[UtkarshC]

https://the-ken.com/moneyball_editio...1-great-again/

Are you following the Formula 1 season? After a looonnng time, we have a title race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen stands a good chance to end seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s run of four straight titles with Mercedes.

Verstappen’s twin wins at the United States and Mexico Grands Prix over the last fortnight have opened up a nice 19-point gap for him at the top of the drivers’ standings, with only four races to go in the season. For context, Hamilton won the 2020 title by 124 points with three races to go.

Why am I talking about F1? For two reasons. The US and Mexican GPs were both sold out - which is noteworthy considering North America hasn’t ever been a hub for F1. And recently released data shows viewership has shot through the roof as well.

But the title race between Verstappen and Hamilton had little to do with it. The real reason for this boost in popularity was something else.

[GrandTourer]

Netflix sure has boosted people's interest in the sport. I had stopped watching F1 since 2011-12 I think (Couple of Vettel's years). And then I completely lost interest in the sport over time. Thee last nail in the coffin was Alonso's exit, as I being a fan of his, would keep tabs of how the season was going, without watching. But since Nando's exit, that last bit of following also died down.

I had seen the trailer of Drive to Survive on Netflix a lot of times but never ended up watching it.

Then last year, I finally pulled the plug and binged all three seasons back to back. All that behind the scene drama, fighting for that seat, pulling one over the rivals, etc. got my interests back in the sport. Also, the lockdown wasn't doing any favors to the boredom department of my brain. So, I decided to dive back into it. And what's more... Nando makes a comeback. Give him a good car and the old GOAT has still got it in him. The way he held off Hamilton, and that fiery start to the first ever sprint. Sorry I digress...

So yes, Netflix had a huge part to play in reviving the interest of an erstwhile fan. So I can totally imagine how Netflix turned around the fan following for FI in North America. Heck, even my non-car friends started watching the sport because they are now rooting for one or the other driver purely based on their story and struggles showed in DTS.

And after this season (and the way it has panned out), I cannot wait to watch the next installment of DTS. Toto vs Horner, Lewis vs Max, George Russell , and GIVE FERNANDO A BETTER CAR

[GTO]

Some episodes of Netflix's Season 2 & 3 Drive To Survive were more fun than the yawn-inducing races of yesteryears !!! Says a lot. Of course, 2021 has been an action-packed season on the track.

They truly got a new audience to Formula 1.

[am1m]

Very interesting. Looks like Liberty Media's strategy is working. To truly rake in the money, the North American market is key. The amount of money involved in the NFL, NBA, and MLB dwarf almost any other sports league. Great idea for F1 to partner with Netflix and create this series, that was surely driven by the media-savvy new ownership.

And as a one-time fan of F1, who used to faithfully watch every single minute of every single race in the late 90s-early 2000s, but hasn't watched a single race for the past 10 years- I'm looking forward to getting back to watching some competitive seasons from next year!

[AZT]

To put things in perspective, the 2021 US GP was the biggest ever.
https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator...t-f1-race-ever

the 2021 United States Grand Prix has just blown even Silverstone's record attendance out the water as a reported 400,000 attendees packed the circuit.

F1 counts each day entry in its attendance, so even if someone had a weekend ticket they'd count three times for entering on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Previously, F1's biggest race was the British Grand Prix, which hosted 351,000 entries in 2019. That narrowly beat the same year's Mexican Grand Prix, which recorded over 345,000 attendees

Viewership in general is through the roof. I personally also started watching again because of the Netflix show.

[OrangeCar]

Yes, yes, yes. I used to watch Formula 1, almost a decade ago. Bumped into the Netflix F1 show, season 3 particularly. And then started watching this season of races(at least following it) from the second half.

From not caring about F1 in recent times, to rooting for Hamilton for this year's title - all due to Netflix's F1 show.

Why Hamilton, why not Max (or any others)? No idea. Want Hamilton to win. Maybe its a Mercedes - RedBull thing. (RedBull --> Vettel drove --> Vettel called Narain Karthikeyan an Idiot --> I am still pissed! )

[samabhi]

I honestly find this difficult to understand. How much can a OTT platform like Netflix generate interest about F1 among viewers just with couple of seasons and how long can it help to sustain the viewership. Eventually it may fade out. Yes. It may have helped to capture the attention of the younger generation and that probably helped to bring in a whole new generation, (majority of those who thinks Netflix is life, pun intended) to watch F1.

