World Champion F1 Drivers on Bicycles

[Avincent52]

Apropos of nothing but...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEZ8wv2UUAEDIHm.jpg

Sebastien Vettel

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/20/1397976438270_lc_galleryImage_SHANGHAI_CHINA_APRIL _20_L.JPG

Lewis Hamilton

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00394/123912593_F1_394653c.jpg

Fernando Alonso, who's trying to buy/start a Spanish pro cycling team

http://anmblog.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c565553ef017d3dc53559970c-500wi

Jenson Button

http://cdn-4.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/1700000/1770000/1772000/1772700/1772734/s8/f1-russian-gp-2014-kimi-raikkonen-ferrari-on-his-bicycle.jpg

Kimi Raikkonen

That's all the active F1 World Champions, but I gather Mark Webber and Kevin Magnussen are both enthusiastic riders--so much so that they injured themselves in cycling accidents. Mangussen missed a couple of races, while Webber kept it a secret but ended up losing the championship to his teammate, Vettel.

[Avincent52]

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0243/0993/files/speedmaster05_large.jpg?11623

The late Ayrton Senna

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/88/d9/8f/88d98f596cec8f02c80b56525d629188.jpg

7-time champ Michael Schumacher, still recovering from injuries suffered in a skiing accident.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5SRWEf9clwQ/TV_xDEgluXI/AAAAAAAAIaI/uEkcZu-W5LA/s1600/alainprost3_efe_60.jpg

Four time champion Alain Prost with Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault

http://40.media.tumblr.com/64d87dca27679eff27099ab8edb25e97/tumblr_ng7y7sJ1sE1sl1o0fo1_400.jpg

James Hunt

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/51/4c/2e/514c2e7046854e1d9d78f85ac02716d5.jpg

1979 champ Jody Scheckter with Depaillier, Hunt, 3-time champ Niki Lauda, Ingo Hoffman, 2-time Champ Emerson Fittipaldi, and Larry Perkins (Dig those safety levers!)

[Gsinill]

Never in F1 but still one for the greatest drivers of all time and supposedly a decent rider and good friend of Eddy.

http://media0.faz.net/ppmedia/aktuell/sport/2579838104/1.1120128/default/erinnerungsstueck-roehrl-mit.jpg

[Avincent52]

Never in F1 but still one for the greatest drivers of all time and supposedly a decent rider and good friend of Eddy.

Very cool.

Check out the clip below.

My German isn't very good but I think around 6:38 this video shows Rohrl riding his road bike circa 1987 before the Pikes Peak Hill climb.
Hairball driving in an Audi rally car around 13:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8nKhhMJtvc

[chairmandave]

Not a world champion, but former Red Bull driver Mark Weber deserves an honorable mention:

http://wordpress.carthrottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BSSnFbtIMAAdVKP.jpg-large.jpg

[Cicli]

Is that the coolest bike Hamilton could come up with?

[Avincent52]

Hamilton reportedly has a Factor 001, a custom made carbon fiber bike that costs more than 20,000 UK pounds.

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/20k-bike-heading-to-lewis-hamilton/07938

http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Factor-001-Road-Bike-6.jpg

[Avincent52]

Not a world champion, but former Red Bull driver Mark Weber deserves an honorable mention:

http://wordpress.carthrottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BSSnFbtIMAAdVKP.jpg-large.jpg

Is that how Webber broke his shoulder...?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1336155/Mark-Webber-ended-F1-season-fractured-shoulder-bike-accident.html

..or his leg?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/3500632/Red-Bulls-Mark-Webber-breaks-leg-in-bike-accident-but-could-be-fit-for-first-F1-race-in-Melbourne-Formula-One.html

[m_sasso]

I will bet Ham has a gold chain on it.

[unterhausen]

funny, I was just there this week, and I was imagining riding up that hill. Looks even worse in the picture, but I was at the bottom

Apropos of nothing but...

http://anmblog.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c565553ef017d3dc53559970c-500wi

[Gsinill]

Yep, was thinking about posting that one too.
The picture I included is part of an interview in the German newspaper FAZ (http://www.faz.net/aktuell/sport/formel-1/im-gespraech-rallye-legende-walter-roehrl-warum-schindest-du-dich-so-11109202.html) where he claims that when he was this in his late 30s he beat EM and other ex TdF riders in a race:

"Eddy was a year older and he (EM) wasn't fat yet but nevertheless I beat him in the mountains..."

He was never famous for being modest or humble but nevertheless he's probably one of the most talented race car drivers there ever was.

Very cool.

Check out the clip below.

