When Pope Francis blessed a Formula E single-seater

The Holy Father, who became Pope in 2013, received some of the pilots and officials of the Formula E in 2018, on the occasion of the first E-Prix de Rome. Pope Francis received all these wonderful people in a papal audience, before blessing the car first-generation Formula E car, which took to the track that weekend. This wasn't the only time during his reign that Jorge Mario Bergoglio hosted personalities from the world of motorsport.

A few months later, they were pilots of MotoGP, and in particular the reigning world champion Marc Márquez, who were received by the sovereign pontiff. The latter gave a speech to the pilots present: "Your presence gives me the opportunity to highlight the importance of sport in everyday society. The Church considers sporting activity, practiced with the utmost respect for the rules, to be a good educational tool, especially for the younger generations, something that is ultimately irreplaceable. Sport encourages self-improvement and sacrifice, while increasing the spirit of loyalty and respect for the rules."

Antonio Giovinazzi, then pilot Alfa Romeo en Formula 1, had also met the Pope at the beginning of 2020. The Italian, now at Ferrari en WEC, had offered his helmet from that time to the Pope. Francesco Bagnaia, two-time MotoGP world champion, met with the pontiff last December, giving him a book on the occasion retracing his adventure with Ducati, which led him to his two world titles in 2022 and 2023.

We were very lucky to meet Pope Francis and get a blessing for our first child during the Rome ePrix 2018.

It was an emotional moment.

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/EiPK6xFRcu

— Lucas Di Grassi (@LucasdiGrassi) April 21, 2025