Before Sunday, I began writing three articles on the championship contenders ahead of the crowning. I wanted to ensure to release it to celebrate them the same day, but it felt quite unnatural, not finding the words and basing the article of stats, but here I am, Monday morning, writing this article after watching Lando Norris secure his first championship.

It was surreal, there is nothing more wholesome than seeing a driver win their first championship after watching them grow in the more so ever competitive sport, whether you support the driver or not, agree with the team stance or not, each individual driver works hard to prove they deserve where they stand, and after a hard working seven years in the sport, Lando Norris deserves this championship title.

It has been 2458 days (as of Monday, 8th December 2025) since Lando Norris debuted his Formula 1 career at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Starting 152 races, making it the most starts for a McLaren driver, standing on the podium 44 times, taking pole 16 times, winning 11 races and solidifying a total of 1430 points throughout his F1 career, as of the 7th December 2025, Lando Norris is the 2025 Formula 1 World Champion.

This driver’s championship secured McLaren’s first driver’s championship since 2008, with England’s Lewis Hamilton securing his first title. It also makes Lando Norris the 35th different world champion in the sport, taking the trophy in the 75th year of Formula 1.

It has been quite the journey from a 2019 rookie to a 2025 World Champion and like all drivers, there is a story behind the visor. A story to celebrate with the team, family, friends and support system.

How exactly did the night under the sky go about?
Max Verstappen started on pole, Lando Norris started in P2, with Oscar Piastri in P3. All three championship contenders are fighting to take home the trophy throughout the entire race. The race survived past turn one, where, towards the end of the lap, Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris to secure P2, working to fight the defending champion in P1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made an impression on the McLaren driver Lando Norris. While Red Bull had their driver, Yuki Tsunoda, fighting to put pressure on Norris in his last race, it did not quite end well in the plot of his play, as he got struck with a five-second time penalty for making more than one change of direction. As the race continued, McLaren continued biting their tongue, keeping hold of what the final laps could contain. The moment the checkered flag rose in front of the grandstand, Max Verstappen had taken victory under the lights, securing his 71st career victory. Oscar Piastri finished in P2 just shy of P1 in the race, and the driver, Lando Norris, finished in P3, taking all that he needed to be crowned a champion under the fireworks.

Surrounded by his family, friends, team and fans in Abu Dhabi and throughout the world celebrated as the season closed after 24 races across five continents. The season brought nothing dull; it brought action, stress, grey hairs and lots of adrenaline, pretty sure a lot of fans’ couches’ edges were worn out.

As we live in the Winter Break (Summer for our Southern Hemisphere residents), we say goodbye to the 2025 season, the ground effect era, the calling that DRS is now open, the lovable Yuki Tsunoda and the Renault Engine.

Of course, to receive the drivers’ most dreamt-of trophy, the FIA awards were hosted in Uzbekistan, where the top three drivers in Formula 1 were to join all the incredible drivers from across the motorsport world to celebrate a year full of success. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were two drivers in the top three present at the awards ceremony, while Max Verstappen called in sick, but did present himself with a video message for the evening. Charles Leclerc was also present at the ceremony in support of Ferrari’s success for the year.

McLaren’s CEO, Zac Brown and Team Principal, Andrea Stella were present at the awards receiving the Constructors trophy once again and Lando Norris was presented with the Driver’s trophy. His name printed above McLaren’s last drivers champion, Lewis Hamilton in 2015 where he won his second title with Mercedes that year.

It has been one goal ticking journey from a 2019 rookie to the 2025 world champion. And if Lando Norris’s journey taught us anything, is to be patient, to let your time come. It was not the easiest years with McLaren at the start, but Norris believed in the people around him that together they could all reach to the top and be the best on track. It took time securing his first win, it took time to finally get their hands on the championship competing car, it took time to get their hands on the constructors and it took time to get HIS hands on the drivers trophy. As much as seven years does seems minimal, the effort put it is worth more than decades. Norris’ raw mentality of how he copes throughout a weekend is different from another driver, but the transparency made him who he is. Not everyone wins a championship like that and as was said by Carlos Sainz, he proved you can be a nice and still win a championship.

This is a story of a lifetime, including teammates, family and friends, the first drivers for McLaren since 2008 and their driver, Lando Norris’ first championship of his career.

The 2025 season marks the first time McLaren can take the driver’s championship since 2008 with Lewis Hamilton, but let us take a brief look back at the first McLaren world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.

On the 12th December 1946, in São Paulo, Brazil, Emerson Fittipaldi was born to the Brazilian motorsport journalist, Wilson Fittipaldi and his wife Józefa Wojciechowska. Alongside his brother, Wilson Fittipaldi Jr, the brothers had a passionate heart for motorsport, but the expenses came at a scare as their father could not afford to finance them into karting, but the brothers did not stop there. During their adolescent years, they became entrepreneurs working to fund their own karting expenses, building an enterprise from a single steering wheel for their mother to creating their very own Fittipaldi karts. Emerson Fittipaldi continued his journey to rightfully secure his name in the hall of fame at the age of 18, taking the Brazilian karting championship title.

Turning his academics in mechanical engineering at university into being the driver in the seat, moving to England in 1969. He spent 1969 and 1970, becoming a Formula Ford winner, moving to Formula 3 in the same year and winning the championship, which earned him a Lotus contract in Formula 2 in 1970, where he joined Lotus on the Formula 1 grid in the seventh race of the season.

The Brazilian Formula 1 driver debuted in 1970 at the Inaugural British Grand Prix with Lotus. In his debut season, he took his first victory in 1970 at the US Grand Prix and took his first pole two years later in Monaco, the same season he took his first pole to victory race win at the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix. The year in which he won five out of twelve races to secure his first world championship. He spent three seasons with Lotus until he left the team at the end of the 1973 season.

Fittipaldi then moved on to join McLaren the following year in 1974, for two years until 1975. Within those two years, he won 5 races with McLaren and secured the championship with McLaren for McLaren’s first drivers’ title in 1974. During the same year, he took his last pole position to which he had won the Canadian Grand Prix with. In 1975, he stood on the top of the podium for the final time at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix and at the end of the season, he parted ways with McLaren after securing runner-up to Niki Lauda’s Ferrari.

He went on to embark on the journey with his brother to create the Fittipaldi Automotive Formula 1 team in 1974, the team in which he joined in 1976, after departing from McLaren, for four years until 1980 (being called Copersucar until 1979 and Fittipaldi from 1980 onwards). Emerson Fittipaldi took 2 podiums throughout his 4 years with the team. The Brazilian sugar money that sponsored the team so far had run out in 1980, which caused the team to seek funding. This year marked a decade since Fittipaldi had joined the sport and won two driver titles, but it was also the year that he announced his retirement from Formula 1. As the only Brazilian-based Formula 1 team crippled down, Fittipaldi returned to home soil to return to his family’s agricultural work and business.

Fittipaldi’s racing story did not stop there as he went on to return to the world of racing in 1984 when he joined Indy Car and won the 1989 World Championship and took two wins at the Indianapolis 500, his first in 1989 and then again in 1993. Even though he left the prestigious level of Formula 1, his competitive racing gene grew stronger with success.

Emerson Fittipaldi will always be in the top books in McLaren’s history, with him being listed as McLaren’s first driver’s champion! Ahead of the final two races in the 2025 season, where either one of the papaya-dressed driver can win the championship, this would be their first driver's title since Lewis Hamilton took his first title in 2008 with the team.

socials

If a discussion was opened up about the world’s greatest driver, the mentioned legendary driver is never not in the conversation. Debuted in Formula 1 in 1984, he spent 10 years racing, creating written history along the way. He secured three world championships: his first in 1988, followed by 2 consecutive championships in 1990 and 1991, all with McLaren.

Brazil is one of the most iconic races of the year, the energy of the fans, the incredible race track and of course, it is home to the legendary Formula 1 figure, Ayrton Senna.

On the 21st March 1960, Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His mother, Neide Senna da Silva, was of Italian descent and his father, Milton da Silva, was a Brazilian landowner and factory owner.

