“Shaquille O’Neal looks like a kid in the candy store”: F1 Twitter elated to see NBA Legend extremely excited while watching F1 season final race

Tanish Chachra | 20/11/2022
"Shaquille O’Neal looks like a kid in the candy store": F1 Twitter elated to see NBA Legend extremely excited while watching F1 season final race

Shaquille O’Neal probably has the most appearances in F1 in the entire NBA history. Usually a regular US Grand Prix attendee in Austin, the former Lakers player was spotted at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

This is the second time Shaq has been seen in an F1 race outside the United States. It was 12 years ago, during the German Grand Prix, he was first spotted on an F1 circuit and was even interviewed by Martin Brundle on his grid walk.

Thus, it’s safe to say the 7 feet former basketball player is now an avid follower of F1. And probably he’s there to witness four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel ending his 15-year-long career spell.

Also read: Sebastian Vettel looking forward to never having to use neck-training device after F1 retirement

F1 Twitter adores how excited Shaquille O’Neal looked at the F1 race

During the drowsy laps of the race, the excitement of Vettel’s last race was slowly fading away. The cameraman woke up the entire F1 fanbase on Twitter by panning the camera on  O’Neal.

The four-time NBA champion looked excited like a toddler when the cars whooshed away at 200 miles per hour right in front of the grandstand, where O’Neal was sitting.

Las Vegas, Miami and Austin: Three races for Shaq

F1 has expanded in F1 exponentially. So much so that the most advanced motorsport will be hosting three races in the United States in 2023: Miami, Las Vegas and Austin.

The demand for all three races is alarmingly high. Even the most expensive Las Vegas Grand Prix tickets are getting sold out. Not to forget that every race in the States bring in an increased number of celebrities across all fields.

The drivers also do crossovers with the NFL and NBA superstars. And not to forget Shaq, for the past two years, he has been coming onto the podium in Austin with the USGP trophy on fancy ‘Badillac’.

Also read: Why BMW Sauber gifted Sebastian Vettel baby bottle and pacifier after his F1 debut?

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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