What your favourite F1 team says about you: Edi student edition

AKA I’m about to make gross assumptions about the quality of your character based on what merch you wear

| UPDATED

As the Formula 1 fanbase continues to grow at record speed (many thanks to Netflix for that one – cheers guys!), it leaves many questions about what an F1 fan is, and why on earth millions of people are interested in watching 20 cars go around in circles every other weekend.

Some may argue that much of the fanbase enjoys this spectacle not just because of the impressive feats of engineering, but also because of the politics of the paddock, as well as 20, mostly, talented drivers.

These drivers and their teams create their own fanbases, and I’m going to tell you what supporting each of them means (aka make gross assumptions about the quality of your character based on what merch you wear!).

Mercedes: Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

Used to dominating people, you study something like medicine, economics, or law. You probably think you’re better than other people, and you’re probably right. You’re the kind of student to turn up to a lecture wearing the chicest outfit possible – heavily inspired by Lewis and the Mercedes merch team, of course.

Even if this season isn’t going the way you’d necessarily hoped, you’re hanging in there and being loyal – seven (debatably eight) World Championships don’t get erased just like that. If you specifically support Lewis, you’re a big activist and love getting involved in good causes at uni.

If George is your favourite, you are almost certainly British and male and are the kind of guy that loves wearing a shirt and chinos on a night out, probably to a club like WhyNot.

Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

You’re either getting incredible grades or scraping a 40 in every essay, probably studying business or something your Dad forced you into so you can take over his job one day.

100000 per cent you need therapy and to generally just calm down – especially Max fans (it’s giving rugby boy). Please stop talking so much in tutorials, your classmates surprisingly don’t enjoy you debating every possible point made as if you’re Christian Horner on the radio with race control.

If you’re a Checo stan I can maybe let it slide because you’ve had to watch your favourite driver sacrifice himself for Max on too many occasions (#justiceforcheco2022). When you’re not studying for accounting exams, you love going to Rascals on a Thursday and splitting a bottle of grey goose 20 ways – the hustler mindset never stops.

Overall, you’re most likely to find RB fans in bed at two pm when they had a lecture at 10 am or crying about how their dad doesn’t love them enough.

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Either you’re a diehard F1 fan and you’ve been watching since you left the birth canal or you just fancy hot European men in tight red outfits – either way, you have excellent taste. There isn’t too much difference between Leclerc and Sainz fans; both appreciate talent, good looks, and hard work, and are used to feeling agonising pain every Sunday when the Ferrari strategists entirely ruin their race!

Probably studying a traditional subject like history or geography, you like to go for a glass of wine at the pub, or an unnecessarily expensive pint of European beer because it comes in a cool cup. Always up for a night out somewhere like Boteco or Three Sisters, you appreciate the classics, and probably study in the law library because it’s cool and old. 100 per cent a bit of a BNOC – end of the day, you’re always going to be a fan favourite.

McLaren: Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo

The life and soul of the party; you look great in orange and you know it. If you’re a girl, you definitely watch YouTube videos of Danny & Lando being chaotic for seven minutes or whatever content the McLaren team pump out these days, most likely addictive videos where you can see a glint of someone’s abs every time they come in shot.

If you’re a McLaren fan, you’re studying something like psychology or politics; something classic but with a bit of a fun twist that sets you apart from the Ferrari guys and gals.

Lando fans are for sure big Subway and Big Cheese go-ers, most likely found sipping a VK because you can’t handle your drink. If you’re a Ricciardo fan, you’re probably well-loved and great on a night out but likely used to being stabbed in the back (I’m looking at you Zak Brown).

Either way, you’re probably a good egg all around. Just hoping for some better days and for the engineers in the factory to get a grip.

Alpha Tauri – Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda

A tasteful option, you can see the potential that this team has and you want to be able to tell people that when they win. Determined and underrated, you’re studying something like English Lit or a language. You’re probably a bit of a style icon too, albeit a bit pretentious about how quirky and unique you are – the merch is cool but you don’t need to wear it to the library once a week just to show how different you are.

If you’re a Yuki fan you’re probably a big foodie and love visiting all the great spots to get a bite to eat around campus. You absolutely have a food Instagram and I’m 90 per cent sure you’re female.

If Pierre is your kind of guy, you are probably in some kind of society to do with football or tennis, and probably find the “liked by @pierregasly” joke much funnier than it actually is. If you think Pierre and Yuki are secretly a couple you’ve got fewer brain cells than Nikita Mazepin – we should all be crossing our fingers and hoping that these two recreate the ‘slag era’ of Button & Hamilton back in the day.

