At the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar, and Liam Lawson broke down the hobbies, habits, and escapes that keep them grounded during a year-round racing grind.
Formula 1 never actually hits pause.
Even when the season ends, the work doesn’t — the flights, the prep, the training, the sponsor days, the media weeks. It’s a year-round grind, which means the drivers have to find their pockets of entertainment wherever they can.
At this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, I spent time with Red Bull and sat down with three of the paddock’s most charismatic young talents — Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda. Away from the simulator and the garage, they each have a distinct way of unplugging, whether that means anime deep dives, music sessions, or a little cage-side MMA. Here’s how they’re keeping themselves entertained when the calendar won’t slow down.
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Yuki Tsunoda: Anime, Cooking, and Building a Business Empire
Tsunoda, who drives for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team alongside Max Verstappen, is one of the sport’s clearest reminders that personality still matters in F1. Fans love him for his honesty; he doesn’t do polished or overly curated, and he doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not. Off the track, that shows up in the way he shapes his downtime.
Cooking has become a real creative outlet for Tsunoda, but it’s also opened doors. His partnership with HexClad and his connection to Gordon Ramsay didn’t happen because he was actively seeking brand deals; they happened because he genuinely loves being in the kitchen. It’s the same with padel, another hobby he picked up that has turned into its own identity.
Anime remains his longest-running obsession. What fans might not know is how deeply it ties into his lifestyle as a global athlete. Long flights become built-in binge windows, and the shows he gravitates toward — from Naruto to Major to Demon Slayer — anchor him in nostalgia, family, and routine. In late October, Tsunoda announced a partnership with anime streaming service Crunchyroll, bringing exclusive content to the platform and the brand’s logo to his driving helmet.
These are Tsunoda’s bookmarks in a year that otherwise blurs together. His off-track world is a blend of comfort and curiosity. It’s how he resets, how he stays connected to the parts of himself that existed long before F1, and how he keeps his life from becoming only about racing.
Isack Hadjar & Liam Lawson
Hadjar and Lawson share an easy chemistry beyond racing under the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One banner. They are two young drivers who are just as passionate about what they watch and listen to as they are about what happens on track. Their on-camera moments show their playful side, but off camera, their interests run a lot deeper.
Hadjar’s off-track interests tend to match his driving style — high-energy and detail-driven. He follows anime closely and keeps up with new releases, but he’s just as invested in gaming and sim racing, something he’s been into since karting days. He likes the technical side of getting quicker, even when he’s racing virtually. Outside of screens, he’s getting deeper into combat sports. Hadjar said he’s gotten hooked on the energy of watching caged fights like MMA, especially after experiencing his first event up close.
Lawson’s interests stay close to what shaped him: music and cars. He’s played guitar for years, and his fascination with cars extends well past F1. And when he wants something totally different, he leans into big franchise films — Transformers has become a recent favorite.
Together, Hadjar and Lawson represent the version of F1 fans rarely get to see: two 20-somethings who decompress the same way everyone else does — movies, music, streaming binges, and the thrill of watching elite athletes in other sports.
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