Threadlines: Why America is Suddenly Obsessed with F1

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Formula 1 has experienced a sudden and sharp rise in popularity in America. 

For decades, it simply wasn’t popular in the US. A lack of American drivers, an oversaturation of other sports, and a lack of tradition in the States all compounded to keep F1, for the most part, overseas. 

But, I just got back from the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and I can confirm F1 attendance is stronger than ever, with a huge crowd at the race. 

So, this begs the question of why? What changed for F1? And what changed for the millions of Americans who are now loyal fans? 

I’ll let you know in advance, it’s not just the Netflix show. 

Racing sports, generally, have a storied history in the United States. For decades, the American racing sport was NASCAR, with stock car racing dominating American viewership, especially in the Southern part of the country. 

IndyCar is the other American racing sport, with the Indy 500 drawing massive crowds and attention each year as the crown jewel of the IndyCar season.

In the United States, this - for the most part - was the landscape of racing sports. 

Worldwide, however, Formula 1 dominates.

The pinnacle of motorsport, with ​drivers racing at speeds over 200 mph in custom-built cars in a battle of speed, engineering, and strategy, has been a worldwide favorite for decades. In 2021, over 450 million viewers across the world tuned in.
But in America, we mostly preferred NASCAR and Indy.

In recent years, though, this is changing. 

Since 2018, Formula One has experienced a dramatic jump in US viewership - an estimated 106% increase -  and continued relevance and recognition throughout the States. 

But why? Why are Americans all of a sudden tuning in? Today we’re answering that question. 

Sure, you could point to the most straightforward potential answer… the popularity of Netflix’s Drive To Survive, a docuseries covering the drivers and stories of the F1 circuit. This show was a smash hit, with multiple seasons being the most-watched show on Netflix for a period. And the popularity of the show has spurred millions, of new fans for the sport across the United States. At the Austin Grand Prix in 2022, more than a third of the fans there cited the TV program as a reason for attending. 

However, it’s not just Netflix. 

In 2017, Formula One was acquired by American mass media company, Liberty Media. 

Following that acquisition, American sports media jumped at F1 as a new frontier. ESPN purchased broadcast rights to stream the races live, there was a renewed focus on social media branding, the continued highlighting of the incredible technology that fills Formula 1 cars, the introduction of 2 new American Grands Prix - in Miami and Las Vegas - have all served to invigorate the American audience to tune into the previously non-American dominated sport. But the secret sauce that keeps viewers hooked: the drivers and their compelling storylines. But we’ll get into that later… 

For now, if you’re new to F1, or just want a refresher on “what even is F1”?
Here’s a breakdown.

The Formula 1 championship is comprised of a series of races held around the world throughout the season. As of this year, there are 24 different races held at iconic race tracks like the Monza in Italy, Circuit de Monaco through the streets of Monte Carlo, Silverstone in the UK, built on a WW2 airstrip, and Suzuka in Japan, known for its figure-eight layout, to name a few. 

Each Grand Prix is held over the 3 days of a weekend, with a practice day, qualifying day, and race day. The one that really matters is Race Day, because the drivers’ placement on Sunday determines how many points each racer gets, with the winner getting 25 points, the runner-up getting 18, and so on down through the top 10 places, with drivers 11-20 getting no points. 

Over the course of the year, racers compete for the World Driver’s Championship - the trophy awarded to the driver who accumulates the most points by the end of the season. 

Additionally, there is another season-long trophy - the Constructor’s Championship. And this is where we get into one of the most recognizable parts of F1 - the teams. McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull, to name a few, field teams of 2 drivers apiece, with 10 teams total. These teams don’t just sponsor the drivers, they also manufacture the cars.

And this is where Formula One really stands out. 

In NASCAR and IndyCar, all drivers use the same chassis, the Next Gen car and the Dallara DW12, respectively. 

In F1 however, each team designs and builds their own cars, from the ground up. This aspect of the competition means that F1 is basically as a massive science fair (Cleo Abram and MKBHD clips).

Teams have to follow a standard of rules for each car - for instance, width and height limits, no continuously variable transmissions, a range of safety requirements, and, of course no more or less than 4 wheels… no 18-wheelers out on the F1 track.  

But outside of this set of rules - the “formula” of “Formula One” - it’s up to the creativity and ingenuity of the teams to design the best car possible, and then improve the car over the season. It’s an arms race, where teams are always looking for that slight edge that will make their cars just that little bit faster than the others.

In the early days of Formula 1, cars were loud and highly unsafe. They had an open cockpit with only the most courageous drivers stepping inside… or maybe crazy… they didn’t even wear helmets until the 1970s.

The 70s is also when engineers began really optimizing for downforce - the aerodynamic effect that pushes the car into the ground and allows it to turn sharply, at speed. 

Over the years, cars continued to improve. Turbochargers were introduced and then banned by the FIA. Carbon fiber allowed cars to be lighter, and therefore faster than ever before. The “Halo” safety feature was mandated for driver safety and teams carved intricate front and rear wings to maximize aerodynamics. 

So now, every F1 team fields a car packed full of human ingenuity, there are highly complex steering wheels, there are efficient and powerful engines capable of pushing to almost 250 miles per hour, and there are the ever-important tires. 

