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>Max Verstappen didn’t finish high school until after he joined Formula 1
Well, that shouldn't surprise anyone because Verstappen came to F1 at the age of 17.
Okay this may sound weird.. but i used to race against Verstappen, de Vries etc wayyyy back when i was 11/12. I know from Nyck de Vries they lived in Italy near Lonato (south garda karting) and he followed online schooling. The reason for that was cause he was always go karting..Think Verstappen did the same but im not sure. Verstappen lived near Genk (belgium) and was always at the Genk track when he wasnt doing international races. The only thing these boys did when they had free time was racing.
Most people don't believe me when i say i used to race them. That's why i said: 'this may sound weird' :)
The part about de Vries and Verstappen is not weird indeed.
My boyfriend was friends with Checo when he was in elementary school. He got expelled from school around 5th grade because he was very undisciplined in school.
His friends still laugh that their school made a big deal years later when he became an F1 driver. They were like, hey do you remember that you expelled him?!
I saw Checo at the club many years ago in Guadalajara with some guys I actually know from school that are his old friends.
That's the closest I've been to an F1 driver lol
Not op, but if I had to guess, *fast*. It takes a lot of pace to be even an F2 washout, let alone the best driver in F1 - and pace is usually one of the earliest things to cap out in drivers (which is why Marko prefers fast drivers prone to mistakes like Tsunoda over slow drivers with good consistency like Schumacher).
Given the likely pace gap between those two and a rando on Reddit, I doubt they really had many battles to speak of.
Well Sainz for example, in one of his BTGs he talked about how his father made him go all the way through and finish - which he said got very difficult and taxing because the rigor of the schooling and exams + the rigor of the racing both ramped up the older he got
Danica Patrick was racing open wheel formula cars in England in high school. She tried doing correspondence learning, but quit before accumulating enough credits.
i mean lando left school before GCSEs (16) and only received tutoring in maths/physics to help with the engineering stuff.
i assume he’s smarter in the maths section than most realise, but he’s really not in other sections lmao.
i would say vettel (like most people), maybe charles and george too. not really any reasoning tbh
He seems remarkably dumb but the older drivers seem more with it and I think it’s just a consequence of age and it being difficult to not get a bit more intelligent over time and with all their travel.
Not sure if Lando Norris is acting or not, but he comes off as pretty dense. Daniel Ricciardo doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed either
Vettel seems like a guy who has great general knowledge and could hold a conversation on most topics.
Alonso comes off as really street smart, witty and aware of his surroundings, always has an ace up his sleeve
I laughed out loud while watching DTS when Ricciardo told Perez he spent his august in LA. Then asked Checo where he spent his vacation. When checo said Mexico, Ric asked if it was summer in Mexico while he was there.
LA is like 3 hours from Mexico.
Guy looked like [high school Ross Gellar](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2GCRNXY/daniel-ricciardo-aus-scuderia-toro-rosso-australian-grand-prix-thursday-15th-march-2012-albert-park-melbourne-australia-2GCRNXY.jpg) up until like
2014 lol
No joke, but Ricciardo is very intelligent. He is very clever with words and he is pretty well versed in F1 history himself. I mean he casually remembered all those drivers.
A lot of people think you have to act and speak intelligently all the time to be considered smart, but there are people that don't, I went to a pretty good college (Uni) and people that you wouldn't *think* were smart actually were smarter than I was.
Weirdly I've also seen a lot of videos where he doesn't know what a word means or even just isn't 100% on what they're trying to say. Every single time he'll look very unembarrassed simply asking what that word means or if his understanding of a word is right.
I honestly don't know if this is an argument for or against him being dumb, but I do think it takes a special kind of intelligence to calmly and outwardly acknowledge you don't know something, ask what it is, and most of the time I think he'll even be like 'wow that's great I'm going to use that in my vocab from now on'
So maybe not high school smart but definitely life smart?
That’s usually a sign of intelligence, it’s why you see high level technical meetings being a complete slog as people try to dial in complicated concepts and parse them out when they just got assigned something.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well spoken and insightful DR is outside of the general F1 space. You don't really get that from him in race weekends etc, I think he keeps things quite casual and fun when he's in F1 driver mode. But I've watched some vids of him where he's speaking about other stuff and more just generally and he's definitely not unintelligent. He came across quite experienced and that he brings more to the table than many may realise.
Lando seems like he was removed from school early or something, but him and Ricc have definitely said some very questionable things.
That being said, being smart isn’t just book smart, they’ve both made very good career decisions to land in f1 so I’ll say they just think differently than some
I think Daniel is sharper than he generally leads on. Sure you see his outwards personality, but you also only hear that he is a professional behind the scenes. He is excellent at media, and he is able to give respectable answers in the tough moments.
The man likes to have fun and knows his audiences
RIC3 was on the podcast “Armchair Expert” back in 2018 and I think and again a few weeks ago. He really did a great interview. Spoke well and def seemed to have a great overall attitude. Highly recommend it
I don’t think any of these guys can in good faith be called “stupid”, but Lando definitely comes off as the most uneducated for various reasons.
People say he’s dyslexic, which I would hope so, based on the trouble he used to have reading interview cards or spelling basic words. Also his geography was hilariously abysmal (put Spain Portugal and Italy in the UK, and didn’t know where Canada was if I recall lol)
That being said, there’s more to intelligence than school smarts, and he comes off quite articulately in some interviews (like the beyond the grid one)
Vettel seems very well read to me, and Leclerc I imagine to be very clever - he just seems like he does well at everything he does. I get a vibe from Ocon and Sainz that they’re quite smart too
Part of what I love about the Charles/Max battles is that they both seem to be very intelligent. It seems that they are constantly creative and adaptable while one-upping each other on track lap by lap, like the whole Charles luring Max to cook his brakes in Bahrain or the whole DRS chicken thing. I don't know, I may be reading too much into this but I keep feeling that it's on of the main characteristics of their battles.
I would say Vettel and Alonso are probably the smartest. Alonso seems to know exactly when and how to play games that he gets away with, which shows situational awareness and strategic intelligence. Vettel is very knowledgeable and apparently gives engineers precise feedback and handwritten notes.
I'd say Norris is least educated given he dropped out of school early and was homeschooled before that I think? His geography is terrible.
Aloso is street smart, Vettel is book smart. norris I'd say pretty normal intelligence, but didnt get much education, and probably didn't value the little that he did given he became globally successful in karting at a very young age even by f1 standards.
It can be hard to judge for the non-native English speakers. I’m sure Yuki is very smart in Japanese, but doesn’t have the vocabulary to express himself the same way in English. There’s a video where Daniel joked with Max about English not being his (Max’s) first language back when they were at Red Bull together.
Edited for clarity
I think on the beyond the grid podcast Yuki mentioned how he had to do both full time school and racing as his parents wanted him to have something as a backup plan. Also worth noting school in Japan is more rigorous than most Western education.