But to say that Netflix is making Formula1 great again is completely absurd. It just increased the viewership and that will go down very soon. The sport is what it is and the pinnacle of Motorsport. Most of us watch it for the love of Sport. It might have become boring in the last few years with the domination of Mercedes and Hamilton, but it surely has become interesting with 2021 and with more rules to change in 2022 (fingers crossed), its going to look even better. Infact, the only two series I have watched on Netflix are Drive to Survive and Gotham Garage.

[iamahunter]

I am not sure mate.

I haven't watched Drive to Survive, any season. But still hooked to on to this year's Formula 1 season.

I had lost interest when Mercedes and Lewis started winning back to back with that boring dominance. Overall the politics in Mercedes with regards to Lewis and his team mates made it more boring.

I remember once when Alonso was winning, Lewis said that "dominance will make the sport boring". And now he does the same, not surprised, man has a habit of going back on his words. I never liked Hamilton and his attitude (many factors) so that made me totally lose interest in the sport.

This year thought is totally different. Hooked on.

Next year is going to be much more interesting, with new car designs and new driver-team combos.

[noopster]

I have to confess I’ve watched all 3 seasons of Drive to Survive but not watched a single complete race in at least 5 years! Netflix documentaries have a knack of evoking the perfect reactions and responses from their subjects. This one is no exception!

[anandmv]

I feel the series has very well complemented F1's media and engagement strategy. Be it their presence on YouTube, the amount of analytical information available for consumption during the races, even the packaging of the highlights to shape a narrative (although it sometimes falls flat like lipstick on a pig), the virtual showdown, there has been a clear focus on how to entice and sustain viewership. This video nicely sums up their efforts -

https://youtu.be/P9BLOZJ7YgM

[chandu]

I agree totally. I used avidly to follow F1 growing up but lost interest somewhere through the years where it became boring with hardly any overtakes and a couple of drivers winning everything. I only used to glance at the results over the past decade.

I started watching the Netflix show (all seasons) and my interest came back. These days I try and watch the races when i can. The show was good and I think they did a good job presenting the drivers to the world. Although I still have not watched a complete race in a long time. I still wish that it was more competitive with 3 or 4 drivers in the running for the championship.

[kar_thikr]

The only gripe I have with DTS is that it hasn't (Yet) done justice to the glorious past of this sport. I have seen people who have started watching F1 after watching DTS and speak about it like it's kind of a new sport/ trend. That perspective is clearly evident when watching an interview of any F1 drivers with the American media. The latest interview of Ricciardo with Ellen DeGeneres is a prime example of that, she portrays DR3 as some kind of a Netflix show star, other than an accomplished sporting icon, driving for a legendary team, in sports with more heritage than the NBA and NFL. It's not Ellen's fault either, because she needs her viewers to relate to the person she is interviewing.

DTS has all the tools needed to change that perception. I hope they do that to an extent. Maybe not a part of this epic season, perhaps as some additional episodes in the off-season or something.

[KGS]

100% agreed that Netflix has given a much required push to the popularity of F1.

I was a big fan of F1 during my childhood. Schumacher name was there as a sports icon. At that time I was not much aware of technical specs of the cars but knew that I goes fast , I mean super fast. That sound from the engine was captivating.

But slowly , WWE , Cricket and such stuffs took over. F1 took a back seat.

Luckily, we found this series on Netflix and now even my 5 year old son is super involved in the races. He knows Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Bottas, etc. If we are not able to watch any race live , we try to see the highlights on any platform before knowing the results who won. If our favourite racer wins, we have our high fives

Indeed, Netflix did a great job there.

[v1p3r]

DTS is awesome. It's given us a peek into the world behind what everyone sees - a bunch of young, mostly European men driving expensive machines around in circles. It's brought the intrigue, the machinations, the emotions, and the politics of top-flight motorsport into people's living rooms. I am completely unsurprised at the link between DTS and a sold-out US GP. It took a bunch of Americans to shake up the complacent Europeans, as usual.

DTS has managed to get my mother excited about motorsport, something that 15 years of my involvement didn't. She is now surprised (!) that I gave up a career in this to come back to India. I would have thought this achievement to be even less likely than Mazepin winning the 2022 title.

[maddy42]

Instead of watching the race I just wait for the Netflix season to come out to binge the race. Exception is this season where Verstappen actually gave a fight to Hamilton.

In comparison I recently watched the entire moto gp at Valencia and god was it thrilling. Multiple race winners across the season added a lot of drama. Also each rider had a camaraderie with the other was welcoming.

Maddy