Formula 1 has only held 50 races in the United States, but this weekend, it’s gearing up for its first-ever race in Miami.
A new race means a lot of new content, including a quiz to see how many US sports teams the drivers could name. Some drivers nailed it, others struggled, and only two knew who the Washington Capitals were.
Video
The video covers NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA, and some MLS teams and starts off with immediate confidence levels.
- “This is going to be great” – Max Verstappen (Redbull)
- “I am going to be terrible at this” – Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- “Useless” – Alex Albon (Williams)
The whole video is worth a watch, but at 3:13 the first hockey team is mentioned and it’s the Washington Capitals. Two drivers knew immediately it was Washington: Valterri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Magnussen. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Lando Norris (McLaren) had absolutely no idea who they were.
The Montreal Canadiens immediately became the Toronto Canadiens by Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), and Fernando Alonso (Alpine). The only two drivers who knew it was Montreal are the two Canadian drivers. Makes sense.
However, Bottas outed himself as a hockey fan when told that the Pirates are based in Pittsburgh.
“The hockey team is Pittsburgh Penguins,” Bottas stated.
The fact that Bottas knew the Capitals and the Penguins led us to do some research on his hockey background. In 2021, Bottas stepped up and purchased a 10% stake in his local Finnish hockey club, the Lahti Pelicans. Bottas’ investment to the team has helped aid the team and in thanks, the team rebranded a skybox to feature Bottas’ number 77.
“I was a guest of Pelicans at the start of the year and the organisation had a series C share issue, which got me thinking about ownership and I became really excited about it,” Bottas said in an interview on the Pelicans website. “My passion for ice hockey and the desire to support and help a local organization were the biggest reasons to go forward with the negotiations.”
While Bottas is helping represent Finnish hockey, he also represents Finland as the 9th Finnish F1 driver in history. He is currently in 8th position on the season with 24 points.
In the end, while Bottas knew a lot of hockey, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the only driver to score 100% on the quiz.
S/T to @dreyesceron
Headline photo: Alexandr Bormotin/Unsplash
