When you are used to life moving at 200mph, what happens when you find the checkered flag being waved on your F1 career? With only 22 coveted places on the grid and an average career end-point in their late 30s; how do drivers choose to reinvent themselves after life in the fast lane? While some opt for a quieter retirement, the eclectic nature of other chosen pursuits range from charity work to membership of the magic circle. The roads some of our celebrated drivers have taken following life behind the wheel may surprise you.
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Driven by Good
A significant number of drivers have committed their post-racing time to founding, funding or supporting incredible charitable organisations and unique ventures. Here we delve into a selection of some of this impactful work.
Sir Jackie Stewart OBE
| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 1965 – 1973 |
| Race starts: | 99 |
| Podiums: | 27 |
| World Championships: | 3 (1969, 1971, 1973) |
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During his nine seasons in F1, Sir Jackie Stewart earned many accolades in addition to his racing prowess. Arguably the most notable of these was his championship for thorough review and overhaul of safety, fuelled by personal experience, the tragic loss of friends and fellow drivers and his own serious near miss in 1966. From commentary and media, to setting up his own F1 team in 1999 (Stewart Grand Prix team later to become Jaguar), Sir Jackie has had a varied career post F1, however his charitable foundation has become ‘the most important race of Sir Jackie’s life’
In 2014, Sir Jackie’s beloved wife, Helen, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. Experiencing first-hand how this devastating condition not only impacts the individual but their families and loved ones, he was determined to take steps to accelerate research funding into the condition and set up the charity Race Against Dementia. Since its beginnings in 2016, the charity has invested >£20 million into dementia research worldwide, with novel initiatives to provide rapid funding for new and emerging ideas (the Ignition Fund).
A unique feature of the charity involves researchers being trained by highly skilled professionals from inside of leading F1 teams, including data analysts and strategists.
The idea is to not only provide funding, but to change the mindset and approach to research, focusing on ‘precision, pace, adaptation and continuous improvement.’ If you attend a race weekend in person, you may well come across the team promoting their great work and raising awareness with fans, as I did in 2024 at Silverstone.
As well as Race Against Dementia, Sir Jackie is also involved in charitable work for Dyslexia Scotland, the Grand Prix Trust and the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
Jenson Button MBE
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| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 1994 – 2008 |
| Race starts: | 246 |
| Podiums: | 62 |
| Race wins: | 13 |
Following his departure from F1, Jenson competed in Japan’s premier GT category, the Super GT GT500 Championship. In 2018 he claimed victory with co-driver Naoki Yamamoto and Team Kunimitsu, making him the first rookie to win the GT500 class championship since 2005.
Aside from alternate racing, charitable work has featured heavily. Amongst the many organisations Jenson supports, he is a longstanding sports ambassador for the Princes Trust, helping promote it’s programmes and fundraising efforts. As a patron of the Make a Wish Foundation, he actively helps make wishes come true for children fighting critical medical conditions.
Following his departure from F1, Jenson competed in Japan’s premier GT category, the Super GT GT500 Championship. In 2018 he claimed victory with co-driver Naoki Yamamoto and Team Kunimitsu, making him the first rookie to win the GT500 class championship since 2005.
Aside from alternate racing, charitable work has featured heavily. Amongst the many organisations Jenson supports, he is a longstanding sports ambassador for the Princes Trust, helping promote it’s programmes and fundraising efforts. As a patron of the Make a Wish Foundation, he actively helps make wishes come true for children fighting critical medical conditions.
David Coulthard MBE
| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 1994 – 2008 |
| Race starts: | 246 |
| Podiums: | 62 |
| Race wins: | 13 |
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Most of us will be used to seeing the face of ‘DC’ on our TV screens, imparting his knowledge and experience at the track on race weekends. A former driver for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull F1 teams, his career since retiring from the cockpit in late 2008 has continued both in front of the camera and off screen.
Following a crash in 2003 at a charity race which left 2-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner’s 19-year-old son paraplegic, Wings for Life was born. Co-founded by Kinigadner and friend Dietrich Mateschitz, the charity funds research into spinal cord injury treatment and the search for a cure, with Red Bull covering the administrative costs.
David has served as a longstanding ambassador for the charity and at his final Formula 1 race during the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, ran a special Wings for Life livery on his Red Bull RB4 to raise awareness. More than Equal, co-founded in 2022 by DC and entrepreneur Karel Komarek, has been a fundamental vehicle for understanding and overcoming the barriers to female racing in F1. Through partnership with 70 stakeholders and information gathered from 147 countries worldwide, it has been possible to analyse and interpret data, key in reducing access and performance barriers to females in motorsport.
In 2024, More than Equal announced its first cohort of female drivers who had been through their own preparation programme. Partnering with F1 Academy and with Susie Wolff joining the advisory board, this is a hugely important and exciting programme, key to providing the information and resources required to accelerate the encouraging increase of females in motorsport.
DC is also the current president of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), which owns and operates Silverstone circuit and act as the ‘Guardian of British Motorsport’, not only maintaining the circuit but fostering emerging young driver talent.
Waving the green flag
Several drivers have shifted their race for the podium to a race for the planet as their careers on track have ended, aiming to take a more eco conscious approach and put the brakes on climate change.
