McLaren pours cold water on bizarre claim that Donald Trump is set to drive one of its F1 cars
By BEN NAGLE
McLaren has been forced to deny a bizarre report that Donald Trump will drive one of its Formula 1 cars in Austin next week.
News of the rumor began to spread around the F1 paddock on Saturday afternoon when Canal+ claimed the President was set for an unprecedented drive at the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix.
In a tweet to its 384,000 followers on X, the French broadcaster reported: 'Donald Trump will drive an F1 car next week!
'Info Julien Febreau: The American President will be driving an F1 car in Austin.'
When asked by the Daily Mail at the Canadian Grand Prix, a McLaren spokesperson quickly poured cold water on the baffling repot, quickly denying there is any truth to it.
Canal+'s post was also quickly removed after being widely shared around social media.
Donald Trump speaks to McLaren CEO Zak Brown at the Miami Grand Prix last year
McLaren insists the President will not be jumping in one of its cars in Austin next week
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Febreau, the Canal+ reporter initially credited with the information, has worked in F1 for over a decade and himself has 257k followers on X.
Aside from whether McLaren would even want the President in one of its cars, there are also question marks over whether his 6ft 2, 224-pound frame would fit behind the wheel of a modern F1 car.
The tallest drivers on the current grid are Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon, who both stand at 6ft 1, but weigh considerably less than Trump, at 145lbs and 163lbs respectively.
Trump was a guest of the team in Miami last year and was given a tour of the garage
F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri drives his McLaren in Montreal ahead of Sunday's race
Trump has previously attended Formula 1 races, and was pictured alongside McLaren's CEO Zak Brown at the Miami Grand Prix last season.
During that visit, he also toured the McLaren garage and spoke to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
In the wake of Trump's visit to their garage, McLaren released a statement which read: 'McLaren is a non-political organisation however we recognise and respect the office of President of the United States so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted alongside the president of the FIA and the CEO’s of Liberty Media and Formula 1.
'We were honoured that McLaren Racing was chosen as the representative of F1 which gave us the opportunity to showcase the world class engineering that we bring to motorsport.'
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