Senna’s love for racing began in his early years when his father built him his first go-kart made out of a lawnmower. Despite having a privileged background, his passion to pursue racing was self-driven and over the years of his career, motivational words said by Senna left an imprint on the world as it stands.

He moved into karting and progressed through single-seater championships, where he won the British F3 championship in 1983, catching the eyes of F1 team bosses. He made his Formula 1 debut the following year in 1984 with Toleman, which was later sold to the Benetton group and became Benetton Formula 1 in 1986.

In the year 1985, Senna debuted with Lotus and spent three seasons with the team, securing his first pole position and win with them. He started on pole 16 times and won 6 races, with his first win being celebrated in Portugal at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. Marking territory, Senna thrived through the rain, handling his race calmly until the checkered flag to secure his maiden victory.

In 1988, Senna joined McLaren until 1993. During their six seasons together, three of them (1988, 1990, 1991), Senna was crowned world champion, McLaren and Ayrton Senna won 35 races together and during his first year with the team in 1988, he secured the championship, winning 15 out of 16 races in the season.

In 1994, Senna joined Williams in where he raced his final three races, before his tragic accident in Italy at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, where he crashed into a concrete barrier while leading the race, causing fatal head injuries. A day before Senna’s death, Formula 1 lost rookie Austrian driver, Roland Ratzenberger, who crashed due to front wing failure. The weekend marked a big move in Formula 1, with the racing culture losing a new rookie and the greatest driver the sport has seen. The weekend also led to new safety measures and the birth of the FIA Safety Commission.

Senna is a national figure of pride and hope in Brazil, having the resilience at a time when the country was faced with social and economic challenges. He worked to help solve the country’s biggest problem of education by donating to charities and giving back to the community.

His name and memories are carried with honour throughout Brazil and the racing world. His impact remains inspirational even to the newer generations, who are hearing about his stories.Documentaries, dedicated pieces of articles and the spread word of Senna truly remain as one of the greatest stories to read about, to listen to and to share.

As he stands as one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1, who followed his passion and left behind one of the greatest marks in the racing world, I end your read with one of my favourite quotes from him.

“If a person has no dreams, they no longer have any reason to live. Dreaming is necessary, although in the dream, reality should be glimpsed. For me, this is a principle of life.” Ayrton Senna

Well, we started off the weekend with McLaren showing off good pace in FP1, with a few incidents showing a slight risk of excessive debris between the 20 drivers. McLaren struggled for pace in FP2, bringing Ferrari into the equation as Hamilton topped the times ahead of Leclerc, allowing for Tifosi around the world to lighten their bubbles. FP3 on Friday brought intense wind with McLaren soaring to the top of the times once again, with Norris setting the fastest lap ahead of the session of fastest laps, qualifying.

Qualifying itself made history by having the most red flags in a qualifying session, which lasted almost two hours. Rain, wind and barrier hits were the main headlines throughout Saturday’s two hours.

With 11 minutes left on the timing tower for Q1, the session saw a stop as Alex Albon went off in turn 1 into the barriers. Hulkenberg and Colapinto were also victims of the barriers as Gasly found himself in the run-off area towards the end of Q1..

In Q2, Bearman brought out the 4th red flag after hitting the barrier at turn 2. Hamilton took a step backwards after suffering from early strategy problems with Ferrari, getting knocked out of Q2.

Q3 saw two red flags from Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, who both met up with the wall. Max Verstappen took pole position, sneaking just ahead of Carlos Sainz, who brought Williams back to the front of the grid ahead of Liam Lawson, who secured his best start in P3.

While Sainz and Lawson kept realism in their theme of thought ahead of the race, they both managed to celebrate big after the race.

Race day arrived in the early days. As the usual program continued on schedule, the drivers stood alongside a passionate young man during the national anthem, which certainly brought the atmosphere to life on millions of screens around the world.

As the lights went out and 20 cars awaited the start, an unfortunate getaway from the Papaya livery belonging to Oscar Piastri, who jumped the start and then went into anti-stall. Fernando Alonso was unfortunately a victim of it, as he reacted to Piastri’s start. While Alonso received a 5-second time penalty for the starting infringement, Piastri did not make it past lap 1 after hitting the wall at Turn 5. A weekend where McLaren could have won the championship turned chaotic, as the McLaren left in the race, Lando Norris, worked to take the opportunity to close the gap in the championship to his teammate, but struggled from another slow stop, only allowing him to continue his race behind the battle of Lawson and Leclerc. Norris still however, finished in P7, taking 6 points to close the gap to 25 points.

The end of the race saw a victorious Max Verstappen taking his 67th victory with his 6th grand slam of his career. He finished ahead of the resilient George Russell, who suffered from a respiratory infection the entire race weekend. He pulled through a result to stand on the podium in P2, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli having a joyful result of P4. We welcomed Williams back to the podium as Carlos Sainz finished in P3, taking his first Williams podium of his career, joining four-time world champion, Alain Prost, as the only drivers to have a podium for the historical teams McLaren, Ferrari and Williams.

The Red Bull teams as a whole, including both sister teams, had a happier race with all four drivers finishing in the Top 10. Lawson took his best career finish in P5, while his ex-teammate Yuki Tsunoda went on to finish in P6. Isack Hadjar was the driver to conclude the point finishers as he finished in P10. Word has flown through the paddock that Hadjar has a deal for the 2026 seat alongside reigning world champion, Max Verstappen.

Ferrari did not match up to their FP2 standards, having a lack of pace throughout the race, with Hamilton finishing in P8 and Leclerc in P9.

Alongside Alonso in the penalty writing was Alex Albon, who took a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto in turn 5. Albon finished in P13 and Colapinto followed along in last in P19. It has been said that Briatore is considering two candidates for the seat alongside Pierre Gasly in 2025 and those two candidates do not include a return of Jack Doohan (so it seems). Alongside Colapinto, Paul Aron joins in talks for the seat.

Will McLaren take the title in the iconic night race and is Max Verstappen entering back into the title contention?

The days come and go, and every year there are three days where the nation of racing enthusiasts join hands and celebrate or “cry” the success of the historic Formula 1 team - Scuderia Ferrari. This is not a “cult”, this is a built legacy.

Through generations, the stories of Enzo Ferrari and his work have been recorded and passed down, shaping the dreams of young stars, painting a picture of a future of success. Every shop you enter, a red car awaits you. The first guess is that it is indeed a Ferrari, but how many people know the history of the name that rolls so easily off their tongue?

Formula 1 started in the early years of 1950, and what accompanied this championship was both Ferrari and Monza. Monza is a track that has been tied to the name of Formula 1 alongside Silverstone, but what truly makes the ‘Temple of Speed" so legendary? Is it the low downforce and full throttle laps, or is it the swap for fewer corners and longer straights? Well, yes, it quite actually is. But the name of the Italian Grand Prix is also historic for many other reasons as well. The wins, the celebrations and the biggest crowd of the year - the tifosi.

Directly translated, “tifosi” means fans in English, but this crowd of red merch is so much more than just fans. They do not just watch the race from the grandstands; they bring life to the weekend. If there is one way to describe passion, it is the tifosi. From under the podium, to millions of screens around the world - the energy radiates through your television’s pixels. The flags, the flares and the anthems. The anthem that is sung to a point where you are trying to catch your breath, keeping up with the spirit of the team. I, despite having zero Italian heritage in my blood that I know of, also know the Italian anthem off by heart.

There is something about a win in Monza that radiates with warmth. Turning back time to the iconic Leclerc win in 2019, then him doing it again in 2024. Pierre Gasly’s first win in Formula 1 in 2020, creating a cinematic historic scene that will be in history’s books. The 2021 Italian Grand Prix saw the return of the honey badger with McLaren securing a 1-2 with Ricciardo taking victory and Norris in P2. If we rewind time further on, the day Sebastian Vettel became the youngest F1 driver to win a race with Italy’s other team, Toro Rosso, in 2008 and where Michael Schumacher won in 1996 and gave Ferrari their first home victory since 1988. If I were to tell you, the tifosi celebrated big back then, would you believe me?

