If you have ever sat down and watched Netflix’s amazing, Drive to Survive documentary you will be aware of the level of dedication and hard work that Formula 1 drivers devote to their profession.
They do however, have to take time off now and then to relax and allow their minds to unwind. For some that means soaking up the rays on vacation, whereas for others relaxation comes in the form of watching their favourite football team, and we’re not talking about the American kind.
Football as it is known everywhere else on the planet barring here, is the most watched and the most bet on sport on the planet, with billions tuning into games and hundreds of millions checking out their parlay calculator and laying bets on the big matchups.
Which teams though, do Formula 1’s biggest stars support? Read on to find out…
Lewis Hamilton: Arsenal
Let’s start off with a loose one. British racing champion Lewis Hamilton is purportedly a huge Arsenal fan. However, just a couple of years ago he hit the headlines when it was revealed that he was interested in buying a stake in London rivals Chelsea.
For American sports fans who aren’t aware of the Premier League and English football, that’s like someone saying they were a devoted Boston Celtics fans, only to try and then buy a stake in the Lakers, but worse.
Chelsea and Arsenal despise each other, so Hamilton’s claim that he is a lifelong Arsenal fan don’t hold much water with us.
(This video of an Arsenal fan walking through a crowd of Chelsea fans should give you a sense of the acrimony between the two clubs.)
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz
There’s just something so boring about this one. Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, with 2 Championships (Alonso doing all of the heavy lifting here) and 35 F1 wins between them both support… Real Madrid.
The same Real Madrid that are the biggest sports team on the planet and the most successful football team in Europe, having won 36 La Liga’s, 20 Copa del Rey’s and 15 European Cups.
What makes this boring choice of team to support even worse is the fact that Fernando Alonso is from Oviedo, a city with its own football team, 480km from Madrid…
Max Verstappen
Typically when we are asked to research a topic for an article, we only really get angry when it’s to do with serious issues but today our anger has been well and truly peaked. Not only does every F1 racer seem to be a shameless Glory Hunter, but they also don’t seem to care about the Cardinal rule of being a football fan – only supporting one team!
Verstappen is one such heretic, not only supporting his native PSV Eindhoven, but also claiming to be a huge fan of Spanish giants Barcelona. God give us strength.
(After going down in our estimations for supporting two football clubs, let’s look back at some of Verstappen’s best F1 moments to even things out a little.)
Pierre Gasly
28-year-old Pierre Gasly quite aptly has a surname that sounds spookily similar to the word “ghastly”, which is the perfect adjective to describe his choice of football team. Hailing from Rouen in Normandy, Gasly chose not to support the team from his city, or even the closest Ligue 1 team to his place of birth.
Instead, Gasly cheers on Paris Saint-Germain, a club bankrolled by Qatari state government and a club credited with killing French domestic football by buying up all the best players and relentlessly marching to the title each and every single year.
If Gasly had been born within throwing distance of the Parc des Princes, then we could forgive him this sporting faux pas, but supporting PSG, and signing commercial deals with the club, when you were born a two hour drive away from the stadium is, ghastly behaviour.
Charles Leclerc
We shall end this article on a positive note, with an F1 driver that knows what football fandom is all about. Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was born in Monte Carlo, Monaco and supports Monaco. He doesn’t regularly sit in a box at the Parc des Princes, or walk around in a Real Madrid top, he actually supports his local team.
He’s not just there for the big games either, Leclerc has been spotted supporting his local club at regular league games, during the highs and the lows. Which is almost enough to make Leclerc our favourite F1 driver!
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