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How a Netflix docuseries helped trigger an F1 boom

MADELINE COLEMAN

Guenther Steiner, the principal of Haas F1 Team, posed a single question in the premiere of Netflix’s docuseries “Formula One: Drive to Survive.”

“Why (do) you watch Formula One?”

He went on to answer himself, not skipping a beat: “You want to see action. You want to see drama. You want to see the underdog making a good result. A story. Each race should have a story, and the story should not be all the time Mercedes or Ferrari wins, because that story gets old pretty quickly.”

The story of the 2021 season: 20 countries, 22 races, 10 teams. Formula One is the highest class of international auto racing, a pillar of luxury with the likes of Rolex and Emirates Airline and Group as partners and Aston Martin and McLaren as teams. It’s one of the most diverse sports leagues in the world, with drivers hailing from all over the globe.

Overall, 15 countries are represented among the 20 drivers and many more within the paddock and teams, like Haas — the first American F1 team in more than 30 years.

“Drive to Survive” provides a behind-the-scenes look at the circuit that uses the world as its playground, highlighting the action and providing context to storylines that emerge both on and off the course. There are harrowing moments (like Romain Grosjean’s fiery wreck that almost cost the Swiss-born driver his life) and complicated decisions displayed (like Pierre Gasly getting sacked by Red Bull and bouncing back to win at Monza with AlphaTauri).

While driver Max Verstappen spoke out about a tendency to overdramatize certain events to “boost popularity in America,” there’s no denying that the end result is compelling — and doing just what Verstappen said: F1 viewership has skyrocketed in recent years after the series, which is now in its third season, debuted in March 2019.

ESPN, which has teamed with Sky Sports to air races since 2018, said that the 2021 season is averaging 931,000 viewers through14 races, which is 53 per cent higher than in 2020 and 40 per cent higher than the first 14 comparable races in 2019.

“There is not a way to quantify if the Netflix series has contributed to the audience increases, but it’s all positive,” John Suchenski, director of programming and acquisitions at ESPN, said in a written statement. “Having additional F1 content out there that reaches a wide and different audience helps increase awareness and interest, and hopefully incentivizes them to tune into the races. “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Sean Bratches, former managing director of commercial operations for F1, was “the godfather of ‘Drive to Survive,’ ” says Paul Martin, executive producer of the series.

He was a part of the Liberty Media Company takeover, in which the company bought the league in 2016 for $4.4 billion. One of the biggest criticisms the previous owner, Bernie Ecclestone, faced was his struggle to evolve in the digital landscape. Bratches, however, had the dream to land F1 on a streaming platform and eventually struck a deal with Netflix. Box to Box Films, which made the show, was tasked with creating “something that was very different from the live coverage that existed of the sport,” says Martin, who co-founded the production company.

He says that when it came to the drivers, “If you’re really into Formula One, you sort of knew who they were. But above and beyond hardcore (fans), nobody knew who they were and why they were so powerful and why they were trying to do what they were doing.”

The film crews set out to tell the drivers’ stories, capturing them in a way that’s harder to show in live race coverage. But getting the series up and running was a challenge, especially when it came to gaining teams’ trust. Each squad is understandably sensitive about its car designs, operations and data.

Ferrari and Mercedes, two of the most dominant teams, both decided to not be a part of the first season, but Ian Holmes, director of media rights at F1, says he wasn’t surprised. The pair were battling for the championship that season and wanted to focus on racing.

“Although you’re talking about the most successful team, perhaps arguably the biggest brands,” Holmes says, “the beauty of it and what it demonstrated was that actually this is about people’s stories.”

When Bratches approached the teams about his idea, Steiner was on-board, but what he didn’t expect was for himself or the Haas team to become a major part of the series (or fan favourites) because they were the youngest and smallest.

The team principal tends to forget he’s mic’d or being filmed because he’s focused on doing his job. And it’s noticeable through the show, whether it’s his banter with the drivers or bluntness in interviews. And as part of the only American team, he started being recognized more frequently, along with other stars in the show.

“Data shows us well that this helped a lot (in) the American market,” says Steiner. It helped a lot to get people interested — not the avid fan, the guy who watches every race car race. This is different. This seems to be interesting, and then they start to watch and come to races. (The series) had a big impact and what I noticed is the people who recognize it are mainly young people, because the way they use TV is (to watch) Netflix.”

Netflix is protective of its numbers, but over the last few years there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of new F1 fans saying, “I saw it on Netflix.” Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, said over the summer: “It’s got to be the single most important impact in North America. Almost every comment you get out of someone out of the U.S., they reference ‘Drive to Survive.’ ”

And it shows in sales. Per Formula One, Sunday’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas has been sold out for a few weeks.

“The U.S. is a fantastically large and complicated market dominated by three or four 800-pound gorillas,” Holmes says, referring to the major sports leagues. “But it is such a big market, we feel that there’s plenty of growth that we can enjoy.”

While there is the only race in the U.S. this year, F1 will be back for two in 2022, with Miami added. And there have been discussions about a third race in future years.

Holmes says, “It’s a dangerous and complicated sport, and we want to make sure that different people can engage with it in different ways ... It’s caused us to sort of think and say, ‘Well, why has it been so attractive? And how can we extend the journey and provide more fun, interesting, scary, whatever it is, content around ‘Drive to Survive?’ ”

Steiner doesn’t watch the series. But it’s not for the reason you might think. “I don’t want to watch the series because I just think then I overthink,” he says. “Because when you watch yourself you say, ‘That wasn’t good, I can do better.’ I just want to be who I am, and that’s why I don’t watch it — so I don’t get tempted to change myself.”

That’s what the behind-thescenes show is: mostly authentic with a dash of luck and pinch of dramatic flair. After all, it is live sports and not a scripted show.

However, Verstappen, who won’t be part of the production next season, recently told The Associated Press that the series has “faked a few rivalries which they don’t really exist.” Holmes says teams “can influence, but they can’t dictate the narrative.”

“(The teams) bought into the notion that for this to be a success, it needed access,” he adds. “We spent a lot of time talking with the teams. We highlighted two areas where they had protection, which is that if anything that was either sporting or commercially sensitive at the time of release in the series, then that could be requested to come out . There shouldn’t be anything that brings anyone — a team, individual — into disrepute.”

Says Martin: “We’re not trying to make the Kardashians, and (the drivers are) not reality-TV stars,” Martin says. “First and foremost, they have really highpressure, really high-profile day jobs. However much they are invested in the show and however much they liked the show, that day job will always come first by miles.”

So, what really makes fans watch F1?

“I think there’s something inherently sexy about speed,” says Martin. “These are the fastest cars in the world, the best drivers in the world. When you marry that speed with amazing backdrops like Monaco or the French Grand Prix or Monza or Austin, Formula One gets it right.

“It’s an incredibly seductive and sexy sport. It’s goodlooking young guys strapping themselves into very fast cars in amazing locations. And people enjoy seeing that.”

“When you marry that speed with amazing backdrops like Monaco or the French Grand Prix or Monza or Austin, Formula One gets it right.”

PAUL MARTIN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

SPORTS

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2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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