It’s a chilly winter morning. There’s a bit of a hustle and bustle outside gate 28 of Madrid’s biggest stadium, the legendary Santiago Bernabéu, which is currently being renovated. The presence of a few police cars and TV crews suggests this is no ordinary day. At a quarter to ten, Esteban Ocon pulls up to the entrance to the Real Madrid museum in a green Alpine A110S.
Yet the F1 driver is more of a guest than a protagonist today. A few selfies later, he joins GP Racing in the huddle to wait for an even bigger sports star – the man who, as player and manager, has won four Champions League trophies and three La Liga titles with the team that owns this very stadium. Zinedine Zidane arrives a few minutes later in another A110. The purple hoodie grants him anonymity for only a few seconds. His distinctive look and walk can’t be disguised. “Zizou!” shouts a group of teenagers who happen to be nearby and, as he makes his way towards the F1 driver waiting for him no more than a dozen metres away, Zidane manages to attract a swarm of passers by and random visitors who happened to have bought a ticket to the Real Madrid museum at just the right moment.
The crowd, which also includes a handful