Hi there! Welcome to Track Limits, a weekly F1 newsletter where we break down the major headlines and dive into the questions, trends, and topics that spark our collective curiosity. Nothing is off-topic and a little fun is always part of the mix!
Good afternoon! The past two weeks were relatively calm. Sure, we had some minor headlines and several rumors going around, but nothing that made anyone go nuts!
The 2025 calendar was revealed. Alonso announced he re-signed with Aston Martin through an iconic five-word press release. South Korea officially made it known they are interested in hosting a race and the F1 Commission reported it will be discussing a potential point structure change.
The one thing that got people wired up - if you can actually call it that! - was the first sprint race of the season. I have to be honest. I had no intention whatsoever of being awake at 4 a.m. to watch a 30-minute sprint race. But after Norris claimed pole position in the rain, my delusion skyrocketed and there I was at 4 a.m. watching cars drive around in Shanghai!!
In the end, Verstappen took home the weird-looking plaque and the futuristic leaf wreath. Were we really expecting it to be any different?!!
Unlike the break between Australia and Japan, the driver hot spot wasn’t Bali but Monaco! More specifically, the Monte Carlo Masters. As with any major sporting event, drivers weren’t there just to watch matches. We saw some socialising with high profile individuals, others performed brand ambassador duties and of course we had the classic posing for pictures! And it’s fair to say, we weren’t impressed by the fashion this year! Drivers gave us the classic Russell sweater, the Leclerc striped suit, the Sainz polo, the beige Hulkenberg summer suit, and the Norris bucket hat! Honestly, the only one who dressed to impress was Russell’s girlfriend Carmen Mundt. The boys should learn a couple of things from here!
Also during that weekend, but on the other side of the world, was Coachella. None of the drivers were at the music festival, but Hamilton’s non-alcoholic spirit, Almave, did make an appearance! To “celebrate” the occasion, Hamilton dropped a Spotify playlist called Coachella’24. I haven’t listened to it yet, but if Hamilton himself curated it I’m assuming it’s good! Do we think he did?!
Speaking of Hamilton, he was one of the few drivers jet-setting around the world during the break. He attended the GQ awards in New York City, where he received the GQ Global Creativity Award, and visited South Korea for a partnership event with Rimowa - a luxury luggage manufacturer. How these drivers aren’t severely jet-lagged is beyond me!
During the actual race weekend, the only shenanigans we saw from drivers were those happening online! We had Bottas being a fire-breathing dragon"! Albon learned Tai Chi. Sargeant tried to make pitstop sounds, the keyword here is tried! Piastri was a guest on the chaotic but amazing Team Torque podcast hosted by the Williams drivers. Verstappen continued his late night Sim racing habit and clearly doesn’t know how to play Guess Who! Several drivers shot some suspiciously amazing 3-pointers in a CBA activation and Perez showed he has a great sense of humor when it comes to picking memes to match weird prompts!!
We ended the weekend with an emotional Guanyu saying goodbye to the fans in the grandstand. As the first Chinese driver to compete at home, the weekend must have been a stressful and wonderful experience. Which absolutely merits shedding some tears! I was, however, shocked to learn that the “men shouldn’t cry” belief is still a thing. Aren’t we tired of that?
Oh, I almost forgot! Leclerc introduced his new dashound puppy Leo and he is the cutest!!
LEC Ice Cream!
Last week Leclerc launched a new business venture, an ice cream brand called LEC!
Not much about the business is known, other than that Leclerc seems to have three partners. What each of them does and what the ownership structure is, are unclear. What we do know, is that the brand’s unique selling point is being an authentic Italian gelato but having less than 400 calories a tub. Hence LEC’s tagline being: “Why resist?”.
As of now, LEC’s five flavors are only sold in select stores in Italy. With no indication that this will change anytime soon.
ZOOMING OUT:
With LEC, Leclerc is the latest athlete on the grid to join an ever-growing trend of athletes not just launching consumer brands but building full-blown business empires.
