Turkish 5-year-old motorsport prodigy Zayn Sofuoglu meets F1 legends at Qatar GP

Zayn Sofuoglu, the 5-year-old son of five-time world champion Turkish MotoGP legend Kenan Sofuoglu, and Türkiye’s youngest future motorsports star met F1 pilots Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Qatar Grand Prix on Nov. 28 and 29.

Lando Norris, McLaren’s young British driver, welcomed Zayn on Nov. 28 and posed for a photo with him. Sharing a story about the meeting on his social media account, Norris hailed Zayn, saying, “Good to meet you, dude.”

On Nov. 29, Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton, the British F1 driver who holds a joint-record of seven world championship titles alongside Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher, hosted Zayn at the Mercedes pit wall, joined by fellow Mercedes racers George Russell and Pierre Gasly.

The Mercedes team introduced their pit wall setup to Zayn while continuing preparations for the upcoming races.

‘I like Max the most among F1 drivers’: Zayn Sofuoglu’s paddock tour

Following Mercedes’ warm reception, Zayn met with Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen, the sensational champion of the last four seasons. Zayn toured the paddock hand-in-hand with Verstappen and walked with him to the Red Bull garage.

In an interview with sports-focused BeIn Sports Türkiye, Zayn said, “I came to see the Formula 1 drivers, and I like Max the most.”

Kenan Sofuoglu shared his thoughts on his son’s meetings with the F1 racers, saying, “Our purpose for coming here is for Zayn to see the F1 racers and dream of being like them. I believe that entering this paddock and spending time here will be beneficial.”

Zayn Sofuoglu is the most famous among young motorcycle racers, widely regarded as Türkiye’s future motorsports star. Despite his young age, Zayn has already caught the attention of the international motorsport community, having recently won the Türkiye Supermoto Championship on Oct. 6.