![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nicholas-latifi-now-sells-tequila-after-quitting-formula-one.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFormer Formula One driver Nicholas Latifi has swapped the racing circuit for the drinks industry, launching his own tequila brand after walking away from motorsport completely.<\/p>\n
The Canadian, whose father is worth a staggering \u00a32.6 billion, co-founded Leve Agave Spirit alongside two classmates he met while studying for an MBA at London Business School.<\/p>\n
It’s quite the career pivot for the 30-year-old, who finished his business degree in 2025 after enrolling back in 2023.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Latifi isn’t the first F1 name to venture into the spirits world \u2013 Lewis Hamilton launched his alcohol-free Almave tequila brand back in 2023.<\/p>\n
Nicholas Latifi now sells tequila after quitting Formula One<\/p>\n
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The timing feels rather poignant given the pair’s complicated history on track.<\/p>\n
Latifi’s time in Formula One spanned three seasons with Williams, joining the team in 2020 as George Russell’s teammate.<\/p>\n
His first race came at the Australian Grand Prix, where he managed to finish in 11th place \u2013 a decent start for a rookie.<\/p>\n
But things never really took off from there.<\/p>\n
His stint with the British team was largely defined by disappointing performances and a string of retirements that failed to impress.<\/p>\n
When the 2022 season wrapped up, Williams decided it was time for a change and brought in American driver Logan Sargeant to take his seat.<\/p>\n
![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nicholas-latifi-failed-to-impress-during-his-time-with-williams.jpg\")
Nicholas Latifi failed to impress during his time with Williams<\/p>\n
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Many in the paddock assumed Latifi would simply move across to IndyCar or find another racing series to compete in.<\/p>\n
Instead, he chose to leave motorsport behind entirely.<\/p>\n
Of course, the moment that truly defined Latifi’s F1 legacy came during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
With just over five laps left in that season-ending thriller, he lost control of his Williams at Turn 14 and triggered a safety car period.<\/p>\n
What happened next changed everything.<\/p>\n
Race director Michael Masi reversed his initial call and allowed the five lapped cars sitting between leader Hamilton and Max Verstappen to pass through.<\/p>\n
Verstappen, running on fresher rubber, seized his chance and overtook Hamilton to snatch both the race win and the world championship.<\/p>\n
Latifi was devastated by his role in the drama and issued an apology afterwards: “It was never my intention, and I can only apologise for influencing and creating an opportunity. I made a mistake.”<\/p>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/lewis-hamilton-has-also-launched-his-own-alcohol-free-almave-tequila-brand-back-in-2023.jpg\")
Lewis Hamilton has also launched his own alcohol-free Almave tequila brand back in 2023<\/p>\n
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Hamilton later reached out with a supportive message.<\/p>\n
Following his departure from the sport, Latifi surprised everyone by heading back to the classroom rather than another cockpit.<\/p>\n
He completed his two-year MBA programme at London Business School and wasted no time putting those new skills to work.<\/p>\n
In November, he shared the news about Leve on Instagram, explaining the brand’s philosophy: “Over a year ago, along with two friends from London Business School, we set out to create a version of tequila that better fits how we drink today – socially, mindfully, and without overdoing it.”<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769409854_563_image.jpg\")
The mid-strength agave spirit comes in at 22% ABV, designed for what Latifi calls “a lighter, smoother, more modern way of drinking.”<\/p>\n
His father Michael, who made his fortune through meat processing company Sofina Foods, owns roughly 10 per cent of the McLaren Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Formula One driver Nicholas Latifi has swapped the racing circuit for the drinks industry, launching his own…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,13296,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-438047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sgg","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}