While many high-performing athletes earn hefty salaries and endorsement deals during their careers, those earnings are short-lived. Careers tend to end when athletes reach their 30s and solid financial management throughout their sporting careers isn’t necessarily a given. As such, entrepreneurship presents itself as an opportunity for athletes to leverage their current public recognition and extensive network to build a financial future able to sustain them well beyond their competing days.
For many athletes - especially in women’s sports - entrepreneurship is actually more than just thinking ahead. It’s about creating the financial stability and autonomy that allows them to make career decisions based on more than just earnings.
Interestingly, entrepreneurship seems to come naturally to many athletes. On closer examination, it makes total sense as the traits required to excel as an elite athlete, such as discipline, resilience, adaptability, great people skills and a drive for success, are also essential for thriving as an entrepreneur. As such, it makes for a great second career.
While financial motivations are likely the primary driving force for many athletes, some have expressed a desire to give back to their communities, empower others, and champion causes that are meaningful to them. Actually doing so has led several of them to become social entrepreneurs and green venture capitalists. Great examples of this in motorsport are Lewis Hamilton’s Mission 44, Sir Jackie Steward’s Race Against Dementia, and Nico Rosberg’s Rosberg Ventures.
So, while it’s surprising Leclerc decided to be in the ice cream business, of all things! It’s very much in line with how athletes are currently creating wealth and building legacies beyond sports.
Actually, of all the drivers currently on the grid, Leclerc isn’t even close to being the most entrepreneurial one!
F1’s Impact Report
In 2019 Formula 1 published its first sustainability strategy. In it, they outlined the three goals for the sport: becoming Net Zero Carbon by 2030, leaving a legacy of positive change where it races, and building a more diverse and inclusive sport.
Despite it being five years since Formula 1 first published the strategy, we haven’t been given any real progress report on the matter. This changed last week when FOM (Formula One Management) released its first impact report. In it, they highlight several initiatives and provide some insight into the progress that has been made regarding Formula 1’s carbon footprint.
THE DETAILS:
While some companies have a legal obligation to publish sustainability reports that meet specific reporting criteria - like the ones that are publicly traded - FOM doesn’t have such a mandate. Which means it was able to choose how it discloses its sustainability efforts to stakeholders.
An impact report - which is what FOM decided to publish - sets itself apart from other available reporting options by focusing on storytelling and highlighting the positive impact of the organization. This is a stark contrast to traditional sustainability reports or integrated annual reports, which are strategic business documents mainly driven by quantitative data.
Despite it being one of the many options available to FOM, it still an odd one. Formula One is a data-driven industry that measures literally everything! So why not take advantage of that and create an insightful data-driven report? Many teams have done so for years, so why would Formula 1 not follow their lead?
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only head scratching moment while reading the report. The three most noteworthy were:
Attribution: When discussing the impact of a specific measure it’s important to disclose to what extent one is responsible for said initiative. FOM doesn’t do that. It doesn’t explicitly indicate when it worked in collaboration with stakeholders and how specifically it contributed to that initiative. When Formula 1 had no actual participation in the initiative other than exercising influence over stakeholders or when the initiative was solely their doing. Presenting all of these variations as equals is misleading.
Governance: Corporate governance is the foundation of any environmental and social effort an organization has. It encompasses everything from the corporate structure, business ethics, anti-corruption policies, risk and crisis management, incentive structures, stakeholder management to transparency. As such, effective corporate governance is essential to position an organization for long-term success. FOM didn’t report on any of these topics.
Roadmap: A sustainability strategy in its simplest form is figuring out where you are, where you want to go, and how you intend to get there. As much as we like to hear about specific initiatives, it’s this roadmap towards becoming a more sustainable sport that stakeholders care about. It’s like saying you know the movie just because you watched the trailer. As all of us can attest to, it’s absolutely not the same thing!! That’s more or less what FOM has done by publishing just an impact report. Which for an organization with a not-so-positive public image concerning sustainability is a risky move.
