Idman.biz
Mark Priestley, a former McLaren mechanic and now motorsport expert, shared his memories of the famous drivers' parties.
"Given how things ended at McLaren, Fernando Alonso didn't come to our Christmas parties, as you can imagine. Lewis Hamilton knows how to have a great time at holiday parties. I remember when he won his first world championship in 2008, he brought his then-girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. Hamilton took over the DJ booth at the nightclub we were in and DJ'd for most of the night. Scherzinger grabbed the microphone and started singing, and Hamilton joined her. I saw every side of him there!
I can imagine Max Verstappen having a good time too, but I don't think it would be like the parties Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen had. I've been to a few of those. Raikkonen was a great guy, he knew how to do races and parties at the highest level. He drove his car incredibly well, set record laps, and at the same time organized unimaginable parties. Raikkonen was like a millionaire and a 22-year-old at the same time. It was a glamorous lifestyle and it was great.
Most of today's racing drivers, like Lando Norris and Verstappen, are still very young, but they should have some fun too. It used to be that if a photographer took a picture of a racing driver doing something he shouldn't, the driver would ask the photographer if he could give him the picture or film, and that was it. But now if someone takes a picture with their phone, it's on the internet forever," GPBlog quoted Priestley.
