The F1 Academy Letdown, a Tate McRae Obsession, and Partnerships Galore!!
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!! Triple-headers aren’t my favorite thing, but this European one actually managed to deliver some interesting racing. Even the usually dull Spanish Grand Prix turned out pretty feisty, with wheel-to-wheel battles, mixed strategies and even a late safety car!
Although some had anticipated that the flexi-wing technical directive would be the one shaking things up, that didn’t turn out to be the case in the slightest!! So Hamilton continued to look miserable in his Ferrari, Tsunoda didn’t seem thrilled in the Red Bull either and Antonelli saw no end to his bad luck. The real surprises of the weekend? Williams’ strange lack of pace, Hulkenberg finishing P5 — in a Sauber of all things!! — and Verstappen’s temper making an unexpected appearance!!
As much as I enjoy the nonstop shenanigans some race weekends bring, sometimes we just need a moment to recharge and dare I say maybe even step away from the phone!! Barcelona is usually the perfect weekend for that, with just enough shenanigans to keep us entertained without it ever feeling like a chore. Luckily, this year was no different!!!
3. Football Visits F1!! Sports crossovers during Grands Prix are usually a great source of entertainment. Not only do they temporarily cure our short-blindness — nothing like putting drivers next to some tall people for scale!! — but they also remind us that while drivers are incredibly skilled behind the wheel, that talent doesn’t always translate to other sports!!
Unfortunately, this weekend was more a casual visit than an actual crossover so we only got the tiniest comedy nugget. Though don’t worry, F1 still got its beloved exposure with a couple of collab posts on social media and a YouTube video!!
This, however, meant that the paddock and grid were swarming with England’s national football team players, who apparently thought a Grand Prix was the perfect pre-game warm-up before their World Cup qualifier against Andorra. They took a group picture with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, toured a few teams’ garages and even managed to snub Martin Brundle on his grid walk. Ah, nothing like the full celebrity F1 experience!!
Coincidentally this football “takeover” came on the heels of the Champions League final on Saturday between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. Naturally, with several drivers being huge football and PSG fans, we got our fair share of social media teams asking for result predictions and drivers getting taunted with rival team gear — a bit dramatic if you ask me, but ok!!
It also gave us a little peek into Gasly and Hadjar’s budding bromance as they watched the game together and very much matched each other’s intensity and excitement!! I have to hand it to the fangirls who called it at the start of the season—the rookies are absolutely getting “adopted” by the older drivers. And all signs point to Hadjar becoming Gasly’s official F1 little brother!!
2. The Tate Obsession As we get closer to the F1 movie release, the marketing machine is seriously ramping up. Promos and ads are everywhere — on track, in the F1TV broadcast and all over our feeds. Last week was no different, it was actually worse since they decided to drop the latest single from the movie’s soundtrack.
This time around it was Tate McRae‘s turn to release her track Just Keep Watching and the accompanying music video. As has become the norm with McRae, people either loved it or absolutely hated it— with the comment sections being downright savage!! If I’m really honest the video isn’t my thing. It’s very F1-coded with rooms full of tires, intense dancing in front of a wind tunnel, posing with a neck-strengthening harness, several onboards and a runway where the audience is dressed like drivers — helmets and all!!
Nevertheless, since its premiere on Thursday, it has pulled over 12.7 million streams on Spotify and 3.4 million views on YouTube, and it climbed to #8 on YouTube’s trending music chart. Not Tate’s biggest hit ever, but still it was EVERYWHERE last weekend in the F1-adjacent internet!! F1, a few teams, and even drivers jumped on the hype and used it in their posts as did many fans.
By Monday — and after hearing the song a million times — I have to admit it grew on me!! Now every time it plays I’m like…okay Tate, I see you!!
1. A Family Affair!! Formula One has not been one to make drivers’ families part of the race weekend. I asked around, and seasoned fans told me the vibe has always been very much spring break not a wholesome family getaway!! That’s definitely different in other motorsport series like IndyCar, where family members sometimes participate in off-track moments. Just look at Palou’s family celebrating his Indy 500 win by kissing the brickyard with him.