In honour of the Barilla’s slogan “Dove c'è Barilla, c'è casa" (Where there is Barilla, there is home), there is home, dedication and passion that are embedded within the 3 days of racing at Monza. As Formula 1 evolves around the world, adding a “high-end event” at races like Monaco, or a “night-party” at races like Las Vegas, it always goes back in time to its roots in Monza.

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza, situated in Royal Villa of Monza Park, is known for being the fastest track on the calendar, with its long straights and high-speed corners, around 80% of the lap being driven on full throttle and to achieve the maximum speed, teams run lower downforce setups.

Monza is the oldest track on the calendar. It was opened in 1922 and since the start of the Formula 1 Championship in 1950, except in 1980 due to renovations, Monza has appeared on the calendar every single year.

The Italian Grand Prix is the celebration of Italian racing culture, where speed, heritage and a passion for racing are brought to life in true style. It is the home to two teams on the grid, Scuderia Ferrari HP and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula One Team. This year, Lewis Hamilton has his first race in Monza with Ferrari, who have a special collection this weekend to honour 50 years since Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda’s first championship with the team. Both Leclerc and Hamilton have special helmets as well.

If there is one race to attend on the calendar, Monza has to be on the list, no?

Update on MMM June Issue - It is coming out late, I have had quite the block in writing articles in June, so it will either be out in the next week and a half or out at the end of the month alongside July’s Issue! I am working on getting it out as soon as possible!

First qualifying and race watchalongs are out on TikTok, along with this weekend’s recap! I shall link them down below! Enjoy your read xx

quali watchalong . ݁₊ ⊹

race watchalong ⋆. 𐙚 ˚

british grand prix recap °❀⋆.

This British Grand Prix pulled off quite the ending to the first half of the season! Yes, we officially made it to the halfway mark of the season with a two-week break ahead of the Belgium Grand Prix from the 25th to the 27th of July! So let us wrap up this halfway mark by recapping the grand prix!

For the first time in his career, Lando Norris has secured a victory in his homeland, with his teammate Oscar Piastri right behind him in P2, McLaren with another 1-2 but left with one not-so-happy driver. Piastri managed to take the lead from Max Verstappen, who was in the fight for victory, in the early laps of the race. However, with an unfortunate move braking too late during the restart, he found himself with a safety car infringement, resulting in a ten-second time penalty.

After 15 years of competing in the top level of motorsport, Nico Hulkenberg made his debut on the podium in P3 with Sauber, whose last time on the podium was in 2012. A great moment for the team and definitely a great mark in his career, for Nico! He found himself defending from Lewis Hamilton in the final stages and managed to pull through, while Hamilton found himself struggling towards the end. Unfortunately, Hulkenberg’s teammate Gabriel Bortoleto found himself out in the first laps of the race after having a spin into the gravel.

Hamilton finished in P4, marking his first time off the British-held podium since 2013. Not so much better for teammate, Charles Leclerc, who took a gamble at the end of the formation lap, switching to slicks, not finding the pace and grip he needed - he ended his race in P14.

If you ever thought that having to work with your enemy would be challenging, you are correct. Max Verstappen found himself complaining numerous amount of times throughout the weekend about how undriveable the RB21 is, yet managed to put a mega lap on the timesheets in Q3 to take pole position for Sunday. He found himself having a good getaway at the start of the race, before being overtaken by Oscar Piastri. As Piastri found himself in trouble with a restart, Max Verstappen was not too happy with that move, but unfortunately, he found himself in a spin, causing him to drop down the pack and from then the hate in “love hate” relationship was back on key. The RB21 does not get along with either of the Red Bull drivers. Yuki Tsunoda, not having the best weekend, finished in P15 after having a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Ollie Bearman.

A best season finish for Pierre Gasly, who finished in P6, being the only Alpine on track, taking back points, while his teammate Franco Colapinto found himself retiring at the end of the formation after stalling his car in the pits. Colapinto is still into race for Alpine until the end of the season, pushing Jack Doohan out of the scenario - Briatore confirms false 5 contract races.

For the first time since China, Lance Stroll finds himself in the points finishing in P7, with his teammate Fernando Alonso in P9, which marks Aston Martin’s first double points this season.

After 3 DNFs in the past 3 races, Alex Albon found himself finishing in the points in P8, being the only Williams taking back points with his teammate Carlos Sainz finishing in P12.

George Russell completed the point finishes finishing in P10, being the only Mercedes driver to finish in points and the only Mercedes driver finishing the race with his teammate Kimi Antonelli retiring from the race due to diffuser damage caused by Isack Hadjar (who also found himself retiring from this incident), as Hadjar struggled to see anything infront of him due to clouds of spray off of Antonelli’s car, he found himself into the rear of Antonelli before he went into the barrier.

Hadjar’s teammate, Liam Lawson, also unfortunately found himself retiring in the early laps of the race as he found himself being taken out in the opening lap.

Ollie Bearman found himself on the verge of points finishing in P11. He pulled out a wonderful lap in Q3, putting his time in P8, but dropping to P18 after taking a 10-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement in the final moments of FP3. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, finishes in P13.

Could Norris’s electric home win mark the start of a shift in the championship, with the gap between leader and second minimising to 8 points? How long until we see Ferrari fighting for top positions? And will Red Bull ever regain find the solutions to be the top team?

All is to play for in the next half of the season!

Just to let you know, spoilers ahead.

Three years of writing, making and producing one of the biggest movies in motorsport, claiming the title to be the most authentic racing movie ever made. But is it really worth your watch?

The movie follows Sonny Hayes, a driver who experienced a horrific end to his first stint in Formula 1, having a deadly crash at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix, found his way re-entering a lifetime passion-fuelled sport after being offered a seat by the team owner of APXGP and his long-term friend, Ruben Cervantes alongside rookie driver Joshua Pearce.

APXGP, a team that had never found its way into the top 10, saw no future for the team, with the fear of being sold by the end of the season. Ruben Cervantes is heading to his last option, desperate to save his team.

Sonny Hayes entered the scene to join the team, aiming to help rescue it from being sold, alongside the talented young Joshua Pearce, a youthful character hungry for a win while working to claim his place.

The movie is built on the team’s progress throughout the remainder of the season, which also includes failures within crashes, which put both Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce in the same bed in different countries.

The movie received a mixed reaction from motorsport fans, with certain aspects falling short of expectations. However, F1 can be proud to meet its goal of attracting the attention of non-motorsport fans.

But what made some motorsport fans not like the movie? Was it the racing scenes, was it the Hollywood takeover or was it the fact that the main female racing presence in the film happens to be a love interest?

While it was made for entertainment, it still offers a distinctive perspective. The storyline leans on sports-drama tropes, but while thriving through with entertainment, it takes missteps in sidelining a powerful female protagonist in favour of a romantic subplot, losing a gem in the empowerment of where motorsport is rising to be.

The movie brought in the aspect to bring more people into the sport and show how incredible the sport actually is, but did the Hollywood takeover outshine the sport itself with the over-the-top drama, tactics that do not fit into the ethos of F1 and outdated cliches?

This movie had the classic sample plot that could be shaped for the better or the worse. The movie was made to bring a thrilling sensation into the air. The fierce character of Joshua Pearce, who in my opinion, was the most powerful character in the film.

The best thing about this movie is that it is for everyone; you do not need to be a motorsport enthusiast to watch this movie. The movie remains authentic for being filmed with real personas, on real race weekends and in real modified F2 cars. The sound immerses you into the movie, allowing you to be in the centre of the emotional depth, where sound becomes feelings.

It felt as though the adrenaline to watch the movie overtook you, especially watching it in as big as an IMAX theatre. Now imagine watching a race in there! This movie is probably the closest thing we will get to it. The soundtrack of the movie had been awaited by many fans around the world, not Formula 1 fans, but fans of all these different artists and actors/actresses.

I know better than to overthink the movie as it was made for entertainment, so that is what I did – I enjoyed the movie, laughing at F1 personnel cameos - I’m looking at you, Guenther Steiner.

Watching how the movie was made, awaiting the final product, to knowing how much work was put behind the movie and watching the end result was insane. When I say this movie production is impressive, I mean it. What a talented production team and what an incredible job done.

