A Red Bull mechanic’s honest take on diversity, fame, and working with F1’s biggest star has sparked attention across the racing world.
Calum Nicholas, who’s become a social media sensation while working on Red Bull’s pit crew, didn’t hold back when confronted about his rising popularity.
When a team member tried to take credit for Nicholas’s large following, he fired back with brutal honesty.
“Let’s be really honest here – I have my platform because both yourselves and Netflix decided to leverage my ethnicity to make the team appear more diverse,” Nicholas told The Guardian. “If you want to take credit for my social media following, are you also prepared to take responsibility for the daily racial abuse I receive?”
It’s a reality check that hits hard in F1, where Nicholas says he’s never worked with anyone who wasn’t “a white European man” throughout his career in GP3, F3, and European Le Mans series.
But it’s not all tension at Red Bull. Nicholas is actually writing a book, and the team’s been surprisingly supportive.
“They’ve been incredible,” he says about the communication team’s reaction. “I couldn’t have asked for better.”
He’s particularly impressed with how Red Bull handles their star driver, Max Verstappen.
“Max is one of us in the team. He’s just way more talented,” Nicholas explains with a laugh. “We love his blunt honesty in a sport where PR is everything.”
“The team gives Max the freedom to express his genuine opinions. He’s not afraid to be self-critical – he’s just honest about it. That’s really refreshing in sport.”
Nicholas’s candid insights offer a rare glimpse behind the scenes of F1’s most dominant team, where authenticity sometimes clashes with image management.
