180 Lunches

Tag: f1

  • F1 Rising

    I saw a survey recently that showed half of new US F1 fans came to it via the Netflix series. That tracks for me of course. It takes what seems like a very clinical, yet simplistic sport on its surface and unpacks it. There is way more to a race than the cars you see on track. Driver skill and mental fortitude, team engineering and strategy, and course design and conditions. That plus the amped up real housewives of energy of the show and you have a winning formula^.

    2025 Race Season

    Only one race in to my second season and I am at peak excitement for what it might hold. Top team parity between Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Six rookie drivers in team seats. More competition in the mid-tier teams that carried over from 2024. And of course Lando and Max picking up where they left off. But maybe Lewis? Maybe someone new?

    Series 7 (2024) Drive to Survive

    This was the first series of the show that I watched having followed the race season from the start. I knew all the outcomes, but now got to see everything behind the scenes with those results in mind.

    • Turns out Norris probably had car to win the drivers’ championship, but folded under the pressure.
    • Red Bull keep chewing through 2nd drivers and Lawson this season might be a brat that is fun to root against. Bring back Danny Ric!
    • Piastri could be the better driver on McLaren, but their team orders early in the season may have cost Lando the win?
    • Christian Horner is a nob and Zak Brown is an annoying little brother, it is easy to root against them, but not their drivers.
    • Way less Stroll and Stroll Sr. this season, even though they had another comical run in 2024.
    • Albon seems like a good dude, I hope he and Sainz pull out something special with Williams this year.

    ^ A good friend let me know a year back that the “formula” in Formula 1, refers to the rules and regulations that set a level playing field for the teams. Car rules, race rules, and spending rules. That formula is constantly undergoing minor tweaks, but every 4-8 years gets a major overhaul. In 2026 the cars are getting smaller/lighter, active aero, and 50/50 electric vs. fuel. It should shake the box on the current pecking order.