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The best bikes of the F1 grid: take a look at what the fastest drivers on earth choose to ride2022 Sebastian Vettel J Laverack titanium special edition

The best bikes of the F1 grid: take a look at what the fastest drivers on earth choose to ride

Plenty of F1 drivers love cycling, so we're taking a look at what some of the best on the circuit choose to ride
by Jamie Williams
UPDATED Fri, Jul 29, 2022 13:10

First Published Jul 29, 2022

5

Did you know that lots of F1 drivers are also keen cyclists too? Some of the biggest names in the sport from Lewis Hamilton to Fernando Alonso are fans of two wheels, and you'll see everything from road bikes, to mountain bikes and even folding bikes in the Formula 1 paddock. 

Whether it's ferrying drivers and staff between car park and pit lane, sighting laps before the main event or just heading out for a ride during the off-season to keep their fitness up, F1 riders and staff seem to love their bikes... but what do you ride if you're used to some of the fastest machines on the planet? Check out our pick of the best road bikes that are F1-approved below... 

Valtteri Bottas

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Paul Ripke (@paulripke)

Perhaps the keenest cyclist on the grid is Alfa-Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas, and that's hardly surprising when you realise that his girlfriend is Australian pro cyclist Tiffany Cromwell; in fact, he's recently been spotted handing out bottles at the Tour de Femmes. If Bottas wasn't so good at driving cars maybe he'd choose a career as a soigneur...

> Review: Sram Red eTap AXS first ride

> Review: Canyon Inflite SL 8 2021

Bottas is a talented cyclist in his own right, regular competing in e-sports races on Zwift and often completing 100 mile rides aboard his Canyon Aeroad disc brake road bike. This year it's the Canyon Inflite that appears to be Bottas' favourite though... llike many people he's caught the gravel bug! The Inflite CF SLX is kitted out with Zipp wheels and a Sram Red eTap AXS groupset.

Fernando Alonso

Alonso is another driver that turns to cycling to keep fit. Most likely it's not the most popular choice with his Alpine team, seeing as last year it was touch-and-go as to whether he would be able to start a race after being hit by a driver while out cycling.  

> Fernando Alonso to race with metal plates in jaw after cycling incident 

Alonso forgoes the big bike brands in favour of his MMR, a small Spanish brand. The Adrenaline SL is his bike of choice, kitted out with FSA SLK finishing kit, DT Swiss ERC 1400 Spline wheels, 28mm Hutchinson Fusion 5 performance tyres, Sram Red eTap AXS groupset and a Selle Italia saddle SLR Boost carbon saddle.

> Review: Dt Swiss ERC 1400 Dicut 35 wheelset

> Review: Hutchinson Fusion 5 performance tyre

Max Verstappen

> BMC and Red Bull create the "world's fastest bike"

Last year's World Champion is no stranger to bikes, and thanks to the technical partnership between his F1 team Red Bull Racing and bike brand BMC Switzerland we somehow doubt he had to pay for this Timemachine 01.

Once again we can see the Sram eTap AXS groupset being used. Most parts are proprietary from BMC, but Enve has got in on the action to supply the wheels, specifically the 6.7s clad in Pirelli rubber, the same brand as you'll find on the F1 cars.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton might be one of the most successful drivers of all time, but he's not the keenest when it comes to cycling. Even so, he did head out last year on a mountain bike. We're not sure he found it overly comfortable though, and seems to prefer going downhill rather than up...

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

The Ferrari duo are often some of the first to head out on their bikes for track reconnaissance, and during the course of the last two seasons have used a multitude of bikes.

Ferrari has a long-term relationship with fellow Italian brand Bianchi; we've seen plenty of limited edition collaborations in the past with Leclerc, Sainz and other Ferrari engineers often using the rather basic Via Nirone 7s.

> Review: Sram Force eTap AXS groupset

Leclerc also has a Stajvelo Beau Rivage, a road bike designed and made in Monaco, the Ferrari driver's home nation. This special edition with Ferrari red paint scheme has a Sram Force eTap AXS groupset, DT Swiss wheels and once again Pirelli tyres. The good news is that it also appears to be far more reliable than his engine this year...