How does the movie play into the hands of Formula 1? Well, Liberty Media has worked so hard, since joining the sport, to bring Formula 1 to the bigger screen, to increase its presence in the world and make it grow every day with every interaction. That is exactly what it did. The movie made over $140 million in its opening weekend!

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

linktree

F1: The Movie follows a retired Formula 1 driver, Sonny Hayes (played by Brad Pitt), back into the sport with an underdog team APXGP, alongside his rookie teammate, Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris).

The inspiration behind the movie was based on the fate, your biggest rival in Formula 1 is your teammate. The movie builds upon that and about what it is like to be in a lower fighting team rather than a top team like Red Bull or Ferrari.

This movie is not only going to be one of the biggest movies in racing movie history, but it is also going to be a big landmark in filmmaking, with Apple making history by releasing the first movie haptics trailer for the F1 Movie on Apple TV.

With there being talks of Apple buying the streaming rights to Formula 1, how much does this innovation benefit them?

This movie has been in the making for around three years and there is a lot of expectation for it. Promising that the film is to be the most authentic racing film in history.

How was this movie made to prove its worth to be the most authentic racing movie?

• The movie was filmed on actual race weekends in real time. You would often have caught drivers walking or standing next to the actors, followed by cameras on their way to the national anthem.

• The movie was produced and guided by the 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton himself. As a filmmaker lover, Hamilton had quite a big role in taking on this movie, ensuring that it could be as real as possible. From the sound of the cars, he reviewed every line, narrative and technical accuracy.

• Brad Pitt and Damson Idris spent four months training to ACTUALLY drive modified Formula 2 cars.

The movie was not just meant to tell a story, but provide the why, the reason and the motto as to why 20 drivers risk their lives every weekend. We watch a race as a casual interest, but how often does “why?” come into your mind?

This movie is bigger than big, with the grand premiere being held on Monday, following the Canadian Grand Prix, in New York. Some drivers found themselves dazzling up to attend the grand premiere, which was followed by another premiere the following week in London for the European premiere held in Leicester Square.

This movie plays into the favour of the cultural shift that Formula 1 has been playing over the past 8 years, with Liberty Media building F1’s mainstream appeal with Drive To Survive. This movie is opening up the world's doors of Formula 1 to non-F1 fans, especially marking the goal of making Formula 1 one of the biggest sports.

This movie combines Hollywood glamour with the real world of racing and represents the global success of Formula 1 with the A-list talent, star producers and athletic credibility. After all, F1 drivers are not average drivers - they are the top athletes in the world.

This movie is followed by a soundtrack, with artists like Burna Boy, Tate McRae, RAYE, Madison Beer and Ed Sheeran. The soundtrack’s songs sit within Billboard’s Top 100. Apple Music increases the experience by adding a clean feature graphic while playing the album.

F1: The Movie is now streaming in IMAX theatres and will later be available to stream on Apple TV+.

If you are going to watch the movie, I hope you enjoy it :)

linktree

Monthly Motorsport Madness is finally out! I am soo excited to have that out in the open, it was incredibly fun to be my own personal magazine editor! I’ll leave the link here:

Motorsport Monthly Madness Out Now!

I found myself stuck in quite the academic slump over the past few months, so trying to work through that challenge

We may receive a Grand Prix in Africa sooner than you think. The FIA has authorised us to upgrade Kyalami to a Grade 1 Track!

The F1 Movie is being premiered globally in a super exciting week! Although I have a lot of questions ahead of it and of course, the main question on whether I am going to like it or not. But it is a movie, so in this type of thing you have to go in with an open mindset. The red carpet premiere was held in New York on Monday night and let us just say F1 really knows how to take over. A lot of the drivers gave their insight on the movie, some more than others. Thank you for the spoilers, Ocon (truly proves you are the greatest Spider-Man fan). Some drivers like the movie a lot, others not so much. Something I did find super interesting, which has been on my mind, is that the director had completely cut off Ashley Simone’s character last minute. But I shall give a preview and a review before and after the movie, so watch out for that! I am overall excited for it, we have been waiting for around 3 and a half years and to see how the sport has grown is truly incredible. I like glitter and glamour and I know for a fact that Formula 1 can host a show, I mean it is so cool and I mean SO cool to see how different the sport is from when I started watching to now, it is insane. The thing I am most excited about is seeing the most iconic and incredible and the most amazing Mr Roscoe Hamilton in the movie. That is truly going to be the highlight of the entire movie for me.

Le Mans happened, and let us say singing the Italian National Anthem again felt good. Although, I missed quite a bit of it this year, which makes me quite sad since it is one of the greatest, if not the greatest weekends in Motorsport… It’s okay, though, but super super superrrrr happy to see my king Robert Kubica on the top step. I always and forever believed in him to do great and here he is doing great.

Sabrina Carpenter announced her new album and wow…. The fact that my mom and I would sit and watch “Girl Meets World” every weekend and no one forget to seeing her in “Adventures of Babysitting”, let me tell you if you asked me who I wanted to be when I was older it was Jenny Parker, she always seemed to be so put together and then at the end realised that you have to let loose sometimes. Now we are seeing her on World Tours, winning 2 Grammys and making studio hit albums is beautiful! NO one even gets me started with Tate McRae - from watching “Create with Tate” on YouTube to seeing her perform in arenas. WHAT?.

The recent news James Vowles has re-signed for Williams! WOOHOOOOO YAY! This is honestly one of the greatest news to come for resigning, I mean it was obvious for him to resign. James has helped move Williams forward, keep up the legacy name and bring them back to the top and oh, this is actually what this article is about… so let us dive into the resigning of James Vowles.

On June 19th 2025, Williams announced a long-term contract extension with James Vowles. Marking a strong move of certainty in his leadership and push towards success.

After 12 successful years at Mercedes, winning seven driver titles, eight consecutive constructor titles and one of the most iconic lines in team radio history, “Valtteri, it’s James.”, James Vowles joined Williams as Team Principal in early 2023.

His main objective in joining Williams was to bring back to life the once great, at the time struggling, Williams. His focus was full on board with overhauling infrastructure, processes and culture.

The change and results over the James Vowles period are brighter than ever, with the team currently sitting 5th in the constructors’ championship with 55 points after ten races.

James Vowles is the architect of a multi-year plan targeting greatness under the 2026-2028 regulations, working steadily to allow mistakes and mark growth. He has orchestrated major recruitment efforts and opened the door of the “learning from failure” process.

James is delighted to continue his journey with Williams and is continuing to work to bring Williams back to the top step, with the goal of not winning one title but several titles with Williams.

Williams’ contract extension with James Vowles is a great positive to take back, it locks in the shared determination, vision and efforts of starting from scratch, failing and learning and growing to achieving success. Success is not an overnight job; it takes time and effort to work your way up. Is it always going to be an easy road? No, but with the right attitude, it will most certainly work out in the end.

I know that it is in the near future that Williams will turn the standings from being midfield fighters to title runners.

I think that James and Williams make the best team that there is, a strong personality that knows exactly what to do, how to do and is never afraid to make mistakes. That is the attitude of one of the greatest figures in the paddock.

How long until we see Williams back at the top of the podium? How long until we see them taking risks and winning championships?

Will it be tomorrow, next week or next month? No, but it will be soon because this team proves that if you truly know what you want, you can make your goals happen. As my Grade 7 Life Orientation teacher once said, “A goal without a plan is just a dream.”

linktree

The 28th of May 2025 marked the global premiere of Netflix’s docuseries F1: The Academy - A series based on the 2024 F1 Academy season, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and part of the executive producers, Director of F1 Academy, Susie Wolff.

The series overlooks the determination, emotion and the work of the F1 Academy drivers proving themselves in order to advance in the world of motorsport.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The main goal for the season drivers was to win. Winning was all that was important, not only to build the name but to move on, to advance into the next category. In motorsport, you pay to race until you are at the top step and racing is extremely expensive. If a driver were to win the championship in the F1 Academy, their biggest prize is a fully funded seat in GB3. The show presented the story and year of Abbi Pulling and her story of winning the championship. She needed the championship to continue racing and that is what she did, she went on to win the championship in marvellous style and with a heartwarming story to it.

