This week's newsletter was written for Formula 1 fans... but everyone enjoys witnessing an unapologetic villain arc on the hero's journey, so get ready for your favorite issue of About Style.
Let's Chat About Famous Problems
In today's newsletter, we're inspired by Sir Lewis Hamilton's daring move to Scuderia Ferrari. For aspiring Formula 1 world champions, Lewis Hamilton is nothing short of a motherf*cking problem.
He's the most competitive and successful Formula 1 driver of all time, and during the 2025 season, he'll be on the hunt for a record-breaking 8th world championship title. At times, his domination feels unrelenting. Today, we seek insight into what it takes to survive and thrive as someone actively engaged in a competitive system that apparently rewards "nasty" behavior.
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After reading today's newsletter, I humbly recommend you schedule 30 minutes to watch "What Game Theory Reveals About Life, the Universe, and Everything" from Veratasium. Game theory is a theoretical framework (or way of thinking) that allows us to analyze social situations among competing players. In my opinion, the video perfectly summarizes how game theory helps us think about competition and the art of strategy.
Hamilton's Cultural and Economic Impact
Lewis Hamilton isn’t just a racecar driver.
He’s a global brand unto himself.
The first official photo of Hamilton for Scuderia Ferrari
(shown above) promptly became the most-liked F1-related image on Instagram, amassing over 5.6 million likes.
Lewis Hamilton is a British racecar driver who, in 2007, began his F1 career driving for McLaren. However, he's been racing, in one form or another, since he was 3 years of age. Over the years, thanks to his natural talents and practiced passions, "44" has built a fan base that extends well beyond the track. With 7 world championships, 105 1st place finishes, and 202 top-3 podiums, his career is a masterclass in ruthless domination.
His move from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013 was an early testament to his strategic thinking and tolerance for risk in search of greater success. Rather than drown in guilt or indecision about leaving the team where he began his career, Hamilton recognized the possibility for growth at Mercedes. Lewis could have shrunk himself to match expectations and shied away from confrontation, but he chose to pursue a path few others have walked before. Following his move, Lewis Hamilton matched Michael Schumacher’s once-unassailable record of seven world championship titles. Today, he has exceeded Schumacker's record for most 1st place victories by 14 wins.
Eat Pasta. Drive Fast.
It's pre-season 2025, and he's the winningest F1 driver of 778 drivers and 75 years of history. Those wins translate to tens of millions of dollars and virtually endless opportunities to promote his brand(s) on a global scale.
So, it’s not just the allure of Ferrari but the union of two powerhouse brands that makes Lewis' latest partnership a match made in heaven. It's the undeniable pull of Sir Lewis Hamilton, seven-time world champion and global influencer for major brands like Dior, with the legendary influence of historic Formula 1 team and prototype car manufacturer, Scuderia Ferrari.
The broad and international appeal Lewis has cultivated, coupled with the accomplishments he alone has achieved, makes him a celebrity on par with your favorite household names from sports and entertainment. In terms of fame, Hamilton is the Beyoncé or Lebron of F1.
By the end of this piece, you'll understand why ruthless domination doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing empathy or integrity.
It's no surprise that Hamilton is also admired for his work as a fashion designer, musician, entrepreneur, and human rights activist. In between race weekends, you could find him hosting the Met Gala, supporting the next generation of diverse drivers, rooting for Naomi Osaka at the Olympics, or advertising his non-alcoholic tequila, Almave.
Some journalists have criticized his aggressive methods and insistence on extracurricular activities. Against all odds, and in defiance of any criticism, Hamilton and Ferrari have ignited the imaginations of motorsport fans, fashion enthusiasts, and visionary entrepreneurs across the globe.
Following his highly-anticipated move to Ferrari — Formula 1’s most iconic and storied team — Hamilton’s personal brand has reached even greater heights
At 18 years and counting, he has the 5th longest career in the history of the sport. Considering the longevity of his career in F1, Hamilton has effectively demonstrated that the long game requires thoughtful cooperation more often than it requires selfish or retaliatory behavior. Furthermore, as the only Black driver in F1's storied history, he's a risk-taking trailblazer who's brilliantly illustrated what it takes to forge a new path in uncharted areas.
Such is Lewis Hamilton’s brand equity. Without being a pushover, he confidently rises above petty rivalry to secure high returns and a lasting legacy. On and off the circuit, he shows that an exceedingly grateful, clearly illustrated, and daring approach pays off in the long run. Turning to game theory helps us understand why this strategy is so incredibly effective.
Stuck Inside the Prisoner's Dilemma
Healthy rivalry often propels innovation in both business and personal growth.
The Natural Shift of Power
On more occasions than we prefer, our environment forces us to make a blind decision where the outcome is determined by the decision of a competitor. The Prisoner's Dilemma is a thought experiment involving two rational participants. Participants can either cooperate for mutual benefit (be "nice") or betray the other participant for individual gain (be "nasty").
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of prototype racing and a perfect example of "The Prisoner's Dilemma." Each week, drivers and mechanics for each team must adjust their cars in preparation for varying weather conditions at circuits around the world to outwit, and ideally, outperform blind competitors.
Let's look at another example: the current situation with generative AI companies DeepSeek and OpenAI. In the U.S. and beyond, our dependence on technology has made resources like internet access, social media, and enterprise-level SaaS platforms nearly indispensable. Companies like Google, NVidia, and Microsoft earn almost monopolistic profits thanks to the practically insurmountable barrier to entry for would-be competition.
