August 20, 2025 • 48 mins
This episode is a bit different from our usual content. I was joined by my brother, Nico Mueller, who’s not a singer, but a race car driver. Pursuing a career in sports or in music is not for the faint of heart. Nico shares what he’s learned about managing energy, stress, and focus under pressure—and why even the most prepared performers still burn out without the right reset tools.
Whether you’re stepping on a stage or a racetrack, this is about taking care of your system so you can keep showing up strong.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
coming back from a race weekend
(00:01):
all the stress all the traveling cool
how can I recover quickly
you know what can I do to cool down
to shut off within hours
to be able to reset and focus on the next event all
all these things because once you're in that rhythm
of being lucky enough to do it professionally
you realize man
I have a certain amount of energy
even though I've prepared all winter during the season
(00:21):
that energy level slowly slowly
slowly kind of degrades what can I do to make that
you know degrade as slowly as possible
and refill as much as possible between events
and all these things with
with experience um
you maybe put a bit more effort in it and
and it's hard to again directly see results on track
but I'm sure that in the mid to long term
(00:43):
uh these things make a big difference
and um again I've
I've now found some people to
you know work with
that
I feel like are guiding me into the right direction
hey Vox Star and welcome to from singer to artist
(01:04):
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice
for fun my team and I are here to help
(01:26):
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
welcome back to my parents living room
or shall I say our parents living room
because I have my beautiful brother
Nico Mueller with me here today
hello good evening
thanks for having me yeah
good evening you are right
it is currently past nine PM hahaha
(01:50):
it's late for us it is very late for us
you have an almost five year old son
that you needed to put to bed
before we could do this
cause otherwise there's a lot of screaming
um but thank you for being here
you are not a musician
I don't think you would consider yourself a musician
definitely not me hahaha
all that talent went to your side actually
you know what
Nico is a much better singer than he says he is
(02:13):
and also one of my favorite things is like
whenever I visit and you're home
we sometimes break out into a song
the same song in the same section of the song
in the same key for pretty scary reason
it is very it's like wow
it's weird and I have no idea why it happens
but we are we are connected that way
(02:34):
it definitely looks like that
yeah at the moment
although
it's probably more the Swiss national anthem that we
end up singing
because when the little man that is sleeping upstairs
uh is winning his uh
imaginary races he wants the national anthem to be sung
to be sung so that's what we're doing of course
(02:55):
safety him strallenman see
I told you he's a singer yeah
exactly
but your day job is not music
it's not singing it's not music related at all
you are a race car driver
pretty different to music
isn't it very
very very different
um but
the reason why I wanted to have you on our little show
(03:18):
is uh
because racing just like pursuing a career in music
is very much not the traditional thing
not a lawyer not a doctor
not an accountant not any of those things
and uh both music and sports
cause being a race car driver is sports
um it's a
(03:39):
it it requires a lot of passion and a lot of dedication
a lot of motivation hard work and just like persistence
is that a word you know
like not quitting yeah
yeah yeah
definitely and it starts from a very early age
I guess uh
once you discover that there is passion for
for that thing for for racing
(03:59):
for going in circles many
many times in a row
and trying to go faster than others around you
um once that is kind of clear
um and you realize what's needed
to be able to make more out of it than just
you know a fun hobby on one or the other weekend
uh time
uh you know
time by time I don't know um
(04:20):
then uh yeah
it becomes a lot of hard work as well
definitely and you need a lot of support
you need the right people around you
to even have a chance to make it happen
and to make a career out of it
and I guess we both were very lucky to
be born into a surrounding
that was extremely supportive
from day one um
but the main driving factor for me was passion on
(04:41):
on any day I remember waking up every morning
before going to school
sitting at that table and looking at carding magazines
you know in the early days
every morning before going to school
it was
the magazine that I have probably seen 100 times
already I would flip through those pages again
cause they would only release one a month
right exactly
so I don't know it was just in me
I loved it and I was really living it
(05:03):
and then um
that makes you know
the hard work that comes afterwards not feel like work
and I think that's really needed
because otherwise you would quit much
much earlier along the way because
you know there's no free weekends
there's no going out and you know
enjoy the normal things with
with friends that you know
go out partying on Friday or Saturday night and
(05:23):
um but that
but I never felt like
I was missing out because I loved what I was doing
yeah and I felt like that was anyway much better than
you know what the others got to do
I felt lucky every time I got to go to the track
um even though
there was also times where you feel pressure
and then you know
then maybe that sort of uh
gratitude or feeling lucky
(05:43):
kind of
goes into the background for a short amount of time
and you you feel like OK
now I'm I'm here
I have the opportunity I want to perform
I want to show that I can deliver and
and then it's about finding that sweet spot between OK
I got to there but let's still enjoy it
let's not have a pressure take over and uh
and you you get to learn that at a very young age
which I think is a privilege
(06:04):
because it teaches you lots of lessons
that are valuable for
you know different situations later on in life
that maybe have got nothing to do with racing
I remember like going back to
you were talking about making sacrifices
I remember when I was 10 years old
we're four years apart you were 14 at that time
that was the first time
you didn't come on vacation with us
(06:26):
and that's a pretty young age
to stop going on family vacations
at 14
because you had a race that you needed to go to that I
wanted to go to that that you wanted to go to
that you wanted to go to but you started for racing um
like that kind of environment you
I would say you started pretty late
quote unquote with go karting
(06:47):
you were like what 12
about like the first year where we did
you know the occasional race here and there
I think I was 11 OK
when it was together with our cousin yes
um when we
you know traveled to
I think it was maybe five races during the year and
you know at the very
very basic level as well um
but it kind of started when I was 11
got a bit more serious when I was 12
(07:07):
and I would say you know
gradually became more and more serious after that
yeah um
even though during the karting years
I never thought about making a career out of it
it was more like I loved karting
I wanted to win I wanted to
to be the best in karting
but I didn't really see you know
this as a preparation for
for a career in racing cars
(07:28):
so when did that switch happen
what happened there actually
I was very close to stop racing completely
because my last year of karting
when I was 15 2,007
that was um
it was one of those years where probably
I felt most pressure you know
coming back to that other topic
because I had a good year before I
I won um
you know several races
I was in contention for winning the Swiss championship
(07:49):
which you know
for the way we did
was kind of the one championship to win yeah
I did do the occasional European Championship race
but we knew that you know
with the budgets and the
the sort of um
yeah availability that we had
in terms of the time and effort we put in um
you know you were never gonna compete
against those guys that are sitting in the go
(08:11):
kart three times a week
and stuff so for
for us the goal was to win that
or for me personally
the goal was to win the Swiss championship
and in 2,007
um I felt like it was slipping through my hands so
you know we didn't really perform as well as
as uh
I hoped we would we were in contention
yes and I won the other championship
we're basically exactly the same guys were competing in
(08:31):
just a few other guys from
you know around Switzerland
in France and Italy um
as well so I won that championship
which was great but still
ended up missing out on the Swiss championship
which I was really frustrated about yeah
um and also the
the relationship let's say
with the people I worked with at the track was
you know not really going that great anymore
(08:52):
and yeah and I lost the fire a little bit
to be very honest because of that
so sitting again at the same table we were like okay
look uh
it's been a great adventure but uh
I was close to you know
graduating from basically high school
I guess you would call it a middle school
middle school yeah
ninth grade no no gamer yeah
you know it was kind of coming up
that decision on what are you gonna do after gamer
(09:14):
after gamer OK
that's high school exactly yes so then basically
uh
I was like OK
yeah it's
it's probably better if I focus on studying and
you know I make something out of
all these hours spent at school and stuff um
and we finish that season and then you know
that's racing done but I think it was uh
our father that came across um
(09:39):
uh
an announcement or whatever you would call it of a
of a talent scouting session in in France
uh huh where you could drive
a formula car for relatively cheap
I mean racing is never cheap
but that was
you know good value for the money to go and you know
have that experience once in life and drive a race car
(09:59):
and I was 15 at the time never drove a car before
didn't really or yes I drove a car you know
a basic normal car
where probably shouldn't be driving it on the driveway
in in front of the house
but never anything with a clutch or having
to shift gears or something um
and I was like OK
yeah that sounds like a
a cool idea and you know
(10:20):
he was kind of proposing it to me look
yeah let's do that
and then you know how that would have felt and
and we're done yeah
I was like OK
let's do it
I was super nervous about it because I had no clue what
you know what
what I had to expect there from
from that event and it was a two and a half day event
first first day
you know just theoretical stuff second day
(10:41):
first day of driving and this third day
it was starting to become competitive
and already after the first day
you know the fire was back
I was like wow yeah
this is amazing that's what I wanna do um
and I was fast which was obviously helpful
that helps um
so yeah I kind of got part of that funding
you know
that was released during that during that event to
(11:03):
to help support um
you know the step up into into formal cars for
for guys like me coming from karting um
and one of the one of the scouts at that event uh
his name is Andreas Zientzler
he has one of the big race teams in Switzerland
for junior categories is he still around
he's still around uh
been there a few months ago
go went to say hi
so he was one of them and he was like
(11:24):
look man
I want you to drive in my team
and we need to find a solution
we need to make it work and
and that's how it really kicked off then
you know from basically being done to yeah
the complete opposite within
you know two months maybe
I honestly did not know that you were like
this close to just quitting all together
and I see this in myself
I'm a very result driven person
(11:45):
if I get results I don't really care what I do
