How Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Fellow Formula 1 Stars Celebrated Christmas

Christmas Day marked 32 days since Lewis Hamilton claimed his second Formula One world title, but it already seems like a distant memory.

The sport moves so fast, both literally and metaphorically, that there is barely time to pause for breath, although a cutdown on testing in recent years has allowed drivers and teams to enjoy a prolonged winter break.

Christmas is, of course, central to that downtime. And with F1's competitors sharing their festivities via social media, here is how Hamilton and several of his peers celebrated the day.

Less than a month after securing his second championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton treated his close family and friends to a pre-Christmas skiing trip.

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My brother and I hitting the slopes last week! Great fun! #Godisthegreatest #HamiltonBros pic.twitter.com/UVZAaWLMGc

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 22, 2014"

On the day itself, the Mercedes driver made his pet bulldogs the stars of the show, posting an image via his Instagram profile of Coco and Roscoe—who earlier this month accompanied the 29-year-old to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards—wearing Santa hats.

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg, Hamilton's Silver Arrows team-mate, was found undertaking the chore of decorating his tree, but had left it a tad late with just three days until Dec. 25.

The German later posted a funky image of his crew celebrating in the garage, wishing his supporters a happy Christmas and a "fantastic 2015."

Daniel Ricciardo spent Christmas in his homeland of Australia but wasn't in the mood for relaxing. The Red Bull driver, who finished third in the 2014 drivers' championship, hurled around the Outback on a dirt bike on Christmas Eve before keeping things simple on the day.

Relax, in contrast, is Jenson Button's middle name. The 2009 world champion was recently rewarded a new contract with McLaren, which will extend his Formula One career to 16 seasons, and he celebrated by taking off to Hawaii—where his girlfriend, Jessica Michibata, is an ambassador—for Christmas.

It was from the U.S. state that Button posted an image of a laid-back Santa Claus taking it easy on the beach.

Whereas Button merely posted a picture of Santa, Felipe Massa actually became Santa. The Williams driver enjoyed a resurgence with his new employers in 2014, claiming three podium finishes in the latter stages of the year.

And the Brazilian has excelled in the festive season as much as he did in the F1 season, publishing a image of himself complete with white beard and Santa hat.

Massa's team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, was one of the stars of the season and earned the right to put his feet up over Christmas, having secured six podium finishes across 2014.

The Finnish driver got his well wishes in early, publishing a photo of himself and his girlfriend, Olympic swimmer Emilia Pikkarainen, in front of their tree on Christmas Eve.

Another driver who summoned the will power to steer clear of the Internet for the festive period was Fernando Alonso, the two-time world champion, who offered his goodwill with a smattering of Christmas tree characters and a short message in Spanish and English.

On a day when families come together in celebration, the relatives of Jules Bianchi, the stricken Marussia driver, were not far from anyone's mind.

Sergio Perez was just one of a number of drivers who sent their regards to the Frenchman, who suffered serious injuries in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, with the Mexican reiterating his support for Bianchi as he continues his fight for life.

Perez's employers, Force India, had an alternative way of celebrating the big day, rewriting the verses of Jingle Bells to give Christmas a very F1-like feel.

Lotus, meanwhile, didn't have much to cheer about in 2014, having scored just 10 points all season. Despite failing to make a serious impression on the track, the serial tweeters came up with the goods off it for Christmas.

The Enstone-based outfit created an innovative graphic with a tree made up of F1 gear, from team trucks and trophies to babels featuring the driver numbers of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado.

Yet the best team effort, as has always been the case in 2014, came from Mercedes. 

Rather than going to the lengths of some of their rivals, the Silver Arrows simply rolled out the dominant W05 chassis' of Hamilton and Rosberg in the factory and surrounded the cars with every piece of silverware—including the world drivers' and constructors' trophies—claimed by the team this year.

Which is your favourite F1-related Christmas message? Let us know by leaving a comment below!