But it is not that easy, is it? Well, that is what this docuseries proved. It was not easy, F1 Academy cars are all the exact same at heart - the only difference between the fifteen cars on track is the driver and livery, so it really relied on the racing driver underneath the helmet.

Working with major brands and sponsors was Bianca Bustamante, who raced in her second year of F1 Academy in 2024 in McLaren colours, becoming the first ever female McLaren junior driver. In the series, we saw raw emotion from Bustamante, no overdramatised production, no make-up story lines, just the story of her. The highs and lows from her 2024 season, taking a podium in Miami and being way over her grid box in Singapore. You know the football-related TikTok sound -” What, what pressure?”, that is the opposite mindset in the junior category of F1 Academy, these young drivers are having major teams watch after them to see if that is the driver they want racing with their name. It is tough and most feedback I have seen is related to the incident with

Introducing the first episode of the series was Lia Block, Rally Championship winner, moving on to single-seater Formula racing, two entirely different worlds apart. One thing the show made clear was her progress, ending her journey on the show with a discussion with James Vowles.

On the one end of the spectrum, you have Bustamante, who parted ways with McLaren after a tough season (She is currently racing with Elite in GB3) and on the other end, you have Lia Block, who is currently doing her second year in F1 Academy, continuing with Williams.

Motorsport is intense and tough, there is no room for mistakes not just because it can mislead your chances of moving up into the next step, but also because it is dangerous and if you are in a situation on track, there is a risk of you dragging someone else with you.

We were met with the Al Qubaisi sisters and their journey in motorsport, following in their father’s footsteps. At the beginning of 2023, Hamda Al Qubaisi was caught in a crash on track during a race and in the docuseries, showed that, still a year on, she was not at her limit, scared to meet with another incident. Are those enough examples to explain the challenges of motorsport? Next to her is her older sister, Amna Al Qubaisi, who is the first Emirati female racing driver. Both Al Qubaisi sisters moved on to the Ligier European Series as teammates for Team Virage!

We also had main appearances from Dorriane Pin, runner-up for the 2024 F1 Academy Season, Maya Weug - Ferrari Junior Academy Driver, Chloe Chambers - Haas Junior Driver (Currently racing with Red Bull Ford) and Aurelia Nobles, who races under Puma Motorsport.

After the series launched, a TikTok from the first-ever F1 Academy Champion (2023), Marta Garcia, was posted, highlighting how nothing from 2023 was mentioned, which gained attention from the audience. Although understandably based on the 2024 F1 Academy season, was it only fair not to include the 2023 drivers at least once?

Now, what is next? The big global debut on Netflix is done. What is the next big move or small move?

The F1 Academy Series premiered on Netflix, one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world, and the motorsport docuseries seems to be doing well. We have seen the result with Drive to Survive. More fans, more passion but also more sponsors, more money. Is it too early to make a judgment about the future?

F1 Academy is a continuous movement; it has been 3 years since the debut, and it continues to grow bigger and greater than the previous, and of course with the support of the ten Formula 1 teams, team principals and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, there is a great amount of support that the series is getting to grow.

Watching this series, I felt proud to be part of a community that is moving forward to make a change in the world. Any young female can be the one to watch the show and say, “I want to be an F1 Driver,” and make their dreams come alive. This is the start of a future building for the sport and for the movement of females in motorsport, for there to be no division between the drivers, male and female.

On IMDb, the series was rated 6.8/10 by 47 critics so far. To some individuals, it may be another motorsport series, but to some, it can be an entirely new change and landmark for females in motorsport. This is not DTS. This is a mark to show female racing drivers that anything is possible, that dreams can be goals and that there is a next step.

Side Note: Did you watch it already?

Subscribe now

The glitter, the sparkling lights, the diamonds, the stories, the history, the royalty, and the richness of racing culture—this is the Monaco Grand Prix.

The land where jewels meet carbon fibre, the horns of a yacht mean the roars of engines and where an overtake can feel like millions of euros.

I mean, what is better than watching a race on a yacht with a mocktail in your hand, watching 78 laps of complete silence or utter thrill?

Although they may be chatters from critics that Monaco is an old-fashioned track that may not serve justice to the sport, it remains a part of the spiritual heartbeat of Formula 1. Tight corners, strict barriers and tarmac snaking under the tunnel and through the luxury of the palace land, there is no room for mistakes. Monaco’s victory does not only rely on being the fastest driver, but the victory crowns the control, the mental sharpness and precision.

Can Monaco evolve without losing its persona? That’s the question that the Automobile Club de Monaco, Liberty, F1, and FIA must answer.

To address the discussions, the FIA has mandated two pit stops during the Monaco Grand Prix, allowing for more complex strategic decisions. This change was advocated by drivers like Hamilton to adapt the race while keeping the jewel.

Monaco is rich in racing heritage and history. 3 wins from Jackie Stewart with his greatest win in the principality in 1971, the year in which he won his second world championship, Lewis Hamilton with his three wins - his greatest win in 2008, the year in which he won his first championship with McLaren. Nico Rosberg took three victories in the Principality, Alain Prost took four victories and Michael Schumacher took 5 victories. Out of the ten that he raced in, Ayrton Senna won 6 of them. Last year, for the first time in his career, Charles Leclerc took victory on home soil, on the roads he grew up in. Although he may not have had the best of history at previous races before 2024.

Remember when Daniel Ricciardo triumphed on the streets in 2018, taking one of the biggest victories in his career. Unforgettable as always. The magical dive into the Red Bull’s energy station pool will forever be imprinted in the history of Monaco’s grounds.

With it being Leclerc’s home race, Ferrari releases their Leclerc Monaco Collection, which this year comes in a white and light blue theme. This year, that is not the only thing to come out with Ferrari Style and Charles Leclerc, releasing an entire capsule collection with their creative director Rocco Iannone

Monaco is always special, no matter who you support and cheer for. Watching your team up on the podium is the most fairytale moment one can witness.

Around two weeks ago, chatter erupted in the world of motorsport as the Formula 1 world champion made his way in disguise as Franz Hermann to do a GT3 test in a Ferrari 296 GT3 car at Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Under the name Hermann, it was not much to “hide” with the classic Verstappen.com and the roaring lion helmet, but it was not much of a secret as people thought it to be, with Max posting about it later on the neighbouring platform, Instagram.

With Verstappen having numerous simulator runs, it was never a hassle for him to help out Emil Frey prepare for a possible entry in the future.

As of yesterday, Formula 1 drivers and team bosses joined together to watch the premiere of the F1 Movie, coming out on the 27th of June. During that time, one driver was out of sight and was rather at home on his simulator streaming and that is none other than Franz Hermann.

Max had broken the circuit’s 7m 49.578s lap record, set by Krognes in November 2022. When Max commented about the testing, he made a point to say he was not there to prove anything but rather to just have fun.

Are we most likely to see Verstappen make a move at the end of his F1 career?

May 13th marks 75 years since the first Formula 1 Championship race was held on the 13th May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit.

75 years of racing, 75 years of innovation, 75 years of champions and 75 years of history.

Do people outside the sport think it is just cars going around in circles? Yes. Is it really? No.

As days go by, the sport grows to be bigger than it ever was, representing countries across the globe and every single fan has a different experience with the sport.

As niche as this may sound, I truly do not know where I would have been without the sport. Would my dreams be my dreams? Would my goals be my goals? Almost no. Nothing would be the way it is now because I have put everything in a circle around the sport that I am most passionate about.

The sport may come across as cars going around the world, but a new dream is put in a child’s mind with each race. Every race is written in the history books. Heroes without capes, growth within diversity and legendary names engraved in walls.

Names like Schumacher, Hamilton, Senna, Verstappen, Vettel, Fangio, Farina, Lauda, Prost, Coulthard, Alonso, Button, Hill, Stewart, Rosberg, Fittipaldi, Scheckter Ferrari, McLaren and Williams… Those names alone hold back a household of history within motorsport itself (These are just a few names).