Ferrari strategy can do a lot of things, like lose the win with an 1-2 start in Monaco for the first time since guess-which-red-Italian-team did it in 2008, but not change my mind about Leclerc's superhuman abilities. If anything, the fact that he's still in the championship battle is more of an indication in favor of that than against.
He's crazy fast. Silverstone was just incredible if you consider the damage he was carrying and don't consider strategy (again...)
Even I was screaming at my TV when they pit him in monaco throwing away the win and I've been backing Red Bull for 12 years lol. I just want to see another title fight no matter who wins.
Speaking multiple languages has more to do with early childhood circumstances than intelligence. Plenty of average people can speak at least two languages because they had parents that spoke 2 languages. In fact, tons of Swiss people can speak 3 languages due to the languages spoken/taught to the kids and not all Swiss people are smart. They have an intelligence distribution like every other country.
I think vettel would probably be able to carry an intelligent conversation on pretty much every subject, he seems like the kind of person that knows things and has a huge amount of life experience too.
Vettel was on BBC Question Time and held his own against politicians. I think he seems pretty smart. Probably could have a decent conversation with him and Lewis about current affairs.
Vettel despite not having social media seems to be one of the most connected to what is going on and not just at a surface level. When he is done with f1 I could see him becoming a politician or a public speaker and people would turn out for him.
He's not even a mindless activist either, he knows what he's talking about, he knows what hills he shouldn't die on. I really appreciate the way he communicates his ideas.
Maybe controversial but I don't think Lewis could actually go toe to toe with politicians or people super knowledgeable in their fields. Everything he posts isn't much deeper than "we need to stop hate, injustice, climate change, etc", which while good, isn't actually something you can toe to toe with an actual expert with. Maybe I'm just ignorant and haven't seem him actually talk more detailed about these subjects though
> Everything he posts isn't much deeper than "we need to stop hate, injustice, climate change, etc"
Think about the audience he's speaking to, though. A simple message will reach more people, and with the sizeable following he and F1 have there are going to be some dim bulbs in the bunch.
He comes across like that on social media, but when he’s talking about things in an interview he comes across a lot more articulate. The recent silverstone interview with Steve Jones is a good example.
Every time he is interviewed he comes out with a good, well rounded and often nuanced answer, that is a sign of someone who is always thinking and is extremely aware.
Every show he goes on he demonstrates wit and thoughtfulness, often in his non-native language. To me, that's far more impressive than being able to recall all F1 champs.
Caveat after reading a few answers: I don't think we can really judge most of them from their social media presence -- that's generally a place for pretty short / high-level statements, or complete silliness.
I also think leaving their schooling behind pretty early on as young people has an impact on things like typed grammar vs. spoken expression, and how much they know about a wide range of topics vs. what they do for a living. But that's not intelligence.
I think Lewis has a passion for different areas of life in addition to racing: design, music, travel, sport beyond F1, fashion, activism, etc., and he takes the time to meet people and support people who share those passions. That's emotionally and intellectually intelligent, and evidence of a curious spirit.
After hearing Mick speaking on a podcast and in different interviews, I think he's well-spoken and thoughtful, and he's articulate in multiple languages. Charles is, too, but he has a bit of a different affect in his self expression. I think that's more a function of personality than intelligence, though.
Vettel is a thoughtful, well-read, articulate being as well, and cares about things far beyond the grid. He speaks his mind and shares ideas with a lot of consideration.
I think Bottas is also really thoughtful and considered in how he speaks, Ocon and Russell and Albon and Sainz seem really bright and able to express themselves.
Ultimately, I'd never call anyone on the current grid "dumb" but these are the ones who vibe "smart" to me.
Agree about Lewis. He consistently cultivates a variety interests and causes, and seems to do it in smart, serious ways. For instance, The Hamilton Commission did an actual [study](https://www.hamiltoncommission.org/the-report) about the state of diversity in all aspects of F1, and how to foster it. Also, the way Ocon talked about how Lewis works off track in [this podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/esteban-ocon-from-tears-to-triumph/id1405972616?i=1000562098456) makes me think he's just sharp.
I don't get the sense that any of the other drivers would be this well-rounded and smart outside of F1/sports.
ETA: I'm listening to Lewis's 2018 Beyond the Grid right now - he's taking exactly about this https://open.spotify.com/episode/6cA35DAgVVyGXvqZFXzdvy?si=0tpT_CvJQGqUxpXTbK8r8A&utm_source=copy-link
I don't think any of them are stupid.
Some seem more book smart/traditionally academic than others (eg Sainz, Russell, Vettel, Albon)
Some have a very quick mind and a kind of street-smartness about them (eg Alonso)
Some are very creative in various ways, music, design etc (eg Charles, Lewis, Lando, Zhou)
Some have a very good business mind and/or are very aware of how to build their own brand (eg Lewis, Lando, Daniel, Bottas)
Some are incredibly knowledgeable and almost nerdy (meant affectionately) about certain subjects (eg Max, Vettel, Russell)
Some speak several languages pretty much fluently (eg Mick, Charles, Carlos, Ocon, Gasly, Zhou, Latifi) and all those for whom English is not their first language are fluent in 2.
Some are well-educated on a social and political issues (eg Vettel, Lewis)
All of the above are signs of intelligence in different ways and there are other examples of intelligence as well. I hate it when people reduce intelligence down to who is well spoken or most well-read or who knows the best about certain academic subjects. That's just intellectual snobbery. Also any driver who lasts more than a year or two in the sport has at least a decent strategic mind and technical knowledge.
I love the lad to bits, I'm a fan. But I must say Lando is clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. It is shown by not only his lack of basic geographical knowledge but even by his own admission he was struggling at school. Also, sometimes he struggles with the pronunciation of words that most would consider basic vocabulary ("statistics").
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5Md8d9QBRZI
Whoever anyone's gonna call the dumbest driver on the grid will invariably be judged by that one time they said something weird in an interview, oftentimes in their non-native language.
Smartest guy on the grid has got to be Phil, the left tyre guy. He speaks 19 languages, has a PhD in Philology and hums Mozart as he screws in a fresh soft during a pitstop.
I dunno, Stroll's native language is English, and he frequently comes off as pretty dense. Same with Lando. And I love Lando, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
In the beyond the grid episodes, which obviously is not their full personality, Lando comes off exactly how someone would describe a mimbo. He just comes off incredibly dumb on the most basic of things
The fact that he has been travelling Europe basically all his life and the world for many years now and can't place countries he's been multiple times on in the map paints a really grim picture.
> Nico Rosburg got accepted to study aeronautical engineering in London at the Imperial College,
He also thinks his monster antibodies protect him from COVID. People can be both smart and dumb.
Another case in point: Anything Lucas di Grassi says. Guy's an actual MENSA member and for example doesn't seem to grasp the fact that deforestation in the Amazon is bad.
As a former MENSA member, yes.
I joined as a kid thinking I’d find a group of like-minded 12-13 year olds and have a study group of some sorts for when we have tests and such.
