Why Is F1 So Popular Now?

Photo by Reuben Rohard on Unsplash

The world of private jets and Formula 1 have always gone hand in hand, so the soaring popularity of the sport isn’t a surprise for charter travelers.

In fact, many of those travelers will be headed to Monaco later this month for F1’s crown jewel event — the Monaco Grand Prix (see Air Charter Guide’s list of top European Charter Operators if you are looking to get in on the party).

But the recent surge follows decades of indifference from the American market. So what has changed to put F1 into growth mode in the US? The simple explanation is the popularity of Drive to Survive from Netflix, the slick and entertaining documentary series that is now in its fourth season. No doubt the popularity of the series has been a deciding factor, but insiders know it took a few building blocks before Netflix came to the plate to knock it out of the park. Here are four reasons other than Drive to Survive that contributed to the recent popularity for F1: 

F1 CODEMASTERS/EA VIDEO GAME

PHOTO BY SANDER SAMMY ON UNSPLASH

With all of the hype surrounding Formula 1’s rise, it’s surprising that not much is mentioned about the importance of the F1 Codemasters series. Sim racing has become a trend of it’s own, and the Codemasters F1 platform series has been an annual success. In fact, the growth over the past decade was strong enough that mega video game player EA purchased Codemasters in February of 2021 for $1.2 billion. That takeover didn’t stop the momentum for their official F1 game as EA reported nearly double unit sales for the F1 2021 edition over the 2021-2022 holiday season.

Video games and sports continue to intersect and the esports trend certainly showcases the synergy. There’s a good case though that of all sports video games, racing games are the most immersive. As the F1 Codemasters game audience has grown it’s given gamers a chance to get to the know the sport in-depth. The tracks, the teams, the drivers, the rules, the development. Unlike other sports games, racing translates really well to video games. So, not only can you be a fan of F1, you can also be in Formula 1 … well at least virtually.

RUSH

In 2013, Ron Howard offered his take on F1 with Rush, a feature film that told the story of the 1976 F1 championship battle between James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl). The movie was a box office success and like many films has had a successful afterlife through streaming and paid access outlets. It’s a polished, Howard-style production and generally regarded as a relatively accurate depiction of F1 in the 70s and the story only occasionally bends truth for box office appeal. Over time, it feels like an upgraded version of Days of Thunder and many consider it to the best racing film ever, with the recent Ford vs Ferrari now offering a challenge.

No matter what, the movie planted a seed for many potential F1 fans and the value of that kind of storytelling has probably been greatly underestimated.

THE WORLDWIDE LEADER

In 2018, new F1 owners Liberty Media made a big move for the sport by signing with ESPN. Many F1 fans were skeptical of the switch from NBC, thinking the sport would be buried in the deep-line up that the worldwide leader offers. However, despite some rough spots in broadcasting during that first year, the network has been a true promoter of the F1 and the commercial-free coverage is universally loved by all fans. In the end, it’s played out exactly as Liberty would have hoped as the network has provided F1 with additional exposure and a “badge of authenticity” just by association. The ESPN plus Netflix impact on TV screens has been rocket fuel for the sport in the US.

Interestingly, the contract with ESPN ends after the 2022 season and fans are on the edge of their seats, as new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is looking to explore new options while targeting a media deal for $75 million per year, which is well beyond the current $5 million annual that the ESPN contract offers. With viewership up 54% in 2021, Domenicali may snag a big one, but F1 fans across the world are certainly watching with caution.

AMERICAN OWNERSHIP

Formula 1 has a rich history and traditionally European-based leadership. That changed in 2017 when US-based Liberty Media purchased F1 in 2017 for $4.6 billion. There was a lot of skepticism at the time and fear from the fanbase that F1 would become “Americanized.” 

It was in fact a relatively instant changeover as the traditionally profit-driven organization saw Liberty move aggressively to broaden the appeal of the brand. Previously F1 focused on revenue from race fees, whereas Liberty focused on broadening the footprint. 

There were a lot of naysayers predicting Liberty would fall on their face. The opposite has been true and notably, they’ve taken on a lot of issues directly and so far been successful. There is now a budget cap for F1, which was long thought to be impossible. That’s been a tremendous benefit for several teams, which is good for the sport. They moved the ball forward on new regulations intended to create better racing and although we’re still early into this new technical era, the early signs are promising. And yes, Liberty brought in Netflix and ESPN. They seem so far to balancing relatively well between innovation and respect for the legacy of the sport.

BONUS

In addition to the factors above, the action on the track has been steadily improving. That culminated with a World Driver's Championship battle for the ages last year that saw Max Verstappen finally unseat Lewis Hamilton, who had won six of the previous titles. It all ended with a lot of controversy at Abu Dhabi and that even further put F1 into the spotlight.

And the past few years we have seen a few surprise winners -- Estabon Ocon, Danny Riccardo (at McLaren) and Pierre Gasly. With the new regulations, more competition for wins is going to continue to feed into the popularity of F1.