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Golf, desserts and growing up down under: Getting to know the real Calan Williams

18 August 2022

While the summer break is ongoing, nobody could blame the drivers if they tucked into a few treats and for Calan Williams, it seems the Aussie’s got quite a bit of a sweet tooth.

We caught up with the Trident rookie to find out more about life away from the racetrack, being a tech whizz and why he won’t be going near an assault course anytime soon!

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?

“I’m from Edgewater, it's a relatively quiet suburb. It's still part of the main area of Perth, but it’s quite a quiet suburb because there’s no main roads running through it, you only ever go there if that’s where you’re ending up.

“It was quite nice, it’s close to a small lake – well moderately-sized lake, I guess. It’s still my favourite place to be because it’s home, I grew up there and I know so many people, I really enjoyed growing up there.”

OUTSIDE OF MOTORSPORT, WHICH SPORTSPERSON DO YOU ADMIRE?

“Phil Mickelson. I like following him, maybe it’s because he's left-handed and I also play golf left-handed, it could be that simple. When I started following golf again, I always loved following him, watching him play because he's a bit eccentric.”

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM THE TRACK?

“I have a few different things I do but one main thing I do is I enjoy playing golf, go out and walk around by myself for a few hours. It’s nice and quiet – a lot quieter, calmer and slower than motorsports. It’s a good way to switch off if you ask me. The main thing I really like to do is just go out, hit some balls on the golf course and relax, even if they never go where I want them to go!”

WHAT IS TOP OF YOUR BUCKET LIST?

Asks Richard Verschoor what’s top of his bucket list and Verschoor replies: “standing on the podium with me”.

“I mean would rather stand on the podium without you! Top of my bucket list would be to stand on the top step of the podium in Formula 2.”

WHO ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH ON THE GRID?

“Richard Verschoor, I think having him as a teammate this year has been really great. He's certainly the best teammate I've ever had in terms of getting along with them on and off the track. Also, the Formula 3 drivers in the team as well. I spend quite a lot of time, well a lot of time, but often I'm spending time with Zane (Maloney) and Roman (Stanek).

“For example, yesterday we went to a padel court in Budapest and played together. Unfortunately, Richard is quite good. It was Richard and one of his friends versus me and Zane and to be honest, I think we had a bit of a height disadvantage. I'm going to put it down to that.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHEAT MEAL?

“I really enjoy anything with lemon in it, like a lemon cake or a lemon meringue is very good. I tend to really like any sort of dessert with lemon in it, but particularly lemon meringue.”

IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO ANY MOMENT IN HISTORY, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

“Holy moly! Honestly, one thing I think would be great is to go back to the start of my motorsport career with all the experience I have now. I think that it would be incredible if I could do that, I know it would be cheating, but if I could do that, I think that would be amazing – have like a five-year head start on everyone.”

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

“There are 100 different things I could be. Before I started to do motorsport, I was actually very keen on golf. When I was like 5 years old, my dad would always take me to the golf course and teach me how to play. I don't remember it huge amount, but I remember it being very fun and I enjoyed it a lot, that's why I picked it up again now.

“I hadn't picked up motorsport, my interest would probably have continued in that, so maybe I would have pursued that as a sport. Outside of sport, it would probably be something within computers/computer science. I'm actually doing a part-time online course on computer science as well when I have some time. This year, I had to take a break from it because the schedule is quite busy, but when I can fit it in I will.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIE OR TV SERIES?

“I really enjoy watching The Grand Tour, I find it very interesting and very funny. I don't if that counts or not because it’s on the internet, but I don’t watch a huge amount of TV and movies to be honest.

“This is a film I’ve watched three times because I find it really, really interesting. I actually really enjoy chess as well, so it’s a film about the famous World Championship match in 1972 between Fisher and Spassky. It’s called Pawn Sacrifice. It’s a very nice film, but I haven’t watched it in ages.”

WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?

“The last song I listened to was like five minutes ago, it was Chronos by Parkway Drive. I really like it, it’s a bit different and it’s not what most people like.”

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM BIRTHDAY CAKE?

“I have to continue with the theme and say a cake with lemon in it, it's mandatory. I really like lemon cake, so maybe like a lemon cheesecake.”

YOUR FAVOURITE RACING MEMORY?

“I'm going to go back a long time ago to the first go-kart race I won. A big moment for me, I think I was like seven or eight years old, I had just started karting. That's the sort of thing you hold onto, you got your first victory trophy and it’s always in a special place.

“It wasn’t like a big race or anything, but it’s still a big moment. When you’re seven or eight years old, it feels like you just won the World Championship when you win your first race in go-karts. I punched my fist in the air every time I went past the little marshals’ post. My dad’s got the video on one of those old camera tapes and we’ve still got that video somewhere.

“It’s so funny, I’m tiny, like one third of the height I am now, driving this little go-kart and waving my fist in the air everywhere. It was a good race; it was in the wet as well.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE QUOTE?

“I don’t know if someone said it or if I just made it up. A quote I live by would be ‘control the controllables’, which basically means that not everything can always be in my control, but if I do my best with the situation I have, then I will always maximise the opportunity.”

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU VISIT?

“I'm going to be really boring and say home. I haven’t been home in just over one-and-a-half years. My family has come to Europe for a little bit, but it's been a long time away from friends and just the familiarity of the environment and everything. I know everyone, I know all the things I used to do when I was growing up. I can't wait to go back at the end of the season, I’ll skip the European winter and I’ll go there for the summer – bit of a cheat really!”

YOUR MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT?

“Mamma Mia, there’s a few of them! One time in school, we had this course where you had to climb over a rope and do all these things without touching the ground like crawling on the bars and go over the top of this thing. I think I was like 13 and there was one thing where there were these tyres hanging on a rope and you had to walk through the tyres to get to the other end.

“I don’t how I managed it, but I put my foot sideways inside one of the tyres and because I did that, I got my foot stuck. When I went to move I couldn’t and eventually I fell off, so I’m just dangling there, like laying on the ground with my head and my foot is up in the air hanging out of this tyre and the whole class has gathered around me absolutely laughing at me.

“It took about 15 minutes to try and get my foot out of this tyre because the grip was so tight and the way I put my foot in was straight and angled, it was incredible. That was really bad, just dangling outside of this thing like an idiot.”

Chasing The Dream Season 4 is out now! Watch Episode 1 over on F1TV and Youtube.