10

Loading video...

Alex Harrington

By Alex Harrington

Sports Contributing Writer

0

Share

Newsweek is a Trust Project member

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

This year's British Grand Prix delivered the usual noise and packed crowds, but it also came with an unexpected dose of serious heat. A prolonged heatwave had gripped Europe in the weeks leading up to the race, and conditions at the former RAF airfield were more punishing than the 27°C air temperature suggested. With 564,000 spectators crammed into grandstands and open hillsides largely devoid of shade, a UV index of 7, and the track surface itself climbing to 40°C, the personal cooling device I'd packed stopped feeling like an optional extra and started feeling essential.

The Shark ChillPill is SharkNinja's £129.99 handheld unit that combines three functions into one device: a fan, a misting pod, and a direct-contact cooling plate. It launched in March 2026, earned itself a spot in the Amazon new releases chart, and got a visibility boost when Aryna Sabalenka was photographed using one courtside at Roland Garros. By the time Charles Leclerc crossed the line to take the race win ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, I had run all three of its functions to their limits.

What Works at Silverstone

The cooling plate is very impressive when conditions cooperate. Hold the peltier surface directly against your wrist, the back of your neck, or your cheek and it drops skin temperature fast - SharkNinja claims up to 16°F, and my testing over the past few weeks has confirmed those figures are roughly accurate. Under clear skies at Silverstone on Sunday, with the air temperature hovering near 27°C, the chill it produced was strong and certainly relieved that feeling of claustrophobia you get from being stuck under the sun. There's a mild airflow from the unit even when the plate is attached, which adds to the cooling effect. This was the feature I kept reaching for between stints of standing and watching, and it delivered every time.

Read More on Tech

Among the available cooling tools, the misting pod ranks second - but only when held at close range. Set it on a railing two feet from your face and the spray dissipates before it reaches you, even in still air. Pull it in to close range and switch on the fan to carry the mist, and it's very refreshing and the most cooling of the three modes.

It does however run out of mist in around seven minutes - slightly more than the five-minute figure Shark quotes, but still short enough that you'll be refilling during the race rather than watching it. Interval mode stretches closer to ten minutes of useful output before it fades. Those wicks need replacing roughly monthly, cost about $5 a pack, and aren't available on Amazon at the time of writing, which is the kind of friction that will irritate people who live their lives on next-day delivery.

The fan, alone, is the weakest of the three. With Silverstone's light race-day wind doing most of the work, the device offered strong airflow, but it's loud and - like every other fan in the world - only moves around ambient air. The unit tops out at around 9 mph even at maximum, and at 64 decibels on high, it's noticeable to the people around you. While the other two modes are innovative and actually cooling, the fan isn't the reason to buy this.

The Problems Nobody's Talking Around

The biggest practical issue at a race weekend is the attachment system. Each function requires swapping out a different module - fan cap, cooling plate, or misting pod - one at a time. The cooling plate and the fan cannot be operated at the same time, despite that being the exact pairing most users would find useful.

The included pouch carries all three attachments, but fishing them out while standing in a grandstand and trying to watch Leclerc defend through Copse is its own small nightmare. Fortunately, I had a team with me carrying filming equipment with bags I could use. If I was by myself, then I'd have to choose one attachment for the day and leave the other two at home.

There's also an operating limit that isn't spoken about. The cooling plate is specified for use under around 32°C ambient temperature. At Silverstone's 26–27°C, it functioned perfectly. When I was sat in the back of my car after a long day in the sun, it gave up entirely. SharkNinja advertises the ChillPill as a "heat hacker," but the core cooling feature has a ceiling that isn't far above British summer conditions. If you're heading somewhere significantly hotter than Silverstone - think a stadium in Spain or a race weekend in the Middle East - leave the plate at home.

Battery life, to the device's credit, is excellent. At mid-range speed, the unit ran for over seven continuous hours in testing, well past the manufacturer's quoted 4.5 hours for that setting. That would have covered the full race day without a recharge.

The ChillPill carries a £129.99 price tag, putting it above entry-level portable fans, and adding the complete accessory kit for wearable functionality pushes the total spend up by another £80–100. SharkNinja's Neil Shah argues "personal cooling hasn't evolved with the way people actually live," and there's merit in the product concept - nothing else on the market currently combines all three approaches in one unit. But if you're heading to Silverstone for the racing rather than the tech, be clear about what you're buying: the cooling plate and the mist are very good, the fan is okay, and you can only use one at a time.

For a warm British Grand Prix, it gets most of the way there. Just bring the whole bag.

Shark ChillPill 3-in-1 Personal Cooling System: Key Specs

View 0 Comments

Request Reprint & Licensing

Submit Correction

View Editorial & AI Guidelines