Starting off with the early dominance of the maestro, Fangio, to the era of refined rivalry of Senna and Prost, to more current days eras like Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s golden age and Lewis Hamilton’s records, activism and dominance! Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen are bringing the bulls to the front.

The growth of the sport is more than the age of time, with tragic losses in the sport leading to the advancement of safety in the sport. Innovations like DRS (replaced by MOM next year - happy early mothers day to it), hybrid engines, carbon fibre chassis and the halo.

Formula 1 was the start of a European sport turning global, especially with the growth of the sport, which is partially thanks to Drive To Survive and the media! With social media, influencers and esports are bringing new audiences!

Not only do we have legendary drivers and teams, we have iconic circuits such as Monaco, Silverstone and Monza (which are all currently on the calendar).

Over the past years, the inclusivity in sport has increased. The role of women in motorsport has been greater over the years, with icons like Susie Wolff, Jamie Chadwick and the F1 Academy stars. With big figures like Hamilton and Vettel bringing forward social problems to raise awareness.

The business in F1 has had a major change. Does it make you think that F1 is more business-based than social? Liberty Media and American influence have led to a new direction for the sport with a rise in sponsorships and valuations. Cost caps and budgets allow F1 to become more sustainable.

As time goes by, the sport grows bigger with new locations and new generations of drivers, from our rookies to our junior drivers.

This landmark in the sport is certainly not the last.

75 is a big milestone and there is only more to come from the sport.

Fun fact, you would often see media and team personnel leaving on the same day and you could often see that drivers, even from different teams, travel together!

linktree

Do you ever wonder what it takes to move an entire Formula 1 Team across countries in less than a week… and then do it again twice?

Formula 1 is the master of speed, precision and pressure, but when a triple header is scheduled, the challenges stretch far beyond than what fans see on Sunday. While viewers enjoy the delight of action on track, teams push more limits behind the cameras, powering the travel logistics to the mental and physical endurance.

A triple header means three races in three consecutive weekends, which means NO time. After a race weekend, teams have mere hours to dismantle the garage, pack their freight, and move everything to the next circuit! Teams have 3-4 days to pack up from one track and move to set up on the next track. This compacted schedule leaves no room for any delays, like customs holdups, weather, and transport issues, which can completely trouble the teams. Every hour counts; even the smallest delay can impact the next race’s preparation.

F1 logistics partners, like DHL, use a mix of cargo planes and trucks, sending multiple advance crews. Each team carries around 40 to 50 tonnes of equipment to the races! As soon as a race ends on Sunday, the teardown begins as equipment is packed in a specific order to meet customs and regulations. These teams may arrive at the next venue before the drivers or engineers to begin assembling in time for the first session of the weekend.

Freight requires documentation listing every single item crossing borders. Teams need to update after each race to reflect damage, replacements and/ or additions. The risk of customs delays is higher during triple headers, especially when travelling between countries with political relations.

Triple headers are not just about the logistics of moving equipment, but also the mental and physicality well-being of the personnel. Mechanics, engineers, hospitality staff and media personnel often work 12 to 16-hour days over the race weekend. Most teams rotate staff where they can, sleep schedules are wrecked and these long weekend hours take a toll, especially with jet lag! These compacted weekends test a team’s planning, stamina and resilience. The high-level behind-the-scenes excellence is often underappreciated. If recovery is not handled correctly, sleep patterns are disrupted and time zone changes only add to the strain. Drivers themselves may seem to have more of a glamorous and controlled schedule, but even they may feel the toll of the long media days, constant travel and sponsor work!

Formula 1’s sustainability report relays that logistics accounts for around 45% of the sport’s total carbon footprint! Formula 1 as a whole has responded with different measures to face these challenges by optimising the calendar, exploring the use of biofuels and investing in carbon offset programs!

The challenge is now clear: Can the sport maintain the magic of back-to-back weekends without compromising its promise to go net-zero?

The work of resilience is truly a great power and real-life figures use this to go through day-to-day life! Ms Samantha George and Mr Royen Swazi are two great examples of personnel who fight against challenges and push their way through to present their best versions of work.

Subscribe now

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, news has come out that Sergio Perez will be attending the Miami Grand Prix, with Cadillac hosting an event. This got me thinking, is it too early to think about the possible chaotic driver market? Well, yes, we are only six races in, and no, Formula 1 has always proved to be unpredictable, so it is never too early for anything.

Sergio Perez raced for Red Bull from 2021 until the end of the 2024 season, and is a well-experienced driver. He said that he has many ways to enter Formula 1 again, but how soon will we see him? Perez almost ended his career in 2020 after Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and he had seperated ties, but Red Bull made a call to take him in. With Red Bull, he would fight for championships and victories until the season of 2024. In my opinion, it started in 2023, after being a favourite to win the championship at the start of the year, to his teammate dominated the entire season, I saw that as the start of the downfall of Sergio Perez. 2024 was one of the most unpredictable seasons that I have witnessed, with McLaren fighting to the top and being the most dominant team continuing into 2025 and Sergio Perez not performing as he would be encouraged to. Perez has proved he is a worthy driver and has the ability to perform well, but 2024 took him around a swing and dropped him. At the end of the season, he found himself being replaced by Kiwi Liam Lawson, mind you, his seat was at “threat” the entire year by Daniel Ricciardo, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda. At most, at the time of Daniel Ricciardo’s departure, it was spoken that SERGIO was the one to lose a seat that weekend in Singapore, but he did not.

Sergio has been in advanced talks with Cadillac as they make their way to the grid in 2026. Cadillac has confirmed its interest in Perez, but they have a lot of options to consider, at least to my thinking. As a new team, it would be sensible to have experienced drivers to help grow the team, but would it not also be sensible to have a rookie?

Young junior drivers do not get as many opportunities as you may think. Felipe Drugovich is a great example. He has won an F2 Title and is still the reserve driver for Aston Martin.

George Russell has not renewed his contract with Mercedes as it ends at the end of 2025, so does his teammate Kimi Antonelli’s. As Toto Wolff has said on numerous occasions, he would love Max Verstappen to be a part of his team, but would Max really go to Mercedes? That would be a very big deal in the silly season. Max Verstappen has a clause in his contract (ends in 2028) that he may leave the team if he is P3 or lower in the standings. The thing is, I do not see Max signing for another team if he ends his contract with Red Bull. Mercedes took a risk with Kimi Antonelli joining the team so early, with Kimi outperforming in Formula 4, moving straight to join Prema in Formula 2, skipping Formula 3, and straight to F1… Not a journey we see often. Could we see George continuing his leadership role and resigning his contract, and can we see Kimi continuing the brilliance he has so far for more than one season?

Jack Doohan has a one-year contract that expires at the end of the season. From the start of the race, it was said that his seat was at risk from Franco Colapinto… Would Jack resign, or would Alpine take the venture of bringing Argentina back to the nationalities of the grid?

Isack Hadjar has a one-year contract with VCARB after an outstanding performance in his first season in Formula 1, he has surely made a statement! If VCARB were to extend his contract, how long would it be until he is a potential for the bigger seat at the main team, or will he play a long term ‘Yuki Tsunoda’ role at the team?

Most drivers have their contract ending in 2026, so will 2026 be a big changer? Possibly.

Could we see a new junior driver on the grid? Frederik Vesti is a potential candidate for the Cadillac seat. Frederik Vesti was a contender for the F2 Championship and is under the junior academy. He is yet to be a talk in talks with teams.

Of course, with drivers come driver academies, which play an important role in the decision of where the driver will go. Partners, sponsors, and team sponsors all influence the decision of where a driver might go. BUT nothing is really stopping anyone from pulling an Oscar Piastri move. For example, Ferrari junior drivers may race for Ferrari powerunit teams, but they still have a potential chance of getting the seat, a higher possibility than those who are not under the academy, with the line being that they perform well. Zhou Guanyu returned to the Ferrari family after Sauber, and he terminated the relationship.

