"You're sorely mistaken": Former Red Bull man Calum Nicholas pens emotional note addressing the backlash against his book

Former Red Bull technician Calum Nicholas has reacted to the criticism that his book Life in the Pitlane has received over an instance where explicit content was allegedly streamed on the team's pitwall. Nicholas has reacted to such condemnation by asserting that a minor excerpt from his book does not portray the whole picture.

Nicholas published his book, "Life in the Pitlane", in which he revealed how he fared within the F1 realm. He claimed an instance during testing, where Jonathan Wheatley (soon to be team principal of Sauber) had accidentally screen-shared pornography onto the pitwall as his laptop was left in the engineering office.

The Red Bull employee is one of the most followed pitcrew members on the paddock. After spending 15 years in the sport, he decided to write a book revealing his experiences in the F1 sphere.

The alleged incident happened as an unnamed driver was quick to notice the laptop and decided to have fun with Wheatley. Subsequently, the whole pit crew got involved in the banter as the former mechanic revealed and teased the 57-year-old for his mistake.

While his book discussed multiple issues surrounding the F1 world, he soon found himself in a loop of criticism. All of the pitlane was allegedly able to see the explicit content on the pitwall, which urged people to question the safety of the workplace environment, especially at the Austrian giant.

Nicholas soon issued a statement, and wrote:

"I wrote over 70,000 words, spanning a 15 year career as a motorsport mechanic... If ANY of the people I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside for the last 15 years, those who understand and have experienced a life in racing, had read my book and expressed concerns or issues with any its content, I would be absolutely mortified. Thankfully, that hasn’t been the case, the response has been overwhelmingly positive and I’m very proud of the book we produced."

"What I will say is that if you think that taking a 10 second excerpt out of a 15 year career and think that it provides you with the insight to offer any opinion of value, you’re sorely mistaken."

On February 25, Nicholas announced that he would be leaving Red Bull Racing due to a myriad of reasons.

---

Calum Nicholas recently took up new role with Red Bull

Calum Nicholas at the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium with Red Bull - Practice - Source: Getty

While the announcement of his departure came as a shock, Nicholas soon found himself back in the Red Bull camp. The former mechanic revealed that he will leave the F1 realm as a mechanic and start his new role as an ambassador:

"The time has come to hang up my race suit… To all of those who’ve been a part of this amazing journey, thank you! For the last decade of my life l've been very fortunate to work with an incredible group of people, in a team like no other. So, today, l'm very pleased to announce that I'll be taking on an exciting new role, as a Red Bull Racing ambassador!"

At the pre-season testing, the Austrian giant completed the least amount of laps. The Milton Keynes-based outfit completed 304 laps in the three days of testing and was seen running tests during the final hour of testing.

So, the six-time constructors' champions could start the 2025 season on the back-foot.