To think that most F1 racers seem to have won the genetic lottery?

[jellyjellybaby]

Absolutely irrelevant topic but this has always been on my mind for no reason at all. I watch a lot of F1 races due to my family being very much into it and for some reason they all generally seem to be what you could consider 'good looking'.

I am sure there is no actual correlation between physical appearance and success as a F1 racer but it's something I noticed ages ago

Am I the only one that thinks so? I hope not 😂

@MyopiaUtopia

I went to school in the same class with Alex Albon, except he was rarely actually at the school as he was always off karting. Can confirm very wealthy parents, he lived in a house with a MOAT! He always seemed nice and was quite quiet.

Probably funded by the £7 million scam his Mother ran.

Did his Dad pay for the McLaren team trucks to attend?

When he was 6/7 and seemingly too young for cadets?

No idea.

They didn't attend, he had a motorhome and a box trailer. Are you thinking of Zip Young Guns? They sort of supported him until he started outshining Paffett and Hines.

McLaren did support the Champions of the Future series so there were logos all over the place but they weren't there for Lewis in particular!

Probably funded by the £7 million scam his Mother ran.

Either way it's a gorgeous house inside and out.

@LittleBipper

They didn't attend, he had a motorhome and a box trailer. Are you thinking of Zip Young Guns? They sort of supported him until he started outshining Paffett and Hines.

McLaren did support the Champions of the Future series so there were logos all over the place but they weren't there for Lewis in particular!

I'm not fucking criticising him or them. It's a good thing!

Of course it is, McLaren did more for young drivers than anyone else at the time, they just didn't support Lewis from that age.

@ConstanceSalinger thanks, I’ll take a look

Too short

When you see F1 drivers in the flesh, you soon realise that most of them are short arses. Lewis is 5’8 at most, and he is taller than many. Some of them, like Massa & Heidfeld are tiny. I once saw one of Nick’s race suits, it looked like it would fit a 10 year old. I haven’t seen Norris in the flesh yet, but on TV he looks similarly small.Tall, skinny drivers such as Button, Webber & Hulkenberg (all around 6 foot) are very much the exception.

This isn’t a coincidence. They need to be small to succeed in karting where every extra kg will slow a kid down. As they move on to racing cars, they need to be under 75kg to be competitive which favours small drivers.

Nico Hulkenberg is spectacular. I also had a bit of a thing for Paul di Resta, he always comes across as a bit miserable though. I only like the tall ones, I’m probably taller than most of them so it does put me off a bit.

Well to become an F1 driver you have to come from a family with a certain amount of money in the first place. Then you have to genetically have certain physical and mental attributes to be able to be good at driving.

But also rich men tend to be more attractive.....funny that.

Chris Hemsworth.....phwoar!!

Oh wait....you're talking about real life, right?

I think it's more about the aura of confidence. Lewis Hamilton mind you is probably the only one who didn't grow up rich. His Dad had 3 jobs to pay for his karting

For me it's Nico, Kimi, Valterri and Daniel.

Are you joking?

I can’t look at Daniel Ricardo without smiling ... And I also love Lewis.

They are all quite short I think - pocket rockets

.. and George Russell

Toto Wolff ... especially when he wears his glasses

One of the most beautiful was Jules Bianchi, devastated we didn’t get to see him fulfil his potential.

Where does Pastor Maldonado fit in to your theory then, hmmm?

I remember there were some pretty fugly ones, but I always had a bit of a crush on David Coulthard and thought Mika Hakkinen was cute.

I think Albon is one of the tallest drivers this year. He’s about 6’ if I’m remembering correctly.

Not quite as tall as my beloved Toto though 😅

@Prettybluepigeons

Too short

I agree.

Mika Hakkinen certainly is.

@Wakemeuuuup

I think it's more about the aura of confidence. Lewis Hamilton mind you is probably the only one who didn't grow up rich. His Dad had 3 jobs to pay for his karting

Not necessarily. Vettel, Alonso, Mansell, Schumacher, Webber and many others all come from very modest backgrounds.

Vettel became a Red Bull protege at a very young age & they financed his racing. Alonso’s dad was a mechanic in an explosives factory. Mansell worked as an aircraft engineer to pay for his racing as a young man. Schumacher’s family owned a modest kart track in a small town. Webber worked as a track driving instructor to pay for his racing.

Just googled Toto Wolff as I know nothing about F1 and he really reminds me of the guy in Dempsey and Makepeace in the 80's (showing my age there) . Have to say that of the ones I've seen, there isn't one that I would consider good looking at the moment but I did used to like Damon Hill.