The main football event of the year is in full swing: the Euro Cup in Germany. This event, of course, has nothing to do with Formula 1, although if you look closely, among the Euro participants you can find a prototype of each of the currently existing Formula 1 teams. Here is a list of national football teams that have many common characteristics with the Royal Races teams.
Disclaimer: This article is purely entertaining in nature and is not intended to be analytical material.
Red Bull – French team
Everything is simple here: the two most successful teams of our time. Red Bull has three individual titles in the last three years, the French team won the World Championship, as well as a World Championship final and a European Championship in an eight-year period. This comparison is also supported by the presence of the main star of the championship in the lineup: for the Bulls it is Max Verstappen, for the French national team it is Kylian Mbappé.
By the way, in both cases, the power of yesterday’s dominators has been a little shaken this year: Red Bull lost up to three races in the first 10 stages (something unthinkable for last season), and the French team took second place in the group, losing to the much less skilled Austrians with only two goals in three games.
Kylian Mbappé at the Monaco Grand Prix
Photo: Peter Fox/Getty Images
“Mercedes” – German team
The issue here is not at all about national parallels. Both teams had successful periods in the 2010s, followed by sad declines. Mercedes dominated for seven years and, with the start of the new tenth anniversary, immediately lost the title in the individual championship. Well, with the advent of the era of new technical regulations, he completely fell out of the cohort of contenders for victory. As for the German team, the Bundesteam, after winning the World Cup twice in a row, could not get past the group stage of the World Cup.
Furthermore, the two German teams have in common the farewell to iconic personalities: Mercedes, after 12 years of cooperation, parts ways with Lewis Hamilton, and Toni Kroos ends his playing career in his home European Championship.
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Ferrari – England team
Well, first of all, both teams have cult status: Ferrari is the F1 team with the most titles and the British are the founders of football. And secondly, despite the aura of legend, resources and great ambitions, somehow it does not achieve the result expected by a demanding fan base. The Scuderia has been sad for 17 years without an individual title, and the English team has only won the World Championship once and never the European Championship.
McLaren – Spanish national team
Both McLaren and the Spanish team seriously regressed in the mid-2010s: the Woking team suffered under Honda, giving rise to memes like “GP2 Engie”, and Furia Roja initially failed to get past the group stage of the World Championship ( in current tournament winner status), and then dropped out of major tournaments twice in a row after the round of 16. However, for both teams the dark times were behind them: McLaren remembered what it was like to fight for victory and the Spanish team survived the generational change with relative success.
By the way, the young stars are another factor that unites the two teams. McLaren has the youngest driver pairing in the peloton: Norris and Piastri are only 47 years old. Well, the Spanish can boast of the youngest player in the history of the Euro Cup: 16-year-old Lamin Yamal.
Michel Salgado vs Fernando Alonso
Photo: Charles Coates/Getty Images
Aston Martin – Croatian national team
At the intersection of the past and current 10 years, the Croatian national team spent the most successful period in its history: silver and bronze in two world championships. Lawrence Stroll’s team has a similar situation: in 2020, Racing Point came fourth in the team standings, and last season Aston Martin more or less consistently fought for the podium. But this year the results of both teams are much more modest: the Croatians could not leave the group, and the “greens” left the list of contenders for high places.
What the two teams also have in common is their reliance on older stars to contrast with the younger, less impressive generation. In Croatia, hopes were pinned on Modric, 38, and Aston Martin is totally dependent on Alonso’s performances; There is little hope for young Stroll.
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Alpin – Belgium National Team
The famous “golden generation” of the Belgian national team has practically disappeared: only a couple of its representatives still play for the national team. Overall, the Belgian team has surpassed the peak of its capabilities. Something similar can be said about Alpin: Renault invested a lot of money in its team, but there were still no results, and today the French formula program is gradually turning into a dead end (the rejection of engines of its own production is an indirect confirmation of this).
Alpin and the Belgian team are also linked by conflicts within the team. The French said goodbye to Alonso and Piastri with a scandal, and are also experiencing a crisis in relations with Ocon, who, according to rumors, was almost going to be fired right during the season (legal aspects got in the way). As for the “Red Devils”, everything is not calm for them either: due to a conflict with Domenico Tedesco, the strongest Belgian goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, did not go to the Euro.
“RB” – Georgian national team
The Georgia national team is similar to the youth team of the “Bulls” in terms of the principles of formation of the composition: both teams can be considered a fusion of experience and youth. At RB, 24-year-old Tsunoda shares a garage with the aging Riccardo, and in the Georgian national team, young leaders Kvaratskhelia, Davitashvili, Mikautadze and Mamardashvili (all 23 years old) take the field alongside veterans Kverkvelia and Kashiya.
Zinedine Zidane and Max Verstappen
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Williams – Dutch national team
Two once great teams that have suffered a major decline over the last 10 years. The three-time world runners-up missed two major tournaments (Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup), and Williams, in the late 2010s, became the worst team at the end of the season three times in a row. However, both Williams and the Dutch team have begun to come to their senses in recent years: both teams have good prospects for a quick revival (especially the Dutch).
“Kick-Sauber” – Swiss national team
Again, this is not a question of nationality at all. The main characteristic that unites both teams is their amazing ability to remain among the elite without having impressive resources. Sauber, one of the most modest teams in the peloton, has been successfully surviving in Formula 1 for more than 30 years, and the Swiss team regularly plays in the playoffs of major international tournaments (in the last Euro Cup they completely eliminated the French, full of stars). Overall, two average players who somehow found their way among elite teams.
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Haas – Scotland team
Both teams do not have the youngest and most promising squads. This season, Haas has the most experienced pair of drivers (Magnussen and Hulkenberg have 67 between them), and the Scots brought the oldest team to the Euros. In addition, both teams have rather vague prospects in common: the Scottish team, even if it is selected for a major tournament, demonstrates a mediocre game and a mediocre result, and Haas is today, perhaps, the main candidate for resale among the entire F1 . equipment.
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