Jason Beste ended up cooking for the Mercedes Formula 1 team the way most good things happen — he was having a Friday afternoon beer with someone who got an email at the right moment. That was the end of 2012. Michael Schumacher was still driving, Lewis Hamilton was about to arrive, and Jason was about to spend several seasons feeding one of the most dominant teams in the sport’s history.
At peak race weekends Jason and his team were cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for over 300 people. The core team of mechanics, engineers and PR staff ate every meal in the Mercedes hospitality unit. Media could wander in from any team they chose — and during the championship years, everyone wanted to be in the Mercedes kitchen. VIPs added another layer on top of that.
During the 2014 season, with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg going head-to-head for the world title, Jason’s main responsibility was the drivers’ food. He worked closely with their personal trainers on nutrition through the season. Nico Rosberg was known to sit in the car eating roast potatoes before a race. Hamilton at that stage was eating salmon regularly and would occasionally have a steak on a Friday after practice — this was before he went plant-based. Nico had a good rapport with the kitchen crew and would wander in to chat. Hamilton was more contained but always professional.
Jason left the paddock and is now head chef at Supper Road, a premium catering business in the southwest of Western Australia. He still talks about the Austrian Grand Prix circuit at Spielberg — mountains in the background, clean air, somewhere worth returning to.