Formula 1 and the Legal Profession
Sergio “Checo” Perez is a Formula 1 race car driver, who races for the Red Bull team. In the two 2023 F1 races prior to the Melbourne Grand Prix, just before Easter, Checo placed second and first. At the Melbourne Grand Prix, he started at the very back of the 20 cars in the race. A qualifying session is held the day before the race to determine each driver’s start position for the race itself. The driver that drives the fastest lap in qualifying starts at the front and the slowest starts at the back. Checo crashed out in Q1 due to problems with his Red Bull car and was, well and truly, at the back.
I know this in some detail because I had the pleasure of being at the Melbourne Grand Prix with my awesome son, Josh. [There you go Josh; you made it into a blog!] Josh turned 21 last year and loves Formula 1. When told he could think of something significant for a 21st birthday present, he said he would love to go the Formula 1 in Melbourne – with me! I love travel and great family experiences, so I was extremely happy with this idea.
Before booking our trip, I had not watched the Drive to Survive Netflix series that grew the F1 support base to a much wider audience. I had watched a few F1 races well before Drive to Survive (and Netflix) was on our screens. Anyone who knows my Red Bull habit (I usually have one small can of Red Bull zero a day) will not be surprised to know I decided to support the Red Bull F1 Team. Hence my interest in Checo’s starting position. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact he is a likeable, good looking guy!
What struck me about Checo’s starting position was that the preparation for the race had been critical. And not his preparation, but the preparation by the mechanics on the car. Red Bull has the fastest cars this season. Everyone in the sport agrees. Checo is a great driver. It was universally accepted that he would have started much nearer first than last on the grid, if the car had not had problems locking up around corners, which caused him to crash out during qualifying. The starting position was completely determined by the reliability of the car.
That got me thinking about similarities between the legal profession and F1 racing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they are in the same league. The millions that must have been made from the F1 merchandise flying off the shelves over the weekend illustrated the stratosphere in which F1 exists.
But there are some similarities.
1. As already said, quality preparation is critical to a quality outcome in both. It was critical to Checo’s starting position, which heavily influenced his finishing position. Some of the litigators amongst us have seen the principal lawyer leading a team in court that actually seems to know less about the case then the junior(s) sitting next to him or her. However, even then the preparation has been done by someone who can provide the reference or the answer if required. Proper preparation is essential to doing the best job for our clients, whether it be providing the best advice on a transaction, documenting it accurately, knowing the settlement point for a dispute or representing a client properly in Court.
2. For those interested in F1, there are many ways to participate in the sport. The drivers and the team principal have the biggest profiles but a Formula 1 team includes mechanics, trainers, marketing, communications and logistics personnel and track teams, who set up and take down the show at each event, to name a few. A F1 team can have up to 1200 people in it. From our seat opposite the pits, Josh and I had a pretty good view of the large numbers of people in each team’s pit on race day. And this was just a fraction of the overall team. As I said in last month’s blog, I think there are many different ways to be a lawyer in the legal profession. There are also a number of non-lawyer participants in the legal profession; one of the most common being the many administrative assistants whose organizational skills are invaluable to many lawyers without the same skills.
3. The whole team matters. As one of the pit reporters said in the lead up to the race in Melbourne: “Every cog, every nut and bolt in the machine in important.” There are many teams in the profession - a team put together for a particular piece of work, a team within a firm, a small firm that operates as one team. Imagine what our profession would be like if all teams operated with integrity, members were truly valued and team leaders properly recognised the part every member played. A shout out to the teams and team leaders that do operate on this basis. The spotlight is currently (finally) on occasions when younger or junior lawyers have suffered from team leaders behaving appallingly. It’s not only unforgiveable harassment and lack of support in the face of such harassment, but things like poor management leading to young lawyers having to work late in the night only because a supervisor is too disorganized to issue reasonable instructions early in the day. All team members are important and no one individual should be prized above any other member of the team.
4. In any field where there is competition for work or a particular position, the top positions can be occupied by those with the most competitiveness, confidence and ambition, which can translate to the arrogant. Many F1 fans accuse the current leading driver Max Verstappen of being arrogant and egotistical. Exhibit 1 is usually Verstappen’s refusal to follow team orders to let his teammate pass in the Brazil Grand Prix last year, which cost his teammate second position in the drivers’ championship and the team having drivers at first and second. Verstappen himself had already secured first position in the championship. Unfortunately, some leadership positions in law have been occupied by the arrogant, which increases the risk that all team members are not properly valued. One of the answers to changing this is to truly value the culture of workplaces, to stamp out unconscious bias and to encourage diversity. When there is real focus on good workplace culture, and a range of genders, cultures and personality types across all levels of the profession, attitudes of superiority and self-importance do not thrive. I hope the current focus on this does lead to real change.
5. I have no experience of it, but I imagine being a part of a F1 team is exciting, challenging and rewarding. Although with a level of excitement on a much lower scale, I am very grateful for the intellectual challenges and stimulation that law has provided me throughout my career. It is one of the least repetitive and therefore most interesting jobs I know. In litigation, each client is unique with unique issues and goals. I am also very grateful for the immensely supportive colleagues I have known in the profession. Some have been part of professional legal teams. Some have remained part of my own personal friendship and support team over time. I acknowledge this has not been everyone’s experience but it has been mine.
A Grand Prix was not on my bucket list but I absolutely loved the experience. It definitely exceeded my expectations. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone contemplating the trip across the Tasman or to any of the more exotic locations for the currently 23-race season.
The Melbourne Grand Prix 2023 race set some records. It has been described by many reporters as chaotic. A number of crashes meant eight out of the 20 drivers did not finish the race, which created a fantastic spectacle for the fans. And what was pleasing to me was that as a result of the crashes and Checo’s overtaking throughout the race, although he started last, Checo finished fifth and was named driver of the race!