even if I don't really like it
I'm like I'm getting results
I love this now I do like what I do
so maybe maybe I can't say that really cause um
but either way it's tough
when you don't get the results that you're hoping
especially when it happens again
and again and again and again
yes I
(12:06):
I don't think that was the main driving factor
but okay the results were basically the result of
everything that was happening
which already made me unhappy
you know it was
it was not really the result itself
that made me not love the sport anymore
it was the rest around it
and that automatically affected to a large extent
(12:27):
the result on track but it was not the result itself
if everything else was going well
and I was like OK man
the others were just better and I finished second
fair enough I think I could have really lived with that
to be honest OK
but it was yeah the
the circumstances around it
the the relationships with
you know within the team and stuff
and I think
I'm maybe more sensitive to that than other sports
(12:48):
people especially racing drivers
but I feel like if that is going well
if you manage to create a good team around yourself
if you know
whatever it is the mechanic
the engineer
the team boss whoever
if if you manage to create some sort of harmony
the same desire within those guys in the team and
(13:09):
and I mean it's probably exaggerated
but some sort of blind understanding with
you know how do the others feel
what does the other guy need to hear now
to make him feel better
to make him perform at his best
I'm 100% convinced that that has a much bigger uh
influence on the result on track then
then we can measure because that's a difficult thing
you cannot really measure that sort of thing
(13:31):
yeah and racing is very numbers driven
you know
it's all engineers sitting behind their laptops
trying to make the car go fast
and it's all data based and
and when then
something that is not really measurable
comes into play and has an effect on
on their work on their results
it becomes tricky but I think
once you find the right balance between those things
that's when you become really successful hmm
(13:53):
so it sounds like it's a very
very much a mental a mental game racing
it is it is
it is when you feel well when you
I mean the best feeling is to feel unbeatable
which uh yeah
sounds a bit arrogant and stuff
but when you feel like man
I'm in control I have done my preparation
I couldn't have done more
you know I'm ready for this
I have the best people around me
I have the best car nothing can stop me
(14:14):
even if then there is a guy that
you know
wins and it's maybe in front of you
I think you can accept that from time to time and
and that's that's what uh probably
I think it's it's more important to understand
than just wanting to be the guy winning every race yes
we you want to win for sure
but there will be days where you lose
(14:35):
and in racing because you often compete against 25
30 40 other guys
you more often lose than you win yeah
because finishing second third
4th 5th is losing basically
so that I always find that so funny
every time you like the the um
was this the podium stuff
yeah what is that called
yeah the podium ceremony
(14:55):
yeah the ceremony
the guy on the top the
the the winner is always super happy
second and third they're always like Yay
exactly I didn't win exactly
I I think it really depends on the circumstances
a little bit as well
but of course but black and white
there's only one winner and we all want to win
so yeah I
I feel like accepting defeat
(15:17):
which again is not being on that first place
it's much easier
when you feel like you've done your part
when you
when you did your job and you feel like you look
your team has given it all
and they couldn't have done any better
someone else just on that day found that little extra
fair enough that happens well
and I'm sure luck plays a role in it as well
you know if there's like safety car and
(15:38):
exactly things like that
and these things that you don't have in your hand
I mean why
how you call it how
why growl over it is that the
is that why you worry about it
exactly because yeah
one day you're on the lucky end
the other day you you might not be
so yeah
yeah that's how I try to see the sport
you struggle I mean
there's always that that fight within yourself right
(16:00):
I mean you're frustrated you
you don't understand why does it happen to me
and these days they happen
but when you get to breathe in
breathe out and calm down again
that's how I try to look at things
I see a lot of similarities to
to singing and to performing here
the one thing where it's a little bit different is
as singers we
are not always in a competition
(16:22):
like we don't do races like you do
we have singing competitions
but that's not your job your job is to perform
but you're not performing against other people
you're performing for people so it's
it's a little bit different there
but everything else I would say there's so
so so much overlap so when you have a race
(16:43):
do you have a ritual or something that helps you
you know get in the right mindset to stay calm
not feel the pressure too much
because you know
like when those lights go from red to green
or what is it reds to turning off yeah
uh you know
it's like alright don't fuck up the start right
(17:04):
that's pretty important
that's the first thing you
you try to think not in that way
you don't
you don't think about the things that could go wrong
yes you have a plan in mind
on what you think is the right thing to do yes
I think that's the first step and I
I guess in singing it's exactly the same thing
you think about the right note at the right time
with the right sort of yeah power um
(17:25):
so so I think that's one first very important step you
you don't really think about what could go wrong okay
you think about that's what I'm gonna do
and it's gonna be the right thing
50% of the time is probably wrong
but at least but at least you had a plan
yes
and you kind of know how to slightly diverge from that
and still
make the most out of the situation you end up in
(17:45):
yeah I think that's the first
the first thing I I try to always have in mind
um and then yes
there is very small super boring rituals
probably that are in place
that I kind of go through unconsciously OK
like you know
some movements before getting into the car
a very very uh
(18:05):
compact little warm up just to be sure
you know the body is ready for it yeah
we have no power steering and stuff so
you know you
you need to make sure that you don't get your
your body blocked the first time
you have to do some effort
so that is kind of always looking very similarly
and a physical warm up
a physical warm up that is to some extent also
you know getting the mind into the right mood
because with those movements
(18:26):
your body knows what's coming
yes because you're used to that
um
and then what I find very effective is
being conscious about my breathing
when I get into the car and being conscious about
you know how fast is my heart beating
how tight is my grip on the steering wheel
do I have very sweaty hands or not
and it kind of is a
(18:48):
is a bit of a reality check before really you know
switching the car on and and leaving
and leaving the garage but it's not like
you know half an hour ritual before
before going it's
it's very short and compact
but I have these you know
I would say
tiny tricks that help me control my state of mind
yes before
(19:08):
before pulling out on track
to make sure that I can perform at my best
because again
there's so many guys that can drive these cars fast
there's so many teams that do a good job
if the small difference is being made by being
consistently performing at your best
and I think that's where
it's very necessary to understand
(19:29):
how you feel
and what can you do to feel better if you don't
and that's yeah
a short summary probably of yeah
I mean at this point
you've driven hundreds of races
do you know how many races you've done
I actually don't know I mean
there is I guess a
a website that kind of counts most of your races
but it's hard to to
to keep up because nowadays
(19:50):
at least me personally
I love to do different series at the same time
you do you know
say multi championship seasons basically
so becomes tricky to to keep track
to keep track of it but um yeah many
many many races
and I also have to admit initially
you just go and do it to be honest
(20:11):
you you know
I I have not really had coaches around me or I
I didn't really even know who to ask
if I had questions about ah man
I I don't know
I don't feel good when whatever
it's 30 degrees outside
and I'm putting my fireproof stuff on
and I'm sweating in the car
and I struggle to focus and whatever
you know you just yeah
at least in my case
(20:31):
it was more of a learning by doing process
that had to be quick
because if you get it wrong too many times
you're out and um
with that experience now I feel like I've developed
yeah a good understanding of myself
what I need to perform
and what I can do to put myself into that state that
yeah feels good to me
but there's no amount of preparation
(20:52):
that you could have done to learn all of these things
without actually getting in the car and racing right
cause I feel like a lot of singers
it's a good question they
they're like oh
I need to prepare I'm not good enough to perform yet
and they keep preparing
preparing and preparing and they never actually do the
the thing in your case that would be
never actually getting in the car and doing the race
(21:13):
but there's only so much you can do to prepare
at one point you just have to go and do it
to learn all of that about yourself
exactly and also get it wrong
you know from time to time because otherwise how
how do you know what's right
um
but I think and that's where
racing is pretty different to other sports
it's very unforgiving
(21:34):
unforgiving on one side because it's not like if
if I compare it to other sports before comparing it to
to singing is you can't just
you know kick a ball every day and
you know aim at
you know shooting your penalty or whatever and
and just practice the exact same thing
before having to do it in competition
you you can't basically
because
(21:55):
even practicing by yourself on a track is financially
so so difficult to
to be able to do it consistently that um
you end up mainly practicing on race weekends so
um
you have to accept that with very limited preparation
you need to be able to perform at your best
(22:15):
and I guess that's to some extent different than
than maybe singing but then when you stand in front of
I don't know
how many thousands of people or hundreds of people
it must also feel very different
it is and that's where where racing is
is again different because yes
there is thousands of people standing around the track
but when I put my helmet on and I shut the visor
I have no clue who's there
I don't if I don't want to recognize them
(22:38):
I don't see them so that doesn't really affect my
let's say performance when I'm in competition but um
it's the you worry about the other racers
not really about the spectators exactly
that's the other variable that then suddenly
you know comes into play
but yeah but let's say pressure from people spectating
I don't really feel too much
(22:58):
one thing I would like to um
talk to you about cause you touched on this just uh
just now as well is coaches
like you didn't really know who to ask and what to do
and blah blah
blah blah um
did you I mean
you had you know
like yensid you were talking about that before
you know you had like maybe
maybe somewhat of like mentors or maybe not really
(23:20):
how would you describe that
to some extent but I feel like our sport
especially when I when I started and before that
it must have been even more extreme
um I didn't really have that culture of accepting that
you know it's not just about a young guy
having talent to drive a car
and doing the job and that's it
that
you can actually extract performance
(23:42):