Sebastian Vettel
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| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 2007-2022 |
| Race starts: | 299 |
| Podiums: | 122 |
| Race wins: | 53 |
| Championship Titles: | 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) |
Following an F1 career spanning 15 years, a major focus of Sebastian Vettel’s since retiring from the fast lane has been environmental advocacy. The V5 Projects, launched in 2023, focus on worldwide environmental concerns, aiming to raise awareness and fund local projects. Examples of previous initiatives include SOS Baltic sea, F①REST – Drawn Together (creation of a singular art installation by combining thousands of individual tree drawings to support reforestation efforts)
and Race without Trace (demonstrating the efficacy of fully fossil-free fuels in motorsport through its practical use in historic racing cars). An insect hotel at the 2023 Japanese GP, named ‘Buzzin’ Corner’ and a race-car shaped bee habitat near the Red Bull Ring in July 2021 highlighted the importance of pollinators and biodiversity. Vettel’s environmental efforts were recognised in April 2026, when he was awarded the prestigious Perfect World Foundation Award for conservation.
Nico Rosberg
| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 2006-2016 |
| Race starts: | 206 |
| Podiums: | 57 |
| Race wins: | 23 |
| Championship Titles: | 1 (2016) |
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Like Sebastian, Nico’s passions following F1 have taken a green turn. As well as his regular appearances as a media pundit and presenter, his perhaps lesser-known enterprises have earned him the title of eco-entrepreneur by those in the business.
Rosberg Ventures (launched as an enormous $100M venture capital platform in 2022) is committed to fund emerging start-ups in environmental areas such as renewable energy, decarbonisation, ‘clean mobility’ and climate technology and research. He also co-founded and launched The Greentech Festival in 2018. Running from 2019-2024, this annual event in Berlin served as Europe's leading trade fair and global platform for discussion and shaping of cutting-edge green technologies.
Extreme E off-road racing series, which ran from 2021-2025, was the first of its kind series in several ways. Not only all-electric, it was the world’s first championship to promote gender equality, requiring teams of both male and female drivers, with equal time behind the wheel. Nico won 2 championships with his own team, Rosberg X Racing (RXR) before the series shifted to the new hydrogen powered Extreme H. While active, his team partnered with global institutions in supporting "Legacy Projects," such as working with foundations in Senegal to monitor water resources and counter deforestation.
Just 5 years after his departure from F1, Nico was awarded the 2021 European Culture Award for the Environment, demonstrating just how much his passion and drive for sustainability had impacted in such a short period.
Changing lanes
Some drivers cannot resist the pull of the race, be it on 4 wheels or 2. Here are some former F1 drivers who continue to compete in alterative series.
Kimi Räikönnen
| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 2001-2021 |
| Race starts: | 349 |
| Podiums: | 103 |
| Race wins: | 21 |
| Championship Titles: | 1 |
With an F1 career spanning 2 decades it is perhaps not so surprising that Räikönnen has found it difficult to put life on track completely behind him. As continuing team principle for Kawasaki racing team MXGP, a position held since 2022, he joined the celebrations in claiming the World Championship title in 2025, with racer Romain Febvre driving to victory. Kimi also tried his hand at NASCAR, racing at Watkins Glen in 2022 however his debut race was short-lived after being caught up in a ‘domino-effect’ crash. At COTA in 2023 (the scene of his last F1 race win), Kimi ran as high as 4th position until 8 laps from the end. Repeated race restarts, inevitably affecting tyre quality, brought about an unfortunate P29 finish. Interestingly, Jenson Button took part in the same race, fairing slightly better with a P18 result. When questioned on his future in NASCAR post- race, Kimi said ‘’I don’t know, nobody knows’’. Maybe we’re yet to see him take his final checkered flag behind the wheel.
Kevin Magnussen
| Career Highlights: | |
|---|---|
| F1 driver: | 2014-2024 |
| Race starts: | 185 |
| Podiums: | 1 |
| Best finish: P2 | P2 |
Having driven for McLaren, Renault and most recently Haas, Magnussen’s post-F1 career transitioned to the hypercar class, signing with BMW Motorsport to pilot the BMW M Hybrid V8. He has driven endurance for the team in the WEC/IMSA since 2025. A debut in NASCAR in June this year at the Anduril 250 at (Naval Base Coronado circuit) gave a P27 finish. Driving car no.91, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, he was recruited by Trackhouse Racing's Project 91, which aims to bring elite, non-NASCAR drivers to stock car racing.
Wildcards:
- Paolo Barilla, F1 driver for Minardi 1989-1990, took over his family’s famous Barilla brand pasta business. He was on the 2018 Forbes’ billionaires list.
- Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 World Champion (driving for Williams), released a full-length, dual-language acoustic rock album titled Private Paradise in 2007. Unfortunately, it only managed to reach no.49 on the Quebec charts and received harsh reviews!
- Jaime Alguersuari competed in Formula 1 from 2009 to 2011. After leaving motorsport, he entered the global electronic music scene, releasing multiple albums and playing at prominent international clubs like DC-10 and Amnesia.
- Following a high-speed crash at Le Mans in 2010 from a tyre blow-out, former F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell experienced significant speech and memory impairment. A left-field therapy suggestion led to Mansell receiving training from within the Magic Circle as part of his cognitive recovery. In 2011, he was actually accepted into the circle himself.
Ultimately, although drivers may leave the cars on track, the top-level motivation, passion and focus that is required to succeed in F1 often becomes channeled into new ventures and enterprises. Whether chasing podiums in endurance racing, leveraging global platforms for business and philanthropy, or championing groundbreaking research ventures, these athletes consistently demonstrate that their drive doesn’t dissipate when the helmet comes off. Transitioning from the racetrack to the next chapter requires the same resilience and adaptability they needed to develop their racing prowess. For many, their legacy will continue not only in their historical racing careers, but in the roads they travel after the final checkered flag.
