As the highest class of international racing, since 1950, Formula 1 has pioneered the motoring industry, paving the way for technological innovation, commercial successes, and political change. Since the company’s acquisition in 2017 by American mass media company, Liberty Media, there has been both a change in the racing structures, and approach to the media and public audience. In this transitional ‘hybrid’ era of the sport, it is an intriguing case study of successfully using PR strategies to increase popularity, engagement, and worldwide attraction and expansion.
Historically, Formula 1 racing has been a sport for car enthusiasts, and of an older demographic. When Liberty Media bought their majority stake in Formula 1 from Bernie Ecclestone, they set out to immediately widen the scope of the sport, seeing enormous benefit in attracting a younger, more diverse audience worldwide. Social media argued a convincing case that people, especially younger generations, wanted to engage and understand the drivers they were watching – humanise them, in order to form and connection to them and their team, and therefore support them. The 2010s saw an all-time low for engagement with the sport, so there was a dire need to reform the public’s perception of the sport and widen the audience.
Upon the acquisition, intentions were made clear: “Liberty Media’s goal is simple: to turn Formula 1 into an entertainment brand and bring it back to the success it deserves”. There were five steps to achieving this:
- Know the audience (observation for the first three months of acquisition, studies and data collection, understand the public, identify the fan base and how to expand; the fans want more involvement, experience the races more closely, understand the teams, drivers, etc)
- Social strategy (target the audience – young people = social media; increased presence on social media, more content creation, behind-the-scenes; bringing fans closer to the ‘product’ to provide them with a more immersive experience)
- Increase the scope = America (American races and American drivers; use mass media that is readily available, with capabilities for wider expansion)
- Utilising data (understanding expectations of the brand, accumulate numbers and data to back them up; partnering with AWS to gather, using sensors on the tracks, in the cars, with the drivers; not only helps the drivers and teams, but engages with the audience to give them a better understanding of the sport and each team comparatively)
- Spectacle (budget caps for car development to close the gap between teams, create more diversity and unpredictability in the top 3; introduction of sprint races, more excitement, draws people into the qualifying and non-Sunday race day events; live performances at races, Will-I-Am in Miami, DJs, immersive experience, attracts a wider range of people; celebrity affiliations, partaking in events by awarding qualifying trophies, waving the chequered flag, being hosted by teams over weekends)
In order to broaden the worldwide audience, especially within Northern America, Formula 1: Drive to Survive was conceptualised by Liberty Media. In 2017, the documentary style series was released by Netflix about each Formula 1 season and the 20 drivers (and 10 teams) competing. Basing its initial season on the 2018 championships, in a reality-television, fly on-the-wall style. Footage alternates between studio interviews with drivers, team principles, and journalists, and real footage of ‘insider aspects’ of the racing year, including team meetings and discussions, factories, the car building and alteration process, and politics within. Audiences not only had the new-found ability to connect with the drivers and teams, but also the opportunity to understand the inner workings of the sport. Traditional press interviews and media content remained throughout the driving season, with the addition of social media content creation, while the Netflix docuseries was released before the beginning of the 2019 racing season.
The product: entertaining, engaging, and informative content, palatable to all. The drivers and teams were synonymous, and the intricacies of Formula 1 teams was being showcased. This proved to be greatly successful in America, where Formula 1 was far less popular in comparison to the native Nascar, and IndyCar Series. In 2023, ESPN reported that the Formula 1 World Championship that year had an average viewership in the US of 1.11 million views per race, and in 2024, Forbes reported that 28% of adults in the US would now consider themselves fans of Formula 1. Furthermore, at the end of 2023, Sportico reported that Formula 1 was the fourth most watched sport worldwide, obtaining a worldwide viewership of over 70 million people globally. A main variable being cited: Drive to Survive had piqued viewers interest in the sport. Further showcasing the success of Drive to Survive, during the 2024 season, there are three US races in the calendar (Texas, Miami and Los Vegas), and in 2023, Logan Sargeant signed with Williams Racing as the first American driver on the grid in five years. Upon scoring points in the same year, he became the first American driver to do so in 30 years.
As a case study for PR, the relationship between Formula 1 and Drive to Survive demonstrates the value of informative, engaging content, and the power of media campaigns, specifically visual and social media. Drive to Survive used storytelling as a platform to inform its viewers. The sport has been humanised, connecting audiences and teams. The coverage of Drive to Survive has spanned print, digital, and social media, and the success of the ‘campaign’ can merely be demonstrated by the high attendance of spectators at the races themselves. Demand has increased at an exponential rate, with ticket prices soaring, and selling out within hours for many races.
PR is about using channels to link companies, to the press and their intended audiences, specifically through how the public perceives the company itself. For Formula 1, not only do the individual teams need to be represented positively, but the drivers, team principles, and other personnel within the team itself. Therefore, this new age of Formula 1 demonstrates that through the use of widespread media outlets to campaign messages and images through, such as Drive to Survive and social media, not only the overarching company can benefit, but also the individual teams and personnel within them.
At HBPR, we live and breathe the automotive industry, with racing and Formula 1 being the pinnacle of evolution and development, helping to bring us towards a more efficient, and sustainable industry. With clients that range from mass-market OEMs to specialised restomods and many trailblazing Tier 1s, HBPR is highly knowledgeable and integrated into all aspects of the automotive industry. If you have any questions for our expertise, the industry in general, would like to collaborate or are looking for PR support in any capacity, please do get in touch at hannah@hannahburgess.com. Our door is always open.