Sir Chris Hoy thanks F1 driver for ‘out of the blue’ British Grand Prix gesture

Sir Chris Hoy and his wife Lady Sarra have had a busy weekend, making appearances at Wimbledon Centre Court and at the British GP

Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz demonstrated his character by personally inviting Sir Chris Hoy and his wife to the British Grand Prix. The legendary British cyclist featured in a BBC documentary entitled ‘Sir Chris Hoy: Cancer, Courage and Me’ in December last year.

Sainz watched the documentary and decided he wanted to meet the British Olympics legend himself. The former Ferrari ace extended an invite to Silverstone to Sir Chris and his wife Lady Sarra.

The esteemed Hoys also watched Wimbledon from the Royal Box barely 24 hours before they got to Silverstone. Considering Hoy is battling a terminal stage four prostate cancer diagnosis and that Lady Sarra is fighting multiple sclerosis (MS), it’s fair to say they are both living life to the full.

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Speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle on the grid ahead of the race, Hoy revealed they were at the event as a result of the Williams’ driver’s invitation. The six-time Olympic gold medallist said: “Carlos Sainz messaged me out of the blue.

“He said ‘Hey, I watched your documentary about you and Sarra and we’d love to host you’. So a massive thanks to Carlos, we saw him earlier, and we’ll be cheering him on today.”

This follows just days after six-time Olympic gold medallist Hoy, collaborating with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, contributed to raising over a million pounds for UK cancer charities at an event. He has generated millions through his Tour De 4 charity cycling initiatives.

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Despite his cancer battle, Hoy recently informed the Press Association he is coping well and refusing to allow his diagnosis to destroy his life. He said: “I’m doing fine, thanks. The Tour De 4 is the main focus for me the next few months. It’s trying to demonstrate, rather than just talking about it, that all these people who are in a similar situation to me – living with stage four cancer – that there’s plenty of life left in us.

“We’re determined to make the most of it, and not have cancer define who you are. You don’t have to be facing a stage four cancer diagnosis to have tough moments. I guess for me and for my family, the thing that we’ve tried to do is to not look too far ahead and to still have plans for the future and still have goals and aims and things to look forward to.”

The former Team GB cyclist revealed in 2024 that his prostate cancer had advanced to his bones and that medics had told him he had between two and four years remaining. He reflected earlier this year on what his diagnosis had taught him.

He said: “When the dust settled I realised that the important things I wanted to do were the small things, the things that we often glaze over, that we don’t even reflect on. Time spent with your kids, with our loved ones, a moment reflecting as the sun comes up in the morning and you have your coffee, and you think ‘Ah, it’s wonderful.’

“Little things that we’re just so busy in life that we tend to dismiss or move on from very quickly but if you can slow things down, for all of us, not just anybody in my situation. Appreciating the moment and recognising that what’s done, what’s in the past, you can’t change that – and what’s coming in the future.

“You don’t actually know, good or bad, so there’s no point worrying right now. You may as well just enjoy the moment. If you worry about something you suffer twice.”