by guiding these people by trying to give them advice
by analyzing how they are behaving
how they are not only the driving
but how they feel and
and I feel like I've also been in a surrounding
nothing I don't want to say anything
anything negative
but I've been in a surrounding where it's been very
old school yeah
in terms of approach
(24:02):
which was good for me
because it made me learn very quickly in
in hard circumstances but um
you know they were very good at making the cars go fast
analyzing data and stuff but when
if you had a day where you didn't perform at your best
it was just I am and everybody has these bad days
and I was like man no
I don't want to have a bad day when it counts yeah
(24:24):
how can what can I do to avoid that
yes
and and I'm 100% convinced it's possible to avoid it
yes you know
there's
extreme circumstances where you can't do much about it
if you know
it's involving illnesses or whatever
but
I'm not accepting that
just because I didn't sleep great
and I woke up with the wrong foot
which people tend to say in Switzerland
(24:46):
that I'm not driving well anymore no
it's a no go I can do something about it
and um
and there
I feel like the sport has evolved a lot in the
in the last 15 years like there is much more um
availability for
for coaching on any sort of specific topic
you know you have the physical aspect
you have the mental aspect
(25:07):
you have the actual driver coach
you know that is not even part of the team directly
but he just goes around the track analyzes your driving
the others compares it
and tries to give you advice on what he thinks you can
do better obviously
the physical preparation is a big topic because it is
even though you know
somebody who hasn't driven a car fast on a track
struggles to relate to it
(25:27):
but with all the G force and you know
the we we have no no power steering on these cars
the heat in the cars and stuff
it becomes physical so you need to prepare for that
but the biggest thing is the mental preparation and um
I feel like yeah the evolution there has been great
and I've been
lucky to get to know some people now that uh
(25:48):
you know I can call up anytime basically
and I'm working on a regular basis together with
he was just here a couple days ago right
exactly
so he helps you with mental coaching yoga as well
I heard yeah
yeah so um yeah
I've I've play been playing around
I would call it
with different things in which I would sum up as yeah
(26:10):
as preparation or even even when it comes to you know
coming back from a race weekend
all the stress all the traveling
how can I recover quickly
you know what can I do to cool down
to shut off within hours
to be able to reset and focus on the next event
all all these things
because once you're in that rhythm of being
lucky enough to do it professionally
(26:31):
you realize man I have a certain amount of energy
even though I've prepared all winter during the season
that energy level slowly slowly
slowly kind of degrades what can I do to make that
you know degrade as slowly as possible
and refill as much as possible between events
and all these things with
with experience um
you maybe put a bit more effort in it and
(26:54):
and it's hard to again
directly see results on track
but I'm sure that in the mid to long term uh
these things make a big difference
and um again
I've I've now found some people to
you know work with
that
I feel like are guiding me into the right direction
and you are also giving it forward too
not only was your coach here
but a young uh
(27:15):
racer as well
that you're doing some mentoring for as well
I mean yeah
it's a it's something uh
on a very uh
friendly basis at the moment
but um
as I'm fascinated you know
about trying to
make myself go faster and be better as a
as a racing driver and a person
uh I think it's
(27:36):
it's also super exciting to try and help others
to do the same thing and um
there's a couple friends that are
you know involved in racing as well that I
I try to you know
support a bit with with things I see
you know could help them and their um
and yeah we're
I'm definitely looking at
you know doing it a bit more
professionally as well with
(27:57):
you know kids that are maybe
you know
just in that transition phase that I described before
from karting into cars
where the sport becomes pretty unforgivable
so uh
let's see I'm still
I'm still fully focused on my own professional career
and that's that's definitely priority one
but there is there is some fascination for um yeah
passing that experience on later on probably well
(28:18):
cause I mean I just saw it
it was like first hand experience
um two examples here
one winter for like Christmas break
we were all racing on the simulator
that you have back there uh
is it still there no
is it gone now it's downstairs now
it's downstairs now okay
and um
you were like like
you know my cousin was racing
like everybody was just giving it a go
(28:39):
and we would see who is the fastest
and I was pretty much the only one who you
who you like fully coached through
you told me when to break
when to steer and I was the fastest one
and I had no business being the fastest one
on the simulator
but you just told me exactly what to do
and when to do it
and that coaching helped me so much in
you know that racing scenario
(29:01):
yesterday we were on a boat like a wake surf
like wake wake surfing
is that what it's called wake surfing
and I went from not being able to get
up to wake surfing without the rope
in pretty much three tries exactly
because you
you told me what to do where to put my feet
where to put my weight and get in my knees
(29:24):
and keep your arms straight and keep your knees bent
and there's a million things to think about
but you don't know
what are all the things that you need to think about
when nobody tells you so
it sounds like you had to do a lot of like
just learning by doing yeah
and now
because there is more coaching and more mentoring
starting to come into the industry
the racing industry it's gonna get a little bit easier
(29:45):
for the younger generation
I think so I think so
it's gonna get easier maybe to have access to okay
you know that information let's call it that way
but it's gonna become even more competitive because yes
many people now have access to that
and now
it's probably gonna be more about also having the
the best coach you know
not just have a coach because
(30:06):
mm hmm there's gonna be
guys that have access to the same information maybe and
uh they also have the talent
and the level is just gonna go up and up and up yeah
and it is already very high so haha
um I think it's exciting times
but also tough for the sport because again
it's it's very unforgiving um
but just to touch back on on
(30:27):
on your experience and I feel like the
the sort of coaching experience
and I guess you can relate to that one
1 to 1 is interestingly
it's just as satisfying as doing it yourself oh
guess why I don't really perform anymore
I gets just as much joy out of it
without any of the pressure
it's lovely
(30:48):
yeah I don't know how
when was the last time that I was standing on that
wake surf board you know what I mean
because I have just as much fun yeah
seeing people getting up and and doing it and uh
experiencing the same thing that I love experiencing
yeah um
and I and it's the same thing in racing
you know when I
when I see other people
suddenly get a corner perfectly right
and and I know exactly how it feels inside
(31:11):
inside the seat and behind the steering wheel
I'm just as happy as when I do it myself and um
and I guess it's exactly the same thing
when you see people hitting their notes perfectly
and having a smile on their face after performing
so I can relate to that Yay
I love that I didn't
I'm learning so much about you just like right now haha
(31:31):
I didn't know I didn't know any of that
so what advice would you have for um
people who are just passionate about
things that are maybe not the traditional
engineering or doctor routes
or anything like that
do you have any advice for passionate people who might
you know
want to consider turning their passions into a career
(31:51):
I think uh
there's always a route to pursue your passion
the question is to what extent
you know are you willing to put things on the line
I guess
for me just to take that again as an example
it was always clear that before committing to
dedicating all my time to my passion
which was racing
(32:12):
I first had to have a proper degree in school
yeah and finish school properly
you know to have something done in your life
that you can go back to in case
you know it doesn't always work out
not necessarily because you did anything wrong
exactly or not good enough
or I'm not a fan of having backup plans
because you wanna be committed as well yeah
but you need to have some sort of a safety net
(32:32):
I would call it I think that's probably the right word
to what level you wanna put that to
you know how far are you okay with falling
uh huh I don't know
I think that's very individual
yeah but um
I would recommend a safety net
but yeah you don't necessarily need a Plan B
you wanna be committed you wanna say
look man that's what I'm doing
(32:53):
and I'm gonna give it all for that
and I'm not worrying about
you know spending half an hour a day to
make sure my Plan B is in place
I think that can be a distraction
but for some people it gives them some sort of
yeah a safety feeling as well
so I think it's very individual
for me personally that was
that was how I felt I wanted a safety net
(33:13):
um and then I was ready to
to commit to the passion well
for you it worked out right
it doesn't it doesn't always work out
but it worked out for you
what would you say was the biggest factor for you
that it did end up working out
good question um
again the right people around me
I think there I was just very
very lucky to and the right people how
(33:36):
I mean it starts with family right if
if you don't have um
your closest ones with you on the way
it becomes hard if you are alone on
on that road
I'm sure I wouldn't have done it
um
and then along the way
I think you also meet people that you realize
(33:57):
that's people I don't want to work with
yeah and then making the right decisions
you know
being also confident enough to say no at points to um
maybe turn down a good opportunity
exactly because it wasn't with the right people
yeah exactly
find your own your own way
your basically um
what's what sort of your
your values that you stick to that make you feel good
(34:18):
and then um
I think that's what I always try to stick to when I
when I took decisions on the way um
yeah
being true to myself I guess
I think that's that's really it
I mean in this sport
it's a lot about pleasing other people
because you are relying on choices of other people
(34:40):
to be able to make a career out of it
it's not like when you are the best driver
you're automatically gonna make a
uh you're gonna make it into F1 or Formula E
or the World Endurance Championship
which are which are the championships where you can
you know do it professionally or IndyCar um
so find the right balance
you know between saying look
you guys need me
(35:01):
but also not changing too much for them
mm hmm I think that is uh
is another thing maybe in my case
also realizing that yes
it's about driving fast yes
it's about talent um
but not only that
when you are racing for teams or brands
you're also representing them
so what can I do outside of the track to be attractive
(35:26):
you know for brands
for teams um
to make the difference compared to others
because there's many that can drive fast yeah
so maybe that helped a little bit
I don't know in the end
I never asked the people who hired me what
what made the difference compared to others yeah
but I could imagine that that was a small factor
but in the end um
(35:48):
yeah I guess
it's trying to be the very best at what you're doing
and other people will recognize
I hope yeah
I think the last two points that you
that you mentioned are kind of
going towards just being easy to work with too
