For decades, Formula 1 was famous, if not notorious, for its playboys and ‘grid girls’. Scantily-clad models draped themselves over F1 cars and paraded around the pits holding umbrellas over cars, while drivers became household names for their legendary libidos. Seventies champion James Hunt, for example, claimed to have slept with 5,000 women.
But how times have changed.
As the 2024 Grand Prix season comes to a climax over the next week, the drivers’ wives and girlfriends are very much a part of the modern F1 caravan, and they’re not just there to look pretty. These days, as in the worlds of football and tennis, becoming an F1 Wag is a ticket to fame in your own right – as an influencer on social media.
It might have been singer Nicole Scherzinger who started it, when she very publicly ran down the paddock to celebrate Lewis Hamilton winning the Championship in 2008. The Posh and Becks of the pitlane, her celebrity equal to his, for eight years they brought a whole new audience to the F1 circuit.
Today’s Grand Prix Wags are following in her footsteps, courting the spotlight to further careers – and fortunes – of their own. From a former City financier to an Olympic cyclist, the women we’ve seen trackside this season are just as focused as their daredevil partners, and boast millions of social media followers.
Anyone wanting to follow in their footsteps, should note that Hamilton, 39, fellow Brit Lando Norris, 25, and two-time F1 world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, 43, are all single.
Meanwhile, here are the Wags, who are currently in pole position…
Art world beauty: Alexandra Saint Mleux, 22
Monegasque pilot Charles LeClerc’s partner, 22-year-old Alexandra Saint Mleux, was last year spotted at Wimbledon alongside the young race-winner. Here, she poses on a yacht in the south of France
PARTNER: Charles Leclerc, 27
HOW THEY MET: The pair began dating in March 2023 and confirmed their romance after being spotted together at Wimbledon, a favourite spot for F1 Wags to burnish celebrity credentials.
More glam still, in May this year they appeared at the Monaco Grand Prix gala dinner with Prince Albert and Princess Charlene following Charles’s home-race victory.
Brushing off rumours earlier this year that Leclerc, from Monaco, cheated on his ex-girlfriend Charlotte Sine with Alexandra, the couple cemented their relationship with a miniature Dachshund puppy called Leo, who is also an adorable regular on the circuit.
WHO IS SHE? The Italian beauty has recently graduated in art history from the prestigious Ecole de Louvre in Paris and has an Instagram account dedicated to her adventures in the art world.
FOLLOWERS: Alexandra has 1.3 million on both TikTok and Instagram, where she regularly shows off her designer outfits.
WAG RATING:
Catwalk star Rebecca Donaldson, 28
Scottish model Rebecca Donaldson, 28, is in a relationship with Spanish heartthrob Carlos Sainz, who races for Ferrari
PARTNER: Carlos Sainz, 30
HOW THEY MET: They haven’t spoken publicly about their romance, but Scottish model Rebecca was first linked to Spanish Ferrari driver Sainz in the summer of 2023 — shortly after he split from Spanish journalist Isa Hernáez, whom he dated for nearly seven years.
WHO IS SHE? Winning her first beauty pageant at 17 years old, Rebecca was always destined for stardom. ‘My mum entered me and I was really surprised when I found out,’ she said at the time of winning.
She has since launched her own activewear clothing line, Muse, and appeared on multiple magazine covers after signing with model agencies. In February, she walked the catwalk in Madrid during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, with Sainz’s family in the audience.
She previously dated Kourtney Kardashian’s ex Scott Disick and was also linked to American rapper Jack Harlow before meeting Carlos.
FOLLOWERS: She has 379,000 on Instagram.
WAG RATING:
Top model: Francisca Cerqueira Gomes, 21
Francisca Cerqueira Gomes, the 21-year-old girlfriend of Alpine F1 racer Pierre Gasly, stuns in a two-tone ʙικιɴι
Francisca – also known as Kika – and Pierre share a smooch before the French driver goes to race at 200mph and beyond
PARTNER: Pierre Gasly, 28
HOW THEY MET: Francisca, known as Kika, and French Alpine driver Pierre, 28, were first linked in October 2022 when they were seen attending a Paris Saint-Germain football match together. Since then, the Portuguese model has joined her boyfriend (inset below) at a number of races, including the 2022 Abu Dhabi and the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.
