Why Silverstone Lego madness shows F1 drivers must ditch tradition and embrace the now

Formula 1 and its drivers have never had it so good, but a row that centred around unpaid media duties found focus with Sunday’s hugely entertaining Lego ‘race’, something that left the overwhelming stench that some drivers really need to lighten up a little.

We’ve heard this story a million times before – F1 drivers will do almost anything to limit the number of media activities they are contractually obliged to take part in. Driving is quite rightly the central focus of what they do, and anything else is a distraction.

Last year, as part of F1’s activation with Lego, each team was handed a custom-made Lego car, with both drivers in the car, although only one at the controls. The result was absolute carnage, and one of the best spectacles the championship has seen in a long time.

It was a move firmly away from the traditional, and towards entertainment. This is something that has been central since Liberty Media took control of the championship, with the paddock being opened up to social media influencers, endless celebrities, and with the drivers being put on display to the fans more than ever before.

As a result, attendance records are being constantly shattered, TV viewership is increasing steadily, and revenues are higher than ever. Two central pillars to this success – access, and fun.

So why then, were some of F1’s biggest names seemingly so against a re-run of the Lego ‘race’ at Silverstone this weekend, when the fan reaction was nothing short of overwhelmingly positive last time around?

Describing the antics as “not what Formula 1 needs,” Max Verstappen stated that he would “just do my lap and wave at the fans”.

“I think we should not look like kids and clowns trying to ram into each other,” he said, adding, “I prefer to stand on a truck, just with everyone together. I think that's more fun, and I think it also looks more professional.”

Of course, he is right. Standing on a truck does look more professional, and that is why that is the format for 90% of the races. But does a regular parade lap get the 7.5million views that the Miami lap has on YouTube?
 

Put simply, no. The last two races before Silverstone have pulled in hardly a fraction of that number, with 263k views for the Austrian ‘warm-up’, and 333k for the Barcelona equivalent.

Proving this is not simply a recent drop off, last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – the race before Miami – has 347k views, and the Imola build-up – the race after Miami – has 355k.

Collating figures on Sunday evening after the Silverstone weekend, the Lego lap has over 1.2m views.

But Verstappen was not alone in his views, with Lewis Hamilton also critical, suggesting that he would not take part in the lap, something that Ferrari quickly backtracked on while confirming his involvement.

But revisiting Max’s comments about staying out of the action and simply waving to the fans, take a look at the video below to see how that went.

True to form, the lap was absolute carnage, with various drivers finding themselves stuck in the Silverstone gravel after attempting an audacious short-cut in order to ‘win’. The race came down to a three-way battle between Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, and eventual ‘winner’ Fernando Alonso.

Enduring a tough year with Cadillac, Bottas enthused: “Yeah, that, that was the highlight of the weekend. So, I was quite proud of that.”

Arvid Lindblad added: “That was a lot of fun. I maybe a bit too much fun.”

And there were more positive noises even before the ‘race’, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli eager to engage in the fun. “That's going to be fun. I'm really looking forward to that. I think it's going to be absolutely carnage but that's the fun, that's the fun bit. Let’s see if they should let us let us drive.

“It's obviously 22 drivers, 22 good Lego Go-Karts, absolute carnage. I think it's going to be really good scenery for the coverage as well. I think it's going to be even better than Miami.”

But even after visibly enjoying his time on the track, Verstappen was one of the few drivers putting a downer on the fun.

“Well, I mean, I think, us drivers, we always get along well, whatever we do, so we’re always smiling and laughing,” he said. “But for me, like I said before, I prefer to just stand on the truck. We are racing drivers, we're Formula One drivers, we're not clowns.”

Now, I don’t want it to sound as though I am completely against tradition, I’m really not. Without tradition, F1 would not exist. Without tradition, Monaco would have been shafted from the calendar decades ago. Without tradition, grands prix would have been completely changed.

In most instances, especially around the sporting side of things, tradition must remain king. But on the peripheries, there is simply nothing to complain about with a little fun, or trying something new.

And for the record, this isn’t even a new concept, with Ayrton Senna, Nikki Lauda, Keke Rosberg et al racing in saloon cars previously. Senna won, and took it so seriously that he found out the cars they would be using in advance. But fun was central.

If I could send one message to the drivers complaining right now, it would be this. Everyone has things they don’t enjoy at work, but if driving Lego cars and having a laugh with your co-workers is that aspect, then you have a damned good job. Lighten up a little, and trust that we’ll back you 100% if the core traditions come under threat.

For those embracing the mayhem, you made us all smile, and we loved the passion!