This is changing, and we’re seeing drivers’ families slowly being brought into the spotlight — not just at home races. Girlfriends, kids, parents, siblings, grandparents, in-laws, and even cute cousins and nephews are all popping up on social media — including team accounts — and getting their moment during the broadcast.
From Antonelli’s big brother energy with his younger sister, Russell walking around the paddock hand in hand with his nephews, Gasly rocking the proud dog dad vibe, Norris’ doting mom and dad at podium ceremonies to Piastri dedicating his win to his seriously cool looking little sister!!
I’m not sure if the drivers are just more family-oriented than before, if this triple-header happened to line up with family vacations, or if Formula 1 is making a calculated effort to show it’s a family-friendly sport. Either way, it’s a fun and a very interesting change!!
Honourable Mentions Formula 1 is signing partners at an unprecedented pace — and honestly, it’s getting hard to keep up!! Just in the last couple of weeks it announced Disney, Gatorade, Sting and Doritos. While I assume some of these are limited to specific markets, I wonder if the value of being an F1 partner is going to dilute if everyone is becoming one!! As of now Formula One is considered an exclusive sport in terms of commercial opportunities with only 340 deals across the ten teams — generating a reported sponsorship revenue of $2.04 billion in 2024. WOW!! But will the return on these partnerships remain positive when consumers are starting to get overwhelmed by hundreds of brands competing in the same space?
Speaking of partnerships, Hamilton just teamed up with Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine. Earlier this season, Perplexity reportedly tried to sponsor Red Bull but the deal was blocked by Oracle — the team’s title sponsor — due to the company being its direct competitor. So now, instead of going with a team, it looks like Perplexity turned to Hamilton to enter the sport.
While AI is very much part of Formula One when it comes to, for example, data processing, we haven’t seen an actual AI company be a sponsor or partner. So it’s a bit surprising that Hamilton, of all people, chose to team up with an industry known for its negative impacts on the environment not to mention the still murky social impact. Odd? Absolutely, but let’s see what this partnership actually delivers before we all grab our pitchforks…right?! Or is it an outright hell no?!!
Paddock gossip went into overdrive after a late-night announcement on Saturday that Stroll would be skipping the race due to a wrist-related medical issue. While that sounded reasonable enough to most of us — it did to me!! — some insiders started whispering a different version of events. Apparently, there was a bit of a meltdown — the kind that ends with Stroll punching something in the Aston Martin garage and re-injuring the same wrist he had surgery on back in 2023. Dramatic? Very. Surprising? Not really!!
Honestly, some of these drivers just need to take a deep breath and go for a walk. I get it 24 races, nonstop demands from teams, sponsors, media, and then having to drive a shitty car every weekend can’t be easy. So while I understand the urge, maybe we don’t hit people or things because doctors are expensive and jail ain’t cute!!
Oh!! I almost missed it, but Cadillac just announced its first major partner: Tommy Hilfiger!! It’s an interesting move on a few levels. First, you’ve got an all-American brand teaming up with the first F1 team backed by an American car manufacturer. That’s a loud and clear signal that they’re going all in on being THE American team!!
Second, partnering with a fashion brand right out of the gate? That tells me they’re not here to play it safe!! They’re clearly leaning into a version of fandom that sees sport as part of a bigger cultural lifestyle — where fashion, music, and even literature are all in the mix. I’ve got a hunch this is just the beginning and we’re in for some fun and very unexpected collabs!!
The F1 Academy Letdown
Last week, the highly anticipated docuseries about Formula 1’s all-female single-seater championship, the F1 Academy, finally premiered on Netflix.
While the official premiere in London had all the fanfare of a Hollywood blockbuster — with the drivers, VIPs, influencers, and press in attendance — early fan reviews over the past week haven’t quite matched the red carpet excitement.
THE REASONING:
While every major sports league has tried its hand at a Drive to Survive-style docuseries to attract new audiences, few — if any — have been able to replicate the cultural phenomenon. Some would argue that Formula One benefited from a very unique set of external circumstances that enabled it to spark this once-in-a-lifetime movement and turn it into one of the most popular sports in the world.
