F1 drivers are required to travel year-long to the many venues which host F1 races around the world. Traveling in luxury in this case is not uncommon but Oscar Piastri has a different approach. The McLaren driver does not follow in the footsteps of most in the sport, including his teammate Lando Norris.
A photo of Piastri is doing the rounds on social media, where he seems to be smiling for a selfie with a fan – not an uncommon sight. But what is surprising is that the Aussie was sitting on the window seat of a commercial aircraft, with hundreds of other passengers on board.
never seen an f1 driver fly commercial let alone in economy before pic.twitter.com/7aK12k5zcT
— athena (@sebsonwdc) July 13, 2024
Admittedly, Piastri is new to the glitz and glamour of F1. He joined the sport in 2023 and is yet to find himself achieving the star status that Norris and some other drivers have. Still, the sight of an F1 driver in a commercial jetliner is rare.
Three-time World Champion Max Verstappen, for instance, went a step ahead of others and bought his own aircraft; a $15 million Dassault Falcon 900EX.
To avoid having multiple aircrafts traveling to the same city, however, F1 drivers often carpool. And for this, they have a private chat group.
The secret WhatsApp group for F1 drivers
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Williams’ Alex Albon revealed that F1 drivers have a WhatsApp group that is used mostly for business-related or serious conversations. A small fraction of the messages they share include memes. They also use it to discuss safety and bad amenities at certain circuits.
There is another WhatsApp group, and this one is more private. It is for the drivers who fly privately, and in the group, they decide who will travel with who. Albon stated that their managers are a part of that group and that they chalk out the travel plans.
Things, however, can get awkward sometimes. That is when two drivers crash into each other during a race weekend and have to travel together later. Albon never had to face a situation like that, but many have.
