Passion for Fashion

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.

It’s back to the vroom-vroom circus, weirdos! I was all set to send out this issue yesterday, but then I realized it was Indigenous Peoples’ Day here in the States, and I don't send out issues on national holidays or days of observance. Anyway, here we are on a Tuesday!

Before we get this show on the road, I want to say a massive thank you to all of you who signed up for EF’s Patreon last week. (You can read my discussion of it here.) It’s definitely surreal to think that folks are tipping me in legal tender to tell them about these silly people and their silly machines.

As a token of my gratitude, EF patrons got the first Spare Parts conversation with romance novel discourse icon Sanjana Basker, where I argued that Max Verstappen is actually the ultimate enemies-to-lovers hero. Then this morning, Two Girls 1 Formula’s Kate Lizotte also made an appearance to talk about F1 WAG covens just in time for Halloween. On top of that, I published the inaugural Dirty Air missive, where I write about random stuff that’s either not ready for an EF issue or isn’t meaty enough to put in here. (If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Gee, which handbag could become the next Bottega Mini Jodie and cause Lily endless agita for the foreseeable future?”, I gave my prediction to EF's patrons.)

One last bit of housekeeping: I’m putting together a little roundup in next week’s newsletter of awesome events, pop-ups, and other happenings taking place in Austin during the U.S. Grand Prix for those of you who are going. (More specifically, I’d like to feature events that will be fun, safe, and welcoming to people of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ folks. Please keep that in mind before submitting.) Feel free to email them to me, tweet me them, or submit them to EF’s Anonymous Tip Box.

Thanks, y’all! And now for some F1 fuckery…
 

Let’s Talk FASHUN

Pals, I don’t know what was in the water last week, but every biddy on the grid wanted us to pay attention to their various merch collabs. (Well, not Checo, but we’ll get to him in a second.) Let’s go through them!
 

LH x TM

It’s no secret that I was generally tentative about — and even unimpressed with — Lewis Hamilton’s launch strategy and first merch drop for his new +44 label during the summer. As I wrote at the time, all of the gimmicks felt goofy, and the first three items were…fine. But where was the intrigue? The creativity? The collaboration? That’s what I was waiting for; it seemed weird to not see that coming from Lewis off the bat.

And then it happened: Sir L announced that his second merch drop would feature designs created alongside high-key legendary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Ummmm, these items??? SPECTACULAR. SENSATIONAL. WORTHY OF MAKING MY BANK ACCOUNT SOB.

The pair gave an exclusive interview to Highsnobiety on the partnership, with Lewis saying, “There is no one I consider more suited to help me achieve this than Murakami. He has consistently been at the forefront of street culture for decades, famous for his unique designs which are instantly identifiable as his.” The article also provided us with the clearest-cut description of what +44 even means to Lewis, with writer Tayler Willson explaining that it’s “telling the story of ‘The Inner Race’ — a state of mental, spiritual, and emotional alignment Hamilton believes to be required to achieve F1 greatness.” (Why it took this long for the brand to really articulate itself is another issue.)

(Oh, and if you’re new to Takashi Murakami’s work, Highsnobiety itself did an interview with him earlier this year, and you can check out this 2005 NYT feature as a start. He was also once labeled “the Japanese Andy Warhol,” which is…a lot to take in.)

Tbh, I think Lewis should fire whoever executed this brand’s initial launch and promote whoever put together this recent collaboration. This is the kind of shit we wanted out of him.

At the same time, maybe there was some method to the weird launch madness: A simpler first drop meant Lewis’ team could test all of their logistical and operational stuff before announcing such a big follow-up collab, and people could figure out their sizing off the bat. (I felt a lot more comfortable buying such pricey apparel with this second drop since I’d bought items during the first one and knew how everything fit.) Still, those first three pieces could’ve been infinitely more interesting than they were. I’m just glad to know that LH is executing the vision we all knew he was capable of.
 

Danny Preps for Austin

Daniel Ricciardo has only a few races left this Formula 1 season — and potentially ever (don’t @ me!!!!!) — and his honorary home race of the USGP is coming up in two weeks. He’s gone increasingly hard in Austin every year, but it looks like the 2022 merch line is setting up to be his biggest yet.

I’ve had some issues with a few of Danny’s other apparel drops, but I’ll give him this: He’s always swinging for the fences. This year’s USGP merch teasers have intrigued me, and I can’t wait to spend an asinine amount of money on an item or two.
 

Checo Has Entered…the Fashion Game?