not being a dick excuse my French
you know like representing yourself in a
(36:11):
you know yes
maybe easy to work with maybe
but I don't think you need to be easy to work with
I think you need to be um
easy to put in places you know
where where they need you and you don't wanna be uh
babysitted you know
when they send you to an event to represent a sponsor
when you have to stand on a stage and answer
(36:33):
to some silly questions or yeah uh
or go and sign autographs
that you're not sitting on the table and
you know making a face like
why am I being here yeah
you know what I mean stuff like that
that you're um
able to look beyond the racetrack and see look
that is uh
these people they do it because they
they have to represent the brand or whatever and uh
(36:54):
and you are part of that team
so
you need to be able to stand in front of a camera and
you know give interviews
it helps it helps if you speak decent English
you know in
in our case here in Europe
if you speak a bit of French or Italian and stuff
Germany
it's all these little things that maybe contribute
I'm not I'm not sure
but yeah I would say definitely doesn't hurt
(37:16):
well that brings up a good point
like racing like
the actual time that you spend on the racetrack
is such a small portion yeah
of your job it's the same thing for singers
the actual time you spend in the studio
recording a song
or you're on stage performing for somebody
which is you know
the thing that you wanna do
is actually a very small portion of your job
(37:38):
exactly how do you deal with that
cause I assume you wanna race yeah
not really do interviews I'm sorry no
no I mean
honestly you start to these ones
they are fun because you you get to know
you know
interesting people more from a different perspective
and sometimes you
you get to learn a lot of stuff for yourself as well
so yeah I
I Learned to enjoy that part as well okay
(38:00):
cool in the beginning you
you go like okay
just give me a car where where can I drive
but um
but you learn to enjoy it
I would say
um and then I think it also has nice sides that you
actually
every race stays a highlight
you know what I mean
it's not like I do it every weekend
yeah fair enough
just another race no
(38:22):
everyone is kind of important is special
I always get super nervous still before every race
you know what I mean it's like it doesn't become normal
which I think is cool it's a privilege
I've now been doing it for
if you count the karting years
you know 21 22 years so we're getting old Nico
yes hahaha so yes honestly
(38:42):
I I think it has some some cool sides to it
but especially when you're young and you know
an up up and coming racing driver
it's sometimes difficult because again
you you get to practice so little
you would like to drive more and more and more
but on the other hand yes
now I'm 33 and I still feel like man
when they call me up I you can do an extra race
I'm I'm happy about it you know
(39:02):
it's my job and I'm still and I still like to
to go and do more of it
so I actually see it as a positive okay okay
I love that I guess
you already kind of answered that question about um
you know like
what do you
what do you do when you don't really see the results
when things are not going the way you wanted to
like you're kind of like ugh
should I quit should I do something else
(39:23):
or like how do you like find that balance of like no
like I'm gonna keep going
I'm gonna keep trying cause at the end of the day
you do you do love it even when there's days
or even a whole season where like man
I'm barely getting any points
I'm never on the podium like what is happening
you're not getting the results
but you don't wanna you still don't wanna quit
but like
what do you do to keep motivating yourself to show up
(39:46):
you know it's a good question also
because I think racing again
is a pretty particular sport um
when it comes to that because there's so many factors
that are outside of your control
that very directly influence the result
so we're coming back to the point where like look
as long as I feel like I do my job as best as I can
and I've left you know
no stone unturned yeah
(40:09):
I can accept defeat let's say yeah
but when I feel like man I screwed up
I didn't put enough effort into the preparation
I've not spent enough time with my engineers
I should have done you know
another half a day on the simulator
to try and go through procedures and stuff
then it's tough because again
then it comes back to the other topic
there's only very few opportunities during the year
(40:31):
to prove that you can win races
and when you screw one up because of your own fault
then I get frustrated
and I need at least a day to recover from it yeah
and but I really needed to look for
methods or
tricks to try and make that recovery face efficient
(40:51):
mentally because if you cruel over it for too long
if you dig and dig again
why what should have done blah blah then uh
you risk going into that downward spiral as well
so yes yes
you accept defeat
you analyze why it happened and then you try again
you try again
which sounds easy is sometimes not because again
(41:13):
of course there's a lot that's up for um
that's on the on the steaks or what do you call it
on the uh yeah yeah
so that's something I think that I've lately
you know after my 30s
probably put the most effort into understanding and
getting better at okay
I would say because when you're riding the wave
(41:33):
I would call it
and things go well and you have a great team
your car is performing
you're consistently at the front
things are easy I mean then yeah yeah
of course you know
when you have those years
you don't even realize how good of a life you have
because
because then you're
you're upset when you finish second and yeah
next day you win again and it feels normal
(41:54):
which is never normal
and then you have the years where I also had that
where you have a car that's not competitive
but you have a great team and you do a good job
and you feel you feel
you feel good and happy
and and sometimes a P4 or a P7 feels like a win
and when you
(42:15):
when you know why
why a P4 or P7 is the maximum
and the day you achieve it um
it does feel like a win
I think it's a good thing as well
even though
that can only go on for a certain amount of time right
if if you have two
three four years going that way
I think it's also not good
you need to
you need to be able to raise that bar again
(42:37):
you need to put yourself into the position to
to go and fight for victories
when you feel like you have
I would say parts of the recipe to be successful
which very briefly summed up
is probably yourself doing the job
the car and the team
and when you have your own thing under control that's
that's okay
(42:57):
uh when you have another one of the two
and it's only one that's missing
and you cannot really control it
then it becomes becomes difficult
um but also that you
you you try and learn to manage
um
I think the biggest challenge
is when things are not going well
for a certain amount of time
to not have that affect your own performance
(43:19):
because it's very easy to
become frustrated from things you can't control
when they go on for a certain amount of time
if it's one weekend 2
fair enough I think it's not that hard
but I think that's the reason why
you sometimes see high performing people having
you know a run of great results
and then suddenly
a run of one or two years where nothing goes their way
(43:40):
and it's not just because
you know yeah
they've they've had
you know a
a bad season because that's
that's how things go
I think it's because it's hard to find your feet again
and get out of that sort of negative momentum
and um
yeah that's what
I've tried to be studying the last couple years
(44:02):
and it's been a very interesting path
I would say don't dwell in the
the yeah
the like
I don't want to say negativity
but in the not optimal experiences
and yeah you know
analyze see what you can do better
move on try again
right and try and do better next time
but it's it's important to not just quit
(44:24):
cause I remember mommy do you remember
she's back there in the hahaha
in the bedroom over there
cause it's almost 10:00 now
but uh
mommy remember when I asked you
if I had to school every morning
because I cracked on stage uh
in during a pausen concert once
during a concert in front of the whole school
I cracked on the high note
(44:45):
and after that for a couple weeks
I asked if I really had to go to school
and I never wanted to go again
and I was so embarrassed
but you have to go again and you have to try again
that's the only way to to do it yeah
but anyways thank you
thank you so much Nico for sharing your experience
pleasure in the racing world
I see so many parallels to just people of passion in
(45:09):
in general yeah
music is a part of that as well
anything else you wanna get off your chest
no very happy
thank you for having me of course
thank you so much thank you um
where can people follow you
if they're at all interested in racing
I mean social media is one way to
to kind of be in touch with what's going on uh
at the very moment I guess um
at the moment I'm mainly racing in Formula 1
(45:31):
which is the world championship for electric
formula cars very exciting
definitely worth watching
and I do some endurance racing as well uh
some in the US at the moment actually yes
he's gonna be in my city next month yes
I think it's still a secret but yeah
oh well
I mean by the time this episode comes out
your race is probably already over all good
so all good yeah
(45:52):
so um some G t P they call it um
G t P hyper cars that do endurance racing okay
beautiful cars fast fun to drive and cool to watch
I always enjoy coming to the track so much
even though it's a lot of waiting around
and it's a lot of downtime
boring time for us like
you know
coming to see you'cause the race again is a short time
(46:15):
um but I always admire
you know watching you what you do
I remember at one point
you were juggling before getting in the car yeah
I tried that out as well for probably a couple years
even was that for concentration
yeah and again
getting the sort of body connected to the mind
because it's movements that kind of trigger your
(46:36):
your mind okay
we're gonna go racing now and it wow
I just wanted to prove myself that I can juggle
you know with basically being half blindfolded
with 4 balls in the air and stuff
that is something that's just practice
it's nothing it's not no talent needed
and then I thought it was cool to
to do that before getting in the car
I guess it was more that than anything else okay
(46:57):
but um yeah
I tried it uh
it worked but I'm not doing it anymore
I hope I could still do it okay
well let's put it to the test
let's go find some balls no
I'm just kidding but I'm super
super proud of you
you've always been very inspiring to me
seeing like
all the sacrifices that you've made
to get to the point where you're at
but also staying true to yourself and working really
(47:19):
really really
really really freaking hard and it's paid off
you live a beautiful life with a beautiful family
and I'm just happy to be a part of it
so thank you very much and I can only give that back
oh well
thank you yep
lots of respect I wouldn't have moved to the US
without knowing what's waiting for me
remember your talent scouting thing
(47:39):
and I do Sacramento
yeah I think it was yeah
we went as the whole family
I think you were 16 I was 12 at that point
and didn't you win I did yeah
yeah and he turned it down
I was scared and I was like dude
this is my dream living in the United States
following my passions and he turns it down
(47:59):
yeah
the excuse was that I had to finish school back home
yeah yeah yeah
no honestly
yeah it was
it was cool but uh
I think that was your dream to live to
of course so yeah
um it's not something I regret
but it was a cool experience
yeah yeah
it was a totally different kind of racing too
it would have been old racing
yeah which was super exciting as well
(48:20):
yeah just different
but turned out anyways love you Nico
