Drive to Survive” Impact on F1 Viewership Overestimated, Social Media Key for Engagement and Growth

The impact of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” on F1 viewership has been smaller than commonly believed, according to a Nielsen analysis. While the show’s popularity led some to credit it with helping F1 crack the U.S., where roughly 28% of American adults identified themselves as fans in a survey from 2022, this figure would mean there are an incredible 72 million F1 fans in the country alone – nearly three times more than ESPN’s average viewership for races during that year (just over one million). “Drive to Survive” has instead helped make F1 a sport with multiple ways of engaging its audience, making it culturally diverse and appealing particularly among women. Influencers such as Toni Cowan-Brown began creating content after the show sparked an interest in F1 during lockdowns that allowed people to engage online via social media platforms like YouTube or Instagram. Content creators have become valuable for brands, helping them tap into topics adjacent to Formula One through collaborations with bloggers and food critics who attract engaged audiences, explained TJ Adeshola from private equity firm Arctos partners which invested in Aston Martin Racing last year. F1 teams themselves are now creating content via their social media channels; McLaren Unboxed had more than 300k views before it was discontinued earlier this year reportedly because of overlap with the Netflix series, and its reach is concentrated among a handful of countries including the US (where over one-third of new “Drive to Survive” fans come from), UK, and Australia. To expand globally, F1 has aligned its social media strategy around international race locations – this April’s Chinese Grand Prix was live streamed on BiliBili and Kuaishou, the country’s equivalents of YouTube and Instagram respectively. While growth in online following led to a 46% year-on-year decline in new followers for F1 last year, Adeshola explains that deeper engagement is being maintained among its digital channels. Engaging both traditionalists and newer audiences will be one of the sport’s biggest challenges over the next decade as it seeks to balance growth with keeping existing fans happy.