Formula 1 presenter Lee McKenzie has a very famous father – Details

Lee McKenzie is back to lead Channel 4’s coverage of the British Grand Prix alongside Steve Jones and David Coulthard.

Lee lives and breathes motorsport and even takes part in some formats himself. began her career as a Formula 1 reporter in 2009, when she appeared as a pit lane reporter when the BBC was still reporting on and would take over the lead role if presenter Jake Humphreys was unavailable.

When Channel 4 acquired the rights to broadcast the sport, Lee followed suit and has hosted the channel since 2016 and has often led coverage of Grand Prix weekends in recent years.

However, it was her famous father who sparked her interest in the sport after he was called in at the last minute as a reporter for the 1991 Mexican Grand Prix.

Lee’s father is Bob McKenzie, a sports journalist who works for the Daily Express between 1979 and 2014. Bob was asked to write for the event when the reporter in charge was ill. While watching her father, Lee became enthusiastic and began writing for her local newspaper, the Ayrshire Post, at the age of 15.

She recalled to the Sunday Post: “It was a great foundation. On Saturdays I would go to whatever sporting event was on – usually rugby – and on Monday mornings I would have the day off from school to go into the office and write the rugby report and an equestrian column. Doing anything else was out of the question for me.”

The star even joked about following her father to Formula 1 races, saying: “My father was a Fleet Street journalist and I was the annoying kid who showed up at all the sporting events. So I had already been to a lot of F1 races by the time I was 12.”

Commenting on her father’s career to Motorsport Broadcasting, Lee said: “I started going to Formula 1 races when I was 10, I’ve known Bernie (Eccleston) since I was a kid. My dad was at (Ayrton) Senna’s funeral and he wrote books about Damon (Hill) and Nigel (Mansell). I’ve been surrounded by all that my whole life, in different sports, not just motorsport.”

Career

Lee has had a distinguished career in broadcasting, beginning her career at Borders TV where she covered major events such as the opening of the Scottish Parliament and the Lockerbie bombing trial.

Lee has not only made a name for herself in Formula 1. The Scottish-born journalist has also covered horse racing, the Six Nations in rugby, Wimbledon and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.