A royal detour
Shift Happens #21 | Weekly pivots where motorsport collides with tech and culture.
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I’m Toni Cowan-Brown, a tech and F1 commentator and the Editor-At-Large at Esses Magazine. I’m a former tech executive who has spent the past six years on the floor of way too many F1, FE, and WEC team garages, learning about the business, politics, culture and technology of motorsports.
⏳ Reading time: 8minutes
Shift Happens, weekly pivots where motorsport collides with tech and culture. And a quick roundup of the headlines in and around motorsport, you should be aware of, as they explain the cultural shifts we are seeing in this space.
The last three weeks have been a messy blur. I started writing this newsletter when I got back from Europe, where I attended the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, the new GT3 Revival series race weekend at Paul Ricard, the first WEC race of the season in Imola and a Royal visit to Jaguar TCS Racing HQ, and then found myself running out of time. I was barely back in San Francisco for four days before getting on a plane to Miami for the fourth race of the 2026 F1 season - more on that next week. I’m finally finishing this newsletter while sitting at LAX, having attended (and spoken at) the inaugural Scalable Summit (more about that in a minute).
The [lead] lap
Here’s where my brain has been over the past few weeks. During the WEC season opener in Imola, I did a video about the potential overexposure of Formula 1 - it was watched 270k times, like almost 17k times and has over 700 comments, oh, and it prompted Patrick Dempsey to send me his thoughts on the topic. So it’s safe to say the topic struck a chord and kicked off many interesting debates. Eralier this year, Luke Smith at The Athletic had the same question I’ve been having for two years now - has the sport plateaued?
I was recording a podcast episode this morning with some incredibly smart people - Joe and Mallory, that would be you - who pointed out one incredibly important key factor that I hadn’t properly thought about until now. While Formula 1 seems to be saying yes (and I’m sure that’s not the case) to every deal that comes across their desk. From Hello Kitty, KitKat, Doritos, Gatorade, Raising Cane’s, to LVMH, Tommy Hilfiger and Boss. The Masters, on the other hand, seems to be all too happy to leave lots of money on the table
Augusta National has no title sponsor. No naming rights deal. No official fast food partner. There are no billboards around the course, no social media accounts, and for a long time, they didn’t even sell broadcast rights widely. Tickets are still called “badges” and are nearly impossible to get - some families have been on the waiting list for decades. None of that is accidental. It is a deliberate, almost aggressive act of restraint. And it makes the Masters feel genuinely unattainable, which is precisely what makes it matter.
The short-term calculus for F1 is understandable. Liberty Media took over a sport that was haemorrhaging relevance in key markets, and the commercial acceleration worked. But there’s a difference between growing an audience and diluting a brand, and those two things can happen simultaneously without anyone noticing until it’s too late. Scarcity, as Augusta has quietly proven for decades, is not a failure of ambition. It’s the entire strategy. I don’t have more to add right now, but I thought it was an interetsing parallel to draw in terms of short-term vs. long-term gains.
One big question I have for you all this week: what’s the best way to get a good picture and understanding of a sport’s health - its growth, fan sentiment, industry and sponsor interest, valuation of teams, number of sponsors… Should we be looking at broadcast figures, social media growth and engagement, money being spent in and around the sport… Let me know what you think in the comments below.
The [number] of the week
V8. Not technically a number as much as a unit, but it’s the ‘8’ that is of interest here. On Friday, one of the first things I was asked was - had I heard that V8s could be making a comeback to the sport? I’ve been talking quite a bit recently about the nostalgia economy, and this feels very much in line with this. I also think this ties neatly into why we are seeing the likes of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen racing in GT series and why we are seeing new series like GT3 Revival.
