With the 2017 season all wrapped up, now the drivers can kick back, relax and mentally recharge for next season. Some drivers prefer to go home for the holidays while others go to some other location for a nice vacation. Yet more drivers opt to prepare for the upcoming season. So lets dive in and see what the drivers get up to in the F1 Off season.
F1 Off Season Antics
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Mercedes
https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/944624477119373312
The reigning world champion opted to spend time at home with his family and his dogs Roscoe and Coco. As seen above, the 32-year old shared pictures of himself with his 2 bulldogs.
Meanwhile, teammate Valtteri Bottas made a couple of guest appearances at a few events and even attended the FIA prize-giving to collect his 3rd place trophy. Other than that, he has been fairly private about his holiday plans.
Guess who's in the Capital Markets Day as well. It's Valtteri Bottas! 😊#VB77 #LiftingBusinesses #PerformanceDriven pic.twitter.com/QvDEPpTy0x
— Konecranes (@Konecranes) December 14, 2017
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen opted to go home and spend the holidays with their families. Danny even took part in an online viral challenge. Meanwhile, Verstappen won the Personality of the Year award.
Mr Tambourine man brings back many happy memories from my childhood. As part of #EndTheSilence I nominate @JensonButton @BrendonHartley @MumfordAndSons to share the song that holds the most precious childhood memory for them! https://t.co/jzwyqYZn7C pic.twitter.com/0vT1hd9OjZ
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) December 6, 2017
Three in a row! Very proud to win the FIA Personality of the Year Award again 🏆 Thank you @redbullracing, all the fans and everyone else who supported me! I will keep pushing 👊 #FIAPrizeGiving pic.twitter.com/efLAHlZSK3
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) December 9, 2017
Williams
Felipe Massa is happily enjoying his retirement and happened to bump into Santa Claus whose sleigh broke down. Fortunately, there was always Plan B. Meanwhile, Stroll was holidaying in the United States
Force India
Welcome to the newest member of the @forceindiaf1 family!
Congratulations Carola and @schecoperez for the arrival of your baby! 🍼
We’re saving a seat for him in a few years… 💕 pic.twitter.com/q52JyPvQ8O
— SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) December 24, 2017
Sergio Perez and wife Carola welcomed a new member to their family and the Sahara Force India team also welcomed the child. They even promised to save him a seat in a few years. Meanwhile, in a short video filmed for the F1 Youtube page, Esteban Ocon wished fans from around the world a Merry Christmas.
Renault
— Nico Hülkenberg (@HulkHulkenberg) December 24, 2017
Nico Hulkenberg spent some time with his family and posted a small video wishing the fans. Sainz too had the same idea and spent a quiet Christmas with his family.
McLaren
El 2018 ya está en marcha en @FAracingG2 . Queremos a los mejores pilotos del mundo. Eres tú? Apúntate. 👍👍#eSports #FAracing #team #LogitechG https://t.co/Moki0Gro99
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) December 22, 2017
Fernando Alonso spent his holidays scouting for drivers for his professional sim racing team. Vandoorne went back home to Belgium, although he was stuck at Brussels airport for a while. We’ve all been there Stoffel.
Waiting 40mins now for luggage to arrive…. @BrusselsAirport 👌 pic.twitter.com/M94Tlzyyzn
— Stoffel Vandoorne (@svandoorne) December 21, 2017
Haas
Merci monsieur Papa Noël. Quel bonheur de voir le bonheur et la joie des enfants lors de la découverte de leurs cadeaux au matin de #Noel !!!
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) December 25, 2017
Grosjean went home to France to spend time with his wife and children for Christmas. As they say, Christmas is a time for family. Magnussen was also enjoying his vacation, but you could tell that he was in F1 hibernation mode.
Toro Rosso
Back to basics.👌 pic.twitter.com/wgw5XbX0qo
— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) December 23, 2017
Gasly spent his holidays driving go-karts and meeting other French sportspersons like Kylian Mbappe. Hartley was celebrating Christmas with his friends in Monaco. Mark Webber and MickDoohan were just some of the names present there.
Xmas fun with the Monaco gang👌🎄 pic.twitter.com/3LasJXmbbO
— Brendon Hartley (@BrendonHartley) December 7, 2017
Sauber
Thank you – much appreciated! Not sure what’s POS but i‘ll take it anyway 😅 https://t.co/cfWeaxeqo4
— Pascal Wehrlein (@PWehrlein) November 28, 2017
Pascal really needs to work on his Internet slang but he felt appreciated anyway. Ericsson was busy revelling in his new contract for 2018 and the new car.
Unsurprisingly, there are no F1 off season pictures on social media for the Ferrari duo as Raikkonen and Vettel do not have social media accounts and prefer their privacy.