Almost overnight, Open AI, an American tech company hoarding an internet's worth of stolen data on their hard drives, met their match after having no real competitor for two years.
What happens next is predominantly up to the consumer, but it may be too early to tell which company offers the most appealing benefits and reliable features. If you believe the 46th U.S. President's warning against the rise of tech oligarchs in the United States, competition in the technology sector could be good for us, but who's to say DeepSeek is the better gamble?
Don't Be Quick to Betray
As large companies approach monopolistic control over a product, they become lazy because R&D (research and development) is expensive. It costs resources (time, effort, money) to improve products and services; over time, companies experience diminishing returns on their investment (less and less rewards over time).
In pursuit of ever-increasing profit margins, companies with near-monopolistic control over a unique product will eventually attempt to implement the most efficient, lowest quality, yet effective process available to make production cheaper and deliver returns to shareholders. OpenAI cut corners during R&D by unethically collecting (read: stealing) copyrighted data gathered online. Somehow, DeepSeek built their model 20x cheaper.
The Prisoner's Dilemma (Game Theory Experiment)
Contrary to complete control, competition drives innovation. Imagine that Open AI and DeepSeek can either choose to compete or cooperate but will not know their competitor's choice until after they've decided themselves. According to The Prisoner's Dilemma, their choices are either to cooperate (risk 0 or 3 rewards) - OR - to compete (risk 1 or 5 rewards).
As the lone provider of a unique product, OpenAI's objective was to maintain dominance, not innovate. Their originally held position toward advancing Gen AI quickly was akin to, "Why buy the cow (spend more than required) when the milk is free (consumer is satisfied)?" Before the appearance of competitors, yielding to customer demand was less critical.
Now, OpenAI must evolve or contend with churn to DeepSeek.
At this moment, economic power lies in the hands of consumers, who are tasked with determining which entity to support. To survive, tech giants will compete on the delivery of amenable prices and features to impress you, become indispensable to your routine, and ultimately win your long-term loyalty by providing (what is likely) a hastily conceived short-term reward.
Do you choose cold American tech oligarchs with nearly monopolistic profit margins or convenient Chinese firms with a legal and moral obligation to feed your data to their government? It's a losing proposition in many ways.
What do you do when you can’t reliably predict the actions of people around you?
If a person or company is rational, risk-averse, and short-sighted, they'll choose to gamble in competition to avoid loss. But what if you must repeatedly compete with known competitors over an extended period?
Competition over a sustained period presents a new problem for familiar participants. Next time, your competitor remembers how you've treated them and adjusts. Looking at competition in the U.S., Gen AI companies must carefully weigh threats and opportunities before making their move.
Go'on 'head and Crash Out
The truth is, there isn't a "perfect" strategy for engaging with others in a competitive environment because the height of your success partially depends on the cooperativeness of those in your environment. You can’t escape the reality of competition or repeated exposure to strategies that aren't compatible with your own, but you can still come out on top.
Hamilton's gift of heightened spatial awareness, coupled with his confident and responsive nature, makes him a difficult man to overtake while driving. Moreover, his kind nature and multi-passionate career spanning sports, fashion design, and entrepreneurship have helped him reach the pinnacle of success even with the presence of adversity and nasty competitors.
The Blueprint
Regardless of your environment, there are consistent behaviors among the most successful participants in competitive simulations. They're kind, clear, and forgiving, yet provocable. In essence, they live out a pragmatic version of the “eye for an eye” philosophy, which contradicts many popular assumptions but proves remarkably effective under real-world conditions.
If you’ve ever seen my office in a photo or video, you may have noticed a sticky note that reads: “Generous Tit for Tat using 80/20 estimation.” It's pretty much the cornerstone of my relationship management philosophy.
- Be clear in your intentions because it builds trust and deters undesirable behavior from others.
- Be retaliatory when provoked because it makes you harder to exploit, but remain forgiving enough to restore cooperation after mistakes.
- Choose to forgive people approximately 10% - 20% of the time to account for misunderstandings and errors in judgment.
- Choose to be nice (cooperative) rather than nasty (premature betrayal) because the ROI is better over repeated cycles.
Forget Being Rational. Win.
When you feel unsure about your next move, remember that over the course of many interactions, the best strategy is nice, clear, retaliatory, and forgiving behavior rather than prioritizing exciting but brief, fleeting wins.
If you’re stuck in a "Prisoner’s Dilemma" with no end in sight, the smartest move is to show generosity while remaining ready to respond promptly if provoked. That is to say, don't preemptively attack people in pursuit of personal gain under the assumption you won't run into them again.
Be a (Kind) Menace
In conclusion, the type of objective "good" we typically associate with unconditional love and turning the other cheek is probably a conspiracy spread by nasty competitors who know unreactive pushovers are the easiest people to take advantage of. No matter what, don't be a pushover.
- Sometimes, you have to give people a taste of their own medicine to remind them of the necessity of cooperation (or at least mutual respect).
- Sometimes, you've got to channel your inner Kendrick Lamar:
“F*ck being rational, give them what they’re asking for.”
Remember that repeat interactions require a more nuanced strategy. What's commonly accepted as rational isn't always smart.
That's why I'm thrilled by Sir Lewis Hamilton's choice to align with Scuderia Ferrari. His partnership with Mercedes was the most successful in Formula 1's 75-year history, but it was fizzling out. In an effort to win his 8th world championship title, Hamilton strategically channeled his dark side.
Thank You for Reading!
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