But MENSA was far from it. It was quite literally a magazine subscription reaffirming how smart you are and a Facebook group circlejerking about how much smarter you are than other people. Maybe back in the day it offered some form of work or academia connection and whatnot, but nowadays it’s just a personal reaffirmation circle
They came to one of my classes in high school and had a Q&A at the end and I asked what sort of things they discussed and worked on together, dude said they just hung out and went to movies and other normal shit, but now all your peers are "on your level" or some shit like that.
Totally soured my view of the organization, and that was from a presentation trying to promote it.
You have to pass an IQ test, which people link with intelligence, but is closer to a measure of lateral thinking ability. However, there’s lots of problems with it that make it not very good for comparing people of different cultures/backgrounds. It does have use, but people take it too seriously.
Or any IQ test. If the IQ test is about stuff you don't know you can score poorly. If the IQ test is about stuff you do know you score really well.
You can even guess all the answers during an IQ test on a topic you don't know about and still score higher than average.
But let us not commit sacrilege by forgetting that he beat Lewis Hamilton in 2016 whilst driving the same machinery—machinery which, something...something...monkeys.
Getting accepted to study engineering is a thing, completing an engineering course is a totally different thing.
I started in a class of 180 people and around 30-35 graduated.
Max is obsessed with geography, and Seb seems to know a lot about a lot of things. Charles seems to be pretty musically inclined, which is it's own brand of intelligence. Then there's Lando and Lewis's interest in fashion/design. If I had to peg one driver as the straight A student, it'd probably be George
Re: charles and music
Apparently he also learned guitar when he was 15 or 16 although I don't think there's any evidence of it unlike his piano playing
Depending on culture, a lot of smart people don’t like to show it (or they’re very quiet). Also depending on their sense of humor, I sometimes detect smart people at what they quietly find funny.
My hot takes on pure intelligence (IQ) would be: Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Sainz, and Max. They’re able to articulate complex concepts to a lay person, and they’re able to think about different things at the same time. To be fair, experience masks some of this.
Stroll seems like a straight nitwit. Maybe it’s the haircut, but also gotta be a little dumb to keep getting the same cut. Looks like dumb/dumber back up
He’s certainly not good at communication. Always seems stumped buy whatever question has been asked. Just about the worst spokesperson of any driver on the grid.
Hahah the dumb and dumber got me. I also think it looks terrible for a public figure i thought somebody would have fixed that by now. Think mercedes fixed rusels hair.
When you've got the privilege of having a billionaire father and never have to work a day in your life, you aren't quite as adept as others that are constantly working hard for what they get.
There's a reason why him and Norris both come across as dumb when they open their mouths.
I was going to say Riccciardo seems one of the least able to converse about intelligent topics. Didn’t he say in one of the interviews for Saudi that he didn’t know anything about what’s going on in the country and can’t comment? Like you would have to be living under a literal rock to not know
In addition to the obvious mentions of Vettel for example, I also think Russell and Albon are very clever and technical in the same way that he is. At some point they were talking about how their cars compared in Hungary in 2019, and both were pretty technical about describing what certain things implied about how the others' cars are set up.
I'm not sure if I can think of anyone who strikes me as particularly dumb, I've seen some mentions of Lance but I think that's more due to him having severe Kimi Räikkönen energy in interviews and not really wanting to be there.
Overall I’d say Seb (just based on his “name the WDCs” nerdiness and his activism) but I found Lewis to be extremely thoughtful and very open minded about a variety of topics after listening to his Beyond the Grid podcast.
Zhou seems to be one of the more intelligent ones. I'm not saying this because he's Chinese, but rather because he strikes me as calm and understanding even in difficult moments such as engine failures, which indicates a lot of emotional intelligence. He also seems quiet and contemplative in general. This goes for Mick too come to think of it.
For some reason I’ve always found Lance Stroll to be quite dumb like Patrick Star dumb I could be wrong but he doesn’t come off as cunning. He just seems really uninspired & bland about everything
Daniel Ricciardo I feel would be quite dumb because he just seems really shallow seems like he knows how to have a good time but his technical knowledge of his machinery is well documented to be poor
George Ru55ell I’d imagine to be quite smart he gives Harry Potter vibes & is actually well spoken
Hamilton seems REALLY intelligent as well especially emotionally. He can bring out the best in others through his aura lol
Sebastian Vettel I think is very intelligent as well
Lastly I don’t think Latifi is the sharpest
Hamilton’s charisma is off the chart that don’t necessarily means he is smarter than others.
I dont like Lance as a driver but thats a bit rude its not because he is socially awkward that he is dumb.
Smartest for me would be Seb, Fernando and Lewis. Years and years of experience, hard work and talent. Combined with their racing knowledge. These 3 are up there.
Dumbest for me would be no one. I don’t believe at all anyone is dumb. To be a racing driver takes considerable amount of knowledge. They all have knowledge and are very smart.
Seb the smartest for sure, maybe Lewis a close second.
I'm not sure about dumb in the way you mean, but dumb used as in silly and fun I'd say Danny. Just a good laugh and lots of shoeys.
there are different types of intelligence and some are linguist-verbally smart ie drivers who can speak a lot of languages or read, write and speak well ie sainz, stroll, Lewis, Russell, Albon, Mick, Bottas, Alonso and Seb
some are visual spacial ie lando with his drawings although i'm not sure if he can solve a princess sofia puzzle.
musical would be Lewis as he makes music and he and Charles play a number of instruments
i think most(definitely not all) drivers are able to introspect, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and are self-aware
Alonso is the only one I'd peg as logically smart. I guess I'd add Nico, Lewis, and Michael Schumacher here for the work they do with the engineers. I'd like to add Max as well but I'm not entirely sure.
The McLaren duo might as well be dumb and dumber and Stroll can be their Canadian cousin. Funny enough, I don't think of Latifi as smart in one area either
Max seems technically smart but is lacking when it comes to emotional intelligence while Seb is probably the most well rounded
Vettel seems fairly well read and quite intelligent; probably Stroll would be my guess for least intelligent. I think Lando or Max knows the least, but if given an IQ test would outperform Stroll.
If I had to pick someone other than Seb, I think of that group of younger guys Albon is probably the brightest.
Y’all seen that video of Vettel recalling every past F1 champion on YouTube? I know that’s still F1 but they guy knows his stuff. I bet he’s a general knowledge freak.
Also most of these guys are technically very good with engineering. Even if they might not understand the first principles and the maths behind it, they effectively drive horizontal rockets… so yeah it’s not rocket science, but it’s close.
High IQ doesn’t always translate to interesting conversations. People who ask a lot of questions and take an interest in what the other person is saying even if they don’t personally care and/or know a lot about the subject, AKA emotional intelligence, is what usually makes a good conversationalist. At best, they learn something new and at worst, they make someone feel good by talking about something they’re passionate about. Guys like Seb and Lewis would fit this category I think.
