Lewis Hamilton Could Land Sports Personality Award After Formula One Title Glory

Lewis Hamilton has secured his fourth Formula One world title and must now be a strong contender for the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The shortlist is set to be announced towards the end of November, and here Press Association Sport looks at the names likely to be on it, with odds supplied by Ladbrokes.

Anthony Joshua (1/3)

If this was a prize for the best single performance by a British star in the last 12 months, it is no contest - the 27-year-old heavyweight's victory over Wladimir Klitschko in April was an absolute belter. Joshua was not quite as impressive in October against Frenchman Carlos Takam but still defended his IBF and WBA titles. Sports fans have taken the former Olympic champion to their hearts and he looks in great shape to add a SPOTY honour to his collection.

Lewis Hamilton (9/1)

Formula One world champion for a fourth time, Hamilton is just 32 and could have many more titles left in him. He overtook Sebastian Vettel in the second half of the season to clinch his latest triumph with two races to spare. Again he is an outstanding candidate for the Sports Personality award that he won in 2014.

Chris Froome (10/1)

The first man to follow up a win at the Tour de France with a victory in the Spanish equivalent in the same season, the 32-year-old is now, by any fair measure, one of cycling's greats. Since the start of July, he has raced more than 4,000 miles, over 42 days, and has seen off every challenge. For many, he should win this race by miles, too, but a previous SPOTY best of sixth suggests Froome has not yet conquered the heights of popular acclaim here. Could this be his breakthrough year?

Jermain Defoe (16/1)

Now 35 and playing for Bournemouth, the Londoner was the best player in a bad Sunderland side last season, scoring an admirable 15 league goals. That effort earned him a recall to the England squad for the first time in three years and he scored on his return. But that is not why Defoe is an outside contender for this award. At Sunderland, he met Bradley Lowery, a young boy with cancer. Bradley died aged six in July, but not before striking up a heart-warming friendship with Defoe that saw the pair lead England out at Wembley in March.

Sir Mo Farah (16/1)

Farah had won nine straight global track finals since 2011, so arguably his return of a gold and a silver at the World Championships in London in the summer was a disappointment. But that would be very unfair. Britain's only individual medallist, Farah won one thriller and narrowly lost another. The 34-year-old is now aiming for marathon glory and has just won his fourth straight Great North Run. Like Froome, the Somalia-born star probably has not had the credit he deserves in the BBC poll. A best of third, in 2011, does not really reflect his domination in one of sport's most accessible disciplines.