F1 Lets YouTuber Who Can’t Drive Learn from Formula 1 Drivers – Once associated with roaring engines and stoic drivers who would rather swallow gravel than crack a smile, Formula 1 has decided to embrace Gen Z culture. The latest instalment in its ongoing quest for youth relevance is a four-part YouTube series called Passenger Princess, starring Amelia Dimoldenberg, the queen of awkward silences and lukewarm flirting.
Produced by her company, Dimz Inc., the show promises to combine F1’s high-octane chaos with Amelia’s deadpan humour and self confessed inability to drive a car. Because nothing says “racing excellence” quite like being unable to parallel park.
Amelia Dimoldenberg: The Awkward Oracle of YouTube
Dimoldenberg, now 31, still looks perpetually unimpressed by everything and rose to fame with her series Chicken Shop Date. In it, she interviews celebrities over fried food; the format originated as a column for The Cut, but Amelia transformed the written awkwardness into visual art.
Her interviewees have included everyone from rappers to royalty, including Lando Norris in a March 2024 episode. Formula 1 naturally concluded that if she could survive a date with Norris, she could probably survive a high-speed spin with George Russell.
The premise of the show is that she learns to drive at 200 mph
‘Passenger Princess’ follows Amelia as she attempts to learn to drive under the tutelage of four F1 drivers: George Russell (Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Oliver Bearman (Haas) and Carlos Sainz (Williams).
Formula 1, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, calls it an ‘initiative to reach a young audience’. The rest of us might call it ‘proof that motorsport has officially run out of ideas’.
Amelia herself said, ‘Even though I can’t drive, I’m excited to finally put my co-driver and interviewing skills to good use.’ Translation: ‘Please pray for the gearbox.’
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Corporate Flattery in Overdrive
Formula 1 executives are, of course, positively glowing about this collaboration. Emily Prazer, the sport’s Chief Commercial Officer, said that ‘Passenger Princess’ combines Amelia’s wit with the excitement and drama of F1 perfectly. She also said that it would help F1 to reach its “rapidly growing young fan base”.
Ian Holmes, F1’s Chief Media Rights and Broadcasting Officer, went even further, describing Amelia as “one of the most distinctive and entertaining voices in popular culture today”.
A New Era in Content: Drive to Survive Meets Chicken Shop Date
F1’s obsession with content creation has gone from strategic to slightly desperate. After ‘Drive to Survive’ turned mediocre drivers into global sex symbols and made Netflix a safer investment than Haas’ tyre strategy, the sport has been grasping at anything vaguely resembling pop culture.
We’ve had ‘F1: The Movie”, endless TikToks of drivers pretending to know what the latest viral audio is, and now Passenger Princess. Filmed during the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, the series features Amelia asking George Russell, “Do you believe in love at first sight?” while the roar of engines presumably punctuated the scene.
It’s a logical next step, if F1 wants to appeal to people who think ‘downshifting’ is a skincare technique.
Rebranding the Grid: Influencers in the Paddock
Formula 1’s pivot towards influencer culture is both brilliant and tragic. On the one hand, it’s an acknowledgement that traditional motorsport media is as relevant to young audiences as fax machines. On the other hand, it’s a masterclass in controlled chaos.
In ‘Passenger Princess’, you won’t just get driving lessons, you’ll get content.
Expect Lando Norris-level banter, Piastri’s dry delivery, Bearman’s youthful confusion and Sainz politely wondering why he is now teaching a YouTuber how to use the clutch. F1’s “quality, originality, and global reach” now apparently includes watching a grown woman attempt a three-point turn while holding a microphone.
It might even make F1 look approachable, if you ignore the fact that each of the ‘driving instructors’ spends half the year travelling by private jet.
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A Subtle American Invasion
The series also represents another step in F1’s plan to conquer the United States — a country where turning left is a professional sport. ‘Passenger Princess’ joins the growing list of entertainment ventures designed to seduce the TikTok generation into watching qualifying sessions.
From Miami’s DJ booths to Las Vegas’ neon track disasters, Formula 1’s American dream has always been equal parts ambition and confusion. The hope seems to be that if lap times can’t convince new fans, maybe celebrity interviews and pastel lighting can.
Having previously charmed the red carpets at events such as the BRITs, the Golden Globes and the Barbie premiere, Amelia seems like the perfect ambassador for this new breed of Formula 1 content, which values ‘vibes’ over velocity.
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The Scripted Spontaneity of Motorsport
This is, of course, all part of Formula 1’s wider narrative makeover. Whereas the sport once relied on epic rivalries and tragic heroes, it now thrives on meme potential. McLaren may dominate every race right now, but it’s the off-track personalities that generate the most interest.
In that sense, ‘Passenger Princess’ isn’t just a show, it’s a metaphor. A YouTuber learning to drive under professional supervision is essentially the story of modern F1: glamorous, overproduced and constantly pretending to be spontaneous.
Expect scenes of Amelia gripping the wheel nervously while Carlos Sainz mutters ‘smooth operator’ under his breath for the thousandth time or George Russell explaining downforce in a way that sounds suspiciously like mansplaining. Meanwhile, the audience will be too busy pausing the show to create reaction GIFs.
A match made in marketing heaven!
Ultimately, the collaboration between Formula 1 and Dimz Inc. is the epitome of cynical genius. Amelia gets access to the sport’s glamorous chaos and F1 gets access to her millions of subscribers, who think that DRS is a skincare serum.
The title, ‘Passenger Princess’, is fitting because Formula 1 has indeed become a passenger in the vehicle of influencer culture, riding shotgun while YouTube drives the narrative.
The series promises laughter, awkward pauses and the occasional accidental burnout. While it may not revolutionise motorsport, it will certainly produce enough viral clips to fuel the algorithm until the next PR stunt.
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The jury’s verdict
Whether ‘Passenger Princess’ will become a cult hit or just another cautionary tale in the quest for corporate cool remains to be seen. But one thing’s certain: Formula 1’s PR department deserves an award for creativity.
They have managed to convince the world that putting a non-driver behind the wheel of an F1 car constitutes ‘content’. And, in today’s world, that might just be all that matters.
So, jury, what do you think? Has Formula 1 found its perfect influencer in Amelia Dimoldenberg, or is this just another pit stop on the road to absurdity?
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What ever happened to F1 why can’t drivers race without influencer’s they have enough to do without all the background noise!!!