Who Is Pete Samara: F1 Pays Tribute to Sport Veteran With Black Armbands

With the start of the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas right around the corner, things did not start as usual. The pre-race presentation had the F1TV presenters go about their jobs wearing black armbands. A little digging in revealed the cause to be Pete Samara’s death. Samara worked as Director Of Innovation and Digital Technology at Formula 1.

Simply put, Samara was the behind-the-scenes guy running the broadcast and directing the live action for the screens. Samara worked in this position for seven years and four months, as per his LinkedIn profile.

Before this, he worked as the R&D Group Manager for a similar duration. Samara’s journey with the pinnacle of motorsport lasted 14 years and 10 months in total.

The cause of his death is not known until the publishing of this article. As per Formule1 Magazine’s Andre Venema, Samara died ‘unexpectedly’ at the age of 52. The absence of a clear cause so far has understandably left the F1 fraternity puzzled.

The distress among his colleagues, who are going about their work by running the US Grand Prix in his absence is therefore unsurprising. Kudos to him and the culture he’s built, the broadcast is running as smoothly as ever at the time of writing.

Past incidents of use of black armbands in F1

Black armbands are a common sight in sports to honor a related personality who has passed away or simply to express solidarity for a cause. The practice may have become prevalent after the first usage which traces its roots back to 1614. A portrait of the Queen of Bohemia depicts her sporting an armband to mourn her deceased brother.

While it is not known when the practice came into prevalence in F1, other sports such as soccer and cricket have practiced it for decades. F1 has picked on it as well with earlier examples tracing back to 2015. That was when the drivers wore a black armband at the Brazilian GP to express their solidarity with the victims of the Paris attacks, which claimed 129 lives.

More recent examples include some British and some non-British drivers sporting black armbands to honor Queen Elizabeth II on her passing in 2022. The most recently reported incident before Samara’s death is from 2024 itself.

That was when Renault’s engine staff staged a peaceful protest during the race weekend at Monza. The Renault employees were protesting against the team’s decision to end their engine manufacturing program.