Marcia

The Differences between Bias & Racism

The Differences between Bias & Racism

After the #BritishGP, I wrote a blog about bias and its impact on people’s view of the crash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. I got a lot of questions about bias in general, some questions about the race, and a few essays about why Lewis/Max was in the wrong. I’ve refrained from giving my opinion about the incident, but did mention that bias is never an excuse for racism.

The Dopamine Machine

The Dopamine Machine

People often ask me why company culture matters. For anyone asking me that after Sunday’s Formula 1 Hungarian GP, I have one simple answer: look at Williams.
The race was memorable for many reasons. From Valtteri bowling a McLaren/Red Bull/Ferrari strike, to everyone pitting for slicks except Lewis, who ended up alone on the grid at the restart. From him going from dead last to P3 after another phenomenal drive (pushing himself so hard that he ended up having to see the team doctor), to Fernando Alonso helping Esteban Ocon secure his first F1 win by holding off Lewis in a way that made us all think we went back in time 15 years.

Experience Bias

Experience Bias

I’ve thought for a while about what I wanted to write after Sunday’s British GP. I could write about Lewis winning his first race in a while, or about the crowds going absolutely bonkers for the new generation of British drivers (hello George Russell, hello Williams, it was GREAT to see you in Q3 again, that was an absolutely stunning drive!). I could also write about THE CRASH. But instead, I would like to write about bias.

Boring Race, Exciting Weekend

Boring Race, Exciting Weekend

The Formula 1 Austrian GP wasn’t as spectacular as we had hoped (admit it, we were all praying for a bit of rain!), but it was an exciting weekend nonetheless.
First things first: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. His victory was clinical, but we shouldn’t forget that this is the first time Max has had a real shot at the title, and he is leading the championship for the time in his career. The way he handles that enormous pressure is impressive. What a drive, what a mindset!

Stronger by Losing

Stronger by Losing

Well, people, we’ve got ourselves a championship battle! This weekend’s Formula 1 French GP was surprisingly exciting. No safety cars, no DNFs, not even a yellow flag, and yet most of us were on the edge of our seats. After a small mistake saw Max Verstappen lose P1 to Lewis Hamilton, Max managed to successfully undercut Lewis by pitting one lap earlier and putting in one hell of an outlap. But this is LH, so we all knew this fight was far from over. Under pressure from Lewis, Max pitted again, leaving him with 19 laps to make up 18 seconds. It was Max who crossed the finish line first this time, after a truly amazing drive, overtaking Lewis with only one lap to spare. This was a massive drive by Max, but Lewis managing to match Max’s lap times for quite a while on much older tyres was equally impressive.

2020 F1 season review – a blogging collaboration with Andrew Cohen-Wray, mental performance coach for the McLaren F1 team.

2020 F1 season review – a blogging collaboration with Andrew Cohen-Wray, mental performance coach for the McLaren F1 team.

The season that nearly wasn’t.
The season started on the 3rd of July in Austria. 71 laps around the Red Bull Ring would see the beginning of a season very different to what we’ve seen before and will hopefully ever see again. The season was due to kick off in Australia but as teams arrived and numerous mechanics tested positive for corona virus, the decision to cancel was made and a revised calendar was launched. With Covid-19 taking its grip around the world a huge change to not only the calendar but also the protocols was necessary to ensure the remaining races could go ahead as safely as possible.

F1 Drivers are Superheroes

F1 Drivers are Superheroes

Four years ago, Romain Grosjean would have been dead. Let that sink in for a minute. Romain Grosjean suffered what would have been a fatal accident during yesterday’s #F1 #BahrainGP, had it not been for the introduction of the HALO prior to F1’s 2018 season. And a little more than one hour later the drivers were back in their cars, reaching speeds upwards of 350 kph. All of them credited the HALO for saving Romain’s life. A few things stood out to me, from a resilience point of view.

Threat versus Challenge

Threat versus Challenge

An exciting Formula 1 Turkish GP yesterday!
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll magnificently snatched pole on Saturday, only to mess it up during the race. Of course his tyres graining almost straight out of pit lane didn’t help but he seemed to crack under pressure, ending up P9.
With 4 laps to go, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas said he wished it was less. Can’t say I blame him. With a total of at least 6 spins, being lapped by his teammate and a P14 result, maybe the prospect of Lewis snatching the championship (and becoming the most successful F1 driver in history) got the best of him on Sunday.

Resilience is Key

Resilience is Key

George Russell.
After working tirelessly for almost two years with Williams Racing, he was finally en route to points this weekend at the Imola GP. And then… He crashed. By himself. Behind the safety car.
He was clearly devastated, as were most Formula 1 fans watching, since pretty much everyone is rooting for him and Williams to fight their way back to the top. But research shows that, for people who operate from a growth mindset, being more upset after making a mistake actually leads to a superior performance the next time around. It has to do with the way the brain processes mistakes. Instead of focusing solely on the negative emotion associated with the mistake, the brain quickly shifts its focus towards feedback about how to improve.