Nick Padmore

Historic racing’s equivalent to Alain Prost as a four-time Formula One champion, Nick Padmore has been one of the true Masters stars for over a dozen seasons now, while his other claim to fame is his status as the current Goodwood lap record holder. In recent years, he has expanded his usual programme in Masters Racing Legends to share drives in Masters Endurance Legends, Masters Gentlemen Drivers and Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars. In the latter, racing the Minis that his father Keith campaigned for many decades. Nick was happy to provide us with the pro driver’s perspective of historic racing when we spoke to him at last year’s season-closing 2024 Mugello Race Weekend.

Your life in motorsport must have started with Dad.

NP: Yeah, he’s raced Minis all his life. And I was into fishing! So Dad would say, ‘Oh, do you want to come racing?’ And I’d be like, oh no, I’m going fishing. Then one day, around 1990, one of our neighbours had a go-kart. I went to their place to have a look at it. I came back and said to Dad, ‘I’ve just seen a proper 100cc kart!’ He said, ‘You don’t want to do that!’ And so, boom, I went and watched them karting, and the next day all my fishing gear was up for sale… I was quite late into karts and we never had the money to do it properly. It was just dad and lad go karting. That was the start of it.

When did the transition to cars follow?

NP: That would have been around 1995. I sold my karts and went into Formula First, where I did the 1995 winter series. It was really big in the eighties and nineties but below Formula Ford – a Van Diemen chassis with a Ford Fiesta XR2 engine. It was a proper British championship, Oliver Gavin did it, Darren Turner, all these top drivers, and then I did it towards the end of the championship. Again, we didn’t really have the money, so it was just picking and choosing the races we could do, but then we started a team in Formula First. That allowed us to get customers and money coming in. It’s crazy when I look back on it now. I paid £4,200 for my first Formula First and borrowed the money off a friend of mine whose Nan had just passed away. And now? I’ve driven 43 Formula 1 cars, which is ridiculous. But still no money!

Then what came first? Going into historics or becoming a driver coach?

NP: The coaching started with Peter Gethin. He gave me a massive break back in 1996 when I tried to get a job at Brands Hatch. He said, no, I’ll get you to be an instructor at Goodwood. I just built on that. Now I really enjoy my driver’s career, and because I’m so competitive, I want my drivers to do well. My first ventures into historic racing were with Ian Bankhurst and Phil Hall. Phil phoned me one day and said, ‘Oh, Nick, do you want to have a go in an Arrows A3?’ And that was it – then the racing came with Max Smith-Hilliard. But you know, that as well as the Goodwood lap record in 2015, all that’s through Phil Hall. Again, that was a massive opportunity. Phil said, ‘Oh, can you drive my car at Goodwood? I’ve never raced there before!’ So I jumped in it, drove it, smashed the outright lap record, which was just unbelievable. And then to do it again with my long-time mate Jean Lou Rihon’s Arrows A11 during Goodwood Speed Week in 2021… What a mega car!

Your first ever Masters event?

NP: That would have been with my dad in the Mini, probably 2011 or 2012, something like that. Then it would have been with Ian Bankhurst in the Abarth Osella PA1 at the Silverstone Classic. I was doing the French VdeV prototypes at the time, but a friend kept saying to me, ‘Look, you need to get out, because you haven’t got the money to go to Le Mans. You need to try and look at historics.’ So then I drove Dad’s Mini and that was it. The whole event was better, the people were happy to be there, the cars looked, sounded and drove brilliantly. I was hooked. Then Phil Hall said, ‘Do you want to share the Lola T212 with me?’ All these people have always been very helpful, and it’s just snowballed from there. Max gave me my first ever Formula One drive at Spa, September 2013. I coached him for five years, which was just a brilliant project. In the end, we built a team together, and he was so generous in always providing me with a car. The Williams FW05, the Walter Wolf car, was the first car. It was almost like, ‘Nick, you can race that this weekend. ’ So I’d race that while he’d be in the same Lotus 77, which I’m driving now! It’s amazing how history repeats itself… He went on to win the pre-78 championship in the Fittipaldi F5A, and it was great to see him grow from Radical track days to being on the Monaco podium and winning the championship.

And you yourself became a four-time F1 champion. How does that feel?

NP: Well it’s surreal, because I’ve won it twice in the Lotus 77, once owned by Max and then the other while owned by Chrome Cars and run by Britec. And then with the Williams FW07C twice through Max. I’ve had some amazing opportunities, but I’ve had to work bloody hard for it – you’ve got to drive the cars while doing the coaching and everything else. But yeah, it’s mad, I’m thoroughly grateful. I race my own Mini, that’s it! Having said that, it’s difficult when you just do Formula One. People don’t think you drive other cars. So the last seven years, I’ve been jumping out of different cars and championships. I have two people I drive for in Peter Auto, Roberto Turizziani and Jean Lou Rihon. And in Masters, I’m with Chrome Cars, who’ve just been brilliant. I drive loads of different cars for them – from Lola LMP2 to Aston GT3, and I have Marco Werner and Michael Lyons as my team mates.