thank you for coming on thank you
thank you guys for following along
if you wanna follow Nico and his journey
I'll link to his social media below
go check it out otherwise
we'll catch you in the next episode bye
coming back from a race weekend
(00:01):
all the stress all the traveling cool
how can I recover quickly
you know what can I do to cool down
to shut off within hours
to be able to reset and focus on the next event all
all these things because once you're in that rhythm
of being lucky enough to do it professionally
you realize man
I have a certain amount of energy
even though I've prepared all winter during the season
(00:21):
that energy level slowly slowly
slowly kind of degrades what can I do to make that
you know degrade as slowly as possible
and refill as much as possible between events
and all these things with
with experience um
you maybe put a bit more effort in it and
and it's hard to again directly see results on track
but I'm sure that in the mid to long term
(00:43):
uh these things make a big difference
and um again I've
I've now found some people to
you know work with
that
I feel like are guiding me into the right direction
hey Vox Star and welcome to from singer to artist
(01:04):
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the 3 fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro
or just develop your voice
for fun my team and I are here to help
(01:26):
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
welcome back to my parents living room
or shall I say our parents living room
because I have my beautiful brother
Nico Mueller with me here today
hello good evening
thanks for having me yeah
good evening you are right
it is currently past nine PM hahaha
(01:50):
it's late for us it is very late for us
you have an almost five year old son
that you needed to put to bed
before we could do this
cause otherwise there's a lot of screaming
um but thank you for being here
you are not a musician
I don't think you would consider yourself a musician
definitely not me hahaha
all that talent went to your side actually
you know what
Nico is a much better singer than he says he is
(02:13):
and also one of my favorite things is like
whenever I visit and you're home
we sometimes break out into a song
the same song in the same section of the song
in the same key for pretty scary reason
it is very it's like wow
it's weird and I have no idea why it happens
but we are we are connected that way
(02:34):
it definitely looks like that
yeah at the moment
although
it's probably more the Swiss national anthem that we
end up singing
because when the little man that is sleeping upstairs
uh is winning his uh
imaginary races he wants the national anthem to be sung
to be sung so that's what we're doing of course
(02:55):
safety him strallenman see
I told you he's a singer yeah
exactly
but your day job is not music
it's not singing it's not music related at all
you are a race car driver
pretty different to music
isn't it very
very very different
um but
the reason why I wanted to have you on our little show
(03:18):
is uh
because racing just like pursuing a career in music
is very much not the traditional thing
not a lawyer not a doctor
not an accountant not any of those things
and uh both music and sports
cause being a race car driver is sports
um it's a
(03:39):
it it requires a lot of passion and a lot of dedication
a lot of motivation hard work and just like persistence
is that a word you know
like not quitting yeah
yeah yeah
definitely and it starts from a very early age
I guess uh
once you discover that there is passion for
for that thing for for racing
(03:59):
for going in circles many
many times in a row
and trying to go faster than others around you
um once that is kind of clear
um and you realize what's needed
to be able to make more out of it than just
you know a fun hobby on one or the other weekend
uh time
uh you know
time by time I don't know um
(04:20):
then uh yeah
it becomes a lot of hard work as well
definitely and you need a lot of support
you need the right people around you
to even have a chance to make it happen
and to make a career out of it
and I guess we both were very lucky to
be born into a surrounding
that was extremely supportive
from day one um
but the main driving factor for me was passion on
(04:41):
on any day I remember waking up every morning
before going to school
sitting at that table and looking at carding magazines
you know in the early days
every morning before going to school
it was
the magazine that I have probably seen 100 times
already I would flip through those pages again
cause they would only release one a month
right exactly
so I don't know it was just in me
I loved it and I was really living it
(05:03):
and then um
that makes you know
the hard work that comes afterwards not feel like work
and I think that's really needed
because otherwise you would quit much
much earlier along the way because
you know there's no free weekends
there's no going out and you know
enjoy the normal things with
with friends that you know
go out partying on Friday or Saturday night and
(05:23):
um but that
but I never felt like
I was missing out because I loved what I was doing
yeah and I felt like that was anyway much better than
you know what the others got to do
I felt lucky every time I got to go to the track
um even though
there was also times where you feel pressure
and then you know
then maybe that sort of uh
gratitude or feeling lucky
(05:43):
kind of
goes into the background for a short amount of time
and you you feel like OK
now I'm I'm here
I have the opportunity I want to perform
I want to show that I can deliver and
and then it's about finding that sweet spot between OK
I got to there but let's still enjoy it
let's not have a pressure take over and uh
and you you get to learn that at a very young age
which I think is a privilege
(06:04):
because it teaches you lots of lessons
that are valuable for
you know different situations later on in life
that maybe have got nothing to do with racing
I remember like going back to
you were talking about making sacrifices
I remember when I was 10 years old
we're four years apart you were 14 at that time
that was the first time
you didn't come on vacation with us
(06:26):
and that's a pretty young age
to stop going on family vacations
at 14
because you had a race that you needed to go to that I
wanted to go to that that you wanted to go to
that you wanted to go to but you started for racing um
like that kind of environment you
I would say you started pretty late
quote unquote with go karting
(06:47):
you were like what 12
about like the first year where we did
you know the occasional race here and there
I think I was 11 OK
when it was together with our cousin yes
um when we
you know traveled to
I think it was maybe five races during the year and
you know at the very
very basic level as well um
but it kind of started when I was 11
got a bit more serious when I was 12
(07:07):
and I would say you know
gradually became more and more serious after that
yeah um
even though during the karting years
I never thought about making a career out of it
it was more like I loved karting
I wanted to win I wanted to
to be the best in karting
but I didn't really see you know
this as a preparation for
for a career in racing cars
(07:28):
so when did that switch happen
what happened there actually
I was very close to stop racing completely
because my last year of karting
when I was 15 2,007
that was um
it was one of those years where probably
I felt most pressure you know
coming back to that other topic
because I had a good year before I
I won um
you know several races
I was in contention for winning the Swiss championship
(07:49):
which you know
for the way we did
was kind of the one championship to win yeah
I did do the occasional European Championship race
but we knew that you know
with the budgets and the
the sort of um
yeah availability that we had
in terms of the time and effort we put in um
you know you were never gonna compete
against those guys that are sitting in the go
(08:11):
kart three times a week
and stuff so for
for us the goal was to win that
or for me personally
the goal was to win the Swiss championship
and in 2,007
um I felt like it was slipping through my hands so
you know we didn't really perform as well as
as uh
I hoped we would we were in contention
yes and I won the other championship
we're basically exactly the same guys were competing in
(08:31):
just a few other guys from
you know around Switzerland
in France and Italy um
as well so I won that championship
which was great but still
ended up missing out on the Swiss championship
which I was really frustrated about yeah
um and also the
the relationship let's say
with the people I worked with at the track was
you know not really going that great anymore
(08:52):
and yeah and I lost the fire a little bit
to be very honest because of that
so sitting again at the same table we were like okay
look uh
it's been a great adventure but uh
I was close to you know
graduating from basically high school
I guess you would call it a middle school
middle school yeah
ninth grade no no gamer yeah
you know it was kind of coming up
that decision on what are you gonna do after gamer
(09:14):
after gamer OK
that's high school exactly yes so then basically
uh
I was like OK
yeah it's
it's probably better if I focus on studying and
you know I make something out of
all these hours spent at school and stuff um
and we finish that season and then you know
that's racing done but I think it was uh
our father that came across um
(09:39):
uh
an announcement or whatever you would call it of a
of a talent scouting session in in France
uh huh where you could drive
a formula car for relatively cheap
I mean racing is never cheap
but that was
you know good value for the money to go and you know
have that experience once in life and drive a race car
(09:59):
and I was 15 at the time never drove a car before
didn't really or yes I drove a car you know
a basic normal car
where probably shouldn't be driving it on the driveway
in in front of the house
but never anything with a clutch or having
to shift gears or something um
and I was like OK
yeah that sounds like a
a cool idea and you know
(10:20):
he was kind of proposing it to me look
yeah let's do that
and then you know how that would have felt and
and we're done yeah
I was like OK
let's do it
I was super nervous about it because I had no clue what
you know what
what I had to expect there from
from that event and it was a two and a half day event
first first day
you know just theoretical stuff second day
(10:41):
first day of driving and this third day
it was starting to become competitive
and already after the first day
you know the fire was back
I was like wow yeah
this is amazing that's what I wanna do um
and I was fast which was obviously helpful
that helps um
so yeah I kind of got part of that funding
you know
that was released during that during that event to
(11:03):
to help support um
you know the step up into into formal cars for
for guys like me coming from karting um
and one of the one of the scouts at that event uh
his name is Andreas Zientzler
he has one of the big race teams in Switzerland
for junior categories is he still around
he's still around uh
been there a few months ago
go went to say hi
so he was one of them and he was like
(11:24):
look man
I want you to drive in my team
and we need to find a solution
we need to make it work and
and that's how it really kicked off then
you know from basically being done to yeah
the complete opposite within
you know two months maybe
I honestly did not know that you were like
this close to just quitting all together
and I see this in myself
I'm a very result driven person
(11:45):
if I get results I don't really care what I do
even if I don't really like it
I'm like I'm getting results
I love this now I do like what I do
so maybe maybe I can't say that really cause um
but either way it's tough
when you don't get the results that you're hoping
especially when it happens again
and again and again and again