F1 tires must be strong enough to withstand the rapid speed and braking during the race, as well as soft enough to grip the track and turn on a dime. It’s a delicate balance between speed and maneuverability. 

F1 teams choose between different classes of tires, each offering a trade off of speed and durability. The faster a tire can go, the more often they’re going to need to change them via pit stops, and vice versa. As the cars race around the track, teams are actively evaluating, making the call of what tire to use at the point in the race, and if they should pull over, make a pit stop, and get a new set of tires. 

But these seconds spent changing tires matter… so this strategy of when should you take a pit stop and switch tires is critical. 

It’s all a game of going as fast as possible while also maximizing your edge over the other drivers and not wasting valuable seconds. 

But… fielding a successful F1 car isn’t just about speed; it's also about cash—lots of it. So much so, that the FIA - the governing body in charge of F1 - recently instituted a cap on race car development of $135 million a year… before this was put in place, some teams were spending nearly half a billion dollars. 

Building a competitive car means pouring millions into research and development, wind tunnel testing, and high-performance materials. The engine alone is a $10 million work of art. 

So, you take these wildly expensive, innovative, brilliant car designs and you put drivers in the cockpit, put the cars on the track, and have them go as fast as possible around that track. It’s not surprising that people tune in. 

But the key to F1’s continued success is the drivers and their compelling rivalries and storylines.

Because the F1 circuit is limited to only 20 drivers at a time, each one can become a key and personal player in the sport's drama.

In 2024, the grid features seasoned legends like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, newer stars like Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris, and up-and-coming drivers who could become the next big thing like Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri. 

Speaking of drivers, how did the drivers even get here? As mentioned, there can only be 20 at a time… so these seats are highly coveted and competitive. 

Most drivers start young, typically beginning their careers in competitive karting as early as five or six years old. If you have the talent to succeed in karting, aspiring drivers can begin to work their way up the Formula leagues, beginning in F4. Drivers that continue to win at each rank of the system can be selected for a seat in the circuit above, F3, and then F2, with more and more powerful cars as they work upwards, hopefully concluding with becoming an F1 driver. 

It’s worth noting that at every stage, there are massive financial burdens. Drivers are expected to fund their karts and then cars, as well as their travel, race registration, etc. 

Moreover, it’s highly physically and mentally demanding to become a top driver, requiring elite reaction speed, ability to handle lots of G-forces, and mental toughness.

But if you can get one of the limited F1 driver spots, you enter into a world of intense rivalries and unique personalities. With the limited number of athletes, there is great potential for storytelling and personal connection - as very well highlighted by the Netflix show. And this has resonated strongly with new American audiences who tune in for both the action and the personalities behind it.

As an example of this, look to the 2021 battle for the championship between the current top driver in the sport, Max Verstappen, and the likely greatest racer of all time, Lewis Hamilton. Throughout the 2021 season, Hamilton was chasing his record 8th World Driver’s Championship and Verstappen was chasing his first title, bolstered by a Red Bull car fit perfectly for his aggressive driving style. For the first 21 races… the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers battled fiercely for the lead in points, trading pole positions, podiums, and even multiple crashes. 

And in an almost-too-perfect finish to the season… it all came down to the final Grand Prix, with both drivers tied exactly on points going into Abu Dhabi for the last race.

Hamilton had the best start and took the lead despite Verstappen challenging him on the corners. He held this lead for most of the race… then, Latifi of the Williams team crashed with 5 laps to go. As the safety car slowed the whole race down to clear off the track, Verstappen took this chance to make a pit stop and get a set of brand-new tires… a risk that Hamilton could not realistically take.

Typically, with a safety car, the race continues until all lapped cars pass back to their original, unlapped positions. But, that would most likely result in the race finishing with a safety car on the track, giving Lewis and Mercedes the victory in an anticlimactic way. 

Instead, the FIA made the hotly disputed decision to start the race back up earlier than expected, ensuring the race would end with 1 final racing lap. Lewis Hamilton was driving on very worn tires… and with Verstappen on brand-new ones, it was no surprise that the Red Bull driver was able to overtake and win the driver’s championship in contentious fashion.

To this day, Hamilton fans still flood F1 forums with comments of “8 WDC.”

Despite the controversial end, the 2021 Formula 1 season remains one of the greatest and most memorable in the sport’s history, drawing in the masses with the thrilling rivalry on display between the athletes. 

Modern F1 drivers control massive social media followings, boasting legions of fans across the world. Max Verstappen streams racing sims to hundreds of thousands of viewers, Daniel Ricciardo - now former driver - commands a YouTube audience of almost 500k subscribers and Lewis Hamilton has built a powerful personal brand that transcends the sport, posting about the latest fashions, and advocating for racial equity. 

This newfound connection has also brought in a more diverse audience. For a sport typically viewed as being for wealthy, older men, the humanization of the drivers and focus on social media has been consistently attracting both younger fans and more women. 

So, F1 doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere, internationally or in the United States. 

Certainly, Formula 1 has a lot to thank Netflix’s Drive to Survive for, but it’s not only that. Formula 1 has more American-based races, has thrilling storylines, has teams pouring innovation and engineering into their cars, and is more accessible than ever due to new American ownership.

And of course, F1 races will always have cars and drivers, going really really fast around a track. 

That will probably never go out of style.