How has Formula One been affected by “Drive to Survive”?

For decades, millions of ardent supporters have been following their idols’ race around a Formula One circuit every few weeks. But the situation has changed nowadays; races are not the only things that are worth waiting for with excitement anymore. There are hundreds or thousands of hours of commentary, interviews with drivers, and behind-the-scenes that need to be sussed.

What is ‘Drive to Survive’?

At the forefront of this trend is Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive”. There was only the 2019 Netflix series ‘Formula 1. This documentary, season four, enables the audience to know the teams, and drivers in a new way. Moreover, the stories that are being told are universal in appeal and have been made possible by clever planning and editing. They are appealing to people who wouldn’t usually be very interested in F1, or motorsport in general.

More Attention in Regions like the US

By tradition, F1 is a sport that is more favored in Europe and some parts of South America than in the United States. NASCAR races are still the favourite of most Americans. However, due to the documentaries like this one, it is enjoying a revival. The average 2021 F1 season race audience was 934,000. This is much better than previous seasons; it is a 54% improvement over the 2020 season and a 39% improvement over the 2019 season.

However, there is still a long way to go for Formula 1 being as popular as NASCAR, which gathers more than two million viewers for each race. Nevertheless, the direction is promising for F1 as a universal commodity. Races are organized all around the world, and more wealthy fans than ever are willing to fly in with their private jet and swell the paddock before every green flag.

Bringing more Resources to F1

It is worth noting that the way ‘Drive to Survive’ is funded is not by paying an individual fee to the teams being depicted. In contrast, Netflix pays the sport in a whole salary making it possible to distribute it. Of course, the money is not divided equally. The lion’s share goes even today to the big names such as Ferrari and Mercedes. This is in tune with the constructor’s pay, which is much based on the big two. At the top, the income is about three times greater than at the bottom – sometimes it’s much more.

This is, of course, an obvious issue in terms of competitiveness and, hence, the spectacle of the sport. If races become predictable, will viewers remain interested? But so far it has not – and the attention that Drive to Survive draws, as well as that on F1 in general, is not decreasing.