What very much started as paddock whispers later became a Miami headline: V8 engines are coming back to Formula 1. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem used the Miami Grand Prix weekend to confirm what many had been quietly hoping for - describing a V8 return as "a matter of time" and targeting either 2030 or 2031 as the timeline. The push isn't coming from nostalgia alone. A handful of drivers have been vocal in their frustration with the current hybrid power management. Ben Sulayem frames the case around three pillars: cost, weight, and purity, and on all three counts the argument is hard to refute. The current favourite concept is a 2.4-litre V8 turbo with a promise of the sound back. Although it is worth saying that this shift and these engines are not as simple as is currently being portrayed. A 2030 introduction would require agreement from a supermajority of four of the six power unit suppliers, which is far from guaranteed. But 2031? That one the FIA can do unilaterally, without a manufacturer vote. LINK
Three [stories] that need to be on your radar
Apple Music x Porsche. Tech giant Apple made a surprise appearance on the side of a pair of Porsche 963s last weekend, marking the latest step in Apple’s foray into sports partnerships and a remarkable full circle for the computer firm that last sponsored a Porsche 46 years ago. Apple Music logos appeared on the championship-leading Porsche Penske Motorsport cars competing in the third round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship in California on Saturday, a support event for IndyCar’s Long Beach Grand Prix. I have absolutely loved seeing Apple do more in motorsports, and I have a feeling they are just getting started.
Source | Porsche Newsroom F1 announces return of Turkish GP from 2027 on five-year deal. Turkey hosted its first F1 grand prix in 2005 and remained on the calendar through to the 2011 season before dropping off the full-time schedule. Turkey will be one of two fresh additions to next season’s F1 calendar, alongside the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimão, which was announced last December on a two-year deal.
HRH visited the FE Jaguar TCS Racing HQ, and I was asked to be a guest by Kensington Palace. This one call may remain for quite some time as the strangest calls I think I’ve ever taken. The very short version is I got an email and call from Kensington Palace asking if I would consider extending my Europe trip to attend a tour HRH Prince William would be attending at the Jaguar TCS Racing HQ. It was quite the opportunity, the experience and overall day. It was also a great reminder of just how fun it is to prep for a topic, attend an event, write up a script, film a video, edit it, get it approved by all stakeholders and publish it - all within an afternoon, by yourself and with a minimal toolkit.
One [video] worth your time
In Miami, I had the opportunity to have a chat with Lando Norris, one of the McLaren F1 Team drivers, and I was fascinated by his take on a few things - specifically the complexity of these cars and the memories he makes along the way in this sport.
One [event] that caught my eye
Anyone covering tech and entertainment should have the Bloomberg Sreentime conference on their radar. And now they should probably add the Scalable Summit to their event calendar. I had a blast learning from so many of the speakers and from my fellow panelists Rob Santini, VP, Global Influencer & Entertainment Marketing, NFL
and Geo Karapetyan, SVP, Global Platform Partnerships, NBCUniversal, on our panel entitled the New Sports Playbook. The event was anything but corporate, with all the right people in the right room and at the right time. The conversations and guests felt relevant and exciting.
And while we are at it, the Press Publish, LA event at the end of the month looks phenomenal for creatives and creators in the space.
[Bon goût] - for those with an acquired taste.
One F1 collection that caught my eye was the Nahmis x F1 collab and here’s why. This collection with Nhamias is exceptional and so fun and in many ways, very simple - and it’s exactly what we needed. It’s a beautiful nod to the history of F1 without feeling outdated. Keeping with this week’s theme, the nostalgia economy is real. But the smartest version of it isn’t looking backwards out of desperation, anger or longing - but looking forward w/ some degree of intention.
It’s been fun to watch F1 be so open with so many different collaboration opportunities from all walks of life - including the latest w/ Off Season brand founded by Emma Grede and Kristin Juszczyk. F1 highlights that this collection and collab is inspired by the traditional racing aesthetic, but also integrates contemporary with high-performance design that highlights Formula 1’s fashion-focused culture.
I think they’ve hit the nail on the head. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted an F1 apparel collab this much, or even ever.
What fascinates me about this era is how aggressively F1 is positioning itself as a lifestyle brand rather than just a sports league. The interesting question is whether that scale eventually creates the kind of cultural resilience the NFL or Premier League has, where the brand becomes broad enough to absorb almost any collaboration or expansion without losing relevance.