Football x F1 crossover: Chelsea captain Reece James opens up on friendship with Formula 1 icon Lewis Hamilton

The bond between the Chelsea defender and Hamilton became public following one of James’ proudest moments in a blue shirt. After Chelsea’s emphatic 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final, a result that crowned them world champions, Hamilton took to Instagram to post a deeply personal message celebrating James' success. 

He wrote: "Through it all, you kept your head up and kept pushing! Proud of you, brother.”

Recently, speaking in an interview with The BBC, James revealed how the two stars came to know each other and how their relationship evolved beyond mere admiration.

"We're reasonably close," he said. "He's probably the greatest F1 driver to have lived. I know we play different sports, but there are many similarities. He tries to help me where he can, when I'm going through difficult spells, because he has been at a high level for longer, and he's been through more."

Unfortunately for the Chelsea skipper, fitness woes have become an all-too-familiar part of his story. James was forced to withdraw from the England camp once again earlier in October after an issue emerged during Chelsea’s thrilling 2-1 win over Liverpool. To protect his long-term health, the decision was made to pull him out of international duty, allowing Manchester City’s rising talent O’Reilly to earn his first senior call-up in his place. At 25, James has already spent significant stretches of his career sidelined after suffering nine separate hamstring injuries, which have seen him miss over 400 days of football. The 2023–24 campaign was particularly brutal, with hamstring surgery forcing him to miss over 40 games for club and country.

Despite making his England debut back in 2020, James has amassed just 21 caps. It is a tally far lower than expected for someone of his calibre. Injuries have played their part, but the fierce competition for the right-back spot in Thomas Tuchel’s squad has also been unrelenting. With established stars like Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all vying for the same position, every setback was a hammer blow to his chances. However, Pat Nevin has argued that if he had remained fit, the full-back would have been worth in gold. 

"If Reece James was fit, he'd be worth £150 million," he said. "He's just stupidly good. He is that brilliant. There's nobody like him. And honestly, I put him above Trent Alexander-Arnold. At his best, fully fit, he was unbeatable. His quality going forward was staggering. He looked like a man playing with boys most of the time. But it's back to the injury thing. Had he been fully fit for the last couple of years he would be England’s definite fullback, 100%. I'm not even concerned. England are quite strong in that position, but 100 % it’s him. On top of that, he would be worth fortunes.

"Every club in the world would want him, but Chelsea wouldn't sell him. Why would they? Because they'd be the best of the best," he said. "The problem you've got now is the injuries. Nobody's going to pay that money for him. However good he is, if he's only going to play 10, 15 games and don't just look at last season, you've got to look at the last three or four. You've to look at them all. And it's nothing against him."

After the international break, James returned to action for Chelsea in a commanding 3–0 win over Nottingham Forest. He was among the scorers and will start again against Sunderland this Saturday.