Nostalgic for something less corporate and fabricated
Shift Happens #16 | Weekly pivots where motorsport collides with tech and culture.
Thank you for being here. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Idée Fixe, the newsletter for curious minds. I’m Toni Cowan-Brown, a tech and F1 commentator. I’m a former tech executive who has spent the past five years on the floor of way too many F1, FE, and WEC team garages, learning about the business, politics, and technology of motorsports.
⏳ Reading time: 4minutes
Shift Happens, weekly pivots where motorsport collides with tech and culture. A quick roundup of the headlines in and around motorsport you should be aware of. The great thing about the internet is that we have access to almost everything. But that’s also the issue. I hope you enjoy this new curated format.
The lead lap
When the 2026 Formula 1 season gets underway in Melbourne on March 8th - International Women’s Day - Turn 6 at Albert Park will carry a name that has never appeared on an F1 circuit before. Under the “In Her Corner” initiative, a partnership between Engineers Australia and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, the corner will be dedicated to Hannah Schmitz, Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull Racing, and Laura Mueller, Race Engineer at Haas. They are set to become the first women to have an F1 circuit corner named after them, a distinction that, in a sport with over 70 years of history, speaks volumes about how long this recognition has been absent.
Mueller made history as the first full-time female race engineer in F1 history when she took on the role at the start of the 2025 season, while Schmitz, who began at Red Bull in 2009, is one of only 11 women ever to have stood on an F1 podium to accept the constructors’ trophy. Because sadly this still needs to be said, these are not token appointments - they are two of the sharpest minds in the paddock, finally getting the kind of recognition their male counterparts have long taken for granted. And that alone slaps the biggest smile on my face.
But this moment of celebration arrived in the same week as a stark reminder of where we still are. When the United States women’s ice hockey team won Olympic gold, President Trump called the men’s team - who also won - and invited them to the White House, then casually added that he supposed they’d have to invite the women too. Not a separate call. Not equal fanfare. An afterthought, tacked onto the end of a celebration that wasn’t really about them. The contrast is almost too on-the-nose: in one corner of the sporting world, two women are having their names etched into a racing circuit; in another, a gold medal-winning women’s team is being treated like an obligation.
This is the tension that defines this moment in women’s sport. The symbolic gestures are getting better, and “In Her Corner” is genuinely meaningful. The initiative’s guiding principle, “if you can see it, you can be it,” reflects something real: visibility matters, role models matter, and naming a corner after a strategist and an engineer rather than a driver is itself a quiet act of redefinition. But symbolism only carries weight when it’s backed by structural change. Women remain drastically underrepresented in F1 leadership, in coaching and management roles across elite sport, and in the pay structures and broadcast investment that signal what an institution truly values. A corner renamed is a start. Equal treatment, equal pay, and equal respect - not as a concession but as a baseline - is the destination. Until that gap closes, every celebration like “In Her Corner” deserves both our applause and our continued pressure.
The number of the week
30 years after winning the 1996 Formula 1 world championship with the team, Damon Hill has rejoined the Williams F1 team as an official ambassador. This is a similar role that Jenson Button had before he moved over to the Aston Martin F1 team this year. Hill will be fulfilling this duty alongside three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick.
Three stories that need to be on your radar
Gentle Monster Circuit Collection Disney x Formula 1. Here’s a sentence I never thought I would be saying, then again, F1 has been keeping us on our toes and full of surprises recently. Looks like the popular sunglasses brand - Gentle Monster - just teased a potential collab with Disney and F1. Gentle Monster is a South Korean luxury glasses brand which has become very famous for its elaborate and incredibly Instagrammable brick-and-mortar shops.
F1 launched its 2026 teaser this week, and just like the official picture, it missed the mark for me this time. Again, I can see the concept and the idea, but the execution feels so fabricated and corporate. In other words, it feels like they wanted to do something edgier but played it too safe. Does anyone remember when, twelve years ago, George The Poet was invited by F1 and asked to write a poem about the Monaco GP - the lifestyle, the race, the culture, the politics? I’ve added the video just below. Bring back those moments, please.
Disney just did something no other streaming platform has done yet, but certainly should. Just like the NBA understood that highlights were the more affordable form of marketing so why would they ban fans from making highlight reels on social, Disney has understood that Gen Z and Gen Alfa are discovering music, books and movies through short-form snippets on TikTok. So to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the movie High School Musical, Disney released the full 2006 movie in 52 parts, alongside nostalgic content featuring iconic scenes. Now you may think this is strange, but as Sam highlights correctly, all it takes is one look at the comment section to understand that the reason why this is so popular is that it creates a social and engaging experience. We saw this most recently with the success of Heather Rivalry; this is how fandoms are built and grow - at scale - and with it, the movie, the music, the show or the sport they are discussing and sharing.
One video worth your time
One [event] that caught my eye
I’m beyond thrilled that I’ll be going to the Australian GP with Esses next week (well, that’s if they validate my visa in time). It’s my first time attending this GP specifically, and I’ve never attended a season opener, so it’s safe to say I’m pretty excited. I’ve heard McLaren and Audi are doing a lot, and so is the Australian GP, as ever, and specifically around International Women’s Day.