Who Cares If the F1 Movie Is Inaccurate? It’s “Drive To Survive” At 18,000 RPM.
F1 is absolutely fantastic, in fact I’m rewatching it as I’m putting this article together.
Yes, you’ll spot the cracks if you’re a die-hard fan: Brands Hatch pretending to be somewhere else, the APXGP car actually a dressed-up F2 chassis (the steering wheel gives it away), and a 1990s driver improbably getting another shot at the grid.
Who cares?
Accuracy isn’t the point.
The Vaucher Analytics State of Motorsport 2025: IndyCar
Every motorsport season tells two stories.
There’s the one played out on the track: the wins, losses, and moments fans will remember for years.
And then there’s the one that unfolds behind the scenes, where commercial deals, political maneuvering, and long-term strategy shape the sport’s future.
The very fact that this article can be written in mid-August, with two races still left to run, is itself part of IndyCar’s problem: the season comes and goes in a flash, followed by a six-month void that leaves little space for new stories to develop or late-comers to find their way in.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg, but nevertheless the 2025 IndyCar season delivered plenty of on-track action, in keeping with what it’s known for as the place where open-wheel finesse mixes with just a hint of NASCAR chaos.
But the off-track story is where the series’ long-term fate will be decided.
The Demographic Blind Spot In the Fox Corporation-Penske Entertainment (IndyCar) Transaction
Though Fox Sports (a division of Fox Corporation) had made waves in 2024 by acquiring the broadcast rights to IndyCar from NBC Sports, this deal nevertheless made an even larger impact because it was a significant step further, with a media company actively taking a stake in a motorsport series.
IndyCar fans see this as a win: their broadcast partner is now financially invested in the heritage brand’s growth.
On the surface, they’re right.
Fans are correct to presume that Fox Corporation will bring even more of its expertise and funds to bear, but enthusiasm alone won’t fix the foundation.
Motorsport Merch Is Lazy, And It's Costing Teams Millions
Motorsport, from Formula 1 on down, is unabashedly capitalist, in its operations, its scope, and its sheer spectacle.
At every race, the money is on display in every second of coverage. The scale may vary, but only from “kind of expensive” to “ludicrously expensive.”
Merchandise sits comfortably within that ecosystem. It’s not just a revenue stream, it’s capitalism in pure form: the sublimation of self through consumption.
For fans looking for connection, merch is the perfect outlet: an easy, visible way to say this is who I ride with.
So if the emotional buy-in is this strong, the question becomes obvious:
Why are teams still neglecting that loyalty with lazy, uninspired merch?