Insert World's Biggest Sigh Here

Howdy, hi, hello. Welcome to Engine Failure, a culture newsletter that dives into what the fuck is really going on in Formula 1. It’s written by me, Lily Herman.

Greetings, pals! We’re back on our Engine Failure bullshit and have endless things to discuss. Admittedly I had to move my whole WAGs discussion to another issue, because this thing is already clocking in at over 3,000 words.

Before we dive in, a big thank you to everyone who said kind things about my upcoming Sports Illustrated Studios podcast! Here’s the link to subscribe again, and here’s the announcement on People. Oh, and our lil' pod temporarily broke into the top 25 U.S. sports podcasts on Apple! My dad said "omg" and used three exclamation points in a single text for the first time in my entire existence over that news, so you know it's a BFD.
 

Queer Folks, This Is for Us

It’s coming a little late in this newsletter since I've been MIA, but HAPPY PRIDE, pals! I’ve been out as asexual for several years now, and things are delightful. My usual spiel: I don' owe you or anybody else an explanation of my identity (nor should you make any assumptions since you definitely do not know me like that), but if you’d like to learn more about asexuality, you can visit the AVEN website, take a gander at my article on ace romance novels and readers, listen to the ace romance episode of my now-defunct romance novel podcast, and buy Angela Chen’s stunning book Ace. Even if you aren’t ace (or aro! Love our aro comrades!), I consider Angela’s book great reading for everybody. Compulsory sexuality and amatonormativity are a damn mess, and I promise you will have at least 18 epiphanies (or crises, depending on what you're going through) as you dive into it. If you're even more interested in this topic, Sherronda J. Brown's book Refusing Compulsory Sexuality comes out in September. I just got an advanced copy and can't wait to ignore everyone in my life while I read it cover to cover.

Anyway, since it’s Pride, I’d like to leave space for all of the fellow Alphabet Mafia members to talk about their experiences as F1 fans. If you’re part of the lovely LGBTQIA+ community, feel free to say whatever you want in this form and I’ll include it in Monday’s issue. It’s open-ended, optional, and can be anonymous. (And allies, you already know this, but this is not your time or space, though we appreciate your support!)
 

Ugh, Juri

We need to talk about Juri Vips because duh. For those who missed the news earlier this week, Formula 2 driver Juri Vips was suspended from the Red Bull Junior Team after saying the N-word during a Twitch livestream that included fellow F2 driver and Red Bull compatriot Liam Lawson; Juri then referred to wearing a pink Red Bull hat as “gay.” His future at his F2 team Hitech is also a little murky for the time being.

In the words of every liberal arts college grad, There’s A Lot To Unpack Here™. First and foremost, Juri Vips is 21 years old (almost 22, in fact), so I don’t want to hear any of this nonsense where folks treat him like a child. What he’s experiencing now are things called consequences. That’s part of growing up.

Second, as we’ve learned from other streaming scandals, the words people use in the heat of the moment in these situations often reveal what they may say privately too. At the very least, it’s obvious that Juri has spent time in environments — IRL, online, and otherwise — where this language is casually used without reprimand; he felt comfortable making those comments on a public platform. On top of that, Juri’s Instagram statement apologizing soon after the stream seemed rushed; the guy didn’t even capitalize the I's in his sentences. While I can understand him wanting to get a comment out quickly, there's something to be said for at least taking or beat or two to formulate complete thoughts — and proofread.

And then there’s Liam Lawson in this situation. In both instances, it's pretty clear from the videos that Liam knew that what Juri said was wrong and tried to lightly signal that to him in a joking manner. But his inability to really know how to handle Juri’s comments, especially within such a massive digital forum as a livestream, speaks to a bigger societal discomfort around openly discussing topics like racism and homophobia. It's even harder when those closest to us are the perpetrators of that harm.

And where does Red Bull fit into all of this? I’m not going to applaud a team for doing the barest of bare minimums for rightfully suspending a driver for derogatory comments so that they can investigate. While I definitely don’t believe we can point to Red Bull as solely at fault for Juri’s words (nor is RBR the only team with this problem), it can’t be ignored that the organization has a history of both drivers and leadership facing no consequences (or even acknowledgement) for casual racism and offensive comments over the years. The fact that these types of immediate actions aren't the standard in the sport across the board is the more insidious issue. Thus, the real discourse is not solely about Juri's comments and treatment; it's about why F1, as well as its teams and sponsors, didn't act similarly in those previous cases. (Also, tangentially related, Hazel Southwell, a forever fave, dove into this idea of fairness in Formula 1 at large in her own missive.)

Of course, it’s not lost on me that disciplining an F2 driver (especially one who had a questionable path to F1 to begin with) is an easier call for Red Bull than, say, reprimanding someone of Max Verstappen's caliber. Besides, Red Bull is notorious for having a massive junior program that signs these kids and dumps many of them just as quickly. It’s like the hydra: When one driver is taken out, two more seem to appear to take that spot.

Put another way, on top of not understanding that racism, homophobia, and toxic masculinity are bad, Juri Vips seemed to forget something else on that livestream: He’s completely disposable to Red Bull.
 

How Was Canada?

For those who didn’t know, I attended the Canadian Grand Prix over the weekend! I was literally in the cab to my apartment when the People article on my F1 podcast dropped, so it’s been a whirlwind week.

I’m still absorbing everything and catching up on sleep and hydration, but here's what initially comes to mind:

1. The Lance Stroll Grandstand was where it was at. We got “free” Lance hats (i.e. paid with our ticket purchases, unbeknownst to us until 7pm on Saturday night via mass email) that were surprisingly high quality, and quite a few folks wore them on race day. I also had a perfect view of the massive TV screen and could keep up with the rest of the race too. 