WHO IS SHE? As the daughter of former Le Mans driver and McLaren driver coach Goncalo Gomes, Francisca has racing in her blood. Since she went official with Gasly in 2023, Francisca’s modelling career has hit new heights, with H&M, Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent calling on her services. The couple even starred in ads together this summer, posing for sunglᴀsses brand Hawkers.
FOLLOWERS: Francisca shares loved-up snaps, ʙικιɴι pH๏τos and behind-the-scenes insights into the world of F1 to her 921,000 Instagram and 628,700 TikTok followers.
WAG RATING:
Olympic cyclist: Tiffany Cromwell, 36
Tiffany is a professional cyclist and previously raced for Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
PARTNER: Valtteri Bottas, 35
HOW THEY MET: Australian Tiffany and Finnish driver Valtteri apparently met at a pub in Monaco – that magnet for F1 Wags – bonding over a shared interest in cycling. Tiffany confirmed her romance with the Sauber driver by posting a series of pH๏τos of the pair on Valentine’s Day in 2020, just four months after he announced his divorce from Finnish Olympic swimmer Emilia Pikkarainen.
WHO IS SHE? Tiffany is a professional cyclist and previously raced for Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She’s also the co-founder, with Bottas, of Oath Gin, which the pair promote on social media.
FOLLOWERS: Tiffany shares loved-up posts of the couple’s adventures to her 224,000 followers on Instagram.
WAG RATING:
Pro golfer: Lily He, 25
Thought to be worth £4million in her own right, Lily has been sponsored by the likes of Nike and Fila and first played on the LGPA tour in 2015
PARTNER: Alex Albon, 28
HOW THEY MET: The sporty couple have been together since 2019 after Lily – a professional golfer – spotted the Thai-British Williams racer on Netflix’s hit F1 documentary Drive To Survive.
WHO IS SHE? Thought to be worth £4 million in her own right, Lily has been sponsored by the likes of Nike and Fila and first played on the LGPA tour in 2015. Born in China, her H๏τelier-restaurateur father introduced her to golf when she was five years old. She grew up in Vancouver and San Diego and went pro in December 2017.
FOLLOWERS: Lily regularly updates her 921,000 Instagram followers on her career, relationship with Albon and their glamorous lifestyle.
WAG RATING:
Finance whizz: Carmen Montero Mundt, 27
Carmen, 27, focuses on financial advice for women, with an e-book to her name тιтled Female Invest
PARTNER: George Russell, 26
HOW THEY MET: Carmen has been in a relationship with Mercedes driver Russell – an emerging British superstar who has just won the Grand Prix in Las Vegas – since 2020 and the couple now live together in Monaco.
WHO IS SHE? Carmen grew up in Andalucia, Spain, and supported herself financially while at the University of Westminster, gaining a degree in business management and finance, then worked at a City investment firm. Now an influencer with half a million followers – not to mention deals with fashion brands Dior and Tommy Hilfiger, plus H๏τel chain the Ritz-Carlton – she focuses on financial advice for women, with an e-book to her name тιтled Female Invest.
FOLLOWERS: 500,000 Instagram followers who can see uber-glamorous snaps of Caribbean hols, chic outfits and a very suave George.
WAG RATING:
Racing royalty: Kelly Piquet, 35
Newly crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been with Kelly Piquet – daughter of Brazilian F1 icon Nelson Piquet – for many years
PARTNER: Max Verstappen, 27
HOW THEY MET: The couple have been dating since 2020, after meeting four years earlier in Monaco, before going Instagram-official in January 2021.
WHO IS SHE? Brazilian Kelly is the daughter of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet. Kelly worked in fashion as a stylist’s ᴀssistant and buyer before moving into modelling for the likes of Louis Vuitton and has been on the cover of Dutch Vogue. Before meeting Dutch-Belgian Verstappen she dated Russian F1 driver Daniil Kvyat, with whom she has a daughter.
FOLLOWERS: She shares pictures of her luxurious lifestyle to her 1.6 million Instagram followers.
WAG RATING:
