I think part of why people like Formula 1 is the ostentation. The series seems centered around Monaco. That’s ostentatious.
There’s a refreshing honesty to this. Many sports are big-money sports, and auto-racing is, by nature, even more exclusive than the rest. You might not be able to afford elite quarterback camps if you’re a kid who likes football, but there are paths outside those camps. You might not be able to play AAU ball as a kid who likes basketball, but there are paths outside those circuits. In auto-racing, though, if you can’t shell out thousands upon thousands of dollars, at the very least, to get started, you’re probably not making it, and if you are, someone else is going to be shelling out thousands upon thousands of dollars on your behalf. This is a growing divide within NASCAR—the drivers are rich kids, the fans were often not, and in that the series is getting away from its ethos, mythical or factual or in between. In Formula 1, there’s no secret. They’re rich. They’re filthy rich. They’re rich enough to shut down the streets of Monaco to drive their expensive, high-tech racecars around them for a weekend.
Obviously, I feel awful for Lando Norris. Mugging is traumatic, and I hope he’s ok. I can’t imagine the terror of his experience this weekend, which you can read about here, and my attempts at imagining make me feel queasy at best. There are certain corners of our world in which we treat the outrageously wealthy as immune to trauma and hardship and difficulty, and we don’t grant them their inherent humanity. That’s a bad aspect of those corners. Lando Norris is a human. Something terrible happened to him. I hope that he’s ok.
With that said, though, what an F1 story. It’s like a Batman script. A seventy-thousand-dollar watch that’s worth less than 20% of his most expensive watch. A wristwatch worth a year of tuition at one of America’s best colleges. A wristwatch worth more than the median American household income. A wristwatch worth less than a fifth of his most expensive one. Ostentation.
It also highlights something unique to Lando Norris, who at least in my comfortable American circles seems to be the crowd favorite among those of us familiar with Formula 1. Part of his appeal seems to be his talent, but a lot of it is that he’s somehow a bit of an underdog, not racing for Mercedes or Red Bull right now, and a lot of it is how personable he is, and in a more relatable way than a suave way. He’s a rich kid driving racecars, but he’s drawing some support for things like loving milk and not driving for the teams with the best resources. And this, in turn, brings us back to the ostentation of Formula 1. The man with the six-figure watch is, among those in the sport, relatively relatable.
Wild.
Danny Ric wasn’t mugged this weekend. Just saying…
I won’t quibble in the slightest with your “Lando is a rich kid” statement here. It’s an observable fact. His dad is a successful investor and his presence in F1 is inextricably linked to his family’s wealth.
I will, however, note that there is a strong likelihood that the watch wasn’t even “his.” Richard Mille is a McLaren sponsor, and Lando is contractually obligated to be wearing an RM watch at pretty much all times during an F1 weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if such obligations extend to events in which he is likely to be photographed or appear on social media (e.g., Wembley Stadium for the European Championship). And I wouldn’t be surprised if the watch is merely lent to Lando for such purposes.
I make this point because Lando is, in fact, a person of relatively modest taste and sensibilities. He doesn’t hobnob with celebrities (see: Lewis Hamilton) or jet set around the globe on his off weekends (see: just about every F1 driver) or date pop stars (see: Lewis Hamilton again). He wears hoodies and plays video games and drinks milk.
LEAVE LANDO ALONE HE IS A PERFECT ANGEL
I hadn’t thought of that possibility! Fair point.