Plus I was right at the hairpin, so the cars didn’t look like quick flashes of color before my eyes. I feel like I got to see plenty of action, including Charles Leclerc overtaking both Alpines.

2. Valtteri Bottas was the first driver out on the track during FP1 and I got strangely emo. It was all very exciting!

3. Overall, I’d say the entire operation was relatively well-run. There were a few kinks here and there (like how the path to the hairpin grandstands was bottlenecked by a single puddle of mud that organizers didn’t fix), but generally speaking, things were moving and we were able to get around. Sure, lines could get long and merch was outrageously expensive, but that’s unfortunately just par for the course at practically any multi-day event. There were reportedly 338,000 people there throughout the weekend; I expected things to take a while.

4. From a logistical perspective, if you’re attending the Canadian Grand Prix, the biggest thing I’d recommend is making sure you’re near a metro station since that’s most likely how you’ll get to the track. Everything converges at the Berri-UQAM stop to take the yellow line out to the circuit, so the closer or more directly you have access to that, the better. I have a few friends who didn’t really think about the transportation situation when booking accommodations months ago and had to walk pretty far just to get to the metro in the mornings or back to their lodging after a long day.
 

Like what you see? Check out other recent Engine Failure issues and then forward this newsletter to a friend because you're a nice person who wants to see me ~succeed~:

• What the hell is this new F1 podcast I’m doing?

• Which F1 sports commentator is my style muse?

• Is Fernando Alonso actually a touchy-feely guy?

Danny Ric got the GQ treatment a while ago, including another YouTube video. George Russell chatted with SI and Charles gabbed with NYT. The Iceman is back, baby! LMAO Bernie. Mick to AM??? Literally what is a Chief Optimism Officer? TBT to when the Indy 500 was an F1 race. Formula 1 has had some weird rules. NASCAR and F1 have ~different dreams~. Uh, no NYC F1 race, please. Meet Angela Ashmore, one of IndyCar’s few female engineers. Can F1 stewarding learn a thing or two from…the justice system? Sir Lewis Hamilton donates a lot of money. Jos Verstappen is pissy; in other news, water is wet. Pierre was at Fashion Week? A lot of Americans watched the Canadian GP. Esteban Ocon is getting a stylist. Charles Leclerc is suddenly being more active on his YouTube channel…hmmm. Wait, Willy T. Ribbs tested a Formula 1 car and no one told me??? Minka Kelly’s first post-Trevor Noah split appearance was the Canadian GP. Here’s how to buy an old F1 car since we can all afford to do that. Can Seb really make F1 queer driver-friendly? Are we done with Monaco? Give it up for the guy with the shortest Formula 1 career of all time. McLaren won't Eat The Rich any time soon.

Thank you to everyone who wrote into last issue’s Conspiracy Corner question: You’re in charge of picking a new hobby for your favorite Formula 1 driver that has absolutely nothing to do with racing or motorsports. What hobby should your guy take up and why?

This is one of my favorite questions to date. Also, four of y’all suggested different drivers take up bird watching; I’m not sure why the F1 guys give off that energy, but I’m here for it. A few other standouts:

• Elena: I’d get Mick really into macramé. I’m honestly not sure why but I feel like it’s a vibe he’d really connect with. I can see him sitting with his dog, watching the sunset, and knotting together plant holders.

• Molly: Oh, this one's easy: Valtteri Bottas and his new hobby would be Wife Carrying. Obviously, Val amd Tiff are athletic beasts and would it kill it at this sport (which actually originated in Finland). Plus, we all know Tiff deserves to be carried around everywhere like the queen she is, and I believe Val's the man to do it.

• Janis: Carlos starts a jamón ibérico business. He's passionate about his country (see football and residence) and passionate about good jamón. Preparing jamón takes about 11 months, which may be useful to slot the process into the beginning and end of the F1 calendar. Jamón sniffers have been busy and I'm sure could do with some help. I don't think jamón ibérico will go unappreciated in Maranello. Perfect also with his Estrella Galicia sponsorship.

• Jordan: Lando Norris takes up knitting. He's always wearing hoodies when everyone else is dying of heatstroke in T-shirts (i.e. Miami), so the poor lad must run cold. He could make himself lots of cozy scarves and his beloved beanies.

• Byrd: Literally any F1 father picks up the new hobby of staying home and looking after his kids.

• Melanie: Max is going to get really into making his own beers at home. I'm not saying he's going to be good at it, but he will buy top-of-the-line equipment to do it, and Kelly's going to have to try every single batch.

• Zach: Alex Albon needs to buy a Nintendo Switch and then buy the new Lego Star Wars game on the Switch and then maybe uhh come over to my house and hang out with me and we can play Lego Star Wars together. Alex, I’ll let you be Player 1.

• Melissa: Can the whole grid just take a pottery class together? I’m so here for that chaos and the lovely vase I’m sure Mick will turn out.

• Alyssa: George - Needlepoint. I feel like he would enjoy relaxing in a wingback chair, drinking a cuppa with Carmen, and stitching an ottoman canvas. Valtteri - Geocaching. Seems like a natural fit for him and something he and Tiff would enjoy together while adventuring. We would probably be good IG content as well.

Today’s question: The latest season of Big Brother (U.S.) is premiering in a few weeks. Which F1 driver do you think has the best chance of winning Big Brother, and what would their strategy be?