Team Mille – future F1 front runner?

It’s a logical question: the Richard Mille brand has commercial ties in Formula 1 with Ferrari and McLaren. So would Mille ever consider buying into an F1 team?

“No, no, no!” he says. “I prefer to remain realistic! For me, motor racing is a hobby, a passion. To go there in terms of business would be another issue.”

Still, he’s encouraged by what he’s seen of F1’s new era and, even if endurance racing hasn’t yet introduced its own budget cap, he believes the concept makes sense. “You cannot avoid engineers spending money in developments because it’s human nature. But as long as we have reasonable budgets, brands like Haas and Alfa Romeo are not condemned to be at the back of the grid, and we have good battles.

“There was a humorist who said of Italy, you have the Italy that lives in the north, and the Italy that dies in the south. F1 was a bit like that. There are those who have been condemned for decades to the back of the grid. It is not acceptable any longer.”