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Formula 1<\/a>\u2018s new overtake and boost modes did produce some pretty captivating fights for position<\/a> during last weekend\u2019s Australian Grand Prix\u2014particularly at the head of the pack and start of the race, between George Russell and Charles Leclerc. (You know, before Ferrari threw that race away.) Still, multiple drivers seem to share the sentiment that the new power deployment options available to them give the racing a more video-game feel, and Ferrari decided to seize the moment with what I can only describe as a genius social media play.<\/p>\n In a short video<\/a>, we see Leclerc insert his steering wheel, and right after a screen that the Scuderia\u2019s folks made sure to obscure from prying eyes, Monaco\u2019s favorite son presses a button with an icon that resembles Mario Kart\u2019s mushrooms. Voil\u00e0\u2014an image of Mario Kart 64 appears on the wheel\u2019s display.<\/p>\n I say \u201cimage\u201d because the game is not actually running. The display is static, and while I\u2019m sure there is probably a way to hack an F1 car\u2019s steering wheel until it runs a lightweight Nintendo 64 emulator, I think Leclerc\u2019s crew probably has better things to do. Tossing a screenshot of Luigi Raceway onto the gizmo, with Mario mid-boost, is probably an easier lift.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is like a mushroom in Mario Kart.\u201d \ud83d\udc40\ud83c\udf44 Now we know why\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/kz0QAAJlsi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March If you missed where this all started, Leclerc said<\/a>, \u201cThis is like a mushroom in Mario Kart\u201d during last Sunday\u2019s race, referring to the new boost and overtake features that give F1 cars extra power at the driver\u2019s discretion. That echoed similar sentiments\u2014though perhaps a bit more critically phrased\u2014from fellow racers. Like Sergio Perez, who said ahead of this weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix that he \u201cfound it very fake, to be honest.\u201d Or Max Verstappen, who confessed to ditching his rig despite his well-documented love of sim racing:<\/p>\n \u201cI found a cheaper solution, I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch,\u201d Verstappen told media, according to ESPN<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m practicing with Mario Kart, actually. Finding the mushrooms is going quite well, the blue shells a bit more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that I have an ounce of the talent these guys have, but the idea of constantly pressing buttons to unlock extra power doesn\u2019t sound like something I\u2019d want to be doing at the wheel of an F1 car. Mario Kart, sure, but that\u2019s because Mario Kart also lets you temporarily shrink your opponents. When F1 figures that out\u2014or hosts a Grand Prix on Rainbow Road\u2014I promise I\u2019ll be more welcoming to the video game-ification of motorsport.<\/p>\n Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com<\/p>\n Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site\u2019s slate of daily stories.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t
\n 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n