Formula 1 and tennis getting together is just the latest news of the paddock, featuring Jannik Sinner as “friend of F1”.
Formula 1 x Jannik Sinner: the Italian as “Friend of F1”.
Last month, Formula 1 announced the collaboration with Jannik Sinner. The young tennis player, who has just won the Australian Open, will become “Friend of F1”, participating in some Grands Prix and supporting the motorsport category in its promotion, through fan engagement. The aim is to “encourage a closer crossover” between the two sports, starting with the fans.
Both sides are excited about this collaboration. The first one to say something was Sinner himself, who said that as an Italian, he feels F1 is in his blood. He cannot wait “to work not only the best brand in motorsports, but the best sports platform in the world.”
“One of the main reasons why I love F1, whether that’s watching, karting with my friends, or racing in a simulator, is because I feel there’s a lot of synergies between tennis and racing.” – said the Italian. “I feel that in both sports it’s all about the 1% and it’s the small details that make a huge difference.”
Stefano Domenical is excited too, obviously. “As we continue to grow and engage new and diverse fans, it is vital that we continue to work with people outside of our sport to attract new audiences. This exciting opportunity will allow us to use Jannik’s incredible platform and bring together the worlds of F1 and tennis”, the CEO of Fomrula 1 concluded.
Tennis Players and Drivers: What Do They Have in Common?
At first, it’s hard to think Formula 1 and tennis can have anything in common. Yes, they are two individual sports but they’re really different. However, in both cases, there’s one thing that in equal conditions can really make the difference: mentality.
One could say that actually Formula 1 can be considered a team sport, too. Drivers race for teams, while tennis players play for themselves. But if you think about the individual team of a driver and the one of a tennis player, there are a lot of similarities.
First, as most athletes, both drivers and tennis players have an athletic trainer, think of Andrea Ferrari for Charles Leclerc. Going on, in tennis it is quite common to have a mental coach, a professional figure who is becoming more widespread in F1, too. Drivers, at the very least, have someone they rely on to manage the mental side of the sport.
Last but not least, you have to consider that many tennis players are fans of Formula and vice versa: it’s quite easy to see drivers sitting in the stands during a tennis match, like Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly at the Monte Carlo Masters in May last year.
Sinner’s Journey with Formula Medicine
Interestingly enough, the young tennis star said he relied on Formula Medicine three years ago, before his first title in Sofia. Usually, the facility works with drivers, focusing more on mental training.
The founder of Formula Medicine is Doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli, whose philosophy can be summed up as MET: Mental Economic Training. What does this mean? To get the best result in the shortest time possible, with (almost) no energy wasted. Athletes have to perform a series of exercises to train this skill so that they can learn to manage difficult situations and moments of tension.
Sinner is the first tennis player who turned to the Formula Medicine staff, who has worked with all the motorsport greats since the beginnings in 1989: Senna, Alonso, Ricciardo, Leclerc, and Verstappen just to name a few.
More and More VIPs in the F1 Paddock.
Jannik Sinner is just the latest of the VIPs, athletes, and companies who have approached the paddock in the past year.
No need to mention TV series and movies about Formula 1. After the huge success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, a series about Brawn GP was released on Disney+, with Keanu Reeves as the narrator. If you prefer a good movie then there’s Ferrari, directed by Michael Mann with Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. In the meantime, we’ll wait for “Apex”, the movie produced by Apple Studios and starring Brad Pitt that was filmed during some Grands Prix the past season.
Last October, news broke of a 200 million euro investment by some athletes on Alpine. Among the sports professionals, are NFL players and Super Bowl winners Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, golfer Rory McIlroy, and Liverpool soccer player Trend Alexander-Arnold.
Last season has seen a huge number of VIPs walking through the paddock: from Ronaldo to Bolt, but also Ibrahimovic and Paris Hilton. The result? A grid so crowded that celebrities themselves have had security issues! After the Spanish Grand Prix, in which Brazilian football player Neymar was still on the sidelines at the start of the formation lap, the FIA began to consider greater restrictions on the entry onto the grid for unauthorized personnel.
Friends of F1, with an Eye to the Future
The partnership between Jannik Sinner and Formula 1 was made official through the tennis player’s visit to Maranello. Sinner visited the Ferrari factory, the Maranello Museum and also had the chance to drive a car on the Fiorano track.
The new project is the first of many innovations proposed lately, with the potential to bring both sports a new wave of audiences and fans.