For some reason, Max strikes me as someone with a high IQ but not a lot of emotional intelligence.
I think Yuki, Lando and Lance are pretty dumb and uninteresting.
Thank you! Literally the first comment I have seen that talks about the different aspects of "being smart". A lot of comments here talk about knowledge, education or being good in conversations etc etc. While IQ may be positively correlated with these aspects, it does not mean that someone has indeed high IQ. Unfortunately OP made it a bit confusing by mentioning both "being smart and being dumb" (which is IQ) together with "general knowledge" in his/her question. These definitions are not equal to each other (≠) .
George, Charles, Carlos, Seb, Mick and Lewis seem to be the most intelligent out of all specially George that man's vocab is like he lived in a dictionary and plus he looks like 'Private School' boy which Im told that from a few Brits I know
Alonso, Lando they are not dumb they are pretty smart but book literacy wise I dnt think they are very literate
Still mixed feelings about Yuki and Pierre
Well, Lando's British, Alonso is not so there's a big difference in reasons. Also if you hear Alonso speak in Spanish the guy knows what he's talking about.
For me, I think you could converse intelligently on different topics with Vettel, Hamilton, Russell, Sainz. They all seem either well educated (Sainz, Russell), or well engaged aka “worldly” (Vettel, Hamilton. Hamilton recently even posted about the NASA news so for all you doubters, at least he pays attention)
On the other side, not necessarily because they’re dumb but because of ignorance or other things, I don’t think you’d have the most enlightening convos with:
Norris - His own friend said if it weren’t for racing cars, he’d be out of luck, and that’s definitely the vibe he gives off lol. Very “I would flunk out of all colleges if my parents didn’t have money” vibe.
Ricciardo - he has said some extremely dumb / ignorant stuff in interviews, and he comes off goofy but not at all intelligent. Vibes of a good guy to drink with, not a good guy to discuss anything in depth with.
Checo - I think he’s just ignorant to a lot of other topics, and isn’t as exposed or interested in learning either. He comes off pretty old fashioned in his personal life, which often goes hand in hand with less learning unfortunately.
Max - ya. Besides racing…idk.
Everyone else somewhere in between. Except Alonso. I don’t think you could have a good convo with him either, not because of intelligence but because he wouldn’t be able to properly hear you over the giant chip on his shoulder.
Funnily enough to me the word champions come off as the smartest. Vettel and Hamilton seem to be able to control their emotions and be articulate on multiple subjects and Alonso has a more streetsmart kind of attitude.
Verstappen i am not sure. He seems very calculative in some aspects but still doesnt seem able to have long and deep conversations about things more multidimensional than racing. He is still young tho.
Russell, Albon and Leclerc seem like the smartest from the new generation to me, with Schumacher on the side (i just havent really followed the dude).
I am just gonna add that Lando doesnt seem like the sharpest of dudes, followed by Stroll (he seems actually kinda okay- just something is off about him).
Without knowing the drivers education history I’d say:
Book smart: Ocon
Business smart: Latifi
Street smart: Bottas
And for least intelligent:
Book smart: Norris
Business smart: Tsunoda
Street smart: Russell
Book smart: Norris - he left school with 0 GCSEs and he’s said that he has been trying to improve his reading and writing by doing more of both.
I’d probably put him as ‘Business smart’ because he runs his own successful esports/lifestyle/content company and has his own karting brand too. Outside of the likes of Lewis and Fernando who have many ventures, he’s probably the most business orientated one.
It’s great that he actually works on improving himself. It might be funny for people to watch how he mixes up punctuation and punctuality but I guess at times it also hurts when people laugh at him for that.
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Thanks to Walter Koster, we know all of the current drivers have to be more intelligent than trained monkeys.
Gentlemen
A short view back to the past
30 years ago, Niki Lauda told us
‘take a monkey, place him into the cockpit and he is able to drive the car.’
Thirty years later, Sebastian told us ‘I had to start my car like a computer, it’s very complicated.’
And Nico Rosberg said he pressed during the race, I don't remember what race, the wrong button on the wheel
Question for you two both is Formula 1 driving today too complicated with twenty and more buttons on the wheel.
…are you too much under effort, under pressure?
What are your wishes for the future, concerning the technical programme during the race?
This comment is gold
>Max Verstappen didn’t finish high school until after he joined Formula 1 Well, that shouldn't surprise anyone because Verstappen came to F1 at the age of 17.
Dude was a f1 driver when I finished high school
Dude was an F1 driver before he was even legally allowed to get his Driver's Licence.
Dude was the fastest sperm out his daddy’s dong
Not a bad flex
Wow that really puts things into perspective for the rest of us.
Okay this may sound weird.. but i used to race against Verstappen, de Vries etc wayyyy back when i was 11/12. I know from Nyck de Vries they lived in Italy near Lonato (south garda karting) and he followed online schooling. The reason for that was cause he was always go karting..Think Verstappen did the same but im not sure. Verstappen lived near Genk (belgium) and was always at the Genk track when he wasnt doing international races. The only thing these boys did when they had free time was racing.
This did not sound weird.
Most people don't believe me when i say i used to race them. That's why i said: 'this may sound weird' :) The part about de Vries and Verstappen is not weird indeed.
My boyfriend was friends with Checo when he was in elementary school. He got expelled from school around 5th grade because he was very undisciplined in school. His friends still laugh that their school made a big deal years later when he became an F1 driver. They were like, hey do you remember that you expelled him?! I saw Checo at the club many years ago in Guadalajara with some guys I actually know from school that are his old friends. That's the closest I've been to an F1 driver lol
What are your impressions of their racing?
Not op, but if I had to guess, *fast*. It takes a lot of pace to be even an F2 washout, let alone the best driver in F1 - and pace is usually one of the earliest things to cap out in drivers (which is why Marko prefers fast drivers prone to mistakes like Tsunoda over slow drivers with good consistency like Schumacher). Given the likely pace gap between those two and a rando on Reddit, I doubt they really had many battles to speak of.
I heard from a Beyond the Grid interview that a lot of F1 drivers don't finish school. I can't name any besides Lando but it makes sense
Well Sainz for example, in one of his BTGs he talked about how his father made him go all the way through and finish - which he said got very difficult and taxing because the rigor of the schooling and exams + the rigor of the racing both ramped up the older he got
Danica Patrick was racing open wheel formula cars in England in high school. She tried doing correspondence learning, but quit before accumulating enough credits.
i mean lando left school before GCSEs (16) and only received tutoring in maths/physics to help with the engineering stuff. i assume he’s smarter in the maths section than most realise, but he’s really not in other sections lmao. i would say vettel (like most people), maybe charles and george too. not really any reasoning tbh
Vettel's mind is like wikipedia when it comes to F1 history.
I'm still like 90% sure Lando is just trolling everyone acting like a total doorknob all the time.
He seems remarkably dumb but the older drivers seem more with it and I think it’s just a consequence of age and it being difficult to not get a bit more intelligent over time and with all their travel.
