Roger Federer and $100 million-worth 4x F1 World Champion meet up for unexpected golf session

Four-time F1 champion Alain Prost posted an Instagram picture of himself and tennis legend Roger Federer enjoying time out on the golf course. The two sporting superstars, multiple winners in their respective sports, are known to enjoy swinging a club post-retirement, although their abilities on the links are less certain.

Prost was quick to make his respect for Federer known, writing:

"Such an honour playing golf with the legend and my idol Roger Federer"

Federer, a 20-time Major winner, declared last August that he was taking the sport up in earnest, having retired from tennis in September 2022.

“We’ll see how good I become," Federer told Hypegolf, "But I just want to get to a 12 handicap as quick as possible, and then we’ll see."

French driver Prost's golf credentials are less clear. The 69-year-old has often been pictured on a golf course, most famously during the 1990 United States Grand Prix at Streets of Phoenix when he played alongside Nigel Mansell and Cesare Fiori.

Interviewed In 1985, his arch-rival Ayrton Senna was moved to joke about Prost's golfing prowess:

"Alain has a Golf handicap of 18 hehe"

Both Roger Federer and Alain Prost are no strangers to fierce rivalries in their respective sports

Day Eight: The Championships - Wimbledon 2023 - Source: Getty

Roger Federer and Alain Prost will have had plenty to talk about as they negotiated 18 holes. Fierce competitors in their respective sports, and habitual winners, their careers were marked by intense rivalries with fellow competitors - Prost most notably with Brazilian Senna, and Federer with long-term adversary Rafael Nadal.

Prost and Ayrton Senna dominated F1 in the 1980s and early 1990s. At the height of the rivalry, they were teammates at McLaren, and such was their grip on the sport in 1988 that they won every Grands Prix bar one. Senna took the world championship by a mere three points.

Their relationship was often marred by collisions on the track, but off-track there was a mutual respect which became evident after Senna's tragic death at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Before the race, Senna greeted Prost, now a TV pundit, warmly:

"A special hello to my...to our dear friend, Alain. We all miss you Alain."

Federer's rivalry with Nadal was similarly intense. They played 40 times on the ATP tour, with Nadal winning 24 matches. They met nine times in Major finals, a record for two players - and their near-5-hour 2008 Wimbledon final, which Nadal won 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7, remains arguably the greatest final ever.

Despite their on-court relationship, the two players, now retired, have recognized each other's contribution to their sport. On Nadal's retirement last year, Federer said:

"We almost miss it, playing each other every weekend. Back in the day we couldn't stand each other probably for that. He's a great man.

Alain Prost and Roger Federer did not reveal the winner of the golf game on their social media, but given their experience of playing top-level sport against fierce competition, it's guaranteed that the two modern greats would have played to win.