It’s been a weird few months for Checo. As all of you gossips know, he was accused of some very public infidelity following the Monaco Grand Prix just three weeks after his wife Carola Martinez gave birth to their third child. He then proceeded to have some iffy race results over the summer.

But things seem to be looking up. He’s in the midst of filming a multi-part docuseries that’ll premiere on November 4th and track several races in the late season; he announced a new campaign with the supplement company HABITS (which is wife Carola supported on her own IG Stories); and most importantly for our purposes, he launched a merch collaboration with Acapella.

To be frank, It’s an underwhelming line compared to what we’re seeing from folks like Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo. At the same time, Checo isn’t really known for being much of a fashionista (the man looks slightly awkward at best in AlphaTauri’s campaigns), so this is probably as good as it’s gonna get.

Boring merch aesthetics aside, the man is making bank, and he’s working hard to capture an audience that few F1 drivers are paying attention to on this side of the Atlantic. Good for him.
 

Williams Joins the Party as Usual

Williams proved once more that it’s taking its merch game seriously by launching its USGP line two weeks before the race. This is really smart: While timely shipping isn’t guaranteed nowadays, hopefully more than a few fans can place their orders early this week and have them arrive before heading out to Austin.

Plus, while I still think that Logan Sargeant has a long way to go in terms of fine-tuning his public persona, the Williams team put a lot of thought into playing to his strengths when they made him the model for the campaign’s launch. They did some real yeehawification to this Fish Guy™.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Williams is the only team consistently making strides on the current gird to come up with interesting merch that fans can truly feel excited about collecting. Let’s think outside the box of overpriced T-shirts and hats, people!!!
 

A Few Skincare Forays

Folks, am I a witch? Probably, because last week’s EF issue included a whole feature on beauty sponsorships in motorsports, and all of a sudden, Yuki Tsunoda announced this past week that he’s partnering with “basic men’s skincare line” Bulk Homme.

Plus, while there’s no way for anyone to verify this other than me (I didn’t post it in the Patreon, damnit!!!!), I was actually working on a follow-up feature for today’s issue talking about how I thought the first F1 driver to partner with a skincare brand would go the Travis Barker route and pick something relatively gender-neutral. Bulk Homme and Barker Wellness are virtually indistinguishable packaging-wise, so much like George during that one random overtake during the Japanese GP, I’m gonna pat myself on the back.

Meanwhile on the skincare front, as if I needed further proof that I might as well be Raven-Symoné and able to see into the future, everybody’s favorite wealthy style muses Susie Wolff and Carmen Montero Mundt headed to warmer climates to take part in some sort of #girlboss Merc AMG event featuring Dr. Barbara Sturm. (Dr. Sturm is funny to me in that her specialty is actually orthopedics, but she’s funneled that into a career as a luxury skincare expert — though she's not a dermatologist by education or training — and ties it all together by talking vaguely about ~inflammation~. Anyway, all you need to know about her products is that her night cream costs $395. That makes even Brad Pitt’s useless skincare brand look cheap.)

Folks at this event didn’t post a great deal about what exactly it was (other than to say they were getting a “masterclass focusing on the benefits of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and skin [regimen]”), but supermodel Elle Macpherson was also reportedly there and it seemed like a fun, new age-y wellness good time.
 

Kelly and the Press

Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet did a feature with the Dutch luxury fashion and lifestyle magazine MIRROR MIRROR that was actually pretty enlightening as far as WAGs interviews go. A few tidbits y’all might find interesting if you didn’t already know:

1. With so much focus on Kelly’s dad (F1 champ Nelson Piquet), it’s easy to forget that her mom is Dutch model Sylvia Tamsa-Piquet. Kelly said in the piece that she can’t really speak Dutch and only understands bits and pieces of conversations.

2. Kelly graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York back in 2011 with a degree in international relations.

3. The article describes her as identifying as a “health and wellness coach.” I have many questions considering Kelly has never used those words on her own social media accounts, nor has she ever publicly showcased her qualifications or services in any meaningful way. (Those of you who follow me on Instagram already know I have something in the works talking about the WAGs/F1-adjacents and diet/fitness/wellness culture.)

Anyway, I have thoughts! I’m not surprised that Kelly was probably her most open in a feature for a Dutch luxury publication, and while this wasn’t necessarily planned, the article dropped right around the same time that Kelly took part in a media interview in the Suzuka paddock shortly after Max was crowned the 2022 F1 World Drivers’ Champion. There’ve been a few scattered moments in the past where Kelly has inserted herself a little tooooo much into motorsports commentary around Max, so I’m curious to see if these latest placements were one-time endeavors or a taste of what’s to come for the rest of 2022 and then 2023.