However, one key element is often overlooked when discussing why the docuseries was so successful — not just in grabbing people’s attention, but in converting curiosity into genuine fandom. Unlike many other sports properties, Formula One has never been interested in following trends — sometimes to its own detriment — and it rarely tries to be anything other than what it is. It’s unapologetically exclusive, dominated by wealthy men, funded by whoever can afford the sticker price, backed by global car manufacturers and tailored to entertain those with access to life’s finer things.
This means that in addition to the actual competition, Drive to Survive had a multitude of layers it could dive into to build a rich and complex world, and create a compelling narrative. From the glitz and glamour of a globe-trotting calendar to paddock politics, interpersonal dynamics, business challenges, legacies, personal stories, and more than a few juicy scandals.
The willingness to show the good, the bad and the ugly side of Formula One is what made Drive to Survive both unique and irresistible. Especially because until then, most scripted or non-live sports media was highly curated, focused on competition and “hero” driven. Drive to Survive broke away from that model and proved that audiences — especially those new to a sport — care about characters and authenticity, however messy that may be.
It’s why shows like Welcome to Wrexham, for example, have become hits in recent years, as they too carry the same sense of truth and deep understanding of their unique story and identity. F1 Academy, on the other hand, didn’t capture that at all.
What is the purpose of F1 Academy — not the goal, but the reason it exists? What does it stand for? Why should we care? None of these fundamental questions are answered with the show, nor is the audience provided the necessary context to give it substance and meaning.
Recurring questions in fan reviews like “Why can’t they race in regular championships?”, “Do F1 teams only give the livery?”, “What do drivers have to do to participate?”, “Why are they only allowed to compete for 2 seasons?” or “What do drivers do after F1 Academy?” illustrate this perfectly and point to a lack of openness and transparency from the championship. Ultimately limiting the shows’ ability to build a layered and dynamic narrative, particularly important for new audiences who may be discovering F1 Academy and motorsport for the first time.
As such, it’s no surprise F1 Academy shows no signs of becoming a major hit. It hasn’t appeared on Netflix’s most-watched lists — neither globally nor in any of F1’s key markets — and there’s been no noticeable spike in searches, social media followers or trending topics across platforms.
Like many sports properties before it, the all-female championship fell victim to trying to squeeze itself into a “proven template” in the hopes of boosting visibility and attracting new fans, rather than creating something that truly reflects its identity and aligns with the audience it’s trying to reach. In fact, it seems to have over relied on being female-centered as its main selling point and as the reason for why it should be celebrated rather than held to the same standards expected of any other project.
The real disappointment of it all isn’t just that the show failed to deliver on its promise, it’s that there was something worth telling.
F1 Academy is filled with compelling, high-stakes stories on both individual and championship level. Yet, instead of embracing the complexity of young women’s experience in motorsport — a space where opportunities are limited and financial backing is uncertain — the show shied away from these realities, choosing to ignore the structural barriers that made F1 Academy necessary.
At a time when conversations around gender equity and social justice are front and center worldwide, F1 Academy is uniquely positioned to be more than just a PR initiative or a proof of concept that women’s motorsport is a valuable asset. It has the potential to be a true cultural touchpoint for a new generation of fans — and the most relevant and consequential venture Formula 1 has launched in years.
But to achieve this — and tap into the many benefits it can bring, like commercial growth, financial viability, and a highly engaged fan base — F1 Academy has to realize that fandom isn’t built on cute liveries, big sponsorship deals and beautifully shot media pieces alone, it’s built on connection. And connection requires authenticity and a willingness to tell the full story — not just the polished one.
The content I enjoyed last week!!
🗞 READ
Inside the Making of the New F1 Movie with Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and Lewis Hamilton | The K-popification of F1: How a New Generation Is Rewriting the Rules of Motorsport Fandom | I Went to Sports Romance Con | How McLaren and OKX won in Monaco (also) through Creative Direction | New Balance & Coco Gauff, The Best Sports-Fashion Tie-Up Out There | How sports journalism becomes PR | How Rolex Paved the Way for Luxury’s Love Affair With Tennis | F1 teams generate US$2.04bn in sponsorship revenue in 2024
🎧 LISTEN
Could Carlos Sainz beat Lando Norris in a boxing match? | F1 Beyond The Grid: Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Is A ‘Very Interesting Project | The Rest is Motorsport: A Tale of Two Races
Photo Credit: F1 Academy