Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Formula 1 drivers may know every corner of the Circuit of The Americas, but American sport proved a tougher test, as the sport quizzed them on the logos of US teams during media day at the United States Grand Prix.
Formula 1’s official X account posted the 41-second video on Thursday (Oct 22) with the caption: “Who knows (American) ball?”, alongside emojis for American football, basketball and ice hockey and the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. The clip opens with the on-screen question “Can the drivers guess these US sports teams?” as drivers in the paddock and the media area are handed printed team logos and asked to name them.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had the easiest start. Wearing a light-blue Buffalo Bills hoodie, he was shown the NFL team’s own logo and quickly answered “Buffalo!”. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was less fortunate. Shown the logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, also of the NFL, he paused, rubbed his chin and eventually admitted: “No.”
Ice hockey caused the most confusion. One driver, handed the logo of the Anaheim Ducks, correctly worked out that it had to be “a hockey team” and, after a quick exchange over whether Texas even plays ice hockey, settled on “Texas ice hockey team, then!” The Ducks are in fact based in California. Another driver, shown the Minnesota Wild logo, guessed “Pink Panthers!” and a third eventually named the Colorado Avalanche.
There were some successes. One driver in a black team jacket, shown the emblem of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, Texas’s own basketball team, offered “Spurs?”. A final driver, wearing a cream cap, said “This one I can do” before naming the Kansas City Chiefs, and went on to identify the Las Vegas Raiders. The video ends with him laughing in front of a “Welcome to Austin” board.
The light-hearted segment fits the theme of a weekend on which several teams have embraced American culture. Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar will race in white suits inspired by Ford’s Raptor pick-up and the American West, while Haas have a Godzilla-themed livery and Cadillac are running a western-wear design, Motorsport.com reported.
On track, the stakes are high. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads the championship on 340 points, 102 clear of team-mate George Russell, and can clinch the title in Austin if he wins with Russell ninth or lower and Lewis Hamilton fifth or lower. Leclerc is fifth in the standings on 215 points after finishing second at the Singapore Grand Prix on Oct 11, while Gasly is 10th on 41.
Leclerc has fond memories of Austin, having won the 2024 United States Grand Prix in a Ferrari one-two with Carlos Sainz. Formula 1 has confirmed the Circuit of The Americas will remain on the calendar until 2034.
The United States Grand Prix runs from Oct 23 to 25, with qualifying at 4pm local time on Saturday and the 56-lap race starting at 3pm on Sunday, which is 4am on Monday (Oct 26) in Malaysia. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113369843374108685.
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