Alex Witty: Turning F1 Tyres into Sneakers

2025-06-11

🏎️🏁 Today we sit down the innovative entrepreneur ⁠⁠Alex Witty⁠⁠ — designer, CEO, and founder of Compound Footwear, a sneaker brand made from Formula 1 tyres. From growing up with a dad who worked alongside Ayrton Senna, to launching his own sustainable fashion label during COVID, Alex shares the behind-the-scenes of turning Motorsport waste into wearable street style. We talk about the wild ride of building a brand, creating opportunity out of luck, and how Formula 1 is shaping the next generation of fashion, fandom, ...

🏎️🏁 Today we sit down the innovative entrepreneur ⁠⁠Alex Witty⁠⁠ — designer, CEO, and founder of Compound Footwear, a sneaker brand made from Formula 1 tyres.

From growing up with a dad who worked alongside Ayrton Senna, to launching his own sustainable fashion label during COVID, Alex shares the behind-the-scenes of turning Motorsport waste into wearable street style.

We talk about the wild ride of building a brand, creating opportunity out of luck, and how Formula 1 is shaping the next generation of fashion, fandom, and future thinking.

🏆 This one’s for the dreamers, doers, and F1 lovers.

00:48 – Meet Alex Witty and how Compound began

03:30 – A family legacy in Formula 1

06:15 – From Brighton uni to seaweed experiments

09:40 – The “ah-ha” moment: turning tyres into shoes

13:00 – Inside the first Compound drop

18:30 – The real carbon footprint of F1

21:00 – What entrepreneurship really looks like

26:00 – The power of self-belief (and a little delusion)

29:30 – Imposter syndrome and the internal game

33:00 – Why fashion and F1 are a perfect match

37:00 – F1 Academy, representation, and the rise of women in motorsport