Lewis Hamilton has been slashed from 11/1 to 13/2 to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year after becoming Britain’s most successful Formula One driver of all time.

The 32-year-old made history on Sunday by claiming his fourth world title, with his latest success taking him one clear of Sir Jackie Stewart. Hamilton claimed his latest title with two rounds to spare thanks to Sebastian Vettel’s failure to win the Mexican Grand Prix following his first-lap collision with his rival.

Hamilton’s title hopes were hanging in the balance earlier in the season when he fell 25 points behind the Ferrari driver at one stage but Hamilton has been the dominant force in the second half of the season with a stunning run of form.

Hamilton is second in the Sports Personality of the Year betting, with Anthony Joshua the clear favourite at 4/11. The boxer also enjoyed a successful weekend but failed to deliver the explosive knockout expected of him when he defended his IBF and WBA titles against Carols Takam in Cardiff.

Joshua took until the 10th round to stop the Frenchman, who had just 12 days to prepare for the bout following the withdrawal of the injured Kubrat Pulev.

There is little doubt that Joshua produced the best performance by a Briton this year with his heavyweight victory over Wladimir Klitschko in April and it is for that success that Joshua leads the betting, but the value surely lies with Hamilton.

Having previously won the award in 2014, Hamilton clearly has the fan base to scoop the prize and of the four people to have won the award more than once, two of them – Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill – were Formula One drivers. As a sport, only athletics has produced more winners than F1.

Voters may have Joshua’s most recent bout in their minds when casting their votes and his underwhelming display in Cardiff, which prompted boos from some of the crowd when he celebrated, could prove decisive.

Chris Froome is third in the betting at 9/1 but has never finished higher than sixth in the SPOTY voting, so a major increase in popularity would be needed. He followed up his latest Tour de France victory by winning the Spanish equivalent but it seems unlikely that will be enough.

The same logic can also be applied to 14/1 shot Mo Farah and the biggest threat to Joshua and Hamilton could be England striker Jermain Defoe, who features at 16/1 due to his heart-warming friendship with young Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery, who died of cancer in July.

Lewis Hamilton to win Sports Personality of the Year @ 13/2

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