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Piston Pioneer
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Top 10 cars owned by F1 drivers
As a F1 driver you'd expect to be able to drive something pretty juicy off the track as well as on. Easy enough if you drive for Ferrari. But what if you drive for Toyota? Sponsorship commitments aside F1 drivers have some pretty eclectic tastes when it comes to their transport off the circuit.
Some take the obvious supercar route while others opt to keep a low profile and drive something much more mundane. And some of the choices may surprise you! From the legends of the sport's earlier years to the rookie stars of today, here is a selection of F1 drivers' favourite rides.
Lewis Hamilton – Smart Forfour
It's a measure of Hamilton's stratospheric rise that at the beginning of the season his company car was a Smart Forfour. From there he's been steadily working his way up the Mercedes product range - probably earning himself a new car with every win he's chalked up over the year. Various C-Classes have apparently come and gone, the F1 star seen racing 'best friend' Fernando Alonso's CLK Black Series in a C63 AMG in the recent TV ad campaign. He apparently covets the GL über SUV too. So what next? Well it's safe to say Alonso probably won't be needing his 722 Edition SLR after the weekend.
Sir Stirling Moss – Fiat 500
Famously financially prudent, Moss does not splash cash on frivolous motors. And as a metropolitan gadget freak he's well known for some fairly eccentric choices when it comes to his private transport. Having bought one of his first racing cars - a Maserati 250F - with his own money; for his road cars he prefers small city runabouts. The first of these was the original Fiat 500, replaced in turn with a Smart Fortwo and supplemented by various scooters, perfect for the crowded streets near Sir Stirling's West London home.
James Hunt – Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9
After retiring from racing, Hunt the Shunt took up the safer sport of Budgerigar breeding, using his beloved Austin A35 van to transport them. But he couldn't resist Mercedes' hot-rod 450SEL 6.9 and with monster power beneath the discreet-to-the-point-of-boring looks you can see the attraction. That you could fit plenty of girls inside it too was probably quite handy for the famously sociable Hunt too. With a dry-sumped engine, optional anti-lock brakes and a limited-slip diff this was no one-trick straight-line racer either. Hunt's car ended up on bricks outside his house, sad testament to this great driver's decline before his death in 1993, tragically just hours after proposing to his long term partner.
Juan Manuel Fangio – Lancia Aurelia B20 GT
Juan Manual Fangio, rightly regarded as the greatest ever F1 driver won five world championships with four different teams; Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Maserati and Ferrari. But the true love of Fangio's life was his Lancia Aurelia B20 GT and you can see why. Even by the standards of '50s Italian coupés the Aurelia is an exceptionally beautiful car. And with the world's first production V6 engine under the bonnet it was advanced too. British driver Mike Hawthorn was another well known Aurelia driver but with Fangio's seal of approval classic status was guaranteed.
Jenson Button – Honda NSX
If anyone lives up to the playboy image of the dashing F1 driver our Mr Button is that man. And thanks his illustrious Honda driving predecessor Ayrton Senna there is even a supercar for him to drive as a company car. The Brazilian ace famously had a hand in the design of the fabulous mid engined Honda and Button probably wishes he could have worked the same magic on his race car. No matter, as Button was caught racing unsuspecting members of the public at the wheel of his NSX. Unfortunately for him these seem to be the only races he's been winning of late.
David Coulthard – Mercedes 280SL
He doesn't drive for Mercedes any more and has sprouted strange facial hair but 'Crazy Dave' Coulthard still drives a Benz after hours. And a classic one at that. Built in 1971, his 280SL Pagoda is the same age as him and benefited from a full restoration at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre in Stuttgart while he was on the company payroll. And while the pretty SL is no road burning supercar, for wafting about in Monaco it is just about ideal. Given the location it's doubtful he makes much use of the distinctively shaped hardtop that gave the car its name.
Eddie Irvine – Ferrari 288 GTO
One of the true F1 playboy heroes, Eddie Irvine's taste in cars was as fast as his legendary pursuit of women. But of the former his 288 GTO was one of his favourites. And you can see why. One of just 270 or so built (accounts vary exactly), the 288 GTO might look like the Magnum PI spec 308 but with its 400bhp twin turbo V8 it is a whole lot more exotic. Indeed, in laying the groundwork for the F40 the 288 was more like the Enzo of its age. Irvine certainly made use of it too, allegedly getting stopped for speeding four times in a 24-hour period over Christmas one year.
John Surtees – BMW 507
The inspiration for the retro Z8, the beautiful BMW 507 lacks the recognition it perhaps deserves. But for those in the know it is one of the most desirable '50s roadsters around. Just 252 were made and Elvis Presley bought one during his time with the US Army in Germany before gifting it to Ursula Andress. With beautiful styling and a powerful V8 engine it's not hard to see the appeal. And for John Surtees, the only man to win both motorbike and F1 world championships, it's been a long term love affair. A gift part funded by the boss of MV Agusta motorbikes for winning the championship in 1956, the car is still in his possession to this day.
Ayrton Senna – Mercedes 190 2.3-16
Although his name is most closely associated with the Honda NSX he helped design, Senna is yet another racing driver with a thing for Mercs. His old SEC coupé was up for sale a few years back and at the start of the career he was linked with the 190E 2.3-16. Senna was relatively unknown when he smoked a grid that read like a who's who of F1 at the opening of the new Nürburgring in 1984. Driving identical 190s - the event was also the launch for the car - Senna left stars like Moss, Fangio, Hunt, Hulme and Prost in his wake and was behind the wheel of his own road going example shortly afterwards.
Fernando Alonso – Renault Megane
2007 is the year of Angry Alonso and even the keys to an SLR haven't cheered him up. What a change from life at Renault. An online video clip shows a laughing, chatty Alonso taking a group of Spanish journalists around the Nürburgring in a Renault Megane. In an open, public session at the circuit Alonso jokes around as he hurls the unsuspecting Renault around the circuit, leaving motorbikes and cars in his wake. So will he be back at the 'ring in a Renault? We'll see. But after bulldozing Massa out of the way there earlier this year, Ferrari drivers of all persuasions had better watch out.
