Red Bull mechanic frequent victim of racist abuse

Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas has revealed he is subject to racist abuse online.

Nicholas has worked with the Milton Keynes-based squad forever 10 years and currently holds the senior engine technician role at the championship-winning team.

The Briton has witnessed Red Bull's successful stint with Max Verstappen up close and has received his own following, amassing almost 350,000 followers on Instagram.

However, being in the spotlight has come with its challenges, as Nicholas outlined he has been issued racist remarks on social media.

“There was plenty of it, particularly in 2021, 2022,” Nicholas told The Guardian. 

“It’s usually anonymous social media accounts so I say to myself: ‘In 13 years, I’ve never had a fan at a race track confront or abuse me in this way.’ 

“Unfortunately, it’s the world we’re living in with people sat behind anonymous screens on a computer. 

“That’s easier than when people say you’re a token diversity hire. 

“Knowing the work you’ve done to get to where you are, and trying not to engage with that sort of nonsense is very difficult. Outright abuse? Man, I’m so thick-skinned.”

F1 has pledged to increase diversity and inclusion within the sport going forward, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton a driving force behind the push.

Nicholas outlined when he told his friends of his goal of working in F1, he was told: “Cal, that’s a white man’s game. They ain’t gonna let you in.” 

But the 36-year-old asserted it only strengthened his drive to achieve his dreams.

“When I used to tell my cousins and black friends, Lewis Hamilton and his dad were the only black people we’d see in an F1 paddock,” he said.

“It seemed an industry that either wasn’t interested in them or that wouldn’t allow them to be a part of it. 

“I always reacted like super‑unleaded fuel. ‘You will fuel me to go and prove you wrong.’ It’s something I’ve set out to change.”