Despite Brotherly Love for Lewis Hamilton, Odell Beckham Jr Finds Allegiance Split With F1 Rivals

Lewis Hamilton is a famous name in the world of sports, thanks to his achievements on the F1 track. The same has allowed him to befriend athletes from other sports, including NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. While the friendship has given way to Beckham Jr. supporting Hamilton in races, it does not warrant support for Mercedes as a whole.

Speaking in an interview ahead of the Miami GP, Beckham Jr. reveled that although he was rooting was Hamilton, he was present in the paddock as V-CARB’s guest.

“I’m here with Visa and CashApp. But, at the end of the day, my brother, Lewis Hamilton. If he’s in the race, I’ll always take it out for him.”

‘OBJ’ stating that he doesn’t support Mercedes also comes at a good time, as his favorite driver Hamilton will leave for Ferrari come the end of the 2024 campaign.

The 31-year-old once revealed that Hamilton supported him thoroughly, when he was recovering from a knee injury in 2022. Watching the Mercedes star grind out the toughest phase of his career has also inspired him to continue pushing.

Beckham Jr. wasn’t the only sporting A-lister to attend the Miami GP. Tom Brady, Sergio Busquets, Zinedine Zidane and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, were all present in the paddock. None, however, share a friendship with Hamilton as strong as Beckham Jr. does.

Lewis Hamilton and Odell Beckham Jr.’s a long-standing friendship

Odell Beckham Jr. first met Lewis Hamilton at the 2019 Miami GP. During the visit, he asked Hamilton about the track in the Principality, following which he took the NFL star for a drive on his Pagani Zonda.

Embarrassment struck, however, when the supercar failed to power-up, perhaps because of a dead battery. However, all it did was strengthen the friendship between the two athletes.

Hamilton too has travelled to the US to watch Beckham Jr. in action. In 2018, during a game in Atlanta, Hamilton was pitch-side trying to motivate the American who was warming up at the time.

They hugged it out, and the Mercedes driver wished the latter the best of luck for his game ahead, as did Beckham Jr. (presumably) before Hamilton took to the track in Miami last Sunday.