n 2006, actor Will Ferrell starred opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in the film “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” (Readers, please do bear with me, this will make sense shortly.) A sports comedy written at the height of the split between America and Europe over the war in Iraq, Farrell plays a NASCAR driver who has lost his driving prowess and is facing team competition from a French Formula One driver. An absurdly silly film that is endlessly quoted, it highlighted Americans’ deep skepticism and cynicism about Formula One racing. Aside from the true American “petrol heads,” Formula One was seen as effete, elite, and decidedly European. By contrast, NASCAR was and is violently American (even without the car crashes). With its origins in prohibition-era bootlegging, NASCAR is as much a religion as a sport. It is a loud, brash spectacle that wears its patriotism on its sleeves and wing mirrors.
Fast forward to the present day, as I write this review, legions of Formula One fans are descending on Miami, Florida, for the Miami Grand Prix (GP), which could become one of the most highly attended Formula One races of the series’ calendar. Formula One’s fan base has steadily expanded in the United States since Liberty Media Corporation, an American mass media company, took over the racing series and embarked on a concerted effort to grow the brand in the United States. It is amazing to see how much has changed in such a fairly short period of time. America will soon be home to three GPs—with Las Vegas joining the long-running Texas GP, and newly established Miami GP.
F1 is about teams and drivers, but also about Team Principals—the hybrid manager/coach figure that helms each team. One of the most prominent and well-known principals is Guenther Steiner, the author of “Surviving to Drive: A Year Inside Formula One.” Steiner’s prominence is not due to the performance of his team, Haas, an American-licensed team started in 2014 by Eugene Haas. Sadly, for Steiner and Haas fans, the team consistently ranks near the bottom of the Constructor Standings (overall team scoring) and the Drivers’ Championship (based on individual driver performance). Rather, Steiner’s appearances and performance on the Netflix docu-drama “Drive to Survive” created a whole new legion of fans for the dual American-Italian citizen, making him an almost household name in some corners.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been a Formula One fan since college. Thanks to a great friend of mine I became a fan of Michael Schumacher (quite possibly the greatest driver of all time) and watched him battle against Fernando Alonso, who now at age 40 is still racing and securing podium finishes (in the top three finishers). I was, then, decidedly in a rare minority within the United States—F1 was not nearly as accessible as it is today, and it did not nearly have the fan base it enjoys now. I recall having to go to the local bookstore to buy a well out-of-date (and expensive) F1 magazine to get my news about the teams and the races.
Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” introduced one of the already most exciting sports to a larger American audience. The expansion of the season to add two races—Miami and Las Vegas—to the Texas Grand Prix is growing interest in the sport in a country dominated by NASCAR. For fans of motorsport, the excitement of F1 is nothing new. The speed and technology of the cars, the diversity of courses, the fierceness of the competition, and of course the wealth and glamor of F1 offers an experience for fans unlike any other.
Steiner’s diary is a timely contribution, capitalizing on this growing interest. He is also likely one of the best interlocutors for the sport. He is candid, brash, foul-mouthed, and entertaining, and it is not an act—he is as interesting a character in media interviews off the Netflix cameras and in his book as he is over the course of the show’s season. He is in marked contrast with the hyper-professional and deeply impressive Toto Wolff, Steiner’s counterpart, and competitor on the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1. The Austrian Wolff recently became an executive fellow and guest lecturer for Harvard’s MBA program, the lectures for which I will have to find a way into. One does not imagine Harvard will extend a similar offer to Steiner, though it would make for an entertaining class.
On its surface, Steiner’s book could be read as just another sports biography, but while it is certainly that, there is a lot more to it, just like F1 itself. Steiner’s book covers the exceptionally dynamic 2022 F1 season. Racing aside, F1 had to contend with the impact of Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine and instability in the Middle East.
In the case of the former, in response to Moscow’s war, F1 canceled the Russian grand prix due to be held in Sochi. Steiner and Haas also had to cut ties with one of its drivers—Nikita Mazepin, the son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, who also was the head of Haas’ key sponsor, Uralkali. Announcing the cessation of the relationship, Haas said, “As with the rest of the Formula One community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict.”
Just one month later, on the eve of a grand prix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Houthi rebels launched a missile and drone strike against an oil facility in the city. After a four-hour meeting, the governing body of F1, the FIA, decided to proceed with the race, which went ahead without incident.
