April 11, 2025
By Chiara Cardone
Deputy Editor
This article is part of a four-part in-depth reporting project about cars.
Seventy-five years ago, Formula One launched as a European motorsport competition. Today, it is a worldwide phenomenon, with races on six out of seven continents and a rapidly expanding fanbase.
According to BlackBook Motorsport, a global motorsport business community, F1’s viewership grew from 1.5 billion in 2023 to 1.6 billion in 2024.
While the sport is gaining new fans, former LHS music teacher Mr. Cardone, who left the district in March, said he has followed F1 since childhood. He said his favorite aspect of F1 is its uniqueness compared to other spectator sports.
“Your teammate is your biggest rival, but you also have to work together with them,” Cardone said.
The drivers from opposing teams often coordinate strategies to maximize points earned during the race. These action plans include arranging pit stops, race pace and tire strategies.
“No other sport is like that, where you’re racing [against] and working with your teammate,” Cardone said.
He said technology gives fans an insider perspective on the drivers’ experiences throughout race weekends.
“F1’s the only sport where you can hear [team communications] loud and clear,” Cardone said. “You don’t just get a snapshot in F1. Technology gives us every single detail.”
Cardone said fans can form connections with drivers through F1’s social media accounts, whose followers have grown from 70.5 million in 2023 to 97 million in 2024.
“The drivers from our generation are the ones that will be [racers] in the coming years.”
“Part of loving a Formula 1 team isn’t just loving their performances. It’s all about the marketing interactions on social media,” Cardone said. “All F1 drivers are essentially influencers. They’re not just athletes.”
Senior Patrick O’Rourke, who began watching F1 races in 2020, said the expansion of F1 on subscription-based platforms like ESPN+, F1 TV and Hulu led to the sport’s worldwide growth.
O’Rourke said he appreciates the on-demand feature of F1 TV, which offers an archive of some historical races dating back to 1981 in addition to streaming live events.
“I can go back and watch [Ayrton] Senna, [Alain] Prost and [Nigel] Mansell… or [Lewis] Hamilton when he was a rookie,” O’Rourke said. “F1 TV is a huge service…. Thankfully, it’s [available], and the new fans get to see races from all-time greats.”
Additionally, the Netflix documentary series “Drive to Survive”–which debuted in March 2019 and is now in its seventh season–exposed F1 to a much wider audience.
“[‘Drive to Survive’] made everyone more aware [of] the sport,” O’Rourke said. “NASCAR and IndyCar have their own versions…. The fact that these sports are taking influence from F1 is inspiring.”
O’Rourke said the U.S. Grand Prix, a series of races, also contributed to the expansion of F1. The inaugural race took place at Sebring International Raceway in Florida in 1959, and the latest, the Miami Grand Prix, debuted in 2022.
“Adding [the Miami] Grand Prix exploded [its] popularity,” O’Rourke said. “People now know more [about] what [F1] is, and they know the drivers better.”
O’Rourke said young fans will shape F1’s future.
“We’re the fans that are going to start going to races,” O’Rourke said. “The drivers from our generation are the ones that will be [racers] in the coming years.”
Senior Amelia Sanchez, who started watching F1 in 2022, said she became interested in the sport after seeing F1 content on TikTok.
“The more [drivers] market their personalities on social media, the more people will get interested in [F1],” Sanchez said.
She said fan engagement with social media content is crucial to the growth and development of F1.
“It should be top priority… because we are the ones taking time out of our Sundays to watch the race. These are the drivers we like, [and] this is the sport that interests us,” Sanchez said
She said F1 sets itself apart from other sports because of the dangers that drivers face.
“I would consider it harder and more dangerous than other sports,” Sanchez said. “[The car] could explode if you crash. Drivers are risking their lives.”
Sanchez said F1 will continue to grow in popularity because of its novelty.
“More people will get into it… because of new people coming in and starting their own legacy in the sport,” Sanchez said. “With that and other factors combined, it’s definitely going to keep growing.”
