Why we need to talk about social media in F1

Perhaps it’s just the years adding up, but one particular thing really got me going on social media a few weeks back: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc playing some sort of game (perhaps there’s a name for it, but I don’t even want to ask AI what it is) where you have to catch ping-pong balls with chopsticks. They throw balls at each other, they try to catch them, they fail, they laugh.

Just something you’d expect to see while scrolling, right?

I guess it got a lot of likes – and probably impressions too – so Ferrari’s marketing department could report increased engagement numbers. Eyeballs, I think it’s called – on a minute-long video (I didn’t double-check, but it should be around that) with sponsor logos visible. That’s how it works, right? But was it just me who felt irritated seeing a 41-year-old seven-time F1 world champion trying to catch ping-pong balls with chopsticks?

I’m about the same age as Hamilton, actually, and perhaps I’m looking at it from the wrong perspective. But for me, falling in love with the world of motorsport – and Formula 1 in particular – was closely tied to the aura of these gladiators driving incredible machines. Perhaps we’re far removed from the era when every time drivers started a race they knew there was a chance they might die – and that’s a good thing – but aren’t we stretching it a bit too far by making them look like kids?

It could be that fortysomething-year-olds like me and Hamilton aren’t the target audience anymore, but I’d argue I don’t really feel that way. I am – like Lewis, if you believe what he says – someone who doesn’t really mind the ‘yo-yo’ racing, and even finds it more entertaining than races where there’s just one ‘yo’, or nothing more than a hyphen. But this social media obsession with trying to make drivers look like teenagers still puzzles me. 

Is it WINblad or linBAD? Arvid puts viral TikTok hacks to the test on Racing Bulls’ YouTube channel

Photo by: Visa Cash App RB

And yes, dear people at Ferrari, if you read this, it’s not a dig at you – there’s plenty of that kind of content from other teams too. Two years ago, McLaren had its drivers playing hide-and-seek in the Miami paddock – which turned into a seven-minute (yes, this time I did check) YouTube video and plenty of clips for other platforms. The same two drivers who would go on to fight each other in a title battle.

And there’s plenty more like that. Team-mates trying to beat each other at rolling up toilet paper rolls was there, too. And if you look at what Racing Bulls is doing on social media – ‘our drivers having fun doing silly things’ is essentially the core of their content strategy. Which, in their case – as a junior team – perhaps has some merit. But aren’t we getting too far away from the hero image drivers used to have?

And what about merging team-mates’ names? All the ‘Carlandos’ of this strange world. Why on earth do all drivers sharing a garage in F1 have to be portrayed as friends – despite the fact that, in most cases, they are each other’s biggest rivals? I’m sure that if one day George Russell and Max Verstappen end up sharing a garage, we’ll see some creative individual come up with something like ‘Verstassell’ or ‘Georax’. 

Why on earth do all drivers sharing a garage in F1 have to be portrayed as friends – despite the fact that, in most cases, they are each other’s biggest rivals?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying they should go out and film themselves throwing chilli sauce into each other’s food instead of catching ping-pong balls with chopsticks. But a sport that built its history on great rivalries seems too obsessed with being polished and light-hearted. Sorry, I just struggle to imagine Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost playing hide-and-seek for the sake of looking like buddies on social media.

And when the current engine formula prompts comparisons with Mario Kart (amusingly, something F1 itself has pushed via its own channels), perhaps it could lead to a complete shift in how we perceive drivers – from gladiators just a few decades ago to a bunch of college kids.

Perhaps I’ll just borrow a quote from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to finish it off… 

Honestly, what are we doing here? Racing or ping-pong?

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the June 2026 issue and subscribe today. 

Williams team-mates Albon and Sainz got to play proper ping-pong in Shanghai rather than having to wield chopsticks

Photo by: Wan Mikhail Roslan / NurPhoto via Getty Images