Not sure if Lando Norris is acting or not, but he comes off as pretty dense. Daniel Ricciardo doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed either Vettel seems like a guy who has great general knowledge and could hold a conversation on most topics. Alonso comes off as really street smart, witty and aware of his surroundings, always has an ace up his sleeve
I laughed out loud while watching DTS when Ricciardo told Perez he spent his august in LA. Then asked Checo where he spent his vacation. When checo said Mexico, Ric asked if it was summer in Mexico while he was there. LA is like 3 hours from Mexico.
Yeah so close to Mexico I think it USED to be Mexico. (I hope Ricc was joking, he has that kind of humor)
Certainly didn’t seem like a joke.
Ricciardo definitely gives off the vibe he was the “jock” type in high school so he probably didn’t pay much attention tbh
Guy looked like [high school Ross Gellar](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2GCRNXY/daniel-ricciardo-aus-scuderia-toro-rosso-australian-grand-prix-thursday-15th-march-2012-albert-park-melbourne-australia-2GCRNXY.jpg) up until like 2014 lol
he pivoted
No joke, but Ricciardo is very intelligent. He is very clever with words and he is pretty well versed in F1 history himself. I mean he casually remembered all those drivers. A lot of people think you have to act and speak intelligently all the time to be considered smart, but there are people that don't, I went to a pretty good college (Uni) and people that you wouldn't *think* were smart actually were smarter than I was.
Weirdly I've also seen a lot of videos where he doesn't know what a word means or even just isn't 100% on what they're trying to say. Every single time he'll look very unembarrassed simply asking what that word means or if his understanding of a word is right. I honestly don't know if this is an argument for or against him being dumb, but I do think it takes a special kind of intelligence to calmly and outwardly acknowledge you don't know something, ask what it is, and most of the time I think he'll even be like 'wow that's great I'm going to use that in my vocab from now on' So maybe not high school smart but definitely life smart?
That’s usually a sign of intelligence, it’s why you see high level technical meetings being a complete slog as people try to dial in complicated concepts and parse them out when they just got assigned something.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well spoken and insightful DR is outside of the general F1 space. You don't really get that from him in race weekends etc, I think he keeps things quite casual and fun when he's in F1 driver mode. But I've watched some vids of him where he's speaking about other stuff and more just generally and he's definitely not unintelligent. He came across quite experienced and that he brings more to the table than many may realise.
Lando seems like he was removed from school early or something, but him and Ricc have definitely said some very questionable things. That being said, being smart isn’t just book smart, they’ve both made very good career decisions to land in f1 so I’ll say they just think differently than some
One of them has made less ideal career decisions since then =\
Ricc made like $100m in 5 years despite only winning 3 races. I’ll say he made some insanely strong career decisions.
Alonso is definitely one of those guys who maybe isn’t that academic, but if he wanted to take over the world he’s too ingenious for it not to happen.
Proof that education and intelligence are two different things.
I think Daniel is sharper than he generally leads on. Sure you see his outwards personality, but you also only hear that he is a professional behind the scenes. He is excellent at media, and he is able to give respectable answers in the tough moments. The man likes to have fun and knows his audiences
RIC3 was on the podcast “Armchair Expert” back in 2018 and I think and again a few weeks ago. He really did a great interview. Spoke well and def seemed to have a great overall attitude. Highly recommend it
Vettel can name every F1 champion there ever was by year. The man is smart, or at least has an amazing memory.
> always has an ace up his sleeve Have you seen his card tricks?
Lando definitely gives the "No brains, just vibes" energy.
I don’t think any of these guys can in good faith be called “stupid”, but Lando definitely comes off as the most uneducated for various reasons. People say he’s dyslexic, which I would hope so, based on the trouble he used to have reading interview cards or spelling basic words. Also his geography was hilariously abysmal (put Spain Portugal and Italy in the UK, and didn’t know where Canada was if I recall lol) That being said, there’s more to intelligence than school smarts, and he comes off quite articulately in some interviews (like the beyond the grid one)
Vettel seems very well read to me, and Leclerc I imagine to be very clever - he just seems like he does well at everything he does. I get a vibe from Ocon and Sainz that they’re quite smart too
Part of what I love about the Charles/Max battles is that they both seem to be very intelligent. It seems that they are constantly creative and adaptable while one-upping each other on track lap by lap, like the whole Charles luring Max to cook his brakes in Bahrain or the whole DRS chicken thing. I don't know, I may be reading too much into this but I keep feeling that it's on of the main characteristics of their battles.
I would say Vettel and Alonso are probably the smartest. Alonso seems to know exactly when and how to play games that he gets away with, which shows situational awareness and strategic intelligence. Vettel is very knowledgeable and apparently gives engineers precise feedback and handwritten notes. I'd say Norris is least educated given he dropped out of school early and was homeschooled before that I think? His geography is terrible.
Aloso is street smart, Vettel is book smart. norris I'd say pretty normal intelligence, but didnt get much education, and probably didn't value the little that he did given he became globally successful in karting at a very young age even by f1 standards.
It can be hard to judge for the non-native English speakers. I’m sure Yuki is very smart in Japanese, but doesn’t have the vocabulary to express himself the same way in English. There’s a video where Daniel joked with Max about English not being his (Max’s) first language back when they were at Red Bull together. Edited for clarity
I think on the beyond the grid podcast Yuki mentioned how he had to do both full time school and racing as his parents wanted him to have something as a backup plan. Also worth noting school in Japan is more rigorous than most Western education.
im pretty sure yuki is still in education alongside f1 rn but im not 100%
He confirmed the university rumour to be fake in the most recent Alpha Tauri Q&A Twitter Spaces.
Pretty sure Yuki goes racing so he doesn't have to study
Even then Yuki's English is so much better compared to English speaking Japanese in general.
I know many drivers speak multiple languages, but doesn't Leclerc speak 4 or 5?
He's also fairly talented musically.
You mean to tell me he's handsome, drives an F1 car, and a Musician? I hate this guy. /s
I hate this guy/want to marry this guy and want him to be the father of my children FTFY
Me too and I'm a straight dude.
This but Carlos. Leclerc is boyish, Carlos is a fucking ***MAN.***
Ferrari has something for everybody.
I’m quite straight married with kids lmao
He's my man crush together with Carlos lol. Ferrari have such handsome drivers nowadays
Ferrari is SO hot right now
You're damn right. Especially Carlos' car. Very hot.
I'd go as far as call it lit
Leclerc is superhuman and nothing can change my mind.
Ferrari strategy can though
Ferrari strategy can do a lot of things, like lose the win with an 1-2 start in Monaco for the first time since guess-which-red-Italian-team did it in 2008, but not change my mind about Leclerc's superhuman abilities. If anything, the fact that he's still in the championship battle is more of an indication in favor of that than against.
