Lando Norris recently took a humorous jab at George Russell when asked by a fan about the best Padel player on the grid. The conversation happened after a group of F1 drivers including Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Norris himself, and Oscar Piastri, got together for a friendly game of Padel.
“The best? Actually everyone was playing Padel last night,” Norris said when quizzed about who was the best among them. Responding to whether Russell was also there with them Norris said, “No not George, he’s not good enough. But we all played.“
When told what Norris said, Russell jokingly hit back by saying, “He’s the biggest liar, he is terrible at padel. I kick his a** every time!” While the two enjoy some light-hearted banter, videos on social media have previously shown Norris and Russell playing padel together suggesting that Russell does play the sport regularly.
Padel has become a popular pastime among the drivers who live in or often spend a significant amount of time in the principality of Monaco with Russell being one of the many drivers who lives there. Fans have often spotted them playing padel during their free time.
In fact, Russell and his mechanics from Mercedes played Padel on Tuesday during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend during heavy rainfall.
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Padel seems to be replacing some older pastimes within the F1 circle, such as sim racing and golf. While Russell has never been too keen on playing golf, he used to do a lot of sim racing during the COVID-19 pandemic when F1 had to postpone the season.
Although Russell and other drivers once participated regularly in virtual racing streams, that trend has faded away. These days, only Max Verstappen has maintained his serious involvement in sim racing. The Dutchman even has his own professional sim racing team, ‘Team Redline,’ with whom he often participates in virtual racing events.
