F1 Drivers Reveal Their World Cup Loyalties as the 2026 Tournament Kicks Off

• The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Mexico City on June 11, and 19 of Formula 1’s 22 drivers have a home nation competing in the expanded 48-team tournament.
• Sergio Perez is plotting a transatlantic dash to take his son to Mexico vs South Korea in his home town of Guadalajara between races.
• Championship leader Kimi Antonelli faces a summer without Italy, while Charles Leclerc cheerfully admits he knows "literally nothing about football".

For the next six weeks, Formula 1’s drivers will be doing what several hundred million other people are doing: arranging their lives around football. The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Mexico City on Thursday, and its expanded 48-team, six-week sprawl overlaps with the Barcelona, Austrian, British and Belgian Grands Prix.

That makes for crowded motorhomes, divided garages and some inventive travel planning up and down the paddock. Counting Alex Albon’s English roots, 19 of the 22 drivers on the grid have a home country in the tournament. The stories of the other three, and of the most football-mad among the nineteen, are where it gets fun.

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Perez Will Cross an Ocean for One Match

Nobody in the paddock is more invested than Sergio Perez. The Cadillac driver grew up in Guadalajara, one of the host cities, and Mexico face South Korea there in the group stage during the gap between the Spanish and Austrian races. Perez intends to be in the stands with his son, even though it means flying from Europe to Mexico and straight back for one match.

"I am pushing really hard," he said in Barcelona. "I’m trying to figure out my schedules to make sure, because I will be in Europe, and I literally have to come just for the game, and then go back to Europe. But we will make it happen."

He is realistic about his team’s chances, calling the current Mexico side "a new generation" still finding its feet, but a home World Cup bends all logic. "It’s a World Cup at home, anything can happen, and we have some really good players, so it can be a good surprise."

Antonelli’s Heartbreak and a Borrowed Team

The cruellest twist belongs to the man leading the world championship. Kimi Antonelli, a devoted follower of his hometown club Bologna, will spend the tournament without a team: Italy, four-time world champions, failed to qualify again. Along with tennis star Jannik Sinner, the Mercedes driver carries the tricolore through a summer in which his country watches from the couch.

"I don’t know who I’m going to cheer for, to be fair, for the World Cup," Antonelli admitted, before talking himself into a familiar answer. "Personally, I do really like Brazil, for example, the way they play the game. Also when I was little, I really liked, when they were playing for Barcelona of course, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi." He met Messi in Miami earlier this year and still cheers for the Argentine. His plan for the next six weeks is simple: "I’m going to be watching pretty much all the games, because it’s just super cool."

Verstappen’s House Divided

Max Verstappen’s living room may be the most interesting venue of the tournament. The Red Bull driver supports the Netherlands without hesitation, but his partner Kelly Piquet is Brazilian, which sets up a potential collision of national loyalties on the family sofa.

"I support of course Holland," Verstappen said. "That’s my team and my country. So naturally, of course, you would like to see them do very well. And if there is any kind of rivalry, then let’s see what shirt will be worn on the couch. Mine will be orange…" The Dutchman also has Belgian roots through his mother Sophie, giving him a polite second option he shows no sign of needing.

Colapinto’s Pilgrimage and Bortoleto’s Sacrifice

For Franco Colapinto, the World Cup is close to a religious matter. "I think football in Argentina, it’s the number one sport. And the passion there is insane," said the Alpine driver, who is eyeing one of Argentina’s early group games in the United States. "When you go to see a match in Argentina it’s an experience I would like everyone to get once at least, because it’s a different level and difficult to explain!"

His fellow South American Gabriel Bortoleto is taking the opposite approach. Brazil arrive among the favourites, but the Audi driver has ruled out attending. "I’m not going to try it," he said. "There are a lot of things happening right now, so at least from my side, I need to shift all my focus I have to stay with the team, and try to improve some areas. But I will definitely be cheering for Brazil and watching most of the games on the TV or on my phone."

Football Fever Is a Paddock Tradition

The drivers’ football obsession predates this tournament. The Wednesday before the Monaco Grand Prix traditionally features a charity match in which half the grid risks its ankles for a good cause, and Pierre Gasly turned out as usual this year. When Arsenal met Paris Saint-Germain in the recent Champions League final, Gasly and Lewis Hamilton conducted a friendly cross-garage rivalry over it, the Frenchman backing PSG and Hamilton flying the flag for the north London club he has supported since childhood.

Team bosses are not immune either. Engineers’ offices across the paddock have wall charts for the group stage, and more than one team has quietly scheduled its summer factory shutdown around the knockout rounds. The tournament’s six-week footprint, stretching from June 11 to the final in late July, means the entire European leg of the F1 season doubles as a viewing party.

For Albon, the tournament offers the rare chance to claim two teams without contradiction. Born in London to a Thai mother, he races under the Thai flag but grew up in English football culture, and his garage at Williams has already adopted England’s fixtures as scheduling landmarks.

And Then There Is Leclerc

Every paddock needs one honest man. Charles Leclerc, whose Monaco has never played at a World Cup, made no attempt to manufacture enthusiasm. "Sorry to disappoint you, I know literally nothing about football!" the Ferrari driver laughed. "I actually enjoy watching the games, but to tell you, ‘I think this team is going to win against the other,’ I have no idea."

He did allow himself one rooting interest: "France is there, and I’ll probably like to see Cristiano [Ronaldo] win a World Cup before stopping. I’ll just enjoy it, being quite neutral about it."

The football and the racing now run side by side until late July, through Austria, Silverstone and Spa. Drivers will watch group games on motorhome televisions between debriefs, and at least one of them will sprint across the Atlantic for 90 minutes in Guadalajara. Formula 1 likes to call itself the biggest show on earth. For the next six weeks, its drivers would politely disagree.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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