14 Things You Should Know About Russian President Vladimir Putin

5) Massive Sports Fan (5 of 14)

5) Massive Sports Fan (5 of 14)

Vladimir Putin never misses an opportunity to help promote sports in Russia. He is a huge sports fan and follows Formula One closely. The Russian president signed a deal with Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 boss in 2010, in order to bring F1 racing back to Russia for 7 more years from 2014 to 2020.

Here is the Russian president sitting in a Renault Formula One team car on November the 7^th, 2010, before he took it for a test drive at the racing track in the Leningrad Region. Now that’s a sight that you’ll never see, a president behind the wheels of a Formula One race car.