Kelly has always been a study in contrasts. She comes from a family where her father and former F1 driver brother have often taken the oxygen out of the room in terms of public consciousness, but given her career as an influencer and her very visible relationship with one of the most popular drivers on the grid, she also obviously cares at least somewhat about ~being perceived~. (And similar to what we’ve discussed with Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend Charlotte Sine, Kelly doesn’t need to be an influencer if she doesn’t want to be. She has access to plenty of money that doesn’t seem to be contingent on her social media engagement or sharing things about her personal life for cyber consumption.)

I’m not sure how often we’ll hear from Kelly in this kind of capacity in the future, but it’s certainly intriguing to think about, especially as Max's success on the grid continues.
 

Lando’s Photography and Danny’s Hiatus

We’ve made a few jokes about Lando’s various public post-breakup hobbies in EF (hell, today’s Conspiracy Corner answers were dedicated to them), but I have to say: Lando has a real knack for photography, specifically portraits, and I think he’s taken some of the best pictures of Daniel Ricciardo that I’ve ever seen.

In particular, Lando’s actually done a really special and poignant job capturing what could potentially be DR’s final weeks in Formula 1 for a while — or ever. But let’s back up for a second!

To catch some of you up to speed, Daniel Ricciardo once again all but confirmed that he won’t drive in F1 in 2023 with the hopes of getting a seat in 2024. F1 commentator Will Buxton appeared to be the most broken up about this news since he tweeted multiple lengthy threads about it throughout the weekend. (Tbh, I’m confused by this recent fervor from folks. DR’s said different versions of this for months now!)

There are already quite a few intense conspiracies going around about who’s “at fault” for DR’s situation. I’ve already spoken at length several times about my thoughts on the matter, which can be best summarized as “the truth lies somewhere in the middle.” I suspect it’ll be easier to get to the bottom of what happened a few years from now when we have a little distance from everything. We’ll also get a clearer picture once we see how microscopic peanut Oscar Piastri fares next year in Danny’s old seat.

Regardless of Daniel Ricciardo’s driving and other shenanigans though, his personality was a great addition to the paddock, and I feel like Lando is really capturing who Danny is at a critical moment: He’s funny, a little wry, and a bit sad. It doesn’t take an art scholar to tell that there’s some hurt behind his eyes in Lando's photographs, even when there's also a smile.
 

The 2022 W Series Is Ending Early

I come bearing bleak news: The 2022 W Series has ended several races early in order to focus on fundraising efforts for 2023. I feel like I’ve already said everything I have to say right now about all of the issues surrounding the structure and execution of the series (and Jamie Chadwick’s place in it) here, here, here, and here.

However, venerable motorsports journalist Hazel Southwell summed up pretty much all of my more recent feelings in this fantastic ESPN piece, and she boils it down to this: If Formula 1 and the world of motorsports wanted to fund the W Series — or just fund women drivers in general — they would. It’s like the F1 version of the Who Killed Hannibal meme, and it’s depressing as fuck.
 

Like what you see? Check out other recent Engine Failure issues, check out the EF website, join EF’s Patreon, and then forward this newsletter to a friend because you're a nice person who wants to see me ~succeed~:

• Why don’t we see more beauty brand sponsorships in motorsports?

• Does Lewis Hamiton actually like the greens powder in his sponcon?

• Want to dress like one of the most fashionable WAGs on the grid?

Friends, I can’t begin to explain to you how Upset™ I am that practically every driver on the grid gave us a shirtless photo or video right after Engine Failure’s issue on the subject went out two weeks ago. As such, I needed to update these rankings to include some fresh tidbits and new entrants.

As a recap, we’re looking at general art direction, storytelling, and cinematography in these photos and videos. You know, the important things. Let’s go through the new standings: 

P1: Charles Leclerc (UPDATE). Ferrari decided to follow Charles’ shirtless lead by posting some pics of him in an ice bath in Singapore. I’ll give ‘em this: The team’s social media crew are dedicated to the same cause as all of us. This man stays on top.

P2: Mick Schumacher (UPDATE). We originally discussed Mick Schumacher’s Instagram Stories photo that showed half of a bare chest, but considering every F1 group chat I’m in immediately freaked out over this slideshow (and specifically the ice bath videos), the man deserves to move up several spots. He’s on a mission to stay in F1 and will do anything to make that happen. He’s ruthless and I love it!!!!