F1’s involvement in the Gulf, with races in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar prompted criticism from activists critical of the countries’ policies and attitudes towards the LGBTQ community and treatment of migrant workers. Steiner, not one to shy away from issues, writes that in his opinion (a chapter-length State of the Union, of sorts), it is better to continue the relationship with these countries and slowly drive change, as opposed to ostracize them outright. Sir Lewis Hamilton, a rival for Schumacher’s title of the greatest drivers of all time, and who is currently racing for Mercedes under Wolff, is an advocate for the LGBTQ community, and vocally criticized Saudi Arabia’s anti-gay laws.
Hamilton, the series’ only Black driver, is a leading voice for inclusivity and progressive issues within the F1 community. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Hamilton Commission, which generated recommendations to reduce barriers to diversity in motorsport. Over the course of his incredible career, Hamilton was subject to shocking racist abuse, which has not abated. Nelson Piquet, a former F1 champion (and father of the current girlfriend of Max Verstappen—the lead driver for Red Bull, and rival of Hamilton), was ordered by a court in Brazil to pay $950,000 in “moral damages” for racist and homophobic remarks he made about Hamilton in 2021.
F1 is also working to return a woman to the F1 grid through the all-female series, F1 Academy. Lella Lombardi, who raced in Austria in 1976 is the last female driver to start on the grid and was only the second female driver to do so since the series began in 1950.
Does F1 have a future in the age of climate change? That is an issue very much on the minds of the teams and the FIA. In 2019 the FIA announced “Net Zero 2030” a wide-ranging sustainability strategy that will cover teams, races, and F1 operations. As part of this, the already technologically advanced cars are required to have hybrid power units, reducing fuel consumption, and recovering energy during the race. Formula E, also overseen by the same governing body of F1, the FIA, is a single-seat racing division that is for electric cars only, which can reach up to 320 kilometers per hour. In Steiner’s view, as the technology improves on F1 cars there may not be a need for a wholly separate electric car category. Steiner certainly isn’t a fan of the sound Formula E cars make, and he does have a point. There is nothing like the sound of a F1 car.
Formula One finds itself at a unique inflection point. The expansion of the race calendar and the looming increase in the number of teams reflects the greater (and welcome) interest in the sport. With even the lowliest of teams being worth $500 million, it is an attractive prospect (certainly more so than a decade ago when one team struggled to find a buyer with a price of $1). The changes introduced into the sport—sharing revenues equally across teams, establishing a spending cap, and changing engineering standards to facilitate greater overtaking—is making F1 more competitive, more exciting, and more valuable.
F1 has been ahead of the curve in creating a sporting product that truly appeals to international audiences. It is not a domestic brand that is seeking to expand its market share, but one with global appeal. Its drivers hail from Brazil, Monaco, the United Kingdom, Finland, China, the United States, and more, and F1 has worked assiduously to cultivate its athletes as global celebrities. Its races, at the moment, cover nearly every continent except Africa and Antarctica. It has largely avoided controversies like those that affected FIFA and international football or the Olympics. Its commercial focus and, thus far, avoidance of politics, has created a lasting brand.
The challenge for Liberty Media is balancing the broader calendar and global nature of F1 with its new interest in the United States. The previous owner, Bernie Ecclestone, was deeply skeptical of the American market, but one should take his remarks with a grain of salt—as Steiner recounts, Ecclestone praised Vladimir Putin during the 2022 season. Will the expansion erode the character of F1? If Miami is anything to go off of, it is possible—the Miami GP’s excesses were cringe-worthy and reminiscent of an American football Super Bowl, and not F1’s more international and refined character.
Competing with NASCAR will certainly be a challenge. Netflix notwithstanding, NASCAR is far more accessible for fans (F1 tickets and merchandise are amongst the most expensive in motorsport) and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. For Steiner, he sees the next few years as a period of consolidation for the sport, but one that could well see F1 better positioned for the long-haul.
Steiner’s book is a fascinating look into the life of a F1 team, its team principal, and the sport itself. Will it appeal to everyone? Likely not. F1 is still, despite its global presence, a niche (but growing) sport, but one with a very dedicated fan base. It does illustrate, almost certainly unintentionally, the soft power of racing with its global reach and exposure to geopolitics, as Steiner shows. “Surviving to Drive” also shows a sport amid deep and significant changes that reflect cultural and political dynamics. With climate, equality, and more on the minds of fans, the sport will need to, and is, adapting. It will, certainly for this fan, remain the most exciting sport on four (open) wheels.
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Racing into Formula One’s Future
Image created via Midjourney.
