The McLaren Conundrum, F1 Kids, and A Rash Remark!!

How Kids and Kidults Are Driving the Next Era of F1 Fandom

Hi there! Welcome to Track Limits, a weekly newsletter where we break down the biggest headlines in F1 and explore the questions, topics, and trends that are shaping the sport. Nothing is off-topic and a little fun is always part of the mix!!

Good Evening!! If the vibes in Las Vegas were off, the ones after Qatar turned out to be far worse!! The sprint was an absolute snooze, and the race managed to suck all the excitement of having multiple drivers fighting for a championship out of the room. By the end of the night, McLaren fans were at each other’s throats while Red Bull and Williams popped the champagne for yet another Sunday where they maximized every opportunity!

With one race to go, I’m happy to see the championship finally decided and even more excited to say goodbye to the ground-effects era and all the terrible cars and heartbreak it dragged along with it!!

The last couple of races of the season usually don’t deliver any amazing off-track shenanigans, but this year… I think we might be up for some interesting surprises!!

3. Crashgate Goes to Court… Ever since Ecclestone gave that now-infamous interview — the one where he casually admitted that he and the FIA knew Piquet’s crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was intentional!! — Massa, the then championship front-runner, has been on a mission for justice. He’s suing Formula 1, the FIA, and Ecclestone not only for lost earnings but also to be declared the rightful 2008 champion — a precedent I don’t think anyone wants to set!!

Last week, that mission came a little closer to reality when a British judge ruled that Massa does have a claim when it comes to lost earnings. The juicy twist?! Now that he’s allowed to proceed, Massa must lay out all the evidence proving not only that the accused parties knew about the intentional crash, but that they chose not to annul the Singapore Grand Prix results — as regulations demand.

For a sport with an huge ego and that loves to pretend it’s immune to outside accountability — having the British court poking around their governance and airing out their dirty laundry is probably less than ideal!! Which is why, as much as I would love to know every detail of the alleged cover-up, I suspect this will get settled quietly and quickly before anything truly messy hits our feeds!!

Still, it’s a very necessary wake-up call, especially for the FIA: being a governing body doesn’t mean you get to skip the part where you’re bound by rules and regulations as well!!

2. A Rash Remark In the heat of the moment, drivers and teams are known for dropping their fair share of eyebrow-raising accusations and wildly dramatic descriptions of incidents!! That’s probably why drivers have become so media-trained and why the now classic “I need to watch it back” statement given in the media pen automatically triggers an eye roll — at least for me!! But in all fairness, it’s the safest way to avoid putting your foot in your mouth!!

Unfortunately, that memo didn’t make it to Verstappen’s race engineer or Helmut Marko this weekend, who both suggested that Antonelli had “pulled over and let Norris through” on the penultimate lap of the race.

With tensions already sky-high in papaya land, these comments ignited one of the worst online bullying campaigns I have seen in the sport lately. The Italian rookie received more than a thousand abusive messages — including death threats — and it became so bad that Mercedes reposted their community guidelines, the FIA issued a statement condemning the abuse, and even Red Bull came forward saying they regret the comments.

Honestly, stirring the pot is part of sports — sometimes it’s even the best part! But this whole mess makes me wonder whether some people have completely lost the plot. Have we forgotten that this is supposed to be fun and friendly, not nasty and terrifying?

1. The McLaren Conundrum!! For the first time in decades, the papaya team finally built a fast car and put two world class drivers behind the wheel. On paper, that looks like the perfect recipe for a successful championship campaign. In reality, the 2024 and 2025 seasons have shown that speed and talent alone doesn’t make a driver a champion. Trust from and in the team is what you need more than anything else.

A big part of that conversation has to do with the famous papaya rules. While in theory, there is nothing wrong with having a guideline on how drivers should race — the FIA has one for the whole grid, after all!! It becomes a problem when they are being used as a substitute for trust and as a way to spare decision-makers from having to make uncomfortable and unpopular calls.

As such, playing it safe — or being “fair,” as McLaren loves to call it!! — is a giant neon sign screaming leadership lacks confidence in the team and in the drivers. And what does that lead to? Exactly what they were desperately trying to avoid: looking like the bad guys and having McLaren fans turn against each other.

Sure, the team’s leadership is happy with the Constructors’ Championship — that’s where the cash comes from!! — and doesn’t mind missing out on the driver’s title. But I’m not convinced these papaya rules are doing the McLaren brand, the fandom, or the team any favours — I’m actually sure of it!!

A messy, controversial championship fight is Red Bull territory — the feisty, confident troublemaker — and it only adds to their brand lore!! But McLaren’s brand is built on engineering, innovation and heritage — none of which go hand in hand with this lack of courage and the many intrateam rage-inducing kerfuffles!! As such, I wonder if fans and commercial partners will shrug these past couple of years off as a few bad PR headlines or if it will impact the Woking team far deeper than expected.

