Formula 1 Pre-Season Testing Revealed a Lot, But Mostly Very Little
Plus: IndyCar’s opening weekend, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton step into their ambassador eras and F1 Academy’s commitment to innovation
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.
So, Your Favorite Driver Topped the Pre-Season Testing Charts? Don’t Get Too Excited.
Pre-season testing kicked off on Wednesday in Bahrain and stretched across three days in a chaotic start to 2025. Each day, testing crowned a different driver as the king of the time sheets with a few hiccups along the way — from broken glass and a power cut to a bus ending up on track during the testing session.
Despite vague, repeated press conference answers resembling “The car feels good” and social media hype clogging the cogs of reality, the 24 hours of on-track “action” told a story with many plot holes. Sandbagging by using heavier fuel loads and lower engine power settings can manipulate the standings and any hope for solid pre-season predictions.
The good news is that the field is tight and spectators can expect one of the closest seasons in recent history. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz and George Russell all respectively topped the testing sessions across the three days.
McLaren stood out as front-of-the-field favorites, but Mercedes seemed to smooth over the surface-level problems plaguing the team last year. Alpine and Williams were the surprise outliers with times matching the top teams. Each day, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull failed to clinch the top time, but the Dutch driver’s ability to turn four consecutive championship titles into five shouldn’t be discounted yet.
Everyone is Getting a Second Job in This Economy —including F1 Drivers
‘Tis the season of becoming an ambassador, apparently. Since switching teams, Sainz and Lewis Hamilton have also taken on second gigs. L’Oreal announced Sainz as its global ambassador on Saturday. The Spanish driver will grace the cosmetics brand’s commercials for a new haircare line and show off those locks at Stanley Tucci’s dinner table. The dinner party series “Cards on the Table,” hosted by Tucci and airing on Rolling Stone in collaboration with AllBirds, will feature an odd group of actors, a Spice Girl, reality stars, a physicist and the Formula 1 driver.
Hamilton had an equally buzzy week with a new job title as Lululemon’s ambassador. The partnership will not only amplify the Vancouver-based athleisure wear company’s relevancy as competitors like Alo Yoga threaten to disrupt its market share but also help Formula 1 further infiltrate Lululemon’s top consumer base: American suburbanites.
Hamilton was profiled for the cover of TIME on Thursday. A specific quote went viral and received both praise and critique on social media: “Don’t ever compare me to anybody else,” The Ferrari driver said. “I’m the first and only Black driver that’s ever been in this sport. I’m built different. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had my own journey. You can’t compare me to another 40-year-old, past or present, Formula One driver in history. Because they are nothing like me. I’m hungry, driven, don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning. That’s my No. 1 priority.”
On Sunday, Hamilton’s new teammate and Sainz’s former one, Charles Leclerc, announced a piano bar pop-up in collaboration with Chivas Regal in Melbourne during the race weekend. Leclerc recently released a new single.
Formula 1 Announces Official Sports Betting Partner
Formula 1 announced on Friday that ALT Sports Data will act as the official betting data supplier for the 2025 season with a mission to “drive growth in sports betting.”
Sports betting has joined cryptocurrency as a major sponsor across leagues and its advertising dominance during events like the Super Bowl has faced criticism. Formula 1 and ALT Sports Data assured the venture “will drive responsible and regulated sports betting on Formula 1.” However, not everyone is convinced that regulated sports betting is safe. As commercials for placing bets seep into the culture zeitgeist, the same man who took on Big Tobacco is aiming to derail the rise of sports betting. There are two sports betting giants that monopolize the market, meaning competitors, like ESPN BET, may shut down as they fail to keep up.
Alex Palou Tops the Charts in St. Pete at IndyCar’s Opening Weekend
After six months, IndyCar is back on track. The season opener and first Fox IndyCar broadcast had a rocky start on Sunday in St. Petersburg. Alongside heavy traffic and a lap one crash, fans criticized Fox Sports for a lack of graphics and explainers during the broadcast.
Three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished on the top of the podium, marking his 12th career win in the series, and was followed by teammate Scott Dixon who completed 90 percent of the 100-lap race without radio communication. Dixon relied on his fuel gauge to determine when to pit. Josef Newgarden completed the top three. The largest performance leap came from Pato O’Ward who climbed from 23rd to 11th.
F1 Academy is Doing it Unlike Anyone Else
F1 Academy, Formula 1’s all-female feeder series, announced on Friday that the 2025 season will reintroduce reverse grids. The series has two races per weekend, but the first race will include a jumbled starting order. The top eight drivers from qualifying will reverse, with the driver in eighth starting on pole.
The inaugural 2023 F1 Academy season had a similar format and offered a fresh competitive edge.
What I’ve been writing, reading and obsessed with this week
Dead Athletes. Empty Stands. Why Are We Paying Billions to Keep This Sport Alive? - Noah Shachtman, The New York Times
Who Gets to Own Scotland? - Jillian Rayfield, The New York Times
Sport and swearing: It’s ****ing complicated - Nick Miller, The Athletic
It’s Weird That Eggs Were Ever Cheap - Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic
Ten Years in a Crumbling Industry - Lindsey Adler, Critical Thinking
Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World’s Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes and Get Away With Anything - Oliver Bullough
