Formula 1 has been sparing no effort in recent years to rejuvenate its brand image. At the heart of its strategy: the docuseries Drive to Survive, which has been a hit on Netflix since 2019 by claiming to present behind the scenes. A skillfully calculated transparency, which some perceive as the future, all professional sports combined.
It’s a whole change of mentality compared to the opacity that reigned at the time of the wealthy Briton Bernie Ecclestone, who masterfully led Formula 1 for more than thirty years. When American media group Liberty Media took over in 2017, the world’s most prestigious motor racing competition had lost some of its former luster. Not only was the public aging, but above all it was less and less mobilized.
Liberty Media then made a major shift by investing massively in social networks, but also by betting on Netflix with the series Formula 1: Drive to Survive — Drivers of their destiny in French — where the pilots open up like never before to the competition, even if it means telling snippets of their private life and their personal story. Most teams have also allowed cameras to film their backstage during the Grands Prix, which allows viewers to measure the extent of the rivalries between the major car manufacturers represented on the circuit. Everything is edited with well-supported dramatic effects, so as to maintain suspense, in the purest Netflix tradition.
“They went for the youngest, who weren’t necessarily interested in competition, with the emotional side, which is very present in the series. They managed to rejuvenate their audience, which is not easy. And they did it without losing their older audience,” says Frank Pons, director of the International Sports Management Observatory.
For this professor from Laval University, we should not be surprised to see an “effect Drive to Survive »in the stands of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve next week. But the demographic change will be even more noticeable in a few years, he says.
Attacking the United States
For now, Drive to Survive has already been renewed for a fifth and a sixth season, despite criticism from some, including Dutch driver Max Verstappen, who believes that the series exaggerates the rivalries between the teams.
“ Drive to Survive offers false transparency. We know that there are a lot of things that are “scripted”, that are exaggerated. The proof is that the series is hyper-captivating, whereas F1, in recent years, was less and less so because of the domination of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. It got more exciting to watch Drive to Survive than the races on television”, says with irony the former great manitou of the Grand Prix of Montreal, the businessman Normand Legault.
The fact remains that Normand Legault admires the success of the series. Not only has this contributed to rejuvenating the audience, but above all it has allowed F1 to benefit from unexpected visibility in the United States, according to him.
Indeed, because the ratings are growing south of the border, once the preserve of NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), the other major championship in the world of motor racing. Encouraging indicators for the very European Formula 1, which has long dreamed of breaking into the American market and which organized for the first time in nearly 40 years two competitions this year at Uncle Sam’s. and Miami, Liberty Media is now juggling with the idea of adding a third circuit on American soil, in Las Vegas.
Could Formula 1’s entrenchment in the US end up hurting Montreal, where an estimated 20% of ticket holders in 2019 were Americans? Normand Legault in doubt and wants to be reassuring. “Formula 1 says it had a record ratings, with more than two million spectators at the Miami Grand Prix in May. But I remember that at the time of Jacques Villeneuve, we did a lot more than that compared to the market. Two million in the United States is nothing,” he relativizes, while emphasizing that tickets are much more affordable in Montreal than in Miami or Austin.
The “Kardashianization” of sport
In addition to rejuvenating the brand and opening it to the American market, Drive to Survive would have, it has been said for a few years, allowed popular circles to identify with F1, often perceived as inaccessible with its jet-set side. Frank Pons disagrees with this theory: “It is not inaccessibility that prevents young people from joining this sport. Young people still watch reality shows, with the Kardashians and company, knowing full well that their way of life is not within their reach. »
Speaking of reality TV, this sports marketing expert sees Drive to Survive proof that this genre is rubbing off on all areas of society, including sport. “Young people are no longer interested only in sport within sport, but also in everything surrounding sport”, he summarizes.
The NBA, the fastest growing professional league in recent years, has been at the forefront of this trend by making itself ubiquitous on social media. Even the Montreal Canadiens risked this game by offering the docuseries 24CH, which provided behind-the-scenes access to the club for the first time. A more or less successful exercise, however, according to Frank Pons.
” We know that Drive to Survive, it’s “scripted”. But we show just enough of it to make it feel authentic. For 24CH, the message may have been too controlled. The Canadian will have to be less controlling in the coming years to follow the trend, ”he concludes.