award. Actually I feel a bit overwhelmed as looking around the other nominees I didn't think I deserved it but I am really happy."

The Laureus World Sports Awards, whose Global Partners include Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, is the only global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 43 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a collection of the world's greatest sportsmen and women. The living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today.

The Awards were presented in seven categories. The winners were:
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Roger Federer
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Justine Henin
Laureus World Team of the Year: South African Rugby Team
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year: Lewis Hamilton
Laureus World Comeback of the Year: Paula Radcliffe
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Esther Vergeer
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Shaun White