Honorable Mentions Leclerc dropped his merch line — maybe Ferrari finally lifted the “ban” as a consolation for giving him a terrible car this season!! As expected, the pieces are simple and clean — very on brand, but I was kind of hoping for at least one unhinged design to match his chaotic pants choices!! But the only thing we got was a very big scarf and a dog sweater. I do have to give it to him, the film launching the collection is PERFECTION — it’s fun, cinematic, fashionable, and feels intentional and very Leclerc!!

Norris teamed up with Sydney-based contemporary artist Werner Bronkhorst for a special helmet design to celebrate his 150th race start. Like most people, I came across Bronkhorst on TikTok and instantly fell in love with the way he plays with scale and movement — those tiny, detailed scenes set against textured abstract backdrops are so mesmerising!! Since sport pops up in his work a lot, I’m not surprised this pop-culture-coded partnership happened. Now I’m just wondering… does Norris get to keep the actual art piece — a neon green yellow helmet featuring some of his career milestones in miniature version — or is he only getting the replica?!!

Lego just announced it’s expanding its motorsport footprint by joining the F1 Academy in 2026. Not only are they sponsoring a car which is going to be driven by Dutch driver Esmee Kosterman, but they’re also releasing an F1 Academy LEGO Speed Champions set — I’m really really excited about this!! With a proven ability to weave their brand into the race weekend — the iconic Miami driver parade, the Silverstone Trophies, the Vegas wedding chapel, and that pink Cadillac “cooldown room” still live rent-free in my mind!! — I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the F1 Academy. Also, they handed out LEGO flower bouquets to the drivers in Vegas — love the idea!!! — but for some reason I’m still wondering about how anyone would get those home!!

It seems Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company is making a documentary about Adrian Newey called “Turbulence: The Greatest Mind in Formula One”. I have to be honest, I’m not so sure on the title — okay, I hate it!! — but I’m all in for a deep dive into the career of the most successful engineer in Formula One!!

Piastri got very passionate about analog buttons in cars. I fully agree — touchscreens are the worst — but who knew buttons would be the thing to get Piastri out of his shell?! Colapinto had a cute moment with his gondolier when she surprised him with some seriously impressive vocals!! Is it just me, or have we been seeing less of the Argentine on social media lately— what’s going on there? Speaking of singing, the Williams boys got into a heated debate over who would win a karaoke battle — and I’m sorry, but I have to side with Albon!! He definitely looks like he has way more range than Sainz. Also, please drop the Eminem cover video — I NEED to see that!! Oh, I almost forgot. Now that Hadjar is officially headed to Red Bull— not sure this is a good idea, but that’s a conversation for next week!! — I’m already mourning the loss of masterpieces like this. We were really spoiled by the golden age of unhinged VCarb social media!!

Finally, since Qatar is a MotoGP track drivers were asked whether they’d ever want to give it a try. With Liberty Media now owning MotoGP, I can absolutely see more crossovers coming — but thankfully, most of the drivers responded with a firm “Hell no!!” or “Absolutely not!!”. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the couple of MotoGP races I have watched. But seeing riders being launched into the air and into the gravel every other weekend is terrifying and I can’t take it!! Unsurprisingly, the only ones unhinged enough to be excited about the idea were Hamilton and Norris…

F1 Kids

Over the past year, we’ve seen an unprecedented boom of consumer brands entering Formula One. And while the sport’s crown jewels may be its partnerships with luxury brands, the cultural moments, online engagement, and mainstream media attention have largely come from the kid brands on the grid — LEGO and Hello Kitty during the Las Vegas Grand Prix being just a few of them.

ZOOMING OUT:

Since Liberty Media stepped in as commercial rights holder, Formula One’s fandom has surged and diversified. Even so, one demographic continues to slip through the cracks: kids.

The latest estimates suggest there are roughly 20.1 million active kid fans worldwide — a number that doesn’t come close to the size of the sport’s female audience or the growing American fanbase. So why would kid centered brands be willing to spend millions on a sport that isn’t exactly popular with young audiences?

Although we tend to think of things like toys as kid-oriented, adults have been buying them for themselves for decades — collecting everything from dolls, video games to miniature cars. Before 2020, this was a small niche segment within the toy market. But the pandemic changed that. With the lockdown keeping everyone confined to their homes, many Millennials and Gen Zers rediscovered play — returning to childhood toys for comfort and to the communities around them for connection. When the world reopened, however, the enthusiasm didn’t disappear — it exploded!

Kidults — the name given to this phenomenon — became the fastest-growing segment in the toy industry, spending over $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024 alone and registering a year-on-year growth of 12%, overtaking the 3-5 year olds as the most important customer segment.

With the global toy market declining, brands responded to this new interest by flooding shelves and online stores with products designed for “experienced players,” from LEGO building sets that tap into nostalgia franchises like Harry Potter or Star Wars to Mattel’s Hot Wheels collections inspired by current car culture obsessions. It’s also why toy crazes like the Labubu have gone mainstream, with young adults attaching them to their designer bags and kids clipping them on their backpacks.