So, do I see a major move as of now? No, I do not see anything major happening in the market this season, excluding the Cadillac seat, which will undoubtedly be the biggest talk around mid-end season.

linktree

Premiering globally on the 28th May 2025, F1: The Academy, Netflix’s brand new docuseries based on the F1 Academy junior series. The series is produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. The series consists of seven episodes of the triumphs and challenges of the talented women as they strive to mark their path in a traditionally male-dominated sport.

F1 Academy is an all-female racing series developed in 2023, designed to prepare young female drivers, provide new opportunities and increase attention on the growth of females in motorsport for higher levels of racing competition. Racing at the level of Formula 4, F1 Academy, is under the leadership of Susie Wolff, who plays the role of Managing Director. Susie plays a big role in the female motorsport community as a professional driver, she has stepped forward in bringing a bigger attention to females in motorsport.

The series aims ot dive into the journeys of these drivers, exploring their ambitions, setbacks and highlighting their challenges. It aims to capture the resilience of these drivers, paving their way to a bright start at the end of the tunnel.

While Drive to Survive brought a greater audience to Formula 1 and even broader series in motorsports, it faced criticism for the over-dramatic effect and the prioritisation of entertainment over authenticity. By centring on the experiences of these female drivers, the series provides a lens through which to view the independent and original journey of the female drivers.

Hello Sunshine, founded by Reese Witherspoon, has a vision to broaden the opportunities for women. Reese Witherspoon mentioned: "We started Hello Sunshine to change the narrative for women, and Susie Wolff and F1 ACADEMY are doing just that by creating new opportunities in the thrilling world of motorsport.”

The docuseries on Netflix brings a new audience to F1 Academy, it offers a view of the evolving landscape in motorsport and allows people to see the change in the growth and challenges of females in motorsports. It presents the new generation of drivers looking to inspire, engage and create a more diverse community.

As we approach the date closer to the release of this docuseries, some questions linger in the air…

Will this series redefine the portrayal of women in motorsport? How will the audience, both new and seasoned, respond to the depiction of female drivers?

Prepare to witness the stories of determination and passion in F1: The Academy, released on the 28th May 2025, exclusively on Netflix.

Written by Shaakirah Vangeria

Subscribe now

Formula 1 is no longer a sport that you can just watch on the weekend, it is a 24/7 experience. The way in which, teams, drivers and fans interact online is shaping the present and future engagement of the sport. From only mic’d-up drivers in press conferences to an entirely new interaction with social media. Love it or hate it, it has truly made a change in the sport.

Over the past few years, F1’s digital presence has blown up and the point has not been sharper than it is now. The social media strategy is not just about keeping fans informed, it is about building a greater connection, catching the memorable moments and giving the fans maximum accessibility. And honestly? It is working.

Formula 1’s media has transitioned over the years from traditional, polished and curated to more modern, relaxed and open. Whether it is YouTube videos, participating in challenges and even doing Tiktok trends, these different ventures have been building blocks in the long term future for Formula 1’s media.

One of the biggest platforms that grew to be a great advantage to the sport is TikTok. Teams have used the platform well enough to engage an entirely new audience. Behind-the-scenes, challenges and real-life moments videos have found their way to the feed and lingered many people into this realm.

Teams and drivers are making the most of it with their continued production of content that entertains new generations and the Gen Z humour we all secretly love. Even the FIA has a TikTok. YES—The FIA.

The sport’s social media reach has played a major role in the growth of its global audience. More people from more countries showed more of an interest which in return brought in new motorsport opportunities in those countries, but it is not just about engagement it is creating long-life fandom for people who may not have grown up with motorsport at all.

The revolution of social media in motorsport involves fans not only consuming content but also creating it! From newsletters on Substack and independent sites to podcasts, YouTube videos, and content on TitkTok, this media strategy has left room for fans to shape the conversation.

This has grown an open gate - you do not just watch the content - you have the opportunity to participate.

Formula 1’s digital presence is not just a marketing bonus - it is a cultural movement. It draws in new audiences, new brands and more passion.

So with the grid being more online than ever, the question is: are we capturing the race or shaping how it is remembered?

Subscribe now

linktree

“Box box.” One decision that changes the outcome of an entire race. History can be made by the physical part of the drivers heading into the pits and the mechanics changing the tyres, and the mental part by the people behind the decisions as well as the people reporting back to the drivers.

Formula 1 is more than just 20 drivers driving extremely fast cars around the world. Formula 1 is also about all the incredibly talented and intelligent people behind the scenes. While the drivers stand on the podium, there are more people in Parc Ferme watching them from below, people in the garage, back at headquarters and of course in the factory.

In races, radio messages between drivers and their teams are often broadcast on TV. Have you ever wondered who is on the other line? The calm, collected voice speaks to the driver while the driver is in a challenging position on the track. In my opinion, race engineers deserve a crown on their heads.

Think of race engineers like Gianpiero Lambiase, who is Max Verstappen’s radio engineer, commonly known as GP. GP has been the main voice behind the radio messages, some containing humour, crucial information and celebration endings but the most important mark is that GP is the stress relief pill in intense situations helping Verstappen remain calm. Other well-known race engineers are Peter Bonnington, commonly known as Bono, who is currently Kimi Antonelli’s race engineer and was formerly Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer during his time at Mercedes. “Lewis, it’s Hammer time.” is a well-known phrase in Formula 1. Hamilton and Bono made a team like no other. Riccardo Adami, commonly known as Ricky, is currently Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer at Ferrari and was formerly Carlos Sainz's race engineer and 4-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer. This year, Formula 1 welcomes the first-ever female race engineer, Laura Mueller, who is the race engineer of Esteban Ocon at Haas. A great name to add to the history books.

Without these decisions, these memorable radio messages would be non-existent. Who makes these decisions? None other than F1 Strategists! Choosing the right time to pit with the right tyre, outsmarting your rivals, and working with the weather rather than against it can be an all-time pressurising job, but F1 strategists pull through with resilience and help their team get the best finish possible.

There is no better example than Hannah Schmitz, Red Bull’s Principal Strategy Engineer. She has played and continues to play a key role in the team’s success, remaining calm under fire and fearless with her calls. Her leadership is not only brilliant but historic, as she holds the highest title for females in motorsport, being one of the very few at the top level.

Looking back to Mercedes, there was a crisp voice in the garage making calls and helping lead the team to victories and that voice belongs to none other than James Vowles, before Vowles was Team Principal For Williams, he served his role at Mercedes as the Motorsport Strategy Director. His unforgettable message is the line “Valtteri, it’s James.” As humorous as it turned out to be, it held the stake of a championship.

As much as the decisions of strategy may seem like just a guessing game, they really are not as these strategists are architects of probability.

Of course, with every decision comes action. As a driver comes into the pits, around 22 mechanics take the cape to change the tyres and/or replace front wings that have been damaged. Blink and you miss it. Record breaking time is held by McLaren with 1.80 seconds. A very well-known name in the paddock is Calum Nicholas, Red Bull pit stop World Champion. Calum was the Senior Power Unit Assembly Technician at Red Bull before leaving the team at the end of last year. He has recently released a book called ‘Life in the Pitlane’.

If you take a step outside of the garage, you are met with media. Cameras, mics and presenters. Luckily enough, drivers have Communication Managers and members of PR, who manage press conferences, interviews and social media content. They brief, coach and often do damage control to ensure that the wrong things do not get out to the media world so that they can twist it. Charlotte Sefton was the powerful woman behind the "media control” at McLaren, she moved onto the W series in 2022 as Head of Communications before she spent a year at Extreme E fulfilling the same role. As of current, she holds the title of Director of PR & Corporate Communications for Formula E.

Even behind a driver as an individual, there is a team. Two common roles are a manager and a personal trainer. Take Nicholas Todt, Charles Leclerc’s manager who has been beside Leclerc since his karting days. Todt had helped Leclerc work his way up into Formula 1, from joining the Ferrari academy to debuting in F1 with Sauber and thereafter becoming a Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 Driver. Driver managers play a huge role in their careers. They secure seats, help drivers shape and grow their way into this industry and handle and assist with very important decisions. Even F1 drivers themselves can become managers, yes I am saying this to mention Mark Webber as Oscar Piastri’s manager. The 9-time Grand Prix winner has taken the role of becoming Piastri’s manager in the early days of 2020.