June 17, 2023
Sports have real world, positive impacts on cultural diplomatic relations. The Olympics is the most obvious example, but Guenther Steiner's latest book "Surviving to Drive" provides insight into the inflence of F1 racing and how it impacts broader diplomatic concerns, writes Joshua Huminski.
I
n 2006, actor Will Ferrell starred opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in the film “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” (Readers, please do bear with me, this will make sense shortly.) A sports comedy written at the height of the split between America and Europe over the war in Iraq, Farrell plays a NASCAR driver who has lost his driving prowess and is facing team competition from a French Formula One driver. An absurdly silly film that is endlessly quoted, it highlighted Americans’ deep skepticism and cynicism about Formula One racing. Aside from the true American “petrol heads,” Formula One was seen as effete, elite, and decidedly European. By contrast, NASCAR was and is violently American (even without the car crashes). With its origins in prohibition-era bootlegging, NASCAR is as much a religion as a sport. It is a loud, brash spectacle that wears its patriotism on its sleeves and wing mirrors.
Fast forward to the present day, as I write this review, legions of Formula One fans are descending on Miami, Florida, for the Miami Grand Prix (GP), which could become one of the most highly attended Formula One races of the series’ calendar. Formula One’s fan base has steadily expanded in the United States since Liberty Media Corporation, an American mass media company, took over the racing series and embarked on a concerted effort to grow the brand in the United States. It is amazing to see how much has changed in such a fairly short period of time. America will soon be home to three GPs—with Las Vegas joining the long-running Texas GP, and newly established Miami GP.
F1 is about teams and drivers, but also about Team Principals—the hybrid manager/coach figure that helms each team. One of the most prominent and well-known principals is Guenther Steiner, the author of “Surviving to Drive: A Year Inside Formula One.” Steiner’s prominence is not due to the performance of his team, Haas, an American-licensed team started in 2014 by Eugene Haas. Sadly, for Steiner and Haas fans, the team consistently ranks near the bottom of the Constructor Standings (overall team scoring) and the Drivers’ Championship (based on individual driver performance). Rather, Steiner’s appearances and performance on the Netflix docu-drama “Drive to Survive” created a whole new legion of fans for the dual American-Italian citizen, making him an almost household name in some corners.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been a Formula One fan since college. Thanks to a great friend of mine I became a fan of Michael Schumacher (quite possibly the greatest driver of all time) and watched him battle against Fernando Alonso, who now at age 40 is still racing and securing podium finishes (in the top three finishers). I was, then, decidedly in a rare minority within the United States—F1 was not nearly as accessible as it is today, and it did not nearly have the fan base it enjoys now. I recall having to go to the local bookstore to buy a well out-of-date (and expensive) F1 magazine to get my news about the teams and the races.
Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” introduced one of the already most exciting sports to a larger American audience. The expansion of the season to add two races—Miami and Las Vegas—to the Texas Grand Prix is growing interest in the sport in a country dominated by NASCAR. For fans of motorsport, the excitement of F1 is nothing new. The speed and technology of the cars, the diversity of courses, the fierceness of the competition, and of course the wealth and glamor of F1 offers an experience for fans unlike any other.
Steiner’s diary is a timely contribution, capitalizing on this growing interest. He is also likely one of the best interlocutors for the sport. He is candid, brash, foul-mouthed, and entertaining, and it is not an act—he is as interesting a character in media interviews off the Netflix cameras and in his book as he is over the course of the show’s season. He is in marked contrast with the hyper-professional and deeply impressive Toto Wolff, Steiner’s counterpart, and competitor on the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1. The Austrian Wolff recently became an executive fellow and guest lecturer for Harvard’s MBA program, the lectures for which I will have to find a way into. One does not imagine Harvard will extend a similar offer to Steiner, though it would make for an entertaining class.
On its surface, Steiner’s book could be read as just another sports biography, but while it is certainly that, there is a lot more to it, just like F1 itself. Steiner’s book covers the exceptionally dynamic 2022 F1 season. Racing aside, F1 had to contend with the impact of Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine and instability in the Middle East.
In the case of the former, in response to Moscow’s war, F1 canceled the Russian grand prix due to be held in Sochi. Steiner and Haas also had to cut ties with one of its drivers—Nikita Mazepin, the son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, who also was the head of Haas’ key sponsor, Uralkali. Announcing the cessation of the relationship, Haas said, “As with the rest of the Formula One community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict.”
Just one month later, on the eve of a grand prix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Houthi rebels launched a missile and drone strike against an oil facility in the city. After a four-hour meeting, the governing body of F1, the FIA, decided to proceed with the race, which went ahead without incident.
