F1'25: An old, old wooden ship

There’s always a lot going on in F1, and there’s normally a reason why I try to write these after a race weekend, because it’s the most recent event, and everyone is talking about the same event at the same time. So this, on the eve of every Team posting “It’s Race Week”, this is not necessarily race-related. Or at least, not the sort of race this normally whimsical F1 blog posts about.

For now, I want to take you back to before Silverstone. The rumours of which car Max Verstappen will drive from 2026 became the talk of not just the F1 paddock, but of wider sport. The very idea of such a move forcing Formula 1 from the back pages to the front in some countries.

This is not going to be a 2000-word psychological deep dive into why or where or how he might want to break his contract, if he even wants to. Similarly, I am not a lawyer, so I’m not going to speculate on what or what isn’t written in this mysterious document.

Instead, I want to show you this image. It’s of the F1 media corps throwing every phone in front of Max to ask.

What do you notice about this photo? It doesn’t look like the most welcoming or safe work environment. But, look again. This sport has a wider issue in that Formula 1 media is overwhelmingly what an old boss of mine used to call pale, male and stale, and if you don’t think that’s a major problem, I have to be honest, I am not sure we would be friends in real life.

I quote-replied to this on Threads and went semi-viral, which feels like an achievement in itself. The replies were a depressing mix of personal attacks, accusations of race baiting and one particularly bizarre person who tried to tell me this was ok, because some of the drivers were a bit different. Shoutout also to the guy that posted an Indian cricket press conference like it was some kind of gotcha. Great, if it bothers you, go post about it.

I want to note here that this is not a criticism of anyone in the picture with Max. Other than the journalists who straight up ignored me when I asked for feedback on this blog (as is their right), I rarely and deliberately have much interaction with F1 media, but I know how hard they work and how much travel they do in an average year, all while being accused by their colleagues of messing around in Monaco while others might have a much less glamourous assignment. When your colleague is filing from a Ferrari yacht party, covering Barnet-Dagenham might not be the prize you went to journalism school for.

But the wider point is that if the vast majority of mainstream F1 coverage is published by people who are vaguely the same, then all you will get is vaguely the same coverage. The sport, deserves better. And I’m not talking about the people who do this on social platforms with little to no access. That work is brilliant, but these are the people who should also be getting invites to the top table. Their insight is just as valid as some of the outlets who are currently accredited for Formula 1.

A few years ago, Lewis Hamilton was interviewed by BADU, a community-focused organisation that works throughout London. Although the interview was facilitated via Sky Sports, it felt different because it was different. It was refreshing for a driver to be asked questions from different interviewers, but unfortunately, as the popularity of the sprit has increased, it has meant that driver time has become even more protected and the drivers – even those who have gotten to know the journalists – answer in bland cliches.

Formula 1 has always had its maverick drivers, but it is sometimes uncomfortable viewing seeing a journalist fail to get the best out of their interview subject.

So whose fault is this one-note media morass? Partly, it lies with the organisations themselves. How are you recruiting for people? Are you putting up a job on LinkedIn and your website and thinking its job done? Are you just getting your mates in? Are you rejecting candidates based on name or your inability to see their potential?

Are you then insisting that people go and get experience in a motorsport field. Even though they might have experience elsewhere, you’re expecting them to work for free, knocking out people who are unable to finance themselves while they do that?

Because if you think that the best candidates are automatically white men, or that they might be the only people applying, you are doing your employer and your readers a disservice. In fact, it breeds complacency with uninspired content being posted by bored, burned out people and by Round 9, when every race weekend is a Game 7 level of intensity, you get the same posts and questions asked, because they’re trying to fill virtual column inches with just enough words so they can target you with at least three adverts and an irrelevant auto-playing video.

This lack of representation extends to a key route into the sport. In 2023, Females in Motorsport worked out that in Season 5, women spoke for a total of 1.54% (six minutes) of the entire season. Read that again. I have not worked this out, and I have stopped watching Drive to Survive, but I would be interested in how many people of colour speak on screen. I’d go one step further and ask how many people of colour who are not Lewis Hamilton have some sort of role in Drive to Survive?

And if this is meant to be the pinnacle of the sport, what even is the way in? There are a couple of great publications that specialise in the junior formula, but they are, in the main, enthusiastic, dedicated volunteers. Junior teams outsource their editorial or social to agencies, or again, rely on volunteers.  

Formula 1 has global appeal and it’s about time the sport’s media reflected its readership better. I have my doubts that this will happen any time soon and in the meantime, as fans without access, we will have to put up with a suite of scripted questions that start with a question we all get asked, and we all recognise as a low-effort ice breaker.

“So, <driver name>, how was your weekend?”