join our editor, 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐘, as aurelion racing's resident pr guru and spokeswoman 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐘𝐍 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐋𝚰𝐍𝐃𝐄 talks life on and off the track. in affiliation with @gridcrown & crew.
it's a hard job keeping the world's press in line, but someone has to do it. as i sit across from evelyn vanderlinde, who has instructed me to call her eve as "all my friends do", she remarks on how "my mother always expected me to get into racing in some way or another". her mother, of course, being the former aurelion driver 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐃𝚰𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐋𝚰𝐍𝐃𝐄, known within the racing community as 'the grace kelly of formula one' following her unexpected early retirement from racing following her marriage to 𝐃𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐃𝐑𝚰𝐂 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐋𝚰𝐍𝐃𝐄. with a gentle laugh eve adds "i'm not sure why, though, i failed my driving test five times". there's a slight british twang to her accent, no doubt inherited from her father who spent most of his youth in england. like his royal relatives, with duke vanderlinde being listed as 200th in line for the british throne, he attended eton as boy and, later, cambridge university before settling down in monaco, where he would meet his wife.
as the duke and duchess's only child there was significant interest around eve's birth. "my mother was careful to maintain my privacy as a child", she remarks, and it's certainly true that little is published about her early years. the only photographs seen by the public of a younger eve were carefully crafted and released by her family. "my family went to great lengths to keep me out of the press, they wanted it to be my choice when i finally stepped out in front of the cameras. turns out i was a natural". at age 16 she started to be seen more frequently in public, notably attending galas for her mother's various charities. "it meant a lot to mum that i was so interested in her work. she's really an inspiration to me, using her fame and fortune for such good causes". as for her father, well, "he's just happy that i'm happy!" she jokes, "i think he's long accepted that i don't have much of a political mind". though she did follow her father's footsteps in one regard, attending cambridge university in england where she earned her degree in human, social, and political sciences, and caused a few scandals. "the english press are relentless," she tells me with a shake of her head, "i certainly learnt a few lessons there".
so, what led monaco's favourite it girl to a career with aurelion racing? the vanderlinde family are one of the company's biggest sponsors, which has often sparked rumours of nepotism playing part in her hiring. eve dismisses this with a laugh and a wave of a perfectly manicured hand. "truth is, it was my best friend", aurelion racing's star driver; clarissa vale. eve goes on to tell me how their mother's had raced together and stayed in touch after duchess vanderlinde's retirement. "they had us around the same time, so we basically grew up together as sisters". they attended all the same schools in monaco and were even roommates at boarding school. "she's the most hard-working and passionate person i know" so when clarisse signed up for aurelion racing, following her own mother's footsteps, "it was a no-brainer really". however, eve wants to make it very clear, "i had to interview for the job!" she laughs with a shake of the head. "i see people all the time saying i was just handed the position, but that's not true. they really made me fight for it". but is she happy? "it's the best job in the world."
