A billionaire inheritor has launched his personal tequila firm following his departure from motorsport and a controversial stint in F1
Former Method One driver Nicholas Latifi has been preserving 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 associate 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 yr’s dramatic remaining race when, with simply over 5 laps remaining, he crashed his Williams at Flip 14 and introduced out the protection automotive. Race director Michael Masi reversed his unique choice to let 5 lapped vehicles separate chief Lewis Hamilton from second-placed Max Verstappen to move
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That enabled Verstappen to overhaul Hamilton on more energizing tyres and declare each the race victory and the championship, that means Latifi inadvertently induced the Brit’s eighth title to be cruelly torn from his grasp.
Latifi confronted widespread criticism for his involvement, which led him to concern 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 state of affairs 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.”
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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 Faculty 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 getting 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 yr.
Latifi needed to apologise to Lewis Hamilton(Picture: Getty)
Updating followers in early November, Latifi posted on Instagram: “Over a yr in the past, together with two pals from London Enterprise Faculty, we got down to create a model of tequila that higher suits how we drink as we speak – 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 concept to product improvement, branding, manufacturing and now launch, it’s been an unimaginable experience. What began as a dialog in a classroom is now a bottle we’re holding in our fingers, and shortly, hopefully, you can be too. We’re simply getting began within the UK, however we’re excited to lastly share it with all of you.”
Latifi’s crash in Abu Dhabi led to the 2021 F1 season’s controversial finish(Picture: Getty)
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 Could 2018, Latifi senior acquired roughly 10 per cent of the McLaren Group by 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 in all Michael Schumacher’s former Ferrari racecars.
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