P3: Lewis Hamilton (NO CHANGE).

P4/P5: Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi (NEW ENTRANTS). The Williams pair has to go together considering they were in all of Williams’ photos and videos as a unit. I’m surprised Alex was down to show this much skin.

P6: Lando Norris (NEW ENTRANT). Never in my life have I seen thirstier tactics from Lando, but as we’ve established, this man is currently trying to Win The Breakup™. Still, he was up against stiff competition.

P7: Carlos Sainz (UPDATE). Ferrari’s social media channel also gave Carlos a boost for once in Singapore, and I thank them for their efforts.

P8/P9: Yuki Tsunoda/Pierre Gasly (NEW ENTRANTS). Yuki and Pierre didn’t want to be left out and decided to be shirtless and a tad thirsty. I love to see it!

P10: Valtteri Bottas (UPDATE). Val posted a nice photo at the beach, and I felt like he should be recognized even though he slid down the overall ranking a bit.

P11: Daniel Ricciardo (NEW ENTRANT): The guy has posted better shirtless photos and videos, but I appreciate this one from the sauna. It’s solid! (I also had to take points off for this unfortunate yet unrelated crypto ad from earlier this month.)

P12: Max Verstappen (NEW ENTRANT). I’m not sure how Kelly did it, but according to many readers who sent this to me, she somehow made Max look two-dimensional in this photo. Still, he’s shirtless and consented to this image being taken and posted. A rarity!

P13: Lance Stroll (NO CHANGE). 

P14: Sergio Perez (NO CHANGE).

Folks, today’s Esteban Ocon PR Patrol has nothing to do with our favorite French Slenderman. It does, however, contain an analysis of Este’s actual bestie Mick Schumaher, who’s all but said, “Throw me the aux, E!” when it comes to obvious PR efforts.

To go over the basics: Baby Schumi is desperately looking for new ways to keep his seat on the F1 grid, which is very much a continuous question mark. The situation’s been made harder by the fact that he’s not putting up great results and keeps casually destroying his car, which costs the very cash-strapped Haas team even more money. In other words, the man is looking for a Hail Mary at this point before Guenther Steiner hands his seat over to someone like Boring Italian Jesus Antonio Giovinazzi or “Suck My Balls, Mate” recipient Nico Hulkenberg.

How do I know that Mickolas will try just about anything to keep his claws in that seat? Despite being from one of the most media-averse families in all of motorsports, Mick did this interview for NME in late September (sent to me by one of EF's patrons!) when he was the F1 Tracks DJ. I learned more about Mick Schumacher from this singular piece than I have from every other F1 media commitment he’s done combined. A few of my favorite parts from the NME chat:

1. Here’s Mick on why he loves the Lily Allen classic “Fuck You”: “I remember [meeting Lily Allen] well because I didn’t have to look so far up because she’s not that tall. It was great because I thought ‘finally, someone I can talk to!'”

2. Mick bought Eminem’s album The Eminem Show because he wanted “Without Me” as his ringtone. Apparently no one told him what the lyrics were about or why it maybe wasn’t the best choice for a kid. I can’t believe Michael and Corinna let this slide?!?!

3. Mick was inspired to learn guitar because of John Mayer. He said he’s bad at it and has to be conscious of not playing until his fingers bleed because of, you know, the whole F1 driver thing.

4. Mick likes country music. Do with that what you will.

For what’ll probably be the penultimate or final installment of Only Messes in the Paddock for the 2022 season, let’s go over the two enormous developments that’ve unfolded over the past week:

1. Last Friday night was one for the books. What happened, you ask? Well first, everybody’s favorite dog lover (*cough cough*) Pierre Gasly finally squirmed out of Helmut Marko’s slimy clutches after almost a decade by announcing that he’s taking Fernando Alonso’s vacant seat at Alpine next year.

This probably wasn’t a surprise to anybody who’s been on social media for the past month or two. Rumors have been swirling for weeks now, and earlier that same Friday, Fabrizio Romano, the Italian soccer journalist known for dropping deal news, tweeted about Pierre’s move at 11am EST on the dot. The Alpine team followed up with an emoji just two minutes later, Mercedes joined in 10 minutes after that, and Pierre liked everything shortly thereafter — though no one in the F1 world confirmed the news for nine more hours (i.e. the middle of the night for Europeans).