Sebastian Vettel

2022 Sebastian Vettel J Laverack titanium special edition

> Review: Shimano Ultegra R8170 di2 groupset

Sebastian Vettel, who just announced that he is retiring at the end of the 2022 season, has been spotted riding some interesting contraptions during his illustrious career, but since last year this 54cm J.Laverack titanium R J.ACK Disc Race II Ultegra Di2 has been making the most appearances. 

> Review: Brooks Cambium C13 carbon saddle

2022 Sebastian Vettel J Laverack titanium special edition side

> 3D printed titanium CeramicSpeed Jockey wheels cost $1,700!

The four-time world champion has his bike specced with a Ceramic speed OSPW titanium cage, 40cm PRO Vibe Aero SL carbon bars, a Brooks C13 carbon saddle, Continental GP5000 tubeless tyres and Aera carbon wheels with Chris King hubs. We're a big fan of this bike and it's clearly a money-no-object build. You can check out the full spec here.

Mick Schumacher

Vettel's German protege is also a keen cyclist, and has gone for an almost entirely Specialized affair in the the form of this rim-brake Venge ViAS with Roval CLX 50 wheels, plus S-Works cranks, stem and bars. This is the 2018 model which Schumacher has had from new, but he's been spotted still using it as late as last autumn.

Jamie Chadwick

Jamie Chadwick might not be in Formula 1, but she has won every W series race of the 2022 season so far and is a development driver for the Williams F1 team. She's also an avid cyclist, regularly posting pictures of her riding a Cannondale Supersix Evo Ultegra Di2 or Cannondale Systemsix on Instagram.

> Review: Vittoria Corsa Graphene G2.0 tyres

The bike shown above is pretty much a stock build, with 45mm Hollowgram Knot carbon wheels, Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0 tyres and a Cannondale Knot cockpit.

Pierre Gasly

Gasly is an ambassador for Heroin bikes and has a custom model of the hand-crafted HR model. The bike is equipped with a Shimano Ultegra R8070 groupset and carbon wheels from French manufacturer Duke. 

Lando Norris

> Review: Merdia Scultura Team 2022

You might remember that not so long ago there was the WorldTour cycling team Bahrain Mclaren, that has now morphed into Bahrain Victorious; but Mclaren F1 driver Lando Norris has held on to his team edition Merida Scultura.

The bike is fitted with Vision Metron 40 disc wheels, a Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 groupset, Continental GP5000 tyres and FSA finishing kit. 

Jenson Button

The now-retired world champion never seems to be far from a bike and is an ambassador for numerous cycling brands. The Brit also has some very respectable triathlon results but when he's not on a TT bike it's a Factor Ostro VAM that is his bike of choice. The bike is kitted out with Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Di2, Black Inc wheels, Continental GP5000 tyres and a 3D-printed saddle.

What do you think of the F1 driver's bikes and which is your favourite? If you were an F1 driver would you go for something off the shelf or artisan? Let us know in the comments section below as always...

Formula One
f1
formula 1
Sebastian Vettel
Valtteri Bottas
artisan
Ferrari
Jamie Williams

Jamie has been riding bikes since a tender age but really caught the bug for racing and reviewing whilst studying towards a master's in Mechanical engineering at Swansea University. Having graduated, he decided he really quite liked working with bikes and is now a full-time addition to the road.cc team. When not writing about tech news or working on the Youtube channel, you can still find him racing local crits trying to cling on to his cat 2 licence...and missing every break going...

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5 comments

Avatar
Rua_taniwha | 2 years ago
0 likes

Ex F1 drivers Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber are keen mountain bikers I reckon

Avatar
Toffee | 2 years ago
1 like

Of course Vettel has excellent taste, I'd expect nothing less.

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
0 likes

Lewis FTW.  Something cool about riding around on something that looks like a beaten up ratbike you'd take down the shops.  (I'm assuming it's as low rent as it looks, rather than faux grunge).

Avatar
ktache replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
0 likes

I understand he is known for not paying taxes, not being a cheapskate.

I presume it's quite good and reasonably expensive, just not particularly shouty.

Avatar
Adrien replied to ktache | 2 years ago
0 likes

He's wearing a Decathlon Rockrider helmet (I have the same, yellow one, costs like 20€). Also although the photo is photoshopped to hide the brand, you can still see the R from Rockrider on the swingarm. So pretty dirt cheap equipment for such a wealthy man.

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