Week 5 | 6.1.25

June is here, but I am inside with a cold watching TV. Let’s discuss.

» F1: The Academy (Netflix)

• In the wake of Drive to Survive’s massive success Netflix just launched a new tv show (in partnership with Reese Witherspoon’s production company) following the second season of F1 Academy. F1 Academy is an all-women junior series, racing as a support series to F1. It’s the rough equivalent of an F4 series, with the goal to launch women drivers into F3 and beyond. While there have been all-women formula series before, this has had a few notable boosts in visibility, including having all the F1 teams lend their livery and support to one car & driver on the grid.

• I’ve been watching F1 Academy since its launch two years ago and was exited to get to go deeper behind the scenes with this new Netflix show. However just like the racing series itself, the show has had a lot of pros and cons - including a major branding one.

• F1 Academy is unlike other all-women sporting leagues in that it is not an equivalent level to the highest men’s competition. In other words, where a series like the WNBA is the top of women’s professional basketball, this is not the case for F1 Academy. There are no regulations preventing women from racing in F1 and a few women (including F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff) have gotten very close. However when you announce an all-women series, with cars sponsored by all the F1 teams a lot of assumptions come that the women racing will be at the level of F1 drivers. They’re not - and they’re not supposed to be. But I think this misalignment of expectations has always been a central issue to the racing series and now to the show.

• In scrolling through reactions and TikTok comments I was seeing a lot of the same positives I felt - getting to learn more about the series and the drivers themselves, but also a lot of frustration that the girls weren’t “good.” In some ways this is fair - they are junior drivers, some being very new to the entire style of open wheel racing. The cars are smaller, the girls are (generally) younger, and they aren’t expected to be at a F1 racing level. So, knowing that how do you manage to promote the image of women getting into motorsports and also not put intense pressure and scrutiny on the girls in a way that other drivers (mostly men) racing in F4 series don’t experience.

• I don’t have a good answer for this, but I don’t think either F1 Academy or this Netflix show have a good answer either and it’s something they need to be thinking about as they consider their responsibilities to the women they promote.

• Overall I would recommend the Netflix series - especially if you were a fan of Drive to Survive or have an interest in women in sports. Some general pros and cons for the show:

• Pros:

  • Understanding the stakes of the series better - it was great to see Abbi Pulling’s journey from last season to winning the series when that was the only way she would be able to continue racing.

  • Getting to know the drivers and their backstories! This was also what I really liked about the first couple seasons of DTS, which they have largely dropped now.

  • Seeing the huge wealth and privilege disparity between the families of the different drivers and the series highlighting more than DTS how much money allows someone to drive (way more than pure talent).

• Cons:

  • The horrid music. The music supervisor needs to be fired. The royalty-free Love Island-ish soundtrack made many moments feel like a joke or a cheap ad instead of being serious about the sport.

  • It only highlighted about half the grid. I was glad to check in on the same drivers throughout the season, but it did feel unfair to the girls who were barely shown (unless they asked for that).

  • Does this just put more pressure on the girls competing and what structure do you need in place to help the with that. One of the drivers most heavily featured in this series was Bianca Bustamante who had been racing for Mclaren last season. There were high expectations of her and a lot of hype built up - not least because of her position as the first women in Mclaren’s driver development program. During the show we see her seriously struggle with balancing driving and her social media presence to be able to pay for her driving. I think F1 Academy is a great step towards helping more women get higher in Formula series without coming from uber wealthy families, but unless you win the series, what it’s basically gifting you is a social media presence that it’s then on you to develop and maintain to pay for your career. This is not to say that there aren’t men facing this same situation - just that I have to imagine we can do better to even the field of this sport without relying on a young driver’s instagram presence.

• » Some thoughts on other TV shows:

  • I just finished “Sirens” also on Netflix - a limited series following two sisters and a maybe cult leader on an island that isn’t technically Nantucket but is also absolutely Nantucket. The performances by Meghann Fahey and Milly Alcock (playing the sisters), and Julianne Moore (playing the wealthy maybe cult leader) really carry this show and make it worth an early summer weekend binge.

  • Overall it feels like a mix between an Elin Hilderbrand and Liane Moriarty novel, with an extra splash of the possibly paranormal. This show easily could have been another Nicole Kidman project, and I’m glad we got Julianne Moore and her real hair instead.

  • My absolute favorite network show “Will Trent” (ABC streaming on Hulu) just wrapped up its 3rd season and I truly cannot recommend this enough to people like me craving a good weekly procedural. It does get kind of dark at times and definitely wrestles with some pretty serious topics including childhood abuse of all types, but I love the characters, tone and consistently engaging mysteries.

  • I would recommend this series in particular to people who enjoyed something like “Elementary” years ago. Will is definitely not Sherlock, but the classic detective flavor is there, as is the team of slightly misfit investigators whose bonds grow over the seasons. While this show does center some romantic relationships, it also really prioritizes the platonic partnerships and friendships between characters in a way that only the best procedurals do. I’m sure this show does have viewership somewhere (it’s gotten 3 seasons after all) but I really need it to keep getting renewed so please watch it.

• » Question of the week: What’s the best thing you’ve watched or are watching on tv right now?