Perhaps a silly question for a pro driver, but are you in it to win it – or is it still just for fun?

NP: I always want to win, definitely. But you know, you have to look at it and go, ‘If I don’t win, I’m not going to be miserable.’ You can’t have a bad day in a historic car because you’re on the grid. You’re around all these guys that have worked really, really hard to get where they are, and they have their pride and joy. So if I don’t win, it’s not the end of the world, as long as Mike Gensemeyer and Mark Damon Hillier at Britec are happy, and as long as Chrome Cars are happy.

What’s been your best day in motor racing?

NP: They’re all bloody good, but obviously a Monaco podium is unbelievable. I never thought I’d be able to get there. I did a paper round until I was 21 years old! The Goodwood lap records, the championships, and really just meeting everyone in the paddock – there’s some really good people in the paddock that are good fun. It’s just the whole package.

So do you have a worst day?

NP: I was driving my dad’s Mini at the Goodwood Revival, as there was a Mini race. I was sharing with Richard Attwood, Le Mans legend and a good friend of mine. I was so excited, I’d waited all these years to finally get a race there. Then the engine went bang in quali. That was my moment finished. We’re at the big Revival, in Dad’s Mini, Dad running it, Richard Attwood co-driving it – here we go! Well, no… We went around the paddock to look for a new engine and they wanted like £7,000 to rent. I tried everything to think of how am I going to pay that. So we went to the bar, just got over it that way. That was in 2009, and I then had to wait until 2015, luckily in Phil Hall’s T70 Spyder. That went alright…

Of all the cars you’ve driven, what’s been the best?

NP: It’s got to be the Lotus 77, because I’ve been driving that since 2012. It was on display at my and Claire’s wedding! Two championships in that, I’m still driving the car, and it still looks as good as when it did. So I have a big bond with that car. Obviously Mike, Mark and Chrome Cars just keep running it and making it look brilliant, and it’s still fast today.

And the worst car?

NP: A Corvette Stingray that I raced in the RAC TT at Goodwood many years ago. It didn’t want to turn left, right or stop. It was my first ever Goodwood TT race. I was so excited and it all went wrong. The car turned up late and then I jumped in, it broke down and just didn’t want to do anything. So yeah, I’d like to forget that!

Your favourite circuit?

NP: Suzuka, because it’s old school, really fast and so technical. We went there in 2017, and I didn’t do any simulator work or anything. It was so difficult! The first sector was so challenging, every corner leads into the next one. And there’s actually a funny story. I got there late the day before to do a track walk. All the floodlights were on, so I’m like, brilliant. I got right to the other side of the track, and then they turned the floodlights off… It was pitch black! I was there with my iPhone, and I got lost getting back! So that was me trying to be a bit adventurous… But Suzuka, we need to go back there. It’s a long way, but I just think the fans, the track and the atmosphere were all amazing. I was driving Max’s Fittipaldi F5A, finished on the podium and actually won the class. Mika Häkkinen gave me the trophy, which was really cool.

Why doesn’t Masters go to…?

NP: Barcelona. Yeah, that’d be good. I need to go back there.

Who’s the rival that you fear or respect most?

NP: It’s got to be Michael Lyons, because he’s been so dominant in historics for so long. I think he’s been racing F1 since he was 16! He is probably the number one, but everyone really. Marco Werner, three-times Le Mans winner, I have him as my teammate, we’ve raced close, we’ve shared cars. I’ve watched him on TV win Le Mans with Audi, so he’s a legend. And don’t forget Matthew Wrigley – he really pushed me in 2023, he was mega in the pre-78 class.

Many gentlemen drivers regard you and other pro drivers as benchmarks to help them raise their own game, but not all feel the same. What are your thoughts on that?

NP: I do understand the sentiment, definitely. But as long as we all race together cleanly and enjoy it, that’s what it’s all about. It’s funny, when I think back, I get quite emotional, because this is my job, isn’t it? In 2000, we got half the budget to do the Fiesta championship on the touring car package, and then I had to go and get a bank loan for the rest of it. That bank loan took me ten years to pay off. Then I was the gent driver. After that, because of the instructing, I was sharing with the gent driver, and then I went coaching them. That’s what put me on the map, but I’m just enjoying it and lucky to be doing what I’m doing.

And who’s your best mate in the paddock?

NP: Obviously everyone at Chrome Cars and Britec Motorsport. They are a great bunch of people who do a proper job but also know how to have fun! But there’s so many! It’s good to chat to everyone. My teammates, I spend quite a bit of time with them, and I’ve known Aaron Scott since we were 13 or 14, so I’ve known him probably the longest in the paddock. But Michael Lyons, Jamie Constable, Mike Cantillon, I’ve known them all so long now, I think they’re all a good bunch.