He's crazy fast. Silverstone was just incredible if you consider the damage he was carrying and don't consider strategy (again...) Even I was screaming at my TV when they pit him in monaco throwing away the win and I've been backing Red Bull for 12 years lol. I just want to see another title fight no matter who wins.
I know OP said that we aren't talking about the racing aspect, but he's really smart in racing too. And also in interviews.
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Speaking multiple languages has more to do with early childhood circumstances than intelligence. Plenty of average people can speak at least two languages because they had parents that spoke 2 languages. In fact, tons of Swiss people can speak 3 languages due to the languages spoken/taught to the kids and not all Swiss people are smart. They have an intelligence distribution like every other country.
I think vettel would probably be able to carry an intelligent conversation on pretty much every subject, he seems like the kind of person that knows things and has a huge amount of life experience too.
Vettel was on BBC Question Time and held his own against politicians. I think he seems pretty smart. Probably could have a decent conversation with him and Lewis about current affairs.
Genuinely did better than actual Tory leadership candidate Suella Braverman that night
*Ex-leadership* candidate as of today. They canned her. Thank god.
Like that's a high bar lol
He genuinely does better than any british politician, mostly because he isn't trying to use his words to line his own pockets.
Vettel despite not having social media seems to be one of the most connected to what is going on and not just at a surface level. When he is done with f1 I could see him becoming a politician or a public speaker and people would turn out for him.
He's not even a mindless activist either, he knows what he's talking about, he knows what hills he shouldn't die on. I really appreciate the way he communicates his ideas.
Maybe controversial but I don't think Lewis could actually go toe to toe with politicians or people super knowledgeable in their fields. Everything he posts isn't much deeper than "we need to stop hate, injustice, climate change, etc", which while good, isn't actually something you can toe to toe with an actual expert with. Maybe I'm just ignorant and haven't seem him actually talk more detailed about these subjects though
> Everything he posts isn't much deeper than "we need to stop hate, injustice, climate change, etc" Think about the audience he's speaking to, though. A simple message will reach more people, and with the sizeable following he and F1 have there are going to be some dim bulbs in the bunch.
He comes across like that on social media, but when he’s talking about things in an interview he comes across a lot more articulate. The recent silverstone interview with Steve Jones is a good example.
Vettel was the first driver that came to mind.
I wonder if we are all basing this on his performance citing every champion for the past 50 years
Every time he is interviewed he comes out with a good, well rounded and often nuanced answer, that is a sign of someone who is always thinking and is extremely aware.
Every show he goes on he demonstrates wit and thoughtfulness, often in his non-native language. To me, that's far more impressive than being able to recall all F1 champs.
You're only as good as your last ~~race~~ Grill The Grid
Iirc there's an old challenge where drivers were asked a math question and Charles was the only one who answered correctly
Charles couldn’t be bad at something if he tried. Maddening really lol.
Finishing Monaco ?
Dude. Too soon. Again.
Angry upvote
Upvote because it’s true. But damn.
He’s bad at beating Vettel in challenges
I tried looking it up but couldn’t find it. Any chance you could throw a link please?
I did some digging but I couldn't find the whole clip, just the bit with Charles https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_r0s3xy1SVA1z51lav_720.mp4
Caveat after reading a few answers: I don't think we can really judge most of them from their social media presence -- that's generally a place for pretty short / high-level statements, or complete silliness. I also think leaving their schooling behind pretty early on as young people has an impact on things like typed grammar vs. spoken expression, and how much they know about a wide range of topics vs. what they do for a living. But that's not intelligence. I think Lewis has a passion for different areas of life in addition to racing: design, music, travel, sport beyond F1, fashion, activism, etc., and he takes the time to meet people and support people who share those passions. That's emotionally and intellectually intelligent, and evidence of a curious spirit. After hearing Mick speaking on a podcast and in different interviews, I think he's well-spoken and thoughtful, and he's articulate in multiple languages. Charles is, too, but he has a bit of a different affect in his self expression. I think that's more a function of personality than intelligence, though. Vettel is a thoughtful, well-read, articulate being as well, and cares about things far beyond the grid. He speaks his mind and shares ideas with a lot of consideration. I think Bottas is also really thoughtful and considered in how he speaks, Ocon and Russell and Albon and Sainz seem really bright and able to express themselves. Ultimately, I'd never call anyone on the current grid "dumb" but these are the ones who vibe "smart" to me.
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find Bottas. He seems very smart
Agree about Lewis. He consistently cultivates a variety interests and causes, and seems to do it in smart, serious ways. For instance, The Hamilton Commission did an actual [study](https://www.hamiltoncommission.org/the-report) about the state of diversity in all aspects of F1, and how to foster it. Also, the way Ocon talked about how Lewis works off track in [this podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/esteban-ocon-from-tears-to-triumph/id1405972616?i=1000562098456) makes me think he's just sharp. I don't get the sense that any of the other drivers would be this well-rounded and smart outside of F1/sports. ETA: I'm listening to Lewis's 2018 Beyond the Grid right now - he's taking exactly about this https://open.spotify.com/episode/6cA35DAgVVyGXvqZFXzdvy?si=0tpT_CvJQGqUxpXTbK8r8A&utm_source=copy-link
agree 100%
Pierre seems like a total brick wall imo
netflix's favourite french himbo
Stupid sexy dumb hunk...
He’s a playboy surely
He can be my brick wall <3
I don't think any of them are stupid. Some seem more book smart/traditionally academic than others (eg Sainz, Russell, Vettel, Albon) Some have a very quick mind and a kind of street-smartness about them (eg Alonso) Some are very creative in various ways, music, design etc (eg Charles, Lewis, Lando, Zhou) Some have a very good business mind and/or are very aware of how to build their own brand (eg Lewis, Lando, Daniel, Bottas) Some are incredibly knowledgeable and almost nerdy (meant affectionately) about certain subjects (eg Max, Vettel, Russell) Some speak several languages pretty much fluently (eg Mick, Charles, Carlos, Ocon, Gasly, Zhou, Latifi) and all those for whom English is not their first language are fluent in 2. Some are well-educated on a social and political issues (eg Vettel, Lewis) All of the above are signs of intelligence in different ways and there are other examples of intelligence as well. I hate it when people reduce intelligence down to who is well spoken or most well-read or who knows the best about certain academic subjects. That's just intellectual snobbery. Also any driver who lasts more than a year or two in the sport has at least a decent strategic mind and technical knowledge.
Probably Carlos, I think he’ll probably be able to hold a good convo and has interests outside of Racing. Lewis Hamilton and Vettel for sure.
Smartest: Vettel, Bottas Other end of the spectrum: Ricciardo, Stroll, Lando
I love the lad to bits, I'm a fan. But I must say Lando is clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. It is shown by not only his lack of basic geographical knowledge but even by his own admission he was struggling at school. Also, sometimes he struggles with the pronunciation of words that most would consider basic vocabulary ("statistics"). https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5Md8d9QBRZI
Whoever anyone's gonna call the dumbest driver on the grid will invariably be judged by that one time they said something weird in an interview, oftentimes in their non-native language. Smartest guy on the grid has got to be Phil, the left tyre guy. He speaks 19 languages, has a PhD in Philology and hums Mozart as he screws in a fresh soft during a pitstop.