F1’s involvement in the Gulf, with races in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar prompted criticism from activists critical of the countries’ policies and attitudes towards the LGBTQ community and treatment of migrant workers. Steiner, not one to shy away from issues, writes that in his opinion (a chapter-length State of the Union, of sorts), it is better to continue the relationship with these countries and slowly drive change, as opposed to ostracize them outright. Sir Lewis Hamilton, a rival for Schumacher’s title of the greatest drivers of all time, and who is currently racing for Mercedes under Wolff, is an advocate for the LGBTQ community, and vocally criticized Saudi Arabia’s anti-gay laws.
Hamilton, the series’ only Black driver, is a leading voice for inclusivity and progressive issues within the F1 community. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Hamilton Commission, which generated recommendations to reduce barriers to diversity in motorsport. Over the course of his incredible career, Hamilton was subject to shocking racist abuse, which has not abated. Nelson Piquet, a former F1 champion (and father of the current girlfriend of Max Verstappen—the lead driver for Red Bull, and rival of Hamilton), was ordered by a court in Brazil to pay $950,000 in “moral damages” for racist and homophobic remarks he made about Hamilton in 2021.
F1 is also working to return a woman to the F1 grid through the all-female series, F1 Academy. Lella Lombardi, who raced in Austria in 1976 is the last female driver to start on the grid and was only the second female driver to do so since the series began in 1950.
Does F1 have a future in the age of climate change? That is an issue very much on the minds of the teams and the FIA. In 2019 the FIA announced “Net Zero 2030” a wide-ranging sustainability strategy that will cover teams, races, and F1 operations. As part of this, the already technologically advanced cars are required to have hybrid power units, reducing fuel consumption, and recovering energy during the race. Formula E, also overseen by the same governing body of F1, the FIA, is a single-seat racing division that is for electric cars only, which can reach up to 320 kilometers per hour. In Steiner’s view, as the technology improves on F1 cars there may not be a need for a wholly separate electric car category. Steiner certainly isn’t a fan of the sound Formula E cars make, and he does have a point. There is nothing like the sound of a F1 car.
Formula One finds itself at a unique inflection point. The expansion of the race calendar and the looming increase in the number of teams reflects the greater (and welcome) interest in the sport. With even the lowliest of teams being worth $500 million, it is an attractive prospect (certainly more so than a decade ago when one team struggled to find a buyer with a price of $1). The changes introduced into the sport—sharing revenues equally across teams, establishing a spending cap, and changing engineering standards to facilitate greater overtaking—is making F1 more competitive, more exciting, and more valuable.
F1 has been ahead of the curve in creating a sporting product that truly appeals to international audiences. It is not a domestic brand that is seeking to expand its market share, but one with global appeal. Its drivers hail from Brazil, Monaco, the United Kingdom, Finland, China, the United States, and more, and F1 has worked assiduously to cultivate its athletes as global celebrities. Its races, at the moment, cover nearly every continent except Africa and Antarctica. It has largely avoided controversies like those that affected FIFA and international football or the Olympics. Its commercial focus and, thus far, avoidance of politics, has created a lasting brand.
The challenge for Liberty Media is balancing the broader calendar and global nature of F1 with its new interest in the United States. The previous owner, Bernie Ecclestone, was deeply skeptical of the American market, but one should take his remarks with a grain of salt—as Steiner recounts, Ecclestone praised Vladimir Putin during the 2022 season. Will the expansion erode the character of F1? If Miami is anything to go off of, it is possible—the Miami GP’s excesses were cringe-worthy and reminiscent of an American football Super Bowl, and not F1’s more international and refined character.
Competing with NASCAR will certainly be a challenge. Netflix notwithstanding, NASCAR is far more accessible for fans (F1 tickets and merchandise are amongst the most expensive in motorsport) and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. For Steiner, he sees the next few years as a period of consolidation for the sport, but one that could well see F1 better positioned for the long-haul.
Steiner’s book is a fascinating look into the life of a F1 team, its team principal, and the sport itself. Will it appeal to everyone? Likely not. F1 is still, despite its global presence, a niche (but growing) sport, but one with a very dedicated fan base. It does illustrate, almost certainly unintentionally, the soft power of racing with its global reach and exposure to geopolitics, as Steiner shows. “Surviving to Drive” also shows a sport amid deep and significant changes that reflect cultural and political dynamics. With climate, equality, and more on the minds of fans, the sport will need to, and is, adapting. It will, certainly for this fan, remain the most exciting sport on four (open) wheels.
