Formula 1 is Now My Whole Personality

That’s Lando Norris.

Unless you’re a Formula 1 fan you have no idea who he is, but trust me, he matters in this whole newsletter thing. About a month ago my partner and I decided to give Formula 1: Drive to Survive, a Netflix documentary a try. Neither of us knew anything about motorsport before going in and our bar was low, but boy did the documentary deliver!

The premise of Formula 1 racing is very straightforward. There are ten teams, each with two drivers. Every weekend, drivers and their teams create waaaaay too much pollution getting to race-courses all over the world where they drive between fifty and seventy laps and determine a winner. Places 1 through 10 get points that over the season add up to determine the Driver’s Championship. Teams too, get points based on how their drivers place which at the end add up to determine the Constructor’s Championship.

Two championships with wildly competing interests.

You can already spot the potential for drama.

Drivers must prioritize their own wins, even (and especially) over their teammates. Remember, there are 20 seats; and only 20 seats. That’s why Formula 1 is often referred to as the most ruthless motorsport. This is because drivers can be dropped at any moment and then, unless some other team picks them up, they are out of F1 altogether. But even if another team offers them a contract it means that a different driver is without a seat. Every season is the most stressful game of musical chairs you can imagine. More stable teams, like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari keep their lineups for a while because they work, but everyone is technically free game. That’s why in F1 you are only as good as your last race.

Meanwhile, teams prioritize team stats. This isn’t unlike publishing where each author wants to succeed and build their own career whereas the publisher wants to maximize profits overall. Ideally, the team wants the drivers to keep placing in first and second positions. The caveat is that if they let go of one driver for underperforming, the drivers’ points don’t leave the team. So, teams can swap drivers mid-season or only have a driver for one season before changing it up. If your drivers (authors) play well together and don’t get overwhelmed by their egos, you can consistently deliver results without too many crashes. Oh yeah, crashes are really expensive.

If your drivers care only about their own performance, you get Esteban Ocon who is best known for trying to unalive his own teammates and causing numerous crashes. Don’t believe me? Here’s a clip of Ocon straight up going after Gasly, his teammate.

This is why Lando Norris is so interesting.

Norris joined McLaren back in 2019 as a rookie and did exactly what everyone thought he’d do—he sucked. Well, not quite. Norris performed steadily mid-field the entire season and didn’t cause too many crashes. McLaren was also struggling to return to their glory days of dominating the grid and was in their restructuring phase. They needed a driver who would deliver.

Norris was young. McLaren didn’t have a fast car. Both wanted to win and were willing to work on it together.

Norris wasn’t spectacular on his first season, heck, he didn’t even win a race until 2023. But he was stable and he had talent. McLaren saw the potential and decided that they were going to grow an even better driver. Despite other mid-field teams switching out their drivers nearly every season, McLaren stuck to their guns and gave Norris a multi-year contract. Fast forward to 2024 and Norris has several podiums and is challenging Max Verstappen, the now three-times World Champion driver for Red Bull Racing, for the Driver’s Championship. McLaren might beat Red Bull for the Constructor’s Championship, something no one anticipated at the beginning of the season. It took five years, but they got here, and their shareholders and fans will be happy.

Now, imagine a different story where McLaren drops Norris in that first season for not securing podiums right away. Norris, being a rookie, would probably be out of F1 permanently having no other options available to him. In 2024, McLaren would be short an incredible driver and would probably be nowhere in the Constructor’s Championship. They invested in their driver and their driver delivered.

The relationship between drivers and their teams, and publishers and authors is quite similar. The team (publisher) gives the driver (author) a good vehicle (literal or for their book), and the driver (author) delivers results.

I think about the sort of money that gets allocated to drivers in F1 and compare that to publishing. F1 is known for being ruthless, but even in a cutthroat sport as it is, drivers are given multiple chances (and sometimes years) to demonstrate their skill (see Daniel Ricciardo). In publishing, immense pressure is placed on debuts to earn out, make lists, and win awards. If you don’t, there is no guarantee there will be a second book. Even as much pressure as the F1 drivers are under, their teams understand that an amazing driver can only do so much with a terrible car (see Mercedes season 2023 and how F1 GOAT Lewis Hamilton just couldn’t outdrive the disaster of a car he was given).

I think if Esteban Ocon can crash eight times in one season while on a murderous rampage against his teammate and still have a seat in 2025, we, authors, should be shown a little more grace if we’re not instant bestsellers.

Also, go watch that documentary. It’s gold!

Writing News

“Kill Switch”, a short story about autonomy, mental illness, and psychiatric violence is now out in Fusion Fragment! This story was difficult to write and I encourage everyone to heed the content warnings.

On a lighter note, my short story about luck and first love, “As Luck Would Have It” is out in Frivolous Comma! This is the cutest thing I’ve ever written. Enjoy!

I have also, somehow, against all odds, received the Canada Council for the Arts grant to write a young adult novel set on post-ecological collapse Vancouver Island! There will be so much trail running in this book, you have no idea.

In Dragonfly Gambit news, I’ll be at Word on the Street on September 29th at 1 p.m., to chat about the book and anything else writing-related. If you’re in the area, I’ll also be doing a signing after the interview!

Now that we’re rolling up to awards season, I am contractually obligated to remind you that Dragonfly will be eligible for many of the awards in the novella category! You can find it on the Nebula Reading List as well and, if you’re a SFWA member, on the forums!

And finally, if you want to see more of me! I’ll be doing all sorts of in-person and online events in the next few months! Check out my schedule below.

Phew!

Thanks for sticking around, folks! More to come in the next few months <3

Cheers!

p.s. seriously, go watch the F1 documentary!