yes I
(12:06):
I don't think that was the main driving factor
but okay the results were basically the result of
everything that was happening
which already made me unhappy
you know it was
it was not really the result itself
that made me not love the sport anymore
it was the rest around it
and that automatically affected to a large extent
(12:27):
the result on track but it was not the result itself
if everything else was going well
and I was like OK man
the others were just better and I finished second
fair enough I think I could have really lived with that
to be honest OK
but it was yeah the
the circumstances around it
the the relationships with
you know within the team and stuff
and I think
I'm maybe more sensitive to that than other sports
(12:48):
people especially racing drivers
but I feel like if that is going well
if you manage to create a good team around yourself
if you know
whatever it is the mechanic
the engineer
the team boss whoever
if if you manage to create some sort of harmony
the same desire within those guys in the team and
(13:09):
and I mean it's probably exaggerated
but some sort of blind understanding with
you know how do the others feel
what does the other guy need to hear now
to make him feel better
to make him perform at his best
I'm 100% convinced that that has a much bigger uh
influence on the result on track then
then we can measure because that's a difficult thing
you cannot really measure that sort of thing
(13:31):
yeah and racing is very numbers driven
you know
it's all engineers sitting behind their laptops
trying to make the car go fast
and it's all data based and
and when then
something that is not really measurable
comes into play and has an effect on
on their work on their results
it becomes tricky but I think
once you find the right balance between those things
that's when you become really successful hmm
(13:53):
so it sounds like it's a very
very much a mental a mental game racing
it is it is
it is when you feel well when you
I mean the best feeling is to feel unbeatable
which uh yeah
sounds a bit arrogant and stuff
but when you feel like man
I'm in control I have done my preparation
I couldn't have done more
you know I'm ready for this
I have the best people around me
I have the best car nothing can stop me
(14:14):
even if then there is a guy that
you know
wins and it's maybe in front of you
I think you can accept that from time to time and
and that's that's what uh probably
I think it's it's more important to understand
than just wanting to be the guy winning every race yes
we you want to win for sure
but there will be days where you lose
(14:35):
and in racing because you often compete against 25
30 40 other guys
you more often lose than you win yeah
because finishing second third
4th 5th is losing basically
so that I always find that so funny
every time you like the the um
was this the podium stuff
yeah what is that called
yeah the podium ceremony
(14:55):
yeah the ceremony
the guy on the top the
the the winner is always super happy
second and third they're always like Yay
exactly I didn't win exactly
I I think it really depends on the circumstances
a little bit as well
but of course but black and white
there's only one winner and we all want to win
so yeah I
I feel like accepting defeat
(15:17):
which again is not being on that first place
it's much easier
when you feel like you've done your part
when you
when you did your job and you feel like you look
your team has given it all
and they couldn't have done any better
someone else just on that day found that little extra
fair enough that happens well
and I'm sure luck plays a role in it as well
you know if there's like safety car and
(15:38):
exactly things like that
and these things that you don't have in your hand
I mean why
how you call it how
why growl over it is that the
is that why you worry about it
exactly because yeah
one day you're on the lucky end
the other day you you might not be
so yeah
yeah that's how I try to see the sport
you struggle I mean
there's always that that fight within yourself right
(16:00):
I mean you're frustrated you
you don't understand why does it happen to me
and these days they happen
but when you get to breathe in
breathe out and calm down again
that's how I try to look at things
I see a lot of similarities to
to singing and to performing here
the one thing where it's a little bit different is
as singers we
are not always in a competition
(16:22):
like we don't do races like you do
we have singing competitions
but that's not your job your job is to perform
but you're not performing against other people
you're performing for people so it's
it's a little bit different there
but everything else I would say there's so
so so much overlap so when you have a race
(16:43):
do you have a ritual or something that helps you
you know get in the right mindset to stay calm
not feel the pressure too much
because you know
like when those lights go from red to green
or what is it reds to turning off yeah
uh you know
it's like alright don't fuck up the start right
(17:04):
that's pretty important
that's the first thing you
you try to think not in that way
you don't
you don't think about the things that could go wrong
yes you have a plan in mind
on what you think is the right thing to do yes
I think that's the first step and I
I guess in singing it's exactly the same thing
you think about the right note at the right time
with the right sort of yeah power um
(17:25):
so so I think that's one first very important step you
you don't really think about what could go wrong okay
you think about that's what I'm gonna do
and it's gonna be the right thing
50% of the time is probably wrong
but at least but at least you had a plan
yes
and you kind of know how to slightly diverge from that
and still
make the most out of the situation you end up in
(17:45):
yeah I think that's the first
the first thing I I try to always have in mind
um and then yes
there is very small super boring rituals
probably that are in place
that I kind of go through unconsciously OK
like you know
some movements before getting into the car
a very very uh
(18:05):
compact little warm up just to be sure
you know the body is ready for it yeah
we have no power steering and stuff so
you know you
you need to make sure that you don't get your
your body blocked the first time
you have to do some effort
so that is kind of always looking very similarly
and a physical warm up
a physical warm up that is to some extent also
you know getting the mind into the right mood
because with those movements
(18:26):
your body knows what's coming
yes because you're used to that
um
and then what I find very effective is
being conscious about my breathing
when I get into the car and being conscious about
you know how fast is my heart beating
how tight is my grip on the steering wheel
do I have very sweaty hands or not
and it kind of is a
(18:48):
is a bit of a reality check before really you know
switching the car on and and leaving
and leaving the garage but it's not like
you know half an hour ritual before
before going it's
it's very short and compact
but I have these you know
I would say
tiny tricks that help me control my state of mind
yes before
(19:08):
before pulling out on track
to make sure that I can perform at my best
because again
there's so many guys that can drive these cars fast
there's so many teams that do a good job
if the small difference is being made by being
consistently performing at your best
and I think that's where
it's very necessary to understand
(19:29):
how you feel
and what can you do to feel better if you don't
and that's yeah
a short summary probably of yeah
I mean at this point
you've driven hundreds of races
do you know how many races you've done
I actually don't know I mean
there is I guess a
a website that kind of counts most of your races
but it's hard to to
to keep up because nowadays
(19:50):
at least me personally
I love to do different series at the same time
you do you know
say multi championship seasons basically
so becomes tricky to to keep track
to keep track of it but um yeah many
many many races
and I also have to admit initially
you just go and do it to be honest
(20:11):
you you know
I I have not really had coaches around me or I
I didn't really even know who to ask
if I had questions about ah man
I I don't know
I don't feel good when whatever
it's 30 degrees outside
and I'm putting my fireproof stuff on
and I'm sweating in the car
and I struggle to focus and whatever
you know you just yeah
at least in my case
(20:31):
it was more of a learning by doing process
that had to be quick
because if you get it wrong too many times
you're out and um
with that experience now I feel like I've developed
yeah a good understanding of myself
what I need to perform
and what I can do to put myself into that state that
yeah feels good to me
but there's no amount of preparation
(20:52):
that you could have done to learn all of these things
without actually getting in the car and racing right
cause I feel like a lot of singers
it's a good question they
they're like oh
I need to prepare I'm not good enough to perform yet
and they keep preparing
preparing and preparing and they never actually do the
the thing in your case that would be
never actually getting in the car and doing the race
(21:13):
but there's only so much you can do to prepare
at one point you just have to go and do it
to learn all of that about yourself
exactly and also get it wrong
you know from time to time because otherwise how
how do you know what's right
um
but I think and that's where
racing is pretty different to other sports
it's very unforgiving
(21:34):
unforgiving on one side because it's not like if
if I compare it to other sports before comparing it to
to singing is you can't just
you know kick a ball every day and
you know aim at
you know shooting your penalty or whatever and
and just practice the exact same thing
before having to do it in competition
you you can't basically
because
(21:55):
even practicing by yourself on a track is financially
so so difficult to
to be able to do it consistently that um
you end up mainly practicing on race weekends so
um
you have to accept that with very limited preparation
you need to be able to perform at your best
(22:15):
and I guess that's to some extent different than
than maybe singing but then when you stand in front of
I don't know
how many thousands of people or hundreds of people
it must also feel very different
it is and that's where where racing is
is again different because yes
there is thousands of people standing around the track
but when I put my helmet on and I shut the visor
I have no clue who's there
I don't if I don't want to recognize them
(22:38):
I don't see them so that doesn't really affect my
let's say performance when I'm in competition but um
it's the you worry about the other racers
not really about the spectators exactly
that's the other variable that then suddenly
you know comes into play
but yeah but let's say pressure from people spectating
I don't really feel too much
(22:58):
one thing I would like to um
talk to you about cause you touched on this just uh
just now as well is coaches
like you didn't really know who to ask and what to do
and blah blah
blah blah um
did you I mean
you had you know
like yensid you were talking about that before
you know you had like maybe
maybe somewhat of like mentors or maybe not really
(23:20):
how would you describe that
to some extent but I feel like our sport
especially when I when I started and before that
it must have been even more extreme
um I didn't really have that culture of accepting that
you know it's not just about a young guy
having talent to drive a car
and doing the job and that's it
that
you can actually extract performance
(23:42):
by guiding these people by trying to give them advice
by analyzing how they are behaving
how they are not only the driving
but how they feel and
and I feel like I've also been in a surrounding
nothing I don't want to say anything
anything negative
but I've been in a surrounding where it's been very
