F1 champion finally reveals all on Bob Mortimer and THAT scotch egg story

Bob Mortimer posing as a cat with a scotch egg edited in his grasp — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 champion finally reveals all on Bob Mortimer and THAT scotch egg story

Meats and cheeses, always pleases

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 17 April 2026 23:13

There are moments when F1 transcends the sport and assumes its rightful place in popular culture.

Some may say this moment was Drive to Survive or perhaps the release of the F1 movie. But we all really know F1 made it to the big time when the sport became part of a Bob Mortimer bit on the iconic BBC panel show Would I Lie To You?.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Would I Lie To You - or WILTY for the sake of my rapidly cramping fingers - is a British panel show hosted by Rob Brydon alongside the two team captains, comedians David Mitchell and Lee Mack.

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Each week Mitchell and Mack are joined by two guests each, who present a story which is often so ridiculous as to be unbelievable. It is the opposing team's job to then figure out whether a person is telling the truth or lying, by asking a series of questions.

Since his first appearance on the show in 2012, Bob Mortimer - one half of the comedy double act Vic & Bob and formerly of Shooting Stars fame - has become a mascot of the show, back each season by popular demand with clips of his appearances garnering millions of views on YouTube.

Known for iconic phrases such as 'pocket meat' and 'meats and cheeses, always pleases' (from season one of Last One Laughing), staples of the British snack diet frequently wind their way into his bits - including one about the 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill.

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Did Bob Mortimer really give Damon Hill a scotch egg?

Mortimer's bit on Damon Hill from 2021 is one such clip, with nearly 800,000 views and has fast become one of WILTY's most iconic moments - see for yourself.

In it, Mortimer claims that he 'once helped Damon Hill to grand prix success by presenting him with a pre-race snack.'

When asked what the snack was by David Mitchell, Mortimer replied: "A scotch egg."

As further questions from Mitchell's team of Miles Jupp and Samantha Morton were posed, Mortimer coined the infamous phrase 'pocket meat', which he claims he always ensures he has on his person.

(Pocket meat - a portable, ready-to-eat snack, such as a pork pie, pasty or a scotch egg. Usually contains processed meat.)

It was at the 1994 British Grand Prix, where Hill secured his first and only home win at Silverstone, that Mortimer presented him with such pocket meat, a scotch egg 'for luck' and claimed the F1 driver took it around with him.

Mitchell's team guessed the story was a lie, but Mortimer managed to fool everybody by revealing it was in fact true. Now, during a recent episode of Hill and Johnny Herbert's Stay On Track podcast, Hill finally told all about the infamous episode.

He explained: "I get asked this all the time. People aren't interested in whether you won the world championship or not, they just want to know 'did Bob Mortimer give you a scotch egg?'

"So, he's in the Williams motorhome, I invited him along because I liked Vic and Bob. He's there with his wife and he's eating a scotch egg. So I walk past and said 'Oh Bob, how are you doing?'

"And he said 'this is my scotch egg, it's a lucky scotch egg, would you like it?' That's what happened, so he offered me a lucky scotch egg. And I think I accepted in so far as the gesture was accepted.

"I did not race with a scotch egg in my car. So he's right, it is true, but get it out of your mind I was driving around with a scotch egg."

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