Do you have any London restaurants, bars, or hotels you’re a particular fan of?
Wow, that’s a tricky one. Hotels, I move around to a lot of different ones. I do love Claridge’s. I think the service at Claridge’s is second to none. I like Chiltern Firehouse. The bar there is great! I obviously love my whisky, owning a whisky brand, Coachbuilt. I’m still trying to get it behind the bar there [laughs], but that is a cool and nice little restaurant for me.
Tell us about Coachbuilt whisky – the inspiration, design processes, and how you think the perfect whisky should really be taken.
Yes, whisky. I do love my whisky. I’ve worked with another whisky brand for many years when I was racing in Formula One, so it felt right to build a brand and work with one of the best in the business, George Koutsakis, who really knows his whisky. He’s even done a Ted Talk on whiskies. So, yes, we have a blended whisky, one of five different regions of Scotland, and it’s wonderful! Especially for the price point – [Coachbuilt Whisky] costs around 40 pounds, and it’s an unreal drum of whisky. The bottle itself was designed around a cage, a Birdcage Maserati car. Basically an old-fashioned racing car, that’s the design of the bottle. There’s also part of the logo: a knockoff from the 1950s, which you would see on a C-type Jaguar, which I own. So a lot of effort has gone into the bottle to make it feel like coachbuilding. Bringing many things together to develop a fantastic and blend a fantastic whisky.
Where do you see the future of motorsports going?
The only way is up, it seems! Obviously, there’s a lot of change in the world in terms of electrification and hydrogen. I think sustainable fuel is probably the direction that Formula One will go. I really love a combustion engine, the sound of it. So hopefully, we have enough engineers around the world, experts, and ‘geniuses’ that can provide us with a sustainable fuel that is also relatively affordable.
With plans for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the works, are you planning to be in attendance? If so, what are you most looking forward to about the race?
Yes, I am. I am working with Sky Sports F1 and also with Williams F1 that weekend. I also have a couple of other events – it’s a very busy weekend for me. It’s kind of like my home race because it’s only three hours away from LA. It is going to be hectic, though. I think everyone wants to go to that race, so [it’ll be] very busy – I’m not sure how it will work, but I’m very excited. I love Formula One, and Las Vegas is fun, put those two things together, and what a blend you get!
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