F1 Fans Became Investigative Journalists This Week
Plus: Madrid residents protest F1 race and Myles Rowe becomes the first Black Indy NXT winner.
Welcome to The Undercut, a weekly newsletter round-up of the top storylines in racing brought to you by your favorite motorsport and enviro journo, Olivia Hicks. If you’re wondering, “What the f*** is Formula 1?” Ask away! Leave a comment or send me a message with your burning questions.
Armed with an iPhone and a Private Jet Tracker, F1 Fans Attempted to Get the Verstappen Scoop
When Max Verstappen attempted to get away from the trackside noise this past week, including Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull and rumors of Verstappen signing with Mercedes, his beach vacation was closely monitored.
“Max Verstappen’s Jet,” an X (formerly Twitter) account with nearly 60,000 followers, broke the news last Friday that both Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ team principal, and Verstappen were vacationing in Sardinia. The account posts whenever the Red Bull driver’s private jet takes off or lands. On Friday, nearly seven million people saw the account’s post announcing Verstappen’s arrival on the same island as Wolff. Fans were quick to speculate a meeting amid trade rumors.
Fans’ investigation transitioned from the skies to the sea over the weekend, tracking the distance between Wolff and Verstappen’s yachts off the coast. One Verstappen fan on X likened following the duo’s movements to being in the White House Situation Room.
Formula 1 doesn’t tend to follow the same scoop-chasing model that sports like the NBA and its insiders boast. So, naturally, the sport’s most dedicated fans decided to take matters into their own hands on this two-week break between races.
Madrid Residents Protest New Formula 1 Circuit
When I touched down in Austin last October for the United States Grand Prix, I had noticed that Formula 1 raced through a historically redlined neighborhood with little tree canopy. Seven months later while reporting in Miami, I began to see a pattern. The racing series, with a couple of exceptions like the Vegas Strip, chooses low-income communities of color as American host neighborhoods. It’s a common trend: loud and disruptive events like sports matches and music festivals that are rejected in wealthy and white neighborhoods are moved to areas of a city where event organizers know they will be met with “the path of least resistance.” No matter where races are held, most residents don’t want 20 cars racing through their neighborhood.
Locals in Valdebebas, the new urban development housing Formula 1’s future Madrid race, have already pushed back against the circuit that will be joining the race calendar in 2026. The group “Stop F1 Madrid” recently raised concerns over carbon emissions, noise and transportation issues. The collection of neighborhood associations, the Madrid Tree Roundtable, Ecologists in Action and Extinction Rebellion claim that over 700 trees have already been removed in the construction process.
While the group’s slogan “Our neighborhoods are not a circuit” and concerns are shared by most neighborhoods Formula 1 races through, the sport has attempted to lighten its impact by monitoring air quality and noise pollution.
Myles Rowe Becomes the First Black Indy NXT Winner
On Saturday, Myles Rowe became the first Black driver to win an Indy NXT race. Polesitter Dennis Hauger held onto the race lead until Rowe overtook him on the outside with 10 laps left. As the 25-year-old crossed the checkered flag at the Iowa Speedway, he made history with his maiden win.
“I think it’s crucial to see someone who looks like you doing well, someone to look up to, especially when you’re young and everything feels so big and out of reach,” he said post-race. “That’s even more true in motorsports, where the costs can keep people out before they even get started.”
