Sacked F1 driver issued grovelling Lewis Hamilton apology before launching tequila venture

A billionaire inheritor has launched his personal tequila firm following his departure from motorsport and a controversial stint in F1

Former Components One driver Nicholas Latifi has been protecting himself busy since leaving motorsport by launching his personal tequila enterprise. The Canadian, whose father is a billionaire businessman, initially joined Williams F1 in 2020 to accomplice George Russell and secured eleventh place in his debut race on the Australian Grand Prix.

Latifi competed in F1 for 3 years earlier than Logan Sargeant took his place on the finish of the 2022 season. Sadly, his F1 profession was largely characterised by poor outcomes and quite a few DNFs – none extra notorious than his crash on the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Montreal-born driver unwittingly performed a pivotal function in that 12 months’s dramatic last race when, with simply over 5 laps remaining, he crashed his Williams at Flip 14 and introduced out the protection automobile. Race director Michael Masi reversed his authentic determination to let 5 lapped automobiles separate chief Lewis Hamilton from second-placed Max Verstappen to move

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the very best sports activities information and rather more on our devoted Fb web page

That enabled Verstappen to overhaul Hamilton on more energizing tyres and declare each the race victory and the championship, which means Latifi inadvertently brought on the Brit’s eighth title to be cruelly torn from his grasp.

Latifi confronted widespread criticism for his involvement, which led him to difficulty a grovelling apology afterwards: „It was by no means my intention, and I can solely apologise for influencing and creating a possibility. I made a mistake. I wasn’t conscious of the scenario of the race up till then. Clearly, it was by no means my intention to inadvertently affect that, however I made a mistake and ruined my very own race.“

READ MORE: F1 star advised he should serve penalty at first 2026 race as Damon Hill calls it ‚ridiculous‘READ MORE: Netflix F1 Drive to Survive launch date confirmed as Christian Horner drama to characteristic

The 30-year-old later revealed Hamilton had reached out with a supportive message, however he would final only one extra season in F1. After being axed by Williams, many anticipated him to transition into IndyCar or one other racing self-discipline.

Nonetheless, he deserted motorsport altogether and enrolled at London Enterprise College in 2023, the place he pursued a Grasp of Enterprise Administration (MBA). He completed his MBA programme after two years and introduced his commencement in 2025.

Latifi wasted no time coming into the enterprise world. Following Hamilton’s footsteps, who launched his alcohol-free Almave tequila model in 2023, Latifi co-founded his personal tequila enterprise, Leve Agave Spirit, within the UK final 12 months.

Updating followers in early November, Latifi posted on Instagram: “Over a 12 months in the past, together with two buddies from London Enterprise College, we got down to create a model of tequila that higher matches how we drink in the present day – socially, mindfully, and with out overdoing it.

“With that mission, we created Leve, a mid-strength agave spirit (22% ABV) crafted for a lighter, smoother, extra trendy approach of ingesting, whereas staying true to tequila’s traditions.

“From the preliminary thought to product growth, branding, manufacturing and now launch, it’s been an unbelievable experience. What began as a dialog in a classroom is now a bottle we’re holding in our palms, and shortly, hopefully, you’ll be too. We’re simply getting began within the UK, however we’re excited to lastly share it with all of you.”

Latifi has fairly a approach to go earlier than matching the achievements of his father, Michael. The 63-year-old based and owns meat processing empire Sofina Meals and boasts a internet price of $3.5billion (£2.6bn), in keeping with Forbes. Initially from Iran, his household moved to Canada throughout his teenage years, the place he landed his first job at McDonald’s.

In Might 2018, Latifi senior acquired roughly 10 per cent of the McLaren Group by way of his funding agency Nidala Restricted for round £200million. Alongside his different youngsters, Nicholas stands to inherit his wealth, which includes a £160m yacht Michael purchased from Aston Martin co-owner Lawrence Stroll and one among Michael Schumacher’s former Ferrari racecars.

Sky Sports activities launches discounted Components 1 package deal

This text comprises affiliate hyperlinks, we are going to obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Study extra

£43

£35

Sky

Get Sky Sports activities right here

Components 1 followers can watch each follow, qualifying and race stay with Sky’s new Important TV and Sky Sports activities bundle in a brand new deal that saves £192.

In addition to Sky Sports activities entry, this contains greater than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.