A Masterclass on Sleek Aesthetics 🏎️

In the last email I told you about channeling Brad Pitt's swagger on my walk home from the F1 film.

If I may, I'd like to hype the film just a bit more. 🙊

It was EPIC, and I cannot stress this enough. It's just as epic as the whole sport.

Besides being an EPIC sport, maybe the best word to describe F1 is that it's sleek.

That's what I've always found magnetic about it.

I still don't know much about racing strategy, and I know even less about engines, but I can't help being attracted to the aesthetic of the sport.

I've watched a lot of F1 with my dad over the years.

Many Sundays have been spent glued to the couch as we wait for the next plot twist of whatever Grand Prix is at hand.

The soundscape of the sport is ingrained in me.

As for the sleekness of the sport, it mostly comes down to the sheer amount of smooth and shiny surfaces.

The cars are beautiful, aerodynamically optimized sculptures that gleam like liquid metal.

The drivers' helmets are polished to mirror perfection.

And the glossy texture of the cars is exhibited best in night races like Singapore.

In Finnish, we call the whole shenanigan formulasirkus—"formula circus."

And that's exactly what it is.

It's a perfectly coordinated, systemized, and choreographed circus where everybody has their place.

Everything is clocked to the thousandth of a second.

Every engine sound holds meaning.

Everything's a team effort that culminates in the driver's performance.

Yet, every moment is subject to human error—anything can happen despite the best efforts to control every variable.

The film captured this brilliantly—every frame felt authentic and impeccable.

But at the same time it looked like it could be a luxury brand advertisement. Which makes sense, because the whole thing does contain a huge amount of visibility for lots of sponsors.

Here comes the complicated side of the sport.

F1 is the ultimate collision of world-class engineering and shameless capitalism.

Every glossy surface screams premium.

Every detail whispers of millions invested in pursuing those extra fractions of a second.

This is why F1 can be viewed as a very meaningless sport too.

Twenty guys driving fast cars for a couple of hours while literally burning millions of dollars every moment.

The numbers in the bank accounts involved—teams, sponsors, top drivers—are astronomical.

Companies like LVMH slap their logos everywhere, hoping it translates to sales, while their actual product quality probably disappoints customers back home.

It doesn't make sense, does it?

The world would have bigger fish to fry with that money.

But aesthetically and emotionally?

It makes perfect sense.

It's a glorious spectacle.

When a driver and team succeed, it can be pure elegance.

My emotions often flood up when someone has driven extraordinarily well and deserves the win.

It's about witnessing peak human performance. A strange synergy between human and car.

The history of the sport is as legendary as it is controversial.

Nostalgia and tragedy inhabit every corner of the most famous tracks like Silverstone and Monaco.

There's a Finnish saying: "rahalla saa ja hevosella pääsee"—which roughly means: money speaks and a horse gets you places.

In F1, money speaks and harnessing horsepower the right way gets you on top of the podium.

What's your favorite F1 memory?

Bisous,

Elle

P.S. If you haven't seen the F1 film yet, go. Hearing the sound design in a cinema is worth it. Be ready to feel as cool as Brad Pitt after. Here's a fun behind the scenes interview where Pitt himself shares his candid enthusiasm for the sport and the quality of the film.