By Susannah Guthrie
When they’re competing, Formula One drivers push the barriers of physics, human ability and mechanical engineering in cars that have been finely tuned to achieve maximum performance.
But even race-car drivers have to tackle peak-hour traffic and the school run sometimes.
In a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Lewis Hamilton confessed he actively dislikes the kind of regular driving the rest of us have to do daily.
“I just think that I find it stressful,” he told the publication while driving through the South of France. “I try not to do things that don’t add to my life.
“This is now stressful for me,” he added while tackling traffic. “This road is crazy. So much going on here. I’m going to turn around in a second.”
While F1 stars typically have garages full of luxury supercars worth millions of dollars, which models do they choose to navigate their daily commute? Here’s what we know about the personal road cars of the 2023 Grand Prix’s biggest names.
Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing
As the youngest race-winner in F1 history, Max Verstappen has had an impressive career trajectory, all before the age of 25.
To celebrate his success, the Dutch young gun treated himself to a Ferrari Monza SP2 in 2020.
He was also spotted inspecting another model from the prancing horse – the SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano – in January 2023.
Neither car can be considered a typical daily driver, but back in 2021, Verstappen unveiled a more realistic commuter car – a 2018 Honda Civic Type R, which he auctioned off to raise funds for the charity Wings for Life.
To replace the Civic Type R, Honda gifted Verstappen a Honda NSX Type S to add to his already-impressive supercar collection.
Verstappen’s first car, meanwhile, was a little more pedestrian – as a 17-year-old, he received a yellow Renault Clio as a gift from his parents.
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes-Benz
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has a veritable fleet of cars from the German brand – but his choice of daily driver might come as a surprise.
A 2022 Vanity Fair profile of Hamilton revealed the star drives a pint-sized
Smart car. “[Hamilton] knows that people expect him to have some kind of cool sports car, and he did have cars like that when he was younger,” journalist Chris Heath wrote.
“But these days his vehicle of choice for trips like this is a tiny electric Smart car, made by his team’s parent company, Mercedes.”
The F1 star – who eats a plant-based diet and sold his private jet due to concerns over its high emissions – also runs a few all-electric Mercedes cars, including a Mercedes-AMG EQS sedan and a Mercedes-Benz EQC SUV.
Back in 2020, he famously told Reuters that he no longer drives his collection of muscle- and supercars, including a 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and Ferrari LaFerrari.
“I don’t drive any of the cars that I own any more. I only drive my [electric Mercedes] EQC,” Hamilton said at the time (although he’s since been spotted behind the wheel of his Pagani Zonda 760LH).
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
Former Alpine driver Fernando Alonso used to get around in an Alpine A110, but naturally he’s had to swap it out since signing with the Aston Martin F1 team in 2022.
To welcome the Spanish driver aboard, Aston Martin gave him a pretty impressive “company car” that might put your workplace’s fleet of Toyota Camrys to shame. These days, Alonso does his commuting in an Aston Martin DBX luxury SUV, which he described as his “dream car”.
Sergio Perez – Red Bull Racing
Much like his Red Bull Racing teammate Max Verstappen, Mexico’s Sergio Perez has been spotted getting around in the practical, yet performance-focussed, Honda Civic Type R.
However, the father of three also has family-friendly requirements, which explains why he’s also reported to own a more spacious BMW X7 SUV. Perez’s personal car collection also features some more unique (and expensive) inclusions, like a Bugatti Chiron, a McLaren 720S and a Mercedes-AMG GT.
Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
He might be a professional race-car driver with a net worth approaching $50 million, but Carlos Sainz only purchased his “first car” this year. Despite being in Formula One for nine years, Sainz has consistently owned one road car: a Volkswagen Golf GTI his parents bought for him when he was 18.
However, in January 2023 the Spanish Ferrari driver finally updated his garage and became a first-time Ferrari customer when he took delivery of his tailor-made Ferrari 812 Competizione. “It’s the first car I’m buying… I’ve been in Formula One for nine years and as an own car I have the one my parents bought me when I was 18, which is a Golf,” Sainz said in a video on his YouTube channel.
When asked why he stuck with the trusty hatchback for so long, Sainz explained: “Look, at the weekend I’m driving a Formula One car and it’s the fastest car ever. Everything else feels really, really bad.”
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
You might read about the luxurious car collections of F1 drivers and think, ‘Sure, but do they really even drive them in real life?’.
For Monégasque driver Charles Leclerc, the answer is yes. The 25-year-old, who races on the Ferrari team, cruises around his hometown in a stunning customised Ferrari 488 Pista Spider worth more than $1 million.
The car’s bonnet is emblazoned with red and white stripes in honour of the Monaco flag and when we say Leclerc uses it as his daily driver, we really mean it. The car is getting such regular use that Leclerc was even left stranded when he ran out of fuel – with onlookers filming the moment three unidentified men had to step in and assist the F1 star in getting his vehicle to a petrol station.
George Russell – Mercedes-Benz
It’s fair to say British F1 star George Russell has more than a few fancy cars at his disposal as a driver for Mercedes, but he favours a more relaxed daily driver.
In sharing his holiday snaps on Instagram, the 25-year-old has revealed a penchant for Mini Mokes – preferring what he describes as the “roof down, doors off” approach for European summer touring. However, for wintry day trips exploring the British countryside, the young driver favours a more practical off-roader: a Mercedes-AMG G 63.
Russell also runs a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S as a daily driver, and he proudly washes it himself, by hand.
Daniel Ricciardo
Okay, so he might not be on the grid for the 2023 season, but Red Bull Racing star Ricciardo still holds a special place in our hearts. Australia’s own Danny Ric could be considered the ‘people’s prince’ of Formula One, thanks to his relatable social media content and winning smile. Unsurprisingly, his daily driver is just as relatable… when he’s back in Australia, the Perth-born thrillseeker cruises around his hometown in a Toyota HiLux.
The humble ute can be spotted in the background of some of his more recent Instagram posts, with Ricciardo often using it to haul around his motorbikes and mountain bikes. He’s also shared glimpses of his garage at home with a
Nissan Patrol lingering in the background.
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
Lance’s father, Lawrence Stroll, is a part-owner and executive chairman of Aston Martin, so it should come as no surprise that Lance, driving for the Aston Martin team, drives an Aston Martin DBX SUV.
Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
The Finnish racer is a known car fan and notes a stunning Ferrari F40 supercar among his collection. While his ‘company car’ may be the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV, he is known to regularly drive his W204 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG coupe.
The W204 generation signified the last time the compact Mercedes would use a naturally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 engine, so it’s no wonder Bottas is a fan.
Kevin Magnussen – Haas F1 Danish driver
Kevin Magnussen might be known for his fiery resolve on the track, but off the track he’s a family man. Magnussen and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Laura, in 2021 – shortly before his surprise return to the grid with the Haas racing team.
The Dane features on the fifth season of Netflix series Drive to Survive, offering a brief glimpse into his home life with wife Louise Gjørup. In the show, Magnussen is seen loading his daughter into a car seat in the back of a blue Land Rover Discovery – clearly his choice of family hauler when traversing the streets of Copenhagen.
Honorable mention: Ayrton Senna
While Brazilian Formula One legend Ayrton Senna was famously involved with the final engineering of the 1991 Honda NSX mid-engine sports car, his first set of keys belonged to a 1980s Ford Escort XR3i, the precursor to what we know now as a ‘hot hatch’.
He was known to drive an Alfa Romeo Alfasud hatchback and even bought his own Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth after enjoying racing one so much in a ‘celebrity’ race against other Grand Prix drivers.
This story first appeared on Drive.