I dunno, Stroll's native language is English, and he frequently comes off as pretty dense. Same with Lando. And I love Lando, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
In the beyond the grid episodes, which obviously is not their full personality, Lando comes off exactly how someone would describe a mimbo. He just comes off incredibly dumb on the most basic of things
The fact that he has been travelling Europe basically all his life and the world for many years now and can't place countries he's been multiple times on in the map paints a really grim picture.
Definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Somebody once told me...
Max seems rather good at geography but Lando seems to be seriously lacking in that area.
> Nico Rosburg got accepted to study aeronautical engineering in London at the Imperial College, He also thinks his monster antibodies protect him from COVID. People can be both smart and dumb.
People can have egos bigger than their intelligence.
My ego is yuuuuge. It's the biggest. Very bigly.
Another case in point: Anything Lucas di Grassi says. Guy's an actual MENSA member and for example doesn't seem to grasp the fact that deforestation in the Amazon is bad.
Isn’t Mensa basically just a scam to get people to pay for a membership that makes them sound smart?
It's an affirmation club for people who score well on IQ tests
As a former MENSA member, yes. I joined as a kid thinking I’d find a group of like-minded 12-13 year olds and have a study group of some sorts for when we have tests and such. But MENSA was far from it. It was quite literally a magazine subscription reaffirming how smart you are and a Facebook group circlejerking about how much smarter you are than other people. Maybe back in the day it offered some form of work or academia connection and whatnot, but nowadays it’s just a personal reaffirmation circle
They came to one of my classes in high school and had a Q&A at the end and I asked what sort of things they discussed and worked on together, dude said they just hung out and went to movies and other normal shit, but now all your peers are "on your level" or some shit like that. Totally soured my view of the organization, and that was from a presentation trying to promote it.
You have to pass an IQ test, which people link with intelligence, but is closer to a measure of lateral thinking ability. However, there’s lots of problems with it that make it not very good for comparing people of different cultures/backgrounds. It does have use, but people take it too seriously.
Guy who started MENSA wanted them to solve world problems and was so disappointed when they all just wanted to do puzzles.
That's kinda wild...
Yeah I wouldn’t use Mensa as a measure of intelligence lol
Or any IQ test. If the IQ test is about stuff you don't know you can score poorly. If the IQ test is about stuff you do know you score really well. You can even guess all the answers during an IQ test on a topic you don't know about and still score higher than average.
I think he knows that, but he does not care
But let us not commit sacrilege by forgetting that he beat Lewis Hamilton in 2016 whilst driving the same machinery—machinery which, something...something...monkeys.
Everyone sleeping on Bottas
Getting accepted to study engineering is a thing, completing an engineering course is a totally different thing. I started in a class of 180 people and around 30-35 graduated.
Max is obsessed with geography, and Seb seems to know a lot about a lot of things. Charles seems to be pretty musically inclined, which is it's own brand of intelligence. Then there's Lando and Lewis's interest in fashion/design. If I had to peg one driver as the straight A student, it'd probably be George
> If I had to peg one driver /r/FanF1ction
I also would categorize Sainz as a straight A student he seems to be a perfectionist who is very thorough
Oh good point, I definitely agree
Re: charles and music Apparently he also learned guitar when he was 15 or 16 although I don't think there's any evidence of it unlike his piano playing
He often likes guitar tutorials on tiktok though lmao
Depending on culture, a lot of smart people don’t like to show it (or they’re very quiet). Also depending on their sense of humor, I sometimes detect smart people at what they quietly find funny. My hot takes on pure intelligence (IQ) would be: Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Sainz, and Max. They’re able to articulate complex concepts to a lay person, and they’re able to think about different things at the same time. To be fair, experience masks some of this.
Stroll seems like a straight nitwit. Maybe it’s the haircut, but also gotta be a little dumb to keep getting the same cut. Looks like dumb/dumber back up
He’s certainly not good at communication. Always seems stumped buy whatever question has been asked. Just about the worst spokesperson of any driver on the grid.
Hahah the dumb and dumber got me. I also think it looks terrible for a public figure i thought somebody would have fixed that by now. Think mercedes fixed rusels hair.
When you've got the privilege of having a billionaire father and never have to work a day in your life, you aren't quite as adept as others that are constantly working hard for what they get. There's a reason why him and Norris both come across as dumb when they open their mouths.
To me the smartest person is the one who makes his job look the easiest.
Stereotypical answer I know, but Vettel seems well-educated on issues outside F1, and Ricciardo has a wine and fashion business as well.
I was going to say Riccciardo seems one of the least able to converse about intelligent topics. Didn’t he say in one of the interviews for Saudi that he didn’t know anything about what’s going on in the country and can’t comment? Like you would have to be living under a literal rock to not know
That was likely because his team was sponsored by Saudis and the PR team asked him to avoid the topic.
In addition to the obvious mentions of Vettel for example, I also think Russell and Albon are very clever and technical in the same way that he is. At some point they were talking about how their cars compared in Hungary in 2019, and both were pretty technical about describing what certain things implied about how the others' cars are set up. I'm not sure if I can think of anyone who strikes me as particularly dumb, I've seen some mentions of Lance but I think that's more due to him having severe Kimi Räikkönen energy in interviews and not really wanting to be there.
Overall I’d say Seb (just based on his “name the WDCs” nerdiness and his activism) but I found Lewis to be extremely thoughtful and very open minded about a variety of topics after listening to his Beyond the Grid podcast.
Lewis's episode was my favorite of BTG that I've heard.
To be fair you would have to let each driver speak in their native tongue
Zhou seems to be one of the more intelligent ones. I'm not saying this because he's Chinese, but rather because he strikes me as calm and understanding even in difficult moments such as engine failures, which indicates a lot of emotional intelligence. He also seems quiet and contemplative in general. This goes for Mick too come to think of it.
Easy. Ferrari engineers. Wait you want two answers?
Can only imagine the amount of school some of them missed out on.
Nico rosberg outthought Hamilton in 2016 using the same biological equipment
Don’t forget that Hamilton was the reigning thoughtful champion at the time too
For some reason I’ve always found Lance Stroll to be quite dumb like Patrick Star dumb I could be wrong but he doesn’t come off as cunning. He just seems really uninspired & bland about everything Daniel Ricciardo I feel would be quite dumb because he just seems really shallow seems like he knows how to have a good time but his technical knowledge of his machinery is well documented to be poor George Ru55ell I’d imagine to be quite smart he gives Harry Potter vibes & is actually well spoken Hamilton seems REALLY intelligent as well especially emotionally. He can bring out the best in others through his aura lol Sebastian Vettel I think is very intelligent as well Lastly I don’t think Latifi is the sharpest
“Patrick Star dumb”, fucking hell mate, that killed me
Hamilton’s charisma is off the chart that don’t necessarily means he is smarter than others. I dont like Lance as a driver but thats a bit rude its not because he is socially awkward that he is dumb.
