Football Stars with a Passion for Formula 1
There is always a degree of crossover in sport when it comes to fandom. Formula 1 drivers don’t only follow motor racing, cheering exclusively for the current team they drive for.
Professional football players rarely get the chance to play for the club they supported as kids, and have to mix professionalism and fandom.
There is also an inter-sport crossover, as athletes naturally have vested interests elsewhere beyond what their professional lives revolve around. It’s a bit like punters who may primarily gauge football team strength prediction metrics such as current form and head-to-heads for bets, but who may also fancy a wager on other sports like darts or tennis.
Coming Together
Comparing the speed of footballers to F1 cars is like comparing a cheetah’s sprint to a jet plane’s takeoff: both are incredibly fast, but in vastly different leagues. Does the cheetah have an interest in aviation? Unlikely, but footballers certainly have a passion for F1.
Neymar Jr
Former Barcelona and PSG star Neymar, who now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Hilal, has been seen at F1 races before. The Brazilian legend, for example, showed up with a VIP pass at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix where he was able to get an up-close look at team garages and the pit lane.
Kylian Mbappé
One of the fastest players in modern football, a member of the Real Madrid team, which always has a high Strength Rate on the expert platform ClubSport, and a player valued at nearly 200 million euros — this is all about Kylian Mbappé.
The World Cup winner is also a reported fan of F1. The French superstar has been seen at F1 races before, including strolling the track at the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, with full VIP status of course.
He was, however, unable to nominate his favourite driver out of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, ducking the question by simply stating how much he loved F1 and was purely a fan of the sport.
Robert Lewandowski
Poland’s record goalscorer is another famous footballer who is also a F1 fan. A famous moment from him came in the pit lane at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix where he got to meet drivers Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll and Nico Hülkenberg.
Barcelona striker Lewandowski has also spoken about how he watched F1 from a young age and looked up to legendary Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher.
Aymeric Laporte
Recent Euro 2024 winner with Spain, Aymeric Laporte, is also an F1 fan. Laporte, a five-time Premier League title winner with Manchester City, moved to the Saudi Pro League last season. The defender has been known to show up at Grand Prix races, and took part in the 2020 Virtual Grand Prix challenge against F1 stars.
Joao Felix
Portuguese forward João Félix has strangely never been able to find a consistent home in the game. But he’s one of the world’s brightest talents who also enjoys a weekend out following the latest F1 action.
Ben Chilwell
England and Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell has been spotted watching F1 action before, including action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with teammate Reece James and former teammate Mason Mount, who is now at Manchester United.
It Goes Both Ways
It takes a long time, hard work and skill for drivers to reach the pinnacle of motor racing, and like most people, drivers grow up with a passion for football. That’s usually just down to the sheer popularity of football around the world, and typically passed down through family allegiances as well.
So there is also a lot of interest from F1 drivers in football. Whether they have as much time through the busy 24-race season to follow their teams in person is another matter, but here are a few examples.
Max Verstappen is a big fan of PSV Eindhoven, and said to be so because of his father, a lifelong supporter of the club. PSV is a leading team from Verstappen’s native Netherlands, but he also reportedly holds an affinity for La Liga giants Barcelona.
Seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton is a well-known Arsenal fan, and has been seen following their games in person. Hamilton, who moves to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season, is a football fan in general, once being part of a consortium to buy Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who has been known to play charity football matches is naturally a Monaco fan, while Spanish great Fernando Alonso is a big Real Madrid fan, and also an honorary club member at the Bernabéu. Fellow Spain’s Carlos Sainz is also a fan of Real Madrid, while George Russell is a Wolves fan.
