Lewis Hamilton's Emotional Arsenal Title Moment Amid F1 Football Talks

On a grey Montreal Thursday that should have been all about tyre choices and weather radars, Lewis Hamilton’s voice caught for a very different reason.

Arsenal.

The Ferrari driver, a lifelong Gooner, admitted he shed a tear when Arsenal finally ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League crown, confirmed on Tuesday after Manchester City were held 1-1 by Bournemouth.

“I shed a tear, to be honest,” Hamilton said, the smile giving away just how much it meant. The title didn’t just land in north London; it landed back in his childhood.

He went straight there in his mind – to Stevenage, to a five-year-old with a ball at his feet and a choice to make.

“I remember being five years old, playing football around the corner in Stevenage. I was the only Black kid in the area, and everyone supported West Ham, Tottenham, or Manchester United.”

The story turns on a nudge.

“She (his sister) gave me a little dig in the arm and said, ‘You have to support Arsenal.’ We had a laugh about that the other day,” he added.

That playful shove all those years ago has now carried him to this moment: an eight-time world champion-in-waiting with Ferrari, celebrating a club that finally climbed back to the top of English football. The Premier League trophy, once a distant memory from the Invincibles era, is returning to the Emirates. For Hamilton, it felt personal.

Gasly flies the PSG flag

Hamilton wasn’t the only one steering the conversation away from apexes and braking points.

A few garages down, Pierre Gasly seized his chance to plant a different flag in the ground. The Alpine driver, never shy of a sharp line, lit up when the talk turned to Paris.

“I’m glad we started talking about real stuff,” Gasly quipped, leaning into his role as the paddock’s proud Paris St Germain man.

PSG have just wrapped up a fifth successive Ligue 1 title, clinched with a 2-0 win away to their closest challengers Lens. Now the French champions are heading into a Champions League showdown with Arsenal, and Gasly is very clear where his heart lies.

He called it a “fantastic game of football” in the making, but there was no hint of neutrality. “I’ll obviously be rooting for PSG, and hopefully they can bring in a second Champions League,” he said.

Hamilton’s childhood allegiance against Gasly’s Parisian pride. The Champions League tie has already started, at least verbally, in the F1 paddock.

Perez plots a World Cup dash

Further down the pitlane, another driver had football on his mind, but with a very different mission.

Sergio Perez is planning a mid-season detour that would make even the most hardened travel coordinator wince. The Cadillac driver wants to fly back from Europe during the campaign to watch Mexico at the upcoming World Cup, with matches scheduled in his hometown of Guadalajara.

“I literally have to come just for the game and then go back to Europe. We will make it happen,” Perez said.

No hesitation. No half measures. A World Cup on home soil is non-negotiable.

“It’s a World Cup at home. Anything can happen,” he added, hopeful but realistic about Mexico’s chances of making a deep run.

For Perez, it is about being there, in the stands, when his country walks out on home turf. Points and podiums can wait 24 hours.

Antonelli caught between Brazil and Messi

At the sharp end of the championship, Kimi Antonelli faces a different kind of dilemma.

With Italy missing from the World Cup, the Mercedes man finds himself in the strange position of having no national team to follow. So he is looking elsewhere for inspiration.

“I do really like Brazil, for example, the way they play the game,” he said. The flair, the rhythm, the swagger – it all appeals.

But then comes the other pull.

“Again, I’m also cheering for Messi, one of my favourite players when I was little, and also I got to meet him in Miami.”

No Italy, but a soft spot for Brazil and a deep admiration for Lionel Messi. For Antonelli, the World Cup will be watched with divided loyalties, but not diminished passion.

“Italy is not in it, unfortunately. So we’re going to wait another four years, maybe,” he added. “It’s a disaster, but it’s okay.”

From Hamilton’s tear for Arsenal to Gasly’s PSG bravado, from Perez’s planned dash to Guadalajara to Antonelli’s search for a team to love, the Canadian Grand Prix weekend has already revealed something simple and striking: even in the most high-tech paddock in motorsport, football still finds a way to steal the conversation.