Alpine – Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon

A beautiful blend of experience and youth; you’re a lover of the classics but with a twist. Most likely studying something in STEM or sports science, you’re a person of reason and logic, sometimes prone to a bit of drama, but what’s life without a bit of spice?

You’ve probably spent the past couple of weeks deep in Twitter and Reddit conspiracy theories about Oscar Piastri and honestly, I don’t blame you – although it is a shame that El Plan won’t be finally executed at Alpine. I feel like you’re probably big into societies at uni like EUSSC or fencing; any sport with a general threat of injury or danger is perfect for you.

Alonso fans are mostly dads with anger issues, so if you’re a student, please learn to meditate or something because at this rate he’s going to be driving until he’s 50. Ocon fans seem pretty chilled, I feel like you guys are pretty bog-standard students but are secretly super cool and you’re definitely going to blossom even more after uni, as long as you keep your temper under control and don’t try and sabotage your coursemates or something.

Aston Martin – Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll

Yes, Seb is fit (and successful) but you are a fool if you’re supporting AM for anything other than the green merch. Do non-Vettel Aston Martin fans even exist?

If you’re a big Lance stan you absolutely made your dad donate to uni or something to get you in, even if you were smart enough to do it alone; you’re not necessarily untalented, but the money sure helps – definitely the kind of student to carry the newest MacBook model around with no case or bag. You probably like James Bond a bit too much and are part of like reeling club or something. Go outside and re-think your decision.

Seb fans, I’m not going to go in too harsh because I know you’re all probably crying in the club over his retirement. You’re probs the kind of person that prefers a night at Kitty O’Shea’s or Three Sisters over full-on clubbing, unlike your Stroll stan counterparts who will probably visit ATIK, Lulus, and Bourbon more times than a lecture hall this year.

Alpha Romeo – Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu

A unique choice, but you’re not like the others, are you? You were just biding your time after years of disappointment and heartbreak and now look at you, actually making the top 10 every once in a while.

You are the kind of student that has had a great glow-up at uni and found your happiness away from probably the boring small town you are from. If you’re a Valtteri fan you’re the perfect mix of calm and chaotic – a good student but also great on a night out. Probably studying something like chemistry, you go for runs up Arthur’s Seat every morning before uni, even if you were out ’til three am the night before.

Zhou fans 100 per cent rock up to lectures in a full Louis Vuitton fit and sell Yeezys as a side hustle to pay for the sheer amount of drinks they order on nights out. Well-loved and respected by your peers, you’re just a NPOC (nice person on campus) and always there for your mates. You stay in Chancellors because you simply wouldn’t be seen dead leaving anything but the best halls.

Haas – Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher

The Haaster planner – you’ve probably had a meeting with your PT about getting chucked out of uni at least once but everyone loves a good comeback, just like KMag. Let’s be honest, if you’re a Haas fan it’s not a question of how much you like Kevin or Mick, it’s how obsessed with Guenther Steiner you are.

You’re probably secretly super smart but do no work and somehow get away with it every year, and no one can even hate you for that because you’re just too nice.

If you’re a KMag stan, you potentially have anger-management issues but you’re a softie at heart, with some kind of guilty pleasure like you love the Sugababes or something. Mick fans, let’s just keep our fingers crossed that he keeps his job and learns not to damage his car – I know you guys are pretty sensitive.

As long as you don’t like Nikita Mazepin, you’re probably a decent person and study something like geography – although, for this one, the subject doesn’t matter. It’s what is in the heart that counts.

Williams – Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi (aka Goatifi)

Albon fans are criminally underrated, although I’m still undecided on whether Albon is going to be able to climb his way out of the Williams hole anytime soon. If you’re a big Williams fan you are probably very traditional and probably British – obsessed with the past for sure. You probably peaked in the sixth form, as you’re now a small fish in a very big pond at uni.

If you’re a Latifi fan, you are simply just a step above the rest of us in terms of IQ, attractiveness, taste, and ambition. The GOAT, the King, whatever you want to call him, you have to admit he does bring a certain Canadian spice to the track. Some say he should have been gifted the 2021 Championship purely for his moves in Abu Dhabi. Some say he’s the worst driver on the grid, but that’s just semantics – you know in your heart what being a Goatifi fan means, and you’re not ashamed.

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