Showcasing their personalities more in various TV series, Formula 1 drivers are now celebrities in addition to drivers. Miami is teeming with celebrities in the paddock. This Grand Prix was therefore the ultimate opportunity to ask several drivers how they like being a celebrity.
Partly due to the advent of the Netflix series Drive to Survive and the rise of social media, the public is increasingly getting an insight into the personalities of drivers. They are no longer just sports heroes who can race very fast, but have become true celebrities. Lewis Hamilton can be seen as the paddock’s biggest celebrity. With his 36.9 million Instagram followers and his many trips to various galas, the Brit is in the spotlight a lot.
How do F1 drivers feel about being a celebrity?
Footballer Kylian Mbappé has expressed that being famous does take the spontaneity out of life a bit. Hamilton does not suffer from this. “I’m pretty spontaneous. I think it’s an interesting journey.” Being a celebrity is different than expected, according to him. “It’s definitely not all you thought it would be. As a kid, when you see people on TV and you’re like, oh, it must be cool. Having money, all these different things. But it’s not all great. And I think over time, you just learn how to handle it. Ultimately, at some stage, you realise that it’s not really about you. It’s a platform to do good. And so if you just have the right intentions, then you can actually have a real positive impact. I think that’s really what it’s mostly for.”
Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were also asked the same questions. Despite being a lot less well-known than Hamilton, they also suffer. Bottas agrees with Hamilton. “I definitely haven’t lost my spontaneity as well. It’s a journey and some things are good. Some, maybe not what you thought as a kid. But I think the easiest way is to just be yourself and roll with it and try and enjoy the good and the positive things,” said the Finn.
Perez explains that in his private life, it can still be difficult at times. “It obviously has its hard bits, but also a lot of positives with it. You’ve achieved a lot of things that you wanted to achieve when you were a kid. But it comes with a huge responsibility. What I find difficult at times is that it can really part you when going to places. I have family, and sometimes being with your family, you are not as comfortable as you used to be because of the tension that you get when you are in different places. But it’s all part of the journey. Realising that we have, like Lewis said, a great platform to motivate younger generations to achieve their dreams.
It’s obviously like everything in life, it comes with some bad things. But at the end of the day, we have to remember that we are very privileged to be able to be living our dreams,” the Mexican said.
