The 2024 Olympic games are currently ongoing in Paris. With nothing to do as F1 enters the summer break, F1 fans turn towards the Olympics. However, even there the community is finding F1 drivers lookalike who are going viral on social media. Unfortunately, motorsports isn’t a part of the Olympics. Nonetheless, there have been F1 drivers who actually made it to the Olympics.
Alex Zanardi
Zanardi came onto the F1 scene in the early 90s, replacing Robert Moreno for the last three races of the 1991 season. He went on to test for Benetton, and race for Lotus before moving to CART and other categories for a few years. The Italian then made his comeback in 1999 with Williams.
Two years later, in an unfortunate racing accident, Zanardi would end up losing both his legs. But in true sportsman manners, he did not give up and made a comeback. He took part in the Paralympics in handcycling (time trial H4/H5, road race H4/H5, mixed team relay H1-4/H2-4). Zanardi entered the 2012 London Games and the 2016 Rio Games.
Alex Zanardi is in intensive care following a road bike accident. This is a talented racing driver who lost both his legs in a crash and battled back to win a handbike gold medal at the 2012 Olympics. Truly an inspirational human being. #ForzaAlex pic.twitter.com/qmFJkQV7bT
— Jim Needham (@jim_needham33) June 20, 2020
Zanardi is the only F1 driver-turned-Olympian to win medals, with a total of 4 Gold and 2 Silver medals. He partly returned to motorsports after his accident to race in the FIA World Touring Car Championship before taking up hand cycling.
Prince Bira aka Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh
Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh was a member of the Thai Royal Family. Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) started racing in the 1930s before making it to the F1 scene at the inaugural F1 race at Silverstone in 1950. He took part in a total of 19 F1 races before retiring from F1 in 1954.
However, the Prince was also an avid sailor and pilot. He converted his love for sailing into a career later on and became an Olympian. Prince Bira entered the 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, and 1972 Munich Olympics. Unfortunately, the Prince never achieved glory in either F1 or sailing.
Ben Pon
Ben Pon was a successful Sports Car racer for Porsche. The Dutchman got his F1 shot at the 1962 Dutch GP. However, Pon crashed in his first race as his car flipped and he was ejected out of the car. While he vowed to never race in single-seaters ever again, the Dutchman continued to race sports cars until 1969.
After retiring from racing, Pon shifted his focus towards clay pigeon skeet shooting. He represented the Netherlands at the 1972 Munich Olympics in skeet shooting, but could only finish 31st in the event. He then shifted his attention to winemaking and trade and now owns a wine-related business in California.
Bob Said
Bob Said began his racing in 1951. Born in New York City, Said was the first American to win a road race in Europe after World War II. Said then participated in the first Grand Prix in the USA at Sebring in 1959. Unfortunately, Said spun out on the first lap of the race ending his F1 career a few corners after it started.
“Boris said”: 2 words that begin many a sentence written by a British journalist these days, more’s the pity. So instead today let’s remember Boris Said, born #OnThisDay in ’32, who entered one #F1 GP, Sebring ’59, in a Connaught-Alta Type C (pic), & spun off on lap 1. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/iJjxdOfyYY
— Matt Bishop ️ (@TheBishF1) May 5, 2022
Along with motorsports, Said was also a bobsleigh racer. He took part in the 1968 Grenoble and 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics in the four-man bobsleigh. Said’s best result was 10th overall in the two Olympics he participated in.
Davina Galicia
Davina Galicia was born in Hertfordshire, England, UK, and competed in multiple Olympics before turning her head towards Formula 1. Galicia was a skiing star and participated in 1964 Innsbruck, 1968 Grenoble, 1972 Sapporo, and 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. For the first three Olympics she participated in Downhill Alpine skiing whereas, for the 1992 Olympics, it was a speed skiing demonstration.
Galicia was only 19 when she appeared on the Olympics scene. She was invited to a celebrity race later in her career and stunned everyone with her talent. She eventually made it to F1 and took part in four race weekends. Unfortunately, she didn’t qualify for any of the races.
Alfonso de Portago
Alfonso de Portago is one of the well-known drivers thanks to the 2023 Michael Mann movie — Ferrari. Portago was a Spaniard and showed interest in multiple sports as a youngster. He piloted aircraft, jockeyed, raced cars, and drove bobsleighs. Portago entered the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics for Two man Bobsleigh.
As portrayed in the Ferrari movie, De Portago was a true racer at heart and took part in a handful of F1 races. The Spaniard started his racing career in 1953. In a bid to win the Mille Miglia, Enzo Ferrari put De Portago in the Ferrari 335 S. This race would turn out to be his last as De Portago crashed in the final leg of the 1000-mile race after a tire blowout.