All things considered, the report is still a great read.
Miami SponCon!
It’s unusual to hear about a Grand Prix weeks before the event takes place. But if you have been anywhere near several well-known American motorsport content creators, you may have noticed that the Miami Grand Prix has been a recurring hot topic! With many of them promoting the event through sponsored content.
Despite it being very common for events to partner with content creators and influencers. It’s not something we see that often in Formula One. Especially not before the actual Grand Prix takes place and not at this scale where it operates in conjunction with traditional advertising. So what changed?
THE CONTEXT:
Formula One has never been big in the United States. As much as European fans like to complain that the sport has been Americanized, the actual size of the fandom in the United States isn’t as massive as we are made to believe.
Not only is it relatively small, but data suggests it’s shrinking.
According to the most recent TV ratings, the first three races of the 2024 season had around 860.000 average viewers in the U.S. And the 2023 season drew an average of 1.1 million viewers, which represented a 9.1% drop from 2022. To put these numbers into perspective, the global average audience in 2022 for an F1 race was 70 million! This year’s final NCAA women’s game between South Carolina and Iowa was watched by 18,87 million people, just in the United States!
Despite viewership not telling the whole story, it’s a great indicator of the overall health of the sport in a particular market. If we add to this the attendance of last year, that story starts to look like a market in trouble!
Sure, multiple season-specific factors are contributing to this picture. Think of the less-than-ideal broadcasting hours of the first four Grand Prixs. The lack of exciting racing at the front of the grid. The Andretti snub or an underperforming American team and driver.
But the truth of the matter is, that Formula 1 hasn’t really fostered a solid relationship with the American fans that warrants any loyalty. It has been eager to tap into the sports-crazy American market - worth over $80 billion in 2023 - but somehow it thought a docuseries, some razzle-dazzle, stereotypes, and overpriced tickets would do the trick. Let’s be honest, that’s what Formula 1 has done in most non-European countries it races. It acts like a traveling circus living in an insular existence.
The problem with this approach - beyond the obvious! - is that it doesn’t work with the American audience because they have many other options to satisfy their sports and motorsports desires.
All of this seems to suggest that Formula 1 overestimated the maturity level of the American market when it decided to have three races in the United States. Leaving promoters with a small, and potentially shrinking, customer pool they ALL need to tap into. Even if we include luxury customer segments that aren’t race fans like “the clout chaser”, “the socialite” or “the executive”.
This means that if the downward trend continues, the probability increases that one of the races gets cut from the calendar or that promoters get stuck paying Formula 1 an annual fee, without the attendance figures to cover the cost.
With a ten-year-long contract, Miami may not want to risk having a once highly lucrative event become a money pit. Which would explain, why they have reached out to a diverse range of content creators and influencers to help increase the event’s profile and boost ticket sales.
The big question, however, is how long this isolated surface-level solution will be able to mitigate Formula One’s inability to truly connect with American fans.
This week’s recommended content!!
🗞 READ
Shy Rajdev on his journey capturing emotions at the peak of motorsport | What Actually Matters This F1 Season? | How Andretti’s F1 is Pushing Ahead – even after Being Rejected | Mercedes Becomes First F1 Team to Exceed £500M Turnover | 2024 Formula 1 Host Countries Ranked By Their Respect For Human Rights | How worried should Ricciardo really be about losing his F1 seat? | China-born Zhou Guanyu will be a star regardless of who wins the F1 race in Shanghai
🎧 LISTEN
Team Torque with Oscar Piastri, Chinese GP | F1 Beyond The Grid, Zhou Guanyu - China’s hero making history at home | F1 Explains, Team Principals with Aston Martin’s Mike Krack | The Joe Pomp Show, How the Miami GP became Hard Rock Stadium’s most lucrative event
Photo Credits: LEC, Miami Grand Prix, Formula 1
Greta read! Missed opportunity for Charles to call it Ice LeCream…