Two Years of Formula Flash
Thank you for reading!
The first time I sat in a go-kart, I thought the main objective wasn’t to cross the finish line first, but something more akin to a game of bumper cars. The second time I slipped behind the open-air wheel, I was covering my first real motorsport assignment. At this point, I knew enough about racing to not intentionally crash into Romain Grosjean’s kart ahead of me.
I still barreled straight into the barriers.
The only reason I had the chance to be lapped four times by the former Formula 1 driver while reporting for a well-respected newspaper was because of this Substack.
Formula Flash’s second birthday looks similar to last year’s: I’m in New York surrounded by the same friends and will likely end up sipping a celebratory drink to end the evening just like in 2024.
However, a lot has changed since I published that one-year post — not just in readership or likes, although that too did change. I moved back to Brooklyn last Tuesday, a year and a half after I quit my job and moved away from the city to report on racing full-time.
If you want to read a longer, more dramatic backstory behind this newsletter, the one-year anniversary post for Formula Flash is your best bet. But in short: This newsletter gave me my first on-track press pass to a Formula E race. The subsequent stories not only built my portfolio, but credibility. I’ve gone on to report on IndyCar, electric off-roading, all-female racing series and Formula 1 for international magazines and newspapers.
It’s hard not to be romantic about racing. The sport is Ferraris parked outside the Casino de Monte Carlo and blind corners at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It is a recovery drive in a downpour and a legacy of innovation found in the front seat of your sedan. It is Netflix specials and boy band-like fanaticism. It is a formula of skill, speed and something slightly supernatural.
I have been fortunate enough to witness that spectacle up close — whether while overshooting the media parking lot by three miles and trudging through the Belgian evergreens to finally see that blind, mounting corner of black asphalt called Eau Rouge or witnessing the largest non-religious gathering on earth at the Indianapolis 500.
But if this past year has gifted me anything, it’s context. The rose-tinted glasses were knocked slightly askew. As I’ve begun to think about covering sports more generally, I’ve realized both what makes Formula 1 unique and what I’ve occasionally been too close to see: all the ways it isn’t singular.
Wherever this next year takes me, I hope it will bring more curiosity and compelling stories. And, on the off-chance I’m handed a balaclava and tasked with navigating an apex, I’ll aim for the checkered flag instead of the wall.
I also hope you’ll continue along for the ride. Thank you for reading!
Gratefully,
Olivia
If you want to read my work outside of Substack, you can find me covering Formula 1 this season for National Public Radio (NPR), The Independent, Esses Magazine and Race Tech Magazine regularly with a handful of profiles and features for Motorsport.com. Twice a month, I’ll be over at The Drive as its Formula 1 correspondent for 2025.
You can find me on social media posting pit-lane scenes during most, if not all, of the North American races.
On here, I’ll continue to write monthly features for paid subscribers and publish weekly racing news round-ups free of charge.
Congratulations!
Congrats on two years! Here's to many more <3