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Hamilton was serenaded by a Mariachi band in Mexico after winning the championship – and played with themFormula One is known to produce super talented racers who excite, thrill and take viewers to an endless road of daredevilry in a competition of nerves, race after race. We have seen the likes of Senna, Prost, Alonso, Schumacher come and do the unthinkable but there lies a legion of talented stars of F1 who are gifted in more ways than one could imagine. More often than not, the same racing talents that we get used to seeing ace from the insides of the car's cockpits often unfurl amazing skills and talents in their lives outside Formula One.Not everyone knows these hidden talents of star drivers but those who notice them closely will understand that driving at high speeds aren't the only charming traits that come easy to these gifted athletes.
#5 Jarno Trulli - wine-making
The tall and lanky Jarno Trulli is amongst the finest talents in F1 that sadly never quite made the most of it in the utterly competitive sport. The former racing driver, born in Pescara, Italy has always struggled for form on the racing track but not for grip and consistency in life in his life outside F1's competitive grind.
A close friend of both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella, he has had anything but a lackluster life outside the F1 track. Not many know about Trulli's special hidden talent. The man behind a 14 long stint in Formula One having raced for top notch racing outfits including Minardi, Jordan, Lotus and many more is a seasoned wine expert. And he doesn't only possess the refinement of truly being a wine connoisseur but is in fact quite an expert in making it.
He is an accomplished Viticulturist. A decade and a half ago, he traveled to Pescara, his birthplace and took a small pilgrimage to the resplendently beautiful locales of Podere Castorani. There, he purchased a 35 hectare farm land to begin making wine, which he now cultivates from homegrown grapes.
He specializes in the Montepulciano style of Wine and also imports Grapes from different parts of the world and makes 18 different styles of wine, including red, white, rose. He’s even produced a whopping 60,000 bottles of Wine in a season where he was competing in international motor racing
#4 Marcus Erricsson - Ice Hockey
Sauber's Marcus Ericsson is one of the finest young talents in F1's dizzying heights. Although he is yet to make significant roads toward scoring consistently in Formula One, he's attracted attention for his superior fitness standards and gained respect from his team for his uncomplicated nature and committed performances. He has an entire world to conquer in F1's utterly competitive run where he is yet to earn a podium finish and those 9 points that he has collected thus far speak nothing of his sincere talent.
But with his heart in the right place and driving with attitude that says he has more in him than meets the eye, it seems the 25 year old Swede is meant to make it big. Racing for a team that has often been an opening salvo and launch-pad for the racing careers of many promising and super talented F1 drivers, Raikkonen included, the racing team that first raced at South Africa in 1993 has been known to be giving a relaxed and supportive atmosphere to its drivers for them to feel at home.
It turns out Marcus Ericcson was doing both- professional amateur racing and Ice Hockey at the age of 15. At an age where many are still busy downloading utterly exciting video games, Ericsson has shared that he had to choose between Go-Kart racing and playing Ice Hockey and he chose the former and let go of the latter which he was pretty good at. Marcus was not only a fine Ice Hockey Goalie but, a defensive player who excelled with split second decisions.
He was sure of his eventual success in both completely different sports and there came a time when he had to choose between competing at an important go kart race at home in Kumla, Sweden and that of an Ice Hockey tournament at Italy. No prizes for guessing what he chose and the rest as they say is History.
Sweden have won as many as 9 World Championship titles in Ice Hockey and Marcus Ericcson was once tipped to be one of its finest rising national star and Sweden's finest export to a globally renowned sport.
#3 Sebastian Vettel - Mimicry
A four-time world champion, the current Ferrari driver is undoubtedly a racer par excellence. Still at an impressionable age and having already made some commanding impressions over his rivals, fans and critics alike, Vettel is one of the few drivers who is known to give his all and fight to the very end, no matter what the circuit and his own position in the race grid.
His closest rival is Fernando Alonso, if you discount the superlative powers of Hamilton's commanding Mercedes, which whether one likes or not has helped the amazing driver to clock up his third championship win.
But as competitive and intelligent as he is in the car's cockpit, Sebastian Vettel is equally charming and smart off the F1 board.
Not many know that the 28 year old Heppenheim-born champion driver is a fine imitator off the racing tracks. Vettel first showed signs of his amazing knack of imitating stars, most noticeably fellow drivers whilst he was leading the Red Bull charge during his incredibly successful season.
At the Autosport Awards held in Europe in 2011-2012, then part of Red Bull, Vettel was asked how Kimi Raikkonen would have accepted an award. A cheeky Vettel, then far from being the Finn's teammate, replied in near-perfect Raikkonen style stating, "I mean he would be very happy for sure".
Leaving an entire audience in splits, Vettel further conquered the scene at motor show "Top Gear" as he displayed an immaculate imitation of iconic F1 and Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey.
It is no surprise that Jeremy Clarkson became an instant fan, as did the audience who were in crackling uncontrollably seeing Sebastian's lesser known talent.
#2 Lewis Hamilton - Music
A media darling, the UK's man of the moment, not exactly Nico Rosberg's friend for life and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton is an unavoidable celebrity at the moment. And he deserves every bit of it.
The 30 year old, who first trumped the likes of Raikkonen, Massa and Alonso while clinching his maiden World title 7 seasons ago in 2008 at only 23 has notched top glory in F1 in utterly dominating fashion.
Ever since Hamilton switched to Mercedes Petronas F1 racing from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes at the end of the 2013 season, F1's racing results have predominantly moved in only one direction; signaling triumph for the Briton and spelling carnage for Hamilton's rivals.
Only Rosberg, Mercedes' underrated team-man, 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel with his Ferrari teammate Raikkonen and Williams' Valtteri Bottas have managed to soak in the podium flavor giving company to Hamilton on most occasions in 2015. But one thing is for certain:Hamilton's creative talent off the circuit may still have enough charm to give his racing competitors a run for their money.
A little known fact about the man who recently overtook his old Ayrton Senna's tally of wins is that he is as comfortable in the cockpit of that Mercedes as he is whilst holding a guitar. First taking to guitar playing as a random act to kill time, Hamilton and his guitar often give arduous company to Roscoe, his adorable pet Bulldog in hour long sessions that delve deep toward the F1 racer's love for R&B, Hip Hop and soft rock.
Way to go Lewis. Perhaps you have now firmly established yourself as a frontrunner to win a hitherto unexplored F1 musical fest where one is not sure what performances your rivals might turn up with!
Amazingly, Hamilton is now also learning how to play the piano.
#1 Adrian Sutil - drawing and piano
The German speedster made his karting debut at the age of 14. He moved up to Formula BMW in 2003, moving two years later to the ASM team, where he would be partnered by his eventual F1 colleague, 3-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton.With his mother a professional musician, it is no surprise Sutil is an extremely accomplished pianist. He is also a talented artist - in conversation with an interviewer, Sutil drew a perfect rendition of an F1 car using only markers.He made his Formula One debut in 2007 with Spyker, staying with them when the team was rebranded as Force India the following year. He remained with the team for four seasons from 2008 to 2011, but that year was involved in an incident which marred his career.At a Shanghai nightclub, Sutil assaulted Genii capital CEO Eric Lux (Genii are the parent company of Lotus F1) with a champagne glass, causing him injuries that would require 24 stitches. The incident lost Sutil an F1 seat until 2013, when he returned to Force India. He was picked up by Sauber the following year before being dropped ahead of the 2015 season, and is currently a reserve driver for Williams.
