New F1 season. New regulations. New engines.
And the cars are slower on the straights.
Not a little slower. 50-70 kph slower. The drivers are literally lifting off the throttle on the main straight because the hybrid system can't keep up. They call it "lift and coast."
Lift. And. Coast.
In Formula 1. The fastest motorsport on earth. The cars that are supposed to be the absolute pinnacle of engineering and speed.
And they're coasting.
Because somebody in a boardroom decided F1 needed to go green. Sustainable fuels. Bigger batteries. Saving the planet one neutered race car at a time.
They took the thing that made F1 what it is — raw, stupid, terrifying speed — and strangled it to impress people who were never going to watch a race anyway.
And here's where my brain goes:
That's exactly what career coaches do to candidates.
They take someone interesting — someone with real stories, real opinions, real personality — and sand off every edge. Make it safe. Make it palatable. Make it "professional."
Lift and coast.
"What's your greatest weakness?" → "I care too much."
That's a 300 kph car doing 230 on a straight. You can see the potential. But someone told them to back off.
Don't lift and coast through your interviews. The hiring manager has been listening to neutered answers all day. What they want — what makes them actually look up from their notes — is full throttle. A real answer. A real story. Something with speed.
There's a chapter in 10,000 Interviews about why the safe answer is the one that kills you — and what to say instead when your brain screams "back off."
Chapter 4. Page 26. It starts with a phone call I made from a car in California that changed my entire life.
https://unfaircareers.com/10000-interviews/
Kyle Mau