old school yeah
in terms of approach
(24:02):
which was good for me
because it made me learn very quickly in
in hard circumstances but um
you know they were very good at making the cars go fast
analyzing data and stuff but when
if you had a day where you didn't perform at your best
it was just I am and everybody has these bad days
and I was like man no
I don't want to have a bad day when it counts yeah
(24:24):
how can what can I do to avoid that
yes
and and I'm 100% convinced it's possible to avoid it
yes you know
there's
extreme circumstances where you can't do much about it
if you know
it's involving illnesses or whatever
but
I'm not accepting that
just because I didn't sleep great
and I woke up with the wrong foot
which people tend to say in Switzerland
(24:46):
that I'm not driving well anymore no
it's a no go I can do something about it
and um
and there
I feel like the sport has evolved a lot in the
in the last 15 years like there is much more um
availability for
for coaching on any sort of specific topic
you know you have the physical aspect
you have the mental aspect
(25:07):
you have the actual driver coach
you know that is not even part of the team directly
but he just goes around the track analyzes your driving
the others compares it
and tries to give you advice on what he thinks you can
do better obviously
the physical preparation is a big topic because it is
even though you know
somebody who hasn't driven a car fast on a track
struggles to relate to it
(25:27):
but with all the G force and you know
the we we have no no power steering on these cars
the heat in the cars and stuff
it becomes physical so you need to prepare for that
but the biggest thing is the mental preparation and um
I feel like yeah the evolution there has been great
and I've been
lucky to get to know some people now that uh
(25:48):
you know I can call up anytime basically
and I'm working on a regular basis together with
he was just here a couple days ago right
exactly
so he helps you with mental coaching yoga as well
I heard yeah
yeah so um yeah
I've I've play been playing around
I would call it
with different things in which I would sum up as yeah
(26:10):
as preparation or even even when it comes to you know
coming back from a race weekend
all the stress all the traveling
how can I recover quickly
you know what can I do to cool down
to shut off within hours
to be able to reset and focus on the next event
all all these things
because once you're in that rhythm of being
lucky enough to do it professionally
(26:31):
you realize man I have a certain amount of energy
even though I've prepared all winter during the season
that energy level slowly slowly
slowly kind of degrades what can I do to make that
you know degrade as slowly as possible
and refill as much as possible between events
and all these things with
with experience um
you maybe put a bit more effort in it and
(26:54):
and it's hard to again
directly see results on track
but I'm sure that in the mid to long term uh
these things make a big difference
and um again
I've I've now found some people to
you know work with
that
I feel like are guiding me into the right direction
and you are also giving it forward too
not only was your coach here
but a young uh
(27:15):
racer as well
that you're doing some mentoring for as well
I mean yeah
it's a it's something uh
on a very uh
friendly basis at the moment
but um
as I'm fascinated you know
about trying to
make myself go faster and be better as a
as a racing driver and a person
uh I think it's
(27:36):
it's also super exciting to try and help others
to do the same thing and um
there's a couple friends that are
you know involved in racing as well that I
I try to you know
support a bit with with things I see
you know could help them and their um
and yeah we're
I'm definitely looking at
you know doing it a bit more
professionally as well with
(27:57):
you know kids that are maybe
you know
just in that transition phase that I described before
from karting into cars
where the sport becomes pretty unforgivable
so uh
let's see I'm still
I'm still fully focused on my own professional career
and that's that's definitely priority one
but there is there is some fascination for um yeah
passing that experience on later on probably well
(28:18):
cause I mean I just saw it
it was like first hand experience
um two examples here
one winter for like Christmas break
we were all racing on the simulator
that you have back there uh
is it still there no
is it gone now it's downstairs now
it's downstairs now okay
and um
you were like like
you know my cousin was racing
like everybody was just giving it a go
(28:39):
and we would see who is the fastest
and I was pretty much the only one who you
who you like fully coached through
you told me when to break
when to steer and I was the fastest one
and I had no business being the fastest one
on the simulator
but you just told me exactly what to do
and when to do it
and that coaching helped me so much in
you know that racing scenario
(29:01):
yesterday we were on a boat like a wake surf
like wake wake surfing
is that what it's called wake surfing
and I went from not being able to get
up to wake surfing without the rope
in pretty much three tries exactly
because you
you told me what to do where to put my feet
where to put my weight and get in my knees
(29:24):
and keep your arms straight and keep your knees bent
and there's a million things to think about
but you don't know
what are all the things that you need to think about
when nobody tells you so
it sounds like you had to do a lot of like
just learning by doing yeah
and now
because there is more coaching and more mentoring
starting to come into the industry
the racing industry it's gonna get a little bit easier
(29:45):
for the younger generation
I think so I think so
it's gonna get easier maybe to have access to okay
you know that information let's call it that way
but it's gonna become even more competitive because yes
many people now have access to that
and now
it's probably gonna be more about also having the
the best coach you know
not just have a coach because
(30:06):
mm hmm there's gonna be
guys that have access to the same information maybe and
uh they also have the talent
and the level is just gonna go up and up and up yeah
and it is already very high so haha
um I think it's exciting times
but also tough for the sport because again
it's it's very unforgiving um
but just to touch back on on
(30:27):
on your experience and I feel like the
the sort of coaching experience
and I guess you can relate to that one
1 to 1 is interestingly
it's just as satisfying as doing it yourself oh
guess why I don't really perform anymore
I gets just as much joy out of it
without any of the pressure
it's lovely
(30:48):
yeah I don't know how
when was the last time that I was standing on that
wake surf board you know what I mean
because I have just as much fun yeah
seeing people getting up and and doing it and uh
experiencing the same thing that I love experiencing
yeah um
and I and it's the same thing in racing
you know when I
when I see other people
suddenly get a corner perfectly right
and and I know exactly how it feels inside
(31:11):
inside the seat and behind the steering wheel
I'm just as happy as when I do it myself and um
and I guess it's exactly the same thing
when you see people hitting their notes perfectly
and having a smile on their face after performing
so I can relate to that Yay
I love that I didn't
I'm learning so much about you just like right now haha
(31:31):
I didn't know I didn't know any of that
so what advice would you have for um
people who are just passionate about
things that are maybe not the traditional
engineering or doctor routes
or anything like that
do you have any advice for passionate people who might
you know
want to consider turning their passions into a career
(31:51):
I think uh
there's always a route to pursue your passion
the question is to what extent
you know are you willing to put things on the line
I guess
for me just to take that again as an example
it was always clear that before committing to
dedicating all my time to my passion
which was racing
(32:12):
I first had to have a proper degree in school
yeah and finish school properly
you know to have something done in your life
that you can go back to in case
you know it doesn't always work out
not necessarily because you did anything wrong
exactly or not good enough
or I'm not a fan of having backup plans
because you wanna be committed as well yeah
but you need to have some sort of a safety net
(32:32):
I would call it I think that's probably the right word
to what level you wanna put that to
you know how far are you okay with falling
uh huh I don't know
I think that's very individual
yeah but um
I would recommend a safety net
but yeah you don't necessarily need a Plan B
you wanna be committed you wanna say
look man that's what I'm doing
(32:53):
and I'm gonna give it all for that
and I'm not worrying about
you know spending half an hour a day to
make sure my Plan B is in place
I think that can be a distraction
but for some people it gives them some sort of
yeah a safety feeling as well
so I think it's very individual
for me personally that was
that was how I felt I wanted a safety net
(33:13):
um and then I was ready to
to commit to the passion well
for you it worked out right
it doesn't it doesn't always work out
but it worked out for you
what would you say was the biggest factor for you
that it did end up working out
good question um
again the right people around me
I think there I was just very
very lucky to and the right people how
(33:36):
I mean it starts with family right if
if you don't have um
your closest ones with you on the way
it becomes hard if you are alone on
on that road
I'm sure I wouldn't have done it
um
and then along the way
I think you also meet people that you realize
(33:57):
that's people I don't want to work with
yeah and then making the right decisions
you know
being also confident enough to say no at points to um
maybe turn down a good opportunity
exactly because it wasn't with the right people
yeah exactly
find your own your own way
your basically um
what's what sort of your
your values that you stick to that make you feel good
(34:18):
and then um
I think that's what I always try to stick to when I
when I took decisions on the way um
yeah
being true to myself I guess
I think that's that's really it
I mean in this sport
it's a lot about pleasing other people
because you are relying on choices of other people
(34:40):
to be able to make a career out of it
it's not like when you are the best driver
you're automatically gonna make a
uh you're gonna make it into F1 or Formula E
or the World Endurance Championship
which are which are the championships where you can
you know do it professionally or IndyCar um
so find the right balance
you know between saying look
you guys need me
(35:01):
but also not changing too much for them
mm hmm I think that is uh
is another thing maybe in my case
also realizing that yes
it's about driving fast yes
it's about talent um
but not only that
when you are racing for teams or brands
you're also representing them
so what can I do outside of the track to be attractive
(35:26):
you know for brands
for teams um
to make the difference compared to others
because there's many that can drive fast yeah
so maybe that helped a little bit
I don't know in the end
I never asked the people who hired me what
what made the difference compared to others yeah
but I could imagine that that was a small factor
but in the end um
(35:48):
yeah I guess
it's trying to be the very best at what you're doing
and other people will recognize
I hope yeah
I think the last two points that you
that you mentioned are kind of
going towards just being easy to work with too
not being a dick excuse my French
you know like representing yourself in a
(36:11):
you know yes
maybe easy to work with maybe
but I don't think you need to be easy to work with
I think you need to be um
easy to put in places you know
where where they need you and you don't wanna be uh
