Issue 26
The Formula 1 Edition: B2B presence, influencer infiltrations, shoulders of greats, full circle, chicken honey biscuit
Dear readers -
I spent a very hot few days in Austin, Texas this past weekend. A real bucket list item: attending the F1 United States Grand Prix at The Circuit of America’s!
Why was it a bucket list item?
I love F1. I have watched it since I was a kid and have family ties to it. My dad worked in Formula 1 as a mechanic in the 70’s & 80’s before emigrating to the US when I was 12. Here is a blog post I wrote about him after he died. And here are some pretty awesome photos from his time in F1.
I watch every race. I co-founded Podium Life. I’ve worked in motorsports. I am a massive Sir Lewis Hamilton fan - even before he entered F1. It’s my 2nd favorite sport, after soccer. And I decided this year to do more buckety-list items. So, ‘nuff said.
How did it happen?
My father-in-law who also worked in racing, made some calls and secured credentials for me - this included admission and access to the paddock and pits (during down times), plus access to a hospitality area. Not bad at all!
My friend Amber and her husband (thank you) graciously let me stay with them after I invited myself. My other friend Cody, who I connected with at the track on the Friday, gave me rides to and from, and even dropped me off at the airport (thank you).
And, I booked an absurdly cheap direct flight on Southwest. What’s the saying? It’s better to be lucky than good? This trip turned out superbly, despite myself. And the kindness of others.
Observations
Formula 1 has become a B2B (business to business) playground. Logos are everywhere, with some real heavy hitters in this space: Zoom, Oracle, Lenovo, AWS, Salesforce and more all have a significance presence, with I’m guessing a more significant budget. I guess that’s why there have been so many layoffs (zing!). However, I cannot think of a better hosting experience for enterprise customers and prospects. And with F1 traveling the world, these big global companies might be getting the value from the brand, business and customer investment.
Influencers have infiltrated F1. I saw a number of Insta and TikTok famous people in the paddock, experiencing and revealing the sport to their followers. Liberty Media’s acquisition of F1 in 2016 looks like a genius move. Through Netflix, bigger commercial deals (see B2B above), an expanded global schedule and the emergence of social media and its stars, the sport has reached atmospheric popularity. Now they are leveraging content creators to take it to the next level.
File people-watching under observations. From Prince Harry to Danica Patrick to Patrick Dempsey to Gayle King, it was a packed celebrity experience. And those were just the people my old ass recognized. I could have been standing next Doja Cat for all I know.
But as a lifelong fan, it was seeing the drivers and world champions that was worth it. Current drivers (and champs), Max Verstappen, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and retired champions such as Sir Jackie Stewart, Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Häkkinen all walked right by. I could have tickled or, high-fived them or even asked for an autograph. But I didn’t. It was perfect as is. But I did chat with one driver…
Full Circle
In 2012, I snapped this photograph at the 50th Running of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. It’s of Sir Jackie Stewart one of my racing heroes, who was a massive advocate for safety in motorsports and as result, saved god know how many lives.
This image is really worth a thousand words, but that is a story for another time. For this issue of Inc!, you should know that he ended up asking for a copy. We exchanged emails and I was happy to oblige. What a great moment.
Fast forward 11 years and here is the full circle moment. I never bother racing celebrities and certainly don’t ask for photos, but this was different because of 1) the above story, 2) my father-in-law is his friend and asked me to say hello. 3) and a random stranger offered to snap this moment.
So we chatted, got this pic and I showed him the photo from 2012. 👨🍳 Sometimes you should meet your heroes…for 45 seconds.
The Fun Stuff
Well I had the best chicken, honey, biscuit sandwich of my life, so that made the trip in itself worth it.
I walked so much. I got to meet Peter Atia. I got to connect with friends and colleagues from Podium Life. I got so much Vitamin D. I got to see race cars on track and up close. And I got to soak it all in. All of it. Here are a few more photos highlighting this incredible experience.
I have another bucket list item lined up for later this year. Stay tuned.
That’s the checkered flag on this edition. Thanks for hanging with a slight shift in content. Back to the basics next issue!
Much love, Daniel