Interestingly, this segment of “adults with grown-up money but childlike whimsy” is showing up in other industries as well. In hospitality, restaurants are popping up, adopting the dinner-as-playdate concept with crayons at the table, secret doors to enter venues, and “the playroom” being the aesthetic. Hollywood is remaking early-2000s classics like Lindsay Lohan’s Freaky Friday, creating live-action versions of beloved Disney classics such as Lilo and Stich and producing toy-centric movies like Barbie. Even the fashion industry has seen moments of playful childlike styles and has tapped into Kidult themes, with, for example, Loewe launching a ready-to-wear collaborative collection with Studio Ghibli, Fendi collaborating with Pokémon, and Bottega Veneta making their own Jeng game.

With this movement in full swing, it’s no surprise the toy industry is gravitating towards sports — especially Formula One, whose fanbase is growing among Millennials and Gen Z. As such, not only do their audiences now overlap, but these worlds actually complement each other: LEGO and F1, for example, share a spirit of building and engineering curiosity, while Hot Wheels and F1 celebrate speed, design, and car culture. This alignment makes partnering with Formula One more than just a perfect brand fit for these companies, it serves as a financial lifeline and a way to expand their audience.

At the same time, it plays directly into Formula One’s hands as the sport prepares for the fandom challenges ahead.

At the moment, Gen Z and Millennials are driving the majority of revenue and shaping the cultural agenda in categories like entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, and tech, but this won’t last forever. In the coming years, their influence will give way to a new group entering the market: Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2025.

Since most of them are still pre-schoolers or school-aged, social scientists agree it’s too soon to identify distinct characteristics for this generation. What we do know is that they are growing up in a world defined by hyperconnectivity, on-demand entertainment, immersive technologies, and artificial intelligence. More importantly, they are expected to outnumber Baby Boomers by the end of the year, making them the largest generation in history.

This means that there is an enormous commercial incentive to engage Alphas while their habits and tastes are still forming, with brands across industries hoping to win the loyalty of what many expect to be the next golden-goose generation.

A recent example of this growing effort played out a couple of weeks ago when the internet lost its mind when actress Shay Mitchell launched Rini, a skincare brand for kids. All she really did was tap into an existing interest in beauty among Alpha kids that wasn’t being served by anyone.

Sport, however, faces a slightly different scenario because the demand for it isn’t really there yet. Even though Alphas report being interested in playing sports and spend significant time online, sport isn’t their top interest. That means Gen Alpha isn’t tuning into live sports, filling stadium seats or engaging with leagues, teams, and athletes online.

What changes this concerning outlook is the fact that more than 70% of Gen Alpha parents are Millennials — a generation with an unusually strong appetite for sports. They are likely to shape Gen Alpha’s passions and habits, but only if kids are given the chance to participate in sports and experience fandom from a young age.

It’s why youth sport is increasingly important for leagues and sports brands, and why more partnerships and initiatives are being designed with kids in mind. Nike, for example, created NIKELAND on Roblox, blending gaming with sports in a virtual playground. The NBA partnered with TikTok to deliver highlights and custom content through a platform popular among younger audiences. The NFL teamed up with Nickelodeon to offer alternative broadcasts of major games — including the Super Bowl in 2024 — giving kids a fun entry point into a usually difficult and adult-dominated space.

In this context, and without a local youth sports pipeline or in-person experiences, Formula One’s growing partnerships with kid-focused brands starts to look like a strategic effort to create an ecosystem of Gen Alpha touchpoints — beyond their Millennial parents.

Across gaming and entertainment, F1 is showing up through Fortnite, EA Sports, Disney, and Paramount+. In toys and lifestyle, collaborations span Pottery Barn, LEGO, Hot Wheels, UNO, Hello Kitty, and The Peanuts. The sport’s media footprint is expanding as well through F1 TV Kids, Nickelodeon tie-ins, and partnerships with kid creators. And its educational efforts — from STEM Racing to Learning Sectors with the British Council — are building early age connections rooted in science, technology, creativity, and engineering.

When you place all these considerations together, it becomes clear that Formula One isn’t just chasing trends for a quick win. It’s preparing for what comes next — a landscape shaped by Millennials and their Gen Alpha kids. And by tapping into both childhood curiosity and adult nostalgia through playful experiences, the sport is meeting these groups where they are and building the flexibility to grow with them. A strategy that keeps Formula One culturally relevant, commercially ambitious, and financially resilient for the long run.

The content I enjoyed this last couple of weeks!!

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Yuki Tsunoda’s Fight to Find Himself Beyond F1 | Introducing Carmen Montero Mundt – financier, fashion muse and girlfriend of F1’s George Russell | Go Sports: Formula One | CEO & Chairman Stefano Domenicali On The Astronomical American Rise of Formula 1 | Creators Don’t Want Your Brand Deal Anymore. Here’s What They Want Instead. | F1 Driver Isack Hadjar Is Living Life With No Regrets

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F1 Beyond The Grid: Sebastian Vettel On The 2025 F1 Title Fight | Team Torque: Rally, Thanksgiving, and Lia’s Last Academy Race!

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Photo Credit: Formula 1