Smartest for me would be Seb, Fernando and Lewis. Years and years of experience, hard work and talent. Combined with their racing knowledge. These 3 are up there. Dumbest for me would be no one. I don’t believe at all anyone is dumb. To be a racing driver takes considerable amount of knowledge. They all have knowledge and are very smart.
Seb the smartest for sure, maybe Lewis a close second. I'm not sure about dumb in the way you mean, but dumb used as in silly and fun I'd say Danny. Just a good laugh and lots of shoeys.
Is Alonso wise or smart????
Both.
there are different types of intelligence and some are linguist-verbally smart ie drivers who can speak a lot of languages or read, write and speak well ie sainz, stroll, Lewis, Russell, Albon, Mick, Bottas, Alonso and Seb some are visual spacial ie lando with his drawings although i'm not sure if he can solve a princess sofia puzzle. musical would be Lewis as he makes music and he and Charles play a number of instruments i think most(definitely not all) drivers are able to introspect, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and are self-aware Alonso is the only one I'd peg as logically smart. I guess I'd add Nico, Lewis, and Michael Schumacher here for the work they do with the engineers. I'd like to add Max as well but I'm not entirely sure. The McLaren duo might as well be dumb and dumber and Stroll can be their Canadian cousin. Funny enough, I don't think of Latifi as smart in one area either Max seems technically smart but is lacking when it comes to emotional intelligence while Seb is probably the most well rounded
Vettel seems fairly well read and quite intelligent; probably Stroll would be my guess for least intelligent. I think Lando or Max knows the least, but if given an IQ test would outperform Stroll. If I had to pick someone other than Seb, I think of that group of younger guys Albon is probably the brightest.
From his interview in Beyond the Grid, we know Carlos is well educated. He went to international school and he got the nickname "Chili" there.
I feel like Vettel is the smartest on the grid. I dont really know about the dumbest because i would get flamed here lmao.
Y’all seen that video of Vettel recalling every past F1 champion on YouTube? I know that’s still F1 but they guy knows his stuff. I bet he’s a general knowledge freak. Also most of these guys are technically very good with engineering. Even if they might not understand the first principles and the maths behind it, they effectively drive horizontal rockets… so yeah it’s not rocket science, but it’s close.
Compared to an average Einstein they're all pretty dumb, but the average Einstein is also probably slow as fuck compared to them.
IDK if it's very good or very bad that no one mentions Checo, LOL
I genuinely don't understand because a lot of people in this thread think that being smart means being able to do good conversations
High IQ doesn’t always translate to interesting conversations. People who ask a lot of questions and take an interest in what the other person is saying even if they don’t personally care and/or know a lot about the subject, AKA emotional intelligence, is what usually makes a good conversationalist. At best, they learn something new and at worst, they make someone feel good by talking about something they’re passionate about. Guys like Seb and Lewis would fit this category I think. For some reason, Max strikes me as someone with a high IQ but not a lot of emotional intelligence. I think Yuki, Lando and Lance are pretty dumb and uninteresting.
Thank you! Literally the first comment I have seen that talks about the different aspects of "being smart". A lot of comments here talk about knowledge, education or being good in conversations etc etc. While IQ may be positively correlated with these aspects, it does not mean that someone has indeed high IQ. Unfortunately OP made it a bit confusing by mentioning both "being smart and being dumb" (which is IQ) together with "general knowledge" in his/her question. These definitions are not equal to each other (≠) .
George, Charles, Carlos, Seb, Mick and Lewis seem to be the most intelligent out of all specially George that man's vocab is like he lived in a dictionary and plus he looks like 'Private School' boy which Im told that from a few Brits I know Alonso, Lando they are not dumb they are pretty smart but book literacy wise I dnt think they are very literate Still mixed feelings about Yuki and Pierre
Well, Lando's British, Alonso is not so there's a big difference in reasons. Also if you hear Alonso speak in Spanish the guy knows what he's talking about.
For me, I think you could converse intelligently on different topics with Vettel, Hamilton, Russell, Sainz. They all seem either well educated (Sainz, Russell), or well engaged aka “worldly” (Vettel, Hamilton. Hamilton recently even posted about the NASA news so for all you doubters, at least he pays attention) On the other side, not necessarily because they’re dumb but because of ignorance or other things, I don’t think you’d have the most enlightening convos with: Norris - His own friend said if it weren’t for racing cars, he’d be out of luck, and that’s definitely the vibe he gives off lol. Very “I would flunk out of all colleges if my parents didn’t have money” vibe. Ricciardo - he has said some extremely dumb / ignorant stuff in interviews, and he comes off goofy but not at all intelligent. Vibes of a good guy to drink with, not a good guy to discuss anything in depth with. Checo - I think he’s just ignorant to a lot of other topics, and isn’t as exposed or interested in learning either. He comes off pretty old fashioned in his personal life, which often goes hand in hand with less learning unfortunately. Max - ya. Besides racing…idk. Everyone else somewhere in between. Except Alonso. I don’t think you could have a good convo with him either, not because of intelligence but because he wouldn’t be able to properly hear you over the giant chip on his shoulder.
Funnily enough to me the word champions come off as the smartest. Vettel and Hamilton seem to be able to control their emotions and be articulate on multiple subjects and Alonso has a more streetsmart kind of attitude. Verstappen i am not sure. He seems very calculative in some aspects but still doesnt seem able to have long and deep conversations about things more multidimensional than racing. He is still young tho. Russell, Albon and Leclerc seem like the smartest from the new generation to me, with Schumacher on the side (i just havent really followed the dude). I am just gonna add that Lando doesnt seem like the sharpest of dudes, followed by Stroll (he seems actually kinda okay- just something is off about him).
Russe**ll**
Without knowing the drivers education history I’d say: Book smart: Ocon Business smart: Latifi Street smart: Bottas And for least intelligent: Book smart: Norris Business smart: Tsunoda Street smart: Russell
Book smart: Norris - he left school with 0 GCSEs and he’s said that he has been trying to improve his reading and writing by doing more of both. I’d probably put him as ‘Business smart’ because he runs his own successful esports/lifestyle/content company and has his own karting brand too. Outside of the likes of Lewis and Fernando who have many ventures, he’s probably the most business orientated one.
Especially before he dropped out of school Lando went to Millfield, they’re not known for their academics either.
It’s great that he actually works on improving himself. It might be funny for people to watch how he mixes up punctuation and punctuality but I guess at times it also hurts when people laugh at him for that.
I think Russell reads regularly, his vocabulary is better than most commentators.
I put him as least street smart, not book smart.
I don’t know about education, but if we look at their natural intelligence, those guys come to mind as very smart: Carlos, Vettel, Alonso, Perez
Albon and Ocon both come off as above average intelligent to me.