Duotone Diversity Magazine No.02 2020

You’re a racing driver, currently racing for the Haas F1 Team. What does racing give to you? Why do you do it? Racing has been my passion since I was a kid. Today it’s also my work but before everything, it was my passion. So you can imagine that racing fills me with pleasure and a great sensation. There are very few things that can fulfill me the way driving a car does. The feeling of having control of the fastest and best performing car in the world is simply awesome. Every time I leave home to go racing I feel a bit sad as I leave my kids at home – at the same time I am full of excitement to go. During winter when there’s no racing season I’m definitely missing something. As soon as the new season starts, that incredible feeling comes back to me. You are also kiting – which discipline? Racing? ;) I fell in love with kiting early in 2019. I love to go riding wherever I can. So far I have already kited in the Dominican Republic, Australia, Bahrain, France, Spain, Switzerland and Portugal. I guess when I start something I like to go at it 100%. Funny enough, speed isn’t my favorite part of kiting; it’s more the freedom of jumping and the challenge of new tricks. It’s really interesting to be using your body and playing with the natural elements surrounding you. Why did you start kiting? What was your motivation? Is it some way to distract from the stress of the daily work life? Or do you rather do it for the adrenaline kick? Or something completely different? I always wanted to start kiting but wasn’t quite ready to learn the steering of the kite at the beach and take on the early struggles. But this year, I jumped in and really fell in love with the sport. I also must have had a good teacher. Being on the water is something very special – time stops and you just live in the moment. This is a privilege. I love wakesurfing, wakeboarding and now kitesurfing. They allow me to put my head to rest and enjoy the moment. Adrenalin has been a part of me since I was a kid and I couldn’t live without it. So whilst I put my brain at ease enjoying a sport like kiting, I’m still always in need of adrenaline. I guess this is why kiting is the perfect combo for me. The racing sport is quite competitive, there’s a lot of pressure. Would you consider yourself as an especially ambitious and competitive guy? And is that in some way also influencing the way you are kiting? How? I’m a perfectionist. I always try to do things the best I can and always seek perfection. It’s a strength and a weakness at the same time but this is me. I like things well done. So yes I’m spending a lot of time on the Duotone Academy App to make sure I learn the correct way and I try to go and replicate the tricks. Every time I have the chance to ask for advice with the pros I do it. Is there any way you could compare racing on the tracks to racing on a kite? Yeah very much. In both cases you need to make sure to prepare and set up your equipment the best you can. Then you need to use it to its’ full potential. And last but not least, you want to be the best and try to win every competition you enter. You have three kids – would you want them to learn how to kitesurf? Why? Of course, I’m looking forward for them to be a bit older and learn how to steer a kite and then get on the water. They love watching me going and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to ride in front of them. The day I will kite together with them is going to be extraordinary. What is diversity? Defining diversity is pretty straightforward. It means a great variety and the state or fact of being diverse. But what causes a variety of people with different interests to like the same thing or activity? We had a chat to five different sporting personalities with very diverse backgrounds – skiing, paragliding, motorbike racing, wingsuit flying and Formula 1. They all have one thing in common: they love to kite. Being so different, yet sharing this one similarity, perfectly represents the diversity of our sport and why it appeals to so many people. We were curious to find out why they kite, how they use their skills from other sports for it and what it means to them. A great diversity of people who have a variety of reasons to do one thing: kiting! Interviews Laura Alexy Photos @haasf1team and LAT P E O P L E 21 P E O P L E 20 S P O R T S FO RM UL A 1 P I LO T