Green curry, tennis and travelling: Getting to know the real Richard Verschoor

14 July 2022

Trident driver Richard Verschoor will be looking to bounce back next weekend in Le Castellet after winning and then losing Spielberg Feature Race victory, but he’s probably on the tennis courts right now refocusing.

We sat down with the Dutch driver to find out about what he does away from racing, his favourite meals, music and which shows he’s been binge watching so far this season.

WHERE DO YOU CONSIDER HOME?

“I live in Benschop, I’ve lived there all my life.”

WHO INSPIRES YOU?

“I don’t really have a person that I think about very often that inspires me but there are multiple people, especially in sports that inspired me. I started watching Formula 1 because of Lewis Hamilton and then obviously the road that Max Verstappen has been going on is pretty inspiring as well. The bigger people in Formula 1 I’d say.”

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM THE TRACK?

“I hang out with friends, I play some other sports outside of racing. Some football, tennis or padel. For the rest, I’ve always travelled to Italy. I’m always busy racing but usually I just hang out with friends and stuff like that. I like tennis, I play that very often.”

WHO ARE YOUR FRIENDS ON THE GRID?

“Liam Lawson. We get on so I've always liked him, we speak quite often and my teammate at the moment Calan (Williams) is a nice guy.”

WHAT MEAL WOULD YOU COOK TO IMPRESS SOMEONE?

“Lately I’ve been cooking green curry with different vegetables. This is the recipe I really love myself but I don’t know if people will be impressed with it. I can cook it quite well so I just do my best with it.”

IF YOU WEREN’T A DRIVER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

“Because I’m a racing driver and I’m looking for sponsorship right now, I really like the entrepreneurship behind everything. I would definitely do something in that direction, but I’m not sure what. I definitely want my own company later on but I don’t know in which direction or field yet. I really like everything that comes with it though.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TV SHOW?

“I just finished watching The Lincoln Lawyer which is really good. I always liked these shows in courts. I don’t know why, it’s quite impressive. There was also a show where this guy was in prison and then he became his own lawyer, but I don’t know the name of the series. But The Lincoln Lawyer is nice.”

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICAL ARTIST?

“I listen to different DJs, Frequencerz, Sigma, very different kinds of people but yeah they’re pretty known I guess.”

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING A RACING DRIVER?

“I like to travel so. I want to say that you get see a lot but on the other hand, you go to the hotel and the track so you don’t have free time. You get to travel a lot and you get to see a lot more than many many people so I really appreciate that about being a racing driver.

“I like Monaco, I always drive there, and Monza. This year with Zandvoort too because it’s very close. But Monaco is always good because the roads are nice to drive and I always go with friends.”

YOUR FAVOURITE RACING MEMORY?

“I think the one with the most meaning is the first win of this season. Because it was quite tough even getting a seat so then going into the first race and winning straight away was really really nice. But for me the bigger one is still Macau. Macau was a very crucial point in my career, I won that race. I’m not sure if I’d ever go back. I won that race so I’m not sure if I should go back but I really love the track so I want to do that. They should do a race of previous winners.”

FAVOURITE PLACE YOU’VE EVER BEEN AND ONE YOU’D LIKE TO VISIT?

“I remember as a kid I used to go to all these tropical countries, like the Dominican Republic, those kinds of countries I really love so I really want to go back there.”