babysitted you know
when they send you to an event to represent a sponsor
when you have to stand on a stage and answer
(36:33):
to some silly questions or yeah uh
or go and sign autographs
that you're not sitting on the table and
you know making a face like
why am I being here yeah
you know what I mean stuff like that
that you're um
able to look beyond the racetrack and see look
that is uh
these people they do it because they
they have to represent the brand or whatever and uh
(36:54):
and you are part of that team
so
you need to be able to stand in front of a camera and
you know give interviews
it helps it helps if you speak decent English
you know in
in our case here in Europe
if you speak a bit of French or Italian and stuff
Germany
it's all these little things that maybe contribute
I'm not I'm not sure
but yeah I would say definitely doesn't hurt
(37:16):
well that brings up a good point
like racing like
the actual time that you spend on the racetrack
is such a small portion yeah
of your job it's the same thing for singers
the actual time you spend in the studio
recording a song
or you're on stage performing for somebody
which is you know
the thing that you wanna do
is actually a very small portion of your job
(37:38):
exactly how do you deal with that
cause I assume you wanna race yeah
not really do interviews I'm sorry no
no I mean
honestly you start to these ones
they are fun because you you get to know
you know
interesting people more from a different perspective
and sometimes you
you get to learn a lot of stuff for yourself as well
so yeah I
I Learned to enjoy that part as well okay
(38:00):
cool in the beginning you
you go like okay
just give me a car where where can I drive
but um
but you learn to enjoy it
I would say
um and then I think it also has nice sides that you
actually
every race stays a highlight
you know what I mean
it's not like I do it every weekend
yeah fair enough
just another race no
(38:22):
everyone is kind of important is special
I always get super nervous still before every race
you know what I mean it's like it doesn't become normal
which I think is cool it's a privilege
I've now been doing it for
if you count the karting years
you know 21 22 years so we're getting old Nico
yes hahaha so yes honestly
(38:42):
I I think it has some some cool sides to it
but especially when you're young and you know
an up up and coming racing driver
it's sometimes difficult because again
you you get to practice so little
you would like to drive more and more and more
but on the other hand yes
now I'm 33 and I still feel like man
when they call me up I you can do an extra race
I'm I'm happy about it you know
(39:02):
it's my job and I'm still and I still like to
to go and do more of it
so I actually see it as a positive okay okay
I love that I guess
you already kind of answered that question about um
you know like
what do you
what do you do when you don't really see the results
when things are not going the way you wanted to
like you're kind of like ugh
should I quit should I do something else
(39:23):
or like how do you like find that balance of like no
like I'm gonna keep going
I'm gonna keep trying cause at the end of the day
you do you do love it even when there's days
or even a whole season where like man
I'm barely getting any points
I'm never on the podium like what is happening
you're not getting the results
but you don't wanna you still don't wanna quit
but like
what do you do to keep motivating yourself to show up
(39:46):
you know it's a good question also
because I think racing again
is a pretty particular sport um
when it comes to that because there's so many factors
that are outside of your control
that very directly influence the result
so we're coming back to the point where like look
as long as I feel like I do my job as best as I can
and I've left you know
no stone unturned yeah
(40:09):
I can accept defeat let's say yeah
but when I feel like man I screwed up
I didn't put enough effort into the preparation
I've not spent enough time with my engineers
I should have done you know
another half a day on the simulator
to try and go through procedures and stuff
then it's tough because again
then it comes back to the other topic
there's only very few opportunities during the year
(40:31):
to prove that you can win races
and when you screw one up because of your own fault
then I get frustrated
and I need at least a day to recover from it yeah
and but I really needed to look for
methods or
tricks to try and make that recovery face efficient
(40:51):
mentally because if you cruel over it for too long
if you dig and dig again
why what should have done blah blah then uh
you risk going into that downward spiral as well
so yes yes
you accept defeat
you analyze why it happened and then you try again
you try again
which sounds easy is sometimes not because again
(41:13):
of course there's a lot that's up for um
that's on the on the steaks or what do you call it
on the uh yeah yeah
so that's something I think that I've lately
you know after my 30s
probably put the most effort into understanding and
getting better at okay
I would say because when you're riding the wave
(41:33):
I would call it
and things go well and you have a great team
your car is performing
you're consistently at the front
things are easy I mean then yeah yeah
of course you know
when you have those years
you don't even realize how good of a life you have
because
because then you're
you're upset when you finish second and yeah
next day you win again and it feels normal
(41:54):
which is never normal
and then you have the years where I also had that
where you have a car that's not competitive
but you have a great team and you do a good job
and you feel you feel
you feel good and happy
and and sometimes a P4 or a P7 feels like a win
and when you
(42:15):
when you know why
why a P4 or P7 is the maximum
and the day you achieve it um
it does feel like a win
I think it's a good thing as well
even though
that can only go on for a certain amount of time right
if if you have two
three four years going that way
I think it's also not good
you need to
you need to be able to raise that bar again
(42:37):
you need to put yourself into the position to
to go and fight for victories
when you feel like you have
I would say parts of the recipe to be successful
which very briefly summed up
is probably yourself doing the job
the car and the team
and when you have your own thing under control that's
that's okay
(42:57):
uh when you have another one of the two
and it's only one that's missing
and you cannot really control it
then it becomes becomes difficult
um but also that you
you you try and learn to manage
um
I think the biggest challenge
is when things are not going well
for a certain amount of time
to not have that affect your own performance
(43:19):
because it's very easy to
become frustrated from things you can't control
when they go on for a certain amount of time
if it's one weekend 2
fair enough I think it's not that hard
but I think that's the reason why
you sometimes see high performing people having
you know a run of great results
and then suddenly
a run of one or two years where nothing goes their way
(43:40):
and it's not just because
you know yeah
they've they've had
you know a
a bad season because that's
that's how things go
I think it's because it's hard to find your feet again
and get out of that sort of negative momentum
and um
yeah that's what
I've tried to be studying the last couple years
(44:02):
and it's been a very interesting path
I would say don't dwell in the
the yeah
the like
I don't want to say negativity
but in the not optimal experiences
and yeah you know
analyze see what you can do better
move on try again
right and try and do better next time
but it's it's important to not just quit
(44:24):
cause I remember mommy do you remember
she's back there in the hahaha
in the bedroom over there
cause it's almost 10:00 now
but uh
mommy remember when I asked you
if I had to school every morning
because I cracked on stage uh
in during a pausen concert once
during a concert in front of the whole school
I cracked on the high note
(44:45):
and after that for a couple weeks
I asked if I really had to go to school
and I never wanted to go again
and I was so embarrassed
but you have to go again and you have to try again
that's the only way to to do it yeah
but anyways thank you
thank you so much Nico for sharing your experience
pleasure in the racing world
I see so many parallels to just people of passion in
(45:09):
in general yeah
music is a part of that as well
anything else you wanna get off your chest
no very happy
thank you for having me of course
thank you so much thank you um
where can people follow you
if they're at all interested in racing
I mean social media is one way to
to kind of be in touch with what's going on uh
at the very moment I guess um
at the moment I'm mainly racing in Formula 1
(45:31):
which is the world championship for electric
formula cars very exciting
definitely worth watching
and I do some endurance racing as well uh
some in the US at the moment actually yes
he's gonna be in my city next month yes
I think it's still a secret but yeah
oh well
I mean by the time this episode comes out
your race is probably already over all good
so all good yeah
(45:52):
so um some G t P they call it um
G t P hyper cars that do endurance racing okay
beautiful cars fast fun to drive and cool to watch
I always enjoy coming to the track so much
even though it's a lot of waiting around
and it's a lot of downtime
boring time for us like
you know
coming to see you'cause the race again is a short time
(46:15):
um but I always admire
you know watching you what you do
I remember at one point
you were juggling before getting in the car yeah
I tried that out as well for probably a couple years
even was that for concentration
yeah and again
getting the sort of body connected to the mind
because it's movements that kind of trigger your
(46:36):
your mind okay
we're gonna go racing now and it wow
I just wanted to prove myself that I can juggle
you know with basically being half blindfolded
with 4 balls in the air and stuff
that is something that's just practice
it's nothing it's not no talent needed
and then I thought it was cool to
to do that before getting in the car
I guess it was more that than anything else okay
(46:57):
but um yeah
I tried it uh
it worked but I'm not doing it anymore
I hope I could still do it okay
well let's put it to the test
let's go find some balls no
I'm just kidding but I'm super
super proud of you
you've always been very inspiring to me
seeing like
all the sacrifices that you've made
to get to the point where you're at
but also staying true to yourself and working really
(47:19):
really really
really really freaking hard and it's paid off
you live a beautiful life with a beautiful family
and I'm just happy to be a part of it
so thank you very much and I can only give that back
oh well
thank you yep
lots of respect I wouldn't have moved to the US
without knowing what's waiting for me
remember your talent scouting thing
(47:39):
and I do Sacramento
yeah I think it was yeah
we went as the whole family
I think you were 16 I was 12 at that point
and didn't you win I did yeah
yeah and he turned it down
I was scared and I was like dude
this is my dream living in the United States
following my passions and he turns it down
(47:59):
yeah
the excuse was that I had to finish school back home
yeah yeah yeah
no honestly
yeah it was
it was cool but uh
I think that was your dream to live to
of course so yeah
um it's not something I regret
but it was a cool experience
yeah yeah
it was a totally different kind of racing too
it would have been old racing
yeah which was super exciting as well
(48:20):
yeah just different
but turned out anyways love you Nico
thank you for coming on thank you
thank you guys for following along
if you wanna follow Nico and his journey
I'll link to his social media below
go check it out otherwise
we'll catch you in the next episode bye
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