My German isn't very good but I think around 6:38 this video shows Rohrl riding his road bike circa 1987 before the Pikes Peak Hill climb.
Hairball driving in an Audi rally car around 13:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8nKhhMJtvc

[sfscott]

How come Colnago doesn't offer that color way to peons like us?

[Avincent52]

You might be able to buy Kimi's. I'll bet he doesn't use it that much.

This bike is more his speed....
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxkCvydCYAEoU_b.jpg

[oldpotatoe]

Is that the coolest bike Hamilton could come up with?

geeez, an e-bike to boot.

[Cicli]

Hamilton reportedly has a Factor 001, a custom made carbon fiber bike that costs more than 20,000 UK pounds.

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/20k-bike-heading-to-lewis-hamilton/07938

http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Factor-001-Road-Bike-6.jpg

Looks like is weighs about 20,000 US pounds. :fight::eek:

[Avincent52]

I gather it's about 16 pounds, and what makes is special is a bunch of sensors that provide F1-style telemetry of the bike and the rider.
As well it should for upwards of $40,000

[goonster]

Nigel Mansell:

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/2f966513-8d4d-4d9f-a54c-ff99495213d4.img

Say what you will about his telemetry bike, Lewis Hamilton may have some skills:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1d/ec/d8/1decd838df6edaf5354fd12cc1fcbad4.jpg

F1 champ least likely to be seen on a bicycle, take a bow Keke Rosberg:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/86/b5/be/86b5be3056acfe0c099834bf5325919f.jpg

and now, the coup de grace:

Graham Hill riding, Damon Hill on the front carrier:

http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/498804315-racing-driver-graham-hill-riding-a-bicycle-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=X7WJLa88Cweo9HktRLaNXjl6BHqFmnktw%2BBOLZ7aqkgx%2 FZMLn8ArqdVdbImXobv%2F1aOtD0IR3JJiXWoh7mlyAw%3D%3D

[brockd15]

These guys have good taste in bikes!

But those levers on the mega $$$ Factor bike are beyond hideous.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fe/9d/95/fe9d953c8dc8edccde5ad7dec9bdf039.jpg

[martl]

Never in F1 but still one for the greatest drivers of all time and supposedly a decent rider and good friend of Eddy.

If they had ever built an F1 car big enough for Walter Röhrl (he's around 6ft4), he would have kicked some asses, his clean driving style and his professional attitude towards physical and mental preparation were about 20 years ahead of time.
In a show-Event he competed against F1 Champion Emerson Fittipaldi both in the F1 and in a Rallye car. He lost only 3 seconds in the Monoposto, blaming the tight cockpit which didn't give him enough space to move properly. In the rallye car, he took half a minute off Emmo. He never cared very much about track racing, though, considering Rallye the ultimate challenge for his skills, as driving on real roads with no safety zones or nets leaves no margin for error. He is one of the possibly 2-3 People who really could control the 500+hp beasts that were the famous and notorious Group B Rallye cars.

He's more than just decent on a bike. Even when only riding for fitness, he got beaten at the "Arber" century only by former Cross-WC winner and TdF stage winner Klaus-Peter Thaler, coming in second and beating many good Amateur racers half his age.

The anecdote says he used a sort-of decidedly mid-level "Hercules" bike a long time, taking it with him even for world Champion Rallye races, for doing a short ride while the mechanics tended the car.
When he first met Merckx, Eddy took a look at the bike and said to him "let me build you a bike that fits you" :)

[TimD]

Not a world champion, but former Red Bull driver Mark Weber deserves an honorable mention:

http://wordpress.carthrottle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BSSnFbtIMAAdVKP.jpg-large.jpg

Certainly Ms Button deserves and honorable mention! :)

[Flying Pigeon]

Prost and Webber on l'Alpe d'Huez:

http://image2.redbull.com/rbcom/010/2015-08-25/1331743469341_3/0010/1/1500/1000/3/mark-webber-f1-red-bull-2015.jpg

They sound like beasts. Some MW bragging here (http://www.redbull.com/en/motorsports/f1/stories/1331743472245/mark-webber-f1-red-bull-2015).

[Avincent52]

Prost and Webber on l'Alpe d'Huez:

They sound like beasts. Some MW bragging here (http://www.redbull.com/en/motorsports/f1/stories/1331743472245/mark-webber-f1-red-bull-2015).

The Professor beat Webber which strikes me as pretty impressive considering that he's (now) 60 years old and Webber is 39.

And F1 drivers--especially larger guys like Webber--have to be pretty fanatical about their fitness to keep their weight and size down and their endurance up during two hours dealing with a high heart rate and extreme temperatures and g-forces.