Red Bull man on why he never took the team's permission before going on his latest venture

Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas has revealed that he never took the team's permission to write a first book. He has become a recognizable face within the F1 paddock and on social media now, and much of it has to do with the visibility he's had on the Netflix show Drive to Survive and in general, as well as being a person of color.

In a bid to inspire people from the Black community, something that Lewis Hamilton has done as well by becoming an F1 legend, Nicholas has written a book called 'Life in the Pitlane' talking about not only his journey but also what it takes to be in the F1 paddock. His journey has been inspirational, and he has climbed the ladder to become a senior power unit assembly technician.

In conversation with the Guardian, Nicholas did, however, reveal that he never took permission from Red Bull or ran it by the team before he started writing the book. Explaining why he took this approach, he said it all came down to him wanting to be completely honest in his endeavor. He didn't want the team to meddle in it and thought it was better to start with the project:

“I should have done. but I wanted to be completely honest and talk about the subjects that mattered to me. I was acutely aware that if I approached Red Bull and said, 'Look, this is a project I’m taking on,’ they might have turned round and said, ‘Okay, but we’d like this from it.’ At that point I’d lose some control over my work, which I didn’t want.

I was aware that Red Bull could also turn round and say, ‘‘Well, you’re not doing that while you work here.’ So I took the leap and said, ‘‘This is a project I’m really passionate about so I’m just going to do it without permission and I’ll ask for forgiveness later. If I screw it up, it’s on me.’”

When questioned about the reaction to his book, Nicholas said he couldn't have asked for a better one from the squad.

---

Calum Nicholas shares the reaction within Red Bull to his book

In conversation with the Guardian, Calum Nicholas said there was no meddling or anything from the team with just one request where they wanted to see the draft first before it was published, something he was completely fine with:

“They’ve been incredible. I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction. I remember approaching Paul Smith [who now heads the communications department at Red Bull] at the Italian Grand Prix last year, to tell him that the book was being announced in two weeks.

He’s a great guy, very honest and straightforward, and from the get-go he and Red Bull were like, ‘‘Look, we’d really like to support you in this project.’ Paul’s only ask was that he could at least just read it before it was released to the public. I’m absolutely fine with that.”

Nicholas has become one of the more prominent faces from the F1 paddock. If the technician can inspire a generation to join the sport, that would be a great step into the unknown.