There probably isn’t a reader out there whose love of cars and racing wasn’t ignited as a youngster after they first whiffed exhaust fumes, hot oil and burnt rubber. And Richard Mille – the man behind the eponymous, high-end watch brand that creates unapologetically expensive ‘racing machines for the wrist’ – is no exception.

He was first seduced by the thrill of motor sport as a teenager back in 1966 when his father took him to the Monaco Grand Prix and he saw Bruce McLaren driving the M2B, the very first McLaren Formula 1 car.

“I shall never forget the terrifying noise from the Ford engine, which was actually designed for use in the Indianapolis 500 rather than F1,” Mille recalls.