Being in Formula 1 means heavy training, but not the heavy training of 30 laps around a track. Neck training, meal prep, mental training and exercise. Personal trainers also known as performance coaches ensure that the driver is maintaining consistency whether that be in fitness, nutrition, sleeping or mental wellness. They are most likely the very first and last person a driver would see on a race weekend. Jon Malvern and Angela Cullen are well-known for these roles. Jon Malvern has been Lando Norris’s Performance coach for about 12 years. Jon has played a role in taking care of Norris’s physical and mental health and ensuring that he is in the best condition to be on track. Angela Cullen is well known for her role as Lewis Hamilton’s Physiotherapist. She worked with Lewis at Mercedes from 2016 to 2023 before leaving and joining Indy Car as Marcus Armstrong’s fitness trainer. She made a return to the Formula 1 at the start of this season reuniting with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. There is a lingering question of exactly why Angela Cullen left Mercedes at the start of 2023, some answers may sit with Mercedes having a clause that Lewis Hamilton was not allowed to take any Mercedes team members with him if he were to leave, some sources stating that it was Hamilton’s management’s decision, but Cullen and Hamilton’s answer to the media was for Cullen to go out into the open and experience new opportunities.

Although the world of Formula 1 is heading into the realm of AI, human decision-making is still the vein through the body. The driver is not the only one taking a win for the team, there is an endless amount of silent voices that have helped carry them through.

Subscribe now

The start of the Formula 1 season is just around the corner and we enter the season with the last use of these current regulations ahead of big changes for 2026. Although there is not much change for this season, there are seven new regulations that are essential to know ahead of the season's first race.

Here are seven regulations that you should be aware of for the 2025 Formula 1 season: see formula1.com

The fastest lap point

• The fastest lap point will no longer exist. Since 2019, the driver with the fastest lap within the top 10 would receive a point. If the driver were to have the fastest lap and were out of the top 10, they would not receive a point, but so would no one else, so it was seen as a gain to take from the reigning champion or the competitors. From this season, the fastest lap ceases to exist. Yes, sadly we may no longer have those last minute pit stops that kept us on the edge of our couches and causing us to drop the leftover popcorn from qualifying.

Cooling systems

• Temperatures within the car can get extremely hot, sometimes even unbearable as we have seen in Qatar, so the FIA has made some changes. If the forecast were to predict temperatures of and over 31C at a time during the race weekend, the FIA would make an announcement to teams for a mandatory fitted driver cooling system to be worn by the drivers. This does cause the car’s weight to increase, so this leads to an increase in the weight limit of two different sets.

  • For practice sessions and qualifying sessions, the limit would be an additional 2kg.

  • For a race event (Grand Prix or Sprint race) the limit would be +5kg

Qualifying classifications

• Big changes have been made to qualifying sessions in the case that there is a red flag and a stop to the session, or there are extreme weather conditions. If there is a stop to the session and drivers were not able to set a time, the classification will be decided based on the previous segment classification, and if there are extreme weather conditions, the qualifying classification would be based on the driver’s standings.

DRS designs

• We are saying goodbye to mini DRS, the FIA has reinforced the technical regulations surrounding the DRS and the Rear wing by only allowing there to be two positions, closed and open, and no in-between states.

  F1 is making the rear and front wings stronger to stop them from bending too much. The rear wing will now be tested with more force of 30 newtons to stop teams from making it bend for extra speed. They want to reduce gaps between parts of the rear wing to stop it from bending too much. There may be more expected rule changes coming around the Barcelona Grand Prix, which will discuss how much further the wing can bend.

Testing of the previous car limits

• Teams are only allowed to run out 20 days for Testing of Previous Car during any time of the year, while the race drivers are only allowed to take part in 4 days of those testing without exceeding 1000km of total running. Teams are only allowed to have one TPC car running at a time during a test. But this only relates to testing a car that is at least two seasons old, and not any tyre testing or extra running with the current car.

Rookie running

• The compulsory FP1 sessions for rookie drivers have increased, allowing them to have twice the track time during a race weekend if they have not raced in more than 2 Grand Prix. The requirement for this season has doubled to two sessions per car, this means that rookie drivers will now take part in four FP1 sessions throughout the season.

  

End of year testing

• The end of year testing in Abu Dhabi will have a slightly different format due to the significant regulation changes set to take effect in 2026.

  • The Young Driver Test, which is done by a driver who has not participated in more than two Grand Prix, will proceed as usual, with the rookie driver driving the current car.

  • However, the second car must be a modified car specially adapted for testing the new 2026 tyres. Due to the tyres having different specifications to the current 2025 Pirelli tyres and due to the change of the expected performance characteristics of the next generation cars, teams can either use their 2025 car or any car from the past four years provided that it has been suitably modified to allow the tyre supplier to do testing for the future.

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX SEASON OPEN IS BACK

We start off the season in Australia for the first time in five years, in our last Australian Season Open in 2019, Charles Leclerc did his first race for Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel was still racing for Ferrari, the 2019 trio had just started their Formula 1 career and Lewis Hamilton was the reigning world champion.

This Australian Season Open we have two Aussies on the grid, Jack Doohan and Oscar Piastri AND no Daniel Ricciardo... Five rookies on the grid, Lewis Hamilton racing for Ferrari and McLaren as the reigning constructor champions.

Early mornings ahead, with expected rain on Sunday… Uhmmm okay I guess, first race of the season with five rookies. This is going to be interesting, there is no way I will be falling back to sleep during this one.

Leave a comment

With 51 race starts, 23 fastest laps, 35 podiums - 24 of them being race victories. The named “Godfather” of Formula 1 set records and made history and can truly be named if not THE greatest, one of the greatest drivers in motorsport history.

Juan Manuel Fangio.

On the 24th of June 1911, Fangio was born in Balcarce. He was the son of two Italian immigrants who had settled in Argentina. After dropping out of school, Fangio had worked as a mechanic in his Argentinian residency, he had then began to race in lethal local circuit races in which many drivers had passed away due to the lack of safety created during this time period. At the age of 23, he drove his first race in a converted Ford Taxi which unfortunately fell apart throughout the race. He strived through with success and became the National Champion in 1940 and 1941.

Before World War 2, he had won the Gran Premio International del Norte which had a distance of 9656.064 kilometres (6000 miles) in his Chevrolet. With this, Fangio and his Chevrolet had risen to the top of conversations.

With the financial support of the Argentinian President at the time, Juan Perón, Fangio began racing in the new era of motor racing. He had been invited to join Alfa Romeo Grand Prix Team to race in Formula 1 in the year of 1950 in which he had placed 2nd in the championship behind his teammate Farina who had gone on to win the championship that year. In the following year of 1951, he had claimed the title of “World Champion” for the first time.

He had then made a switch to Maserati in 1952 and had claimed two race victories in 1954 before making a mid season switch to Mercedes, in which he had won his second world title that year, winning another title in the following year of 1955 with Mercedes. After Mercedes quitting the wits of motorsport due to a very tragic Le Mans Disaster which had caused the death of Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators. Fangio had then made a move to Ferrari with whom he had won the championship with in 1956. At the age of 46, Fangio made a move back to Maserati and won his 5th World Championship title in 1957.

Fangio had set the standard for many drivers who followed along. His precision in the hard and raw condition that motorsport was can never be overlooked. Fangio was one who would compete in multiple non-championship races, one which was due to take place in Monza in 1952 driving a Maserati. After missing his flight, he drove through the Alps and had only arrived in time for the race. He started from the back of the grid and due to the fatigue he suffered after a long night drive, he had a crash after the second lap. This resulted in him having a broken neck and being unable to compete the season of 1952.

In 1958, Fangio had come towards the end of his racing career in Formula 1. After three races, Juan Manuel Fangio had retired after the French Grand Prix.

His name serves a well known of remembrance to the growth in motorsport and the raw talent that he had shown over his years of racing. He had served as an inspiration to many individuals (racing drivers or spectators).

So take this as a lesson to you all, no matter what age or at what position you are in, you can truly achieve what your heart desires if you put your mind to it.

Subscribe now