Matt Bishop

Bishop is openly gay, has been a forthright speaker on LGBTQ+ issues for many years, and is a founder ambassador of Racing Pride, a movement developed with Stonewall and launched in June 2019, its aim to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the motorsport industry.[10] Bishop lives in London with his husband Angel Bautista, a chef and makeup artist.[11]

Bishop was born in London to Bernardine Bishop (1939-2013), an English novelist, teacher and psychotherapist, and the American classical concert pianist Stephen Kovacevich .[1] A critically acclaimed author of five novels, one of them, Unexpected Lessons in Love, short-listed for the 2013 Costa Novel Award, Bernardine Bishop died of colon cancer in July 2013.[12]

Matt Bishop’s grandmother was Barbara Lucas (née Wall, 1911-2009), an English journalist, author, novelist and peace campaigner. His great-great aunt was Viola Meynell (1885-1956), an English author, novelist and poet, and his great-great grandmother was Alice Meynell (1847-1922), an English author, poet and suffragist, whose husband was Wilfrid Meynell (1852-1948), an English author and editor.[7]

Matt Bishop has worked as a voluntary fundraiser for the children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent for many years, having been introduced to the charity in 2007 by ex-Formula 1 team principal Eddie Jordan. All proceeds from sales of The Boy Made the Difference, Bishop’s first novel, will go to CLIC Sargent.[1][7]

Early in Bishop's tenure as editor of F1 Racing, the magazine achieved a notable scoop by exposing the 'brake-steer' system on the McLaren MP4/12, an innovation by which drivers could brake the rear wheels independently of the front, altering the car's handling characteristics to improve laptime. It was subsequently banned after protests from Ferrari.[13] Bishop and photographer Darren Heath had observed in photographs that the McLarens' rear brake discs were glowing in the middle of corners, and arranged to surreptitiously photograph the inside of the cockpit via a plan in which Bishop tipped off Heath via phone if either of the cars broke down mid-race.[14]

While editor-in-chief of F1 Racing, Bishop also wrote columns for Autosport and Autosport.com, entitled ‘Praise Be!’ And ‘From the Pulpit’.[15]

Bishop ghost-wrote the autobiography of double Formula 1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, Emmo: a Racer’s Soul, published by Haymarket Media Group in 2014.

The Boy Made the Difference, Bishop’s debut novel, takes as its subject matter the HIV/AIDS crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. A fictional tale about a fictitious family living in north-west London, the Davises, it draws on Bishop’s experiences of working as a home support volunteer, or ‘buddy’, for London Lighthouse, at that time the world’s largest HIV/AIDS centre.[7]