Let me be clear: This was a coordinated effort, though we're not sure of when it came to pass. I’m certainly not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s interesting that the news was broken by a journalist outside of the typical F1 realm and that the team was clearly in on it to at least some extent. (I’m also not surprised that Alpine was almost too buttoned-up with this multi-part saga after the utter disaster that was the team un-announcement of the lil’ pecan croissant known as Oscar Piastri.)

And now onto the other part of this equation: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, the two Frenchmen who were famously besties as kids before having a mysterious falling out in their teens that only Pierre has vaguely alluded to in interviews ever since he started in F1, will now be teammates. (Let’s not forget this iconic moment in their feud either.) Everybody is very aware that these two have some tension, but I think Alpine was incredibly smart to try and nip that in the bud with some inspirational “I can’t believe we’re just two kids from Normandy who made it to F1” talk from the pair. They also took this very awkward photo with team leadership, but they couldn’t help that.

All this to say, I’m incredibly intrigued by not just this duo but also how Alpine will package their work together. More importantly, Friday was a tremendous day for us #FreePierre truthers. That said, with Pierre now slippin' 'n' slidin' out of the Red Bull org, someone else has to take his place…

2. AlphaTauri announced the news around the same time that Nyck de Vries, otherwise known as Mr. Clean by my F1 newbie friend Jackson, was taking Pierre’s old spot. (Yes, it appears that 5’6 Nyck and and 5’2 Yuki Tsunoda will make up what is widely considered to be the shortest driver pairing in F1 history.)

As someone who’s always liked Hendrik Johannes Nicasius de Vries and his wacky ways, I’m excited to see Nyck on the grid. He’ll be another calm, older, and still chaotic force for Yuki, albeit in a different way than Pierre. Still, I’ll miss seeing Yuki/Pierre in AT videos. I’ll also miss all of the BDE that Pierre brought to AlphaTauri photo shoots; he often carried those fashion campaigns on his back.

Thank you to everyone who wrote into last issue’s Conspiracy Corner question: As we've established, Lando is currently making his way through a series of post-breakup hobbies. What should his next hobby be and why?

Y’all were chatty as usual. Also, a good seven responses were knitting-related (I didn’t put all of them below), so that seems to be the unofficial winner:

• Nina: I believe he should pick up a makeup brush. We all know after the McLaren crop top that he is over toxic masculinity. Therefore, he would absolutely rock eyeliner and a statement lip.

• Martha: Knitting. Because it's cool, it's great for restless hands/minds, and it leaves you with something tangible you can gift to your potential new girlfriend.

• Anon: Yoga/Pilates. He could stretch, relax, and maybe grow up a few inches.

• Noa: He should stick to creative-and-sensitive-guy hobbies and take on mindfulness and meditation. This should also include posting motivational quotes on various social media platforms, [creating] sped-up videos of him practicing yoga, and of course, becoming vegan.

• Emma: Hot yoga for rebranding as an enlightened self-care fuccboi. Also gives ample opportunity for slutty thirst traps to try to Win The Breakup.

• Sean: Dungeons & Dragons, for sure. Easy to hyper-fixate on, great for streaming purposes, and a way to tell a narrative/story.

• Manvi: Cooking. I’d kill to see an Unboxed episode of Lando and Gordon Ramsay, which will inevitably end with Lando saying, “I can’t, it’s bwoken!”

• CJ: Some might say Lando’s on his way to going full post-breakup emo, so why not go all the way and start doing some of his own post-race goth makeup, complete with self-filmed tutorials (on Twitch, no less)? Weirdly enough, it might just be the thing to help beauty brands make the leap into motorsport.

• Karen: Cringey White Guy Poetry. It feels like the natural evolution from Lando’s photography Insta. It will start as him posting ~*~ deep ~*~ captions to his Insta dumps, and then the account will transition to pics of his typewriter and poems he wrote about women being like a cigarette. There will be a book of his poems published before the end of the 2023 season.

• Shaun: I'd like to see a very practical, domestic endeavor. Homemade pasta or baking. Sewing. How badass would that be? A top 20 driver in the world and he can hem his own slacks?!

• Hannah: Magic tricks. Endless possibilities, entertains the paddock, can be done alone or with an assistant, and is endearing when it goes wrong. Very on-brand.

• Becca: Developing his own cologne, which is in keeping with his current f-boy aesthetic.

Today’s question: The FIA says that Red Bull Racing is guilty of a “minor overspend breach” in regards to F1’s cost cap budget. Aside from the rumored catering, what did Red Bull’s F1 team spend too much money on and why? (Wrong answers only!)