Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, 07 February 2026, 10:57 / Updated Saturday, 07 February 2026 10:57
Over the years, four Formula 1 drivers have competed in the Winter Olympics. Below, their stories.
Limit situations, high pulse, forces and speeds impossible for untrained people to bear – all these elements describe the profession of a Formula 1 driver.
For some of them, high-speed circuits and flat tires were not enough to quench their thirst for adrenaline. They went further and combined hours behind the wheel with the practice of extreme sports, some of them even at the highest possible level: the Olympic Games.
The official F1 website featured their stories.
Divina Galica: first on skis, then behind the wheel
We start with Divine Galicianformer British athlete, now 81 years old. Yes, she raced in Formula 1, being one of only 5 women who can boast of such a performance. He did it in 3 rounds of F1, one in 1976, the other two in 1978, without qualifying for the main race in any of them.
But by the time she tried her luck in F1, Divina had cemented her reputation as one of the greatest British female skiers in history.
In 1964, when she was only 19 years old, she competed at the Innsbruck edition, qualifying in the slalom, giant slalom and downhill events. Four years later, in Grenoble, he took 8th place in the giant slalom event. In 1972 he improved his result at the Sapporo Games: 7th place.
If he did not get medals at the Olympic Games, he managed to get on the podium in two editions of the World Championship, in the downhill event.
Alfonso de Portago: 4th place in bobsleigh, a year before his tragic death
Spanish Alfonso of Portugalborn in 1928, competed in 5 Formula 1 races in 1956 and 1957, even managing to finish on the podium in the '56 British Grand Prix.
He died in 1957 following an accident in another category while competing in the 24th – and final – edition of the Mille Miglia race. The explosion of the front tire caused him to lose control of the car, which entered a telephone pole at high speed.
Between his seasons in Formula 1, in 1956 he participated in the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, part of the two-man bobsled team. And how close he was to the podium, just 0.16 seconds away! He also competed in the four-person bobsled event, finishing 9th there.
Bob Said: An Unlucky F1 Race, Then Bob
the american Boris Robert “Bob” Saidborn 1932, died 2002, started in just one Formula 1 race in 1969 at Sebring, Florida. Unfortunately for him, he had to retire from the very first lap after he was hooked and his car spun.
He had more success in bobsleigh than in Formula 1, later participating in two editions of the Winter Olympics, first in 1968 and then in 1972. In the first, in Grenoble, he placed 10th with a crew of four. In '72, in the same test, the result was weaker, 14th place, plus a 19th place in the two-person bobsled.
Robin Widdows and the parallels with Bob Said
The British also flirted with the bean Robin Widdowsstill alive, now aged 83. Like Bob Said, Widdows competed in just one Formula 1 race, in the 1968 British Grand Prix.
Again similar to the American, he did not finish the race, having to retire halfway through due to car problems.
Four years prior to that appearance in Formula One, Widdows had competed in his first edition of the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, where he placed 13th in a four-man crew. Four years later, he rivaled Bob Said in Grenoble and finished 7th, ahead of the American crew.
A former test pilot is going to compete in Milano-Cortina!
He can also make his place on the list Simona de Silvestro (37 years old), Swiss-Italian athlete who fulfilled, for a short time, the role of test driver for the Sauber team, replaced in 2026 in the F1 grid by Audi.
Simona, a former driver in IndyCar between 2010 and 2022, with a period of participation in the Formula E series, will represent Italy at the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, in the monobob and two-person bobsled events.
