Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas, who is responsible for Max Verstappen ‘s power unit , has shared details of a conversation he once had with Lewis Hamilton in an interview with The Times . According to Nicholas, it was “a real honour” to speak with the seven-time champion and he left the meeting “feeling really inspired” .

Nicholas has been working in Formula 1 since 2012 and made the switch from Marussia to Red Bull in 2015. At the Austrian formation, Nicholas is the Senior Power Unit Assembly Technician on Verstappen’s car. He is also the mechanic who will secure the right rear wheel with his wheel gun during the pit stops of both Verstappen and Liam Lawson next season.

Nicholas opens up about special conversation with Hamilton

Although cross-team collaboration, especially between arch-rivals Mercedes and Red Bull, is not a common occurrence in Formula 1, Nicholas didn’t have to think twice when seven-time world champion and then Mercedes driver Hamilton asked him to sit down for a chat in the Mercedes hospitality area a few years ago.

“When Lewis first asked me to come and talk about the Hamilton Commission (a research project into the lack of diversity in motorsport, ed.) and my own experiences, it’s a real honour to have a multiple world champion interested in how you’ve found the same environment, or at least a similar environment. It was a real honour, I have to say,” Nicholas begins his story.

“There’s not many things where I think, ‘Oh my God, this is really important,’ but it certainly did. I remember leaving that meeting feeling really inspired, that Lewis ultimately took a massive risk, he used his personal profile, he used his leverage and he forced the whole industry to take notice ,” Red Bull’s Senior Power Unit Assembly Technician told The Times .