Formula 1 has transformed from an exclusive motorsport into a global entertainment phenomenon. Michael Gietzen explores how live experiential marketing, multi-channel engagement, and storytelling turned F1 into a brand powerhouse.
As I sat down to watch Lando Norris clinch his first World Championship, I couldn’t help reflecting on how the sport around him has changed so much in recent years. For decades, Formula 1 was a purist’s sport; an exclusive club for die-hard motorsport fans who understood tyre strategies, fuel loads, and the subtle art of DRS activation (or overtaking boosts if you go back to the 1980s). The championship dictated where it wanted to go, and if a country wanted to host a race, great. If not, no problem. The sport carried on, largely unchanged, a world unto itself.
Then came Bernie Ecclestone. Love him or loathe him, he flipped the business model on its head. Suddenly, F1 wasn’t just about racing, it was about selling racing.
Countries weren’t just granted races; they bid for them, recognising the transformational power a Grand Prix could have on their global image, tourism, and economy. F1 stopped being just a championship. It became a spectacle.
But even that wasn’t enough. Because until a few years ago, Formula 1 had barely scratched the surface of what it could be.
From niche to mainstream: the Liberty effect
For all its business success, F1 still had a problem: it wasn’t growing fast enough. While other sports were evolving into multi-platform entertainment brands, Formula 1 still didn’t even have official social media channels, or not ones that were effective at least. The old guard believed that keeping things locked down would maintain the sport’s exclusivity. The result? A younger generation had no way in.
Then, in 2017, Liberty Media took over. And everything changed.
F1 wasn’t just a motorsport anymore, it became a story. Instead of relying on race-day excitement alone, Liberty Media turned F1 into an all-year-round, multi-channel brand. It invested in content, giving fans behind-the-scenes access and making drivers into personalities. The once-closed paddock doors were thrown open.
And then came Drive to Survive.
Netflix’s documentary series turned F1 into must-watch TV, reaching an entirely new audience who didn’t even know they liked motorsport. It didn’t just highlight the racing; it dramatised the rivalries, the politics, the pressure. F1 stopped being just a sport, it became an entertainment product.
The result? An explosion in global popularity, particularly in the one market it had never truly cracked: America.
The power of live experiential marketing
Today, F1 is a masterclass in multi-channel engagement. Fans don’t just watch the races; they interact with them in real time through live data feeds, mid-race team radio broadcasts, and on-the-ground fan zones at Grand Prix weekends. Social media isn’t just a side project, it’s integral to the experience, with drivers, teams, and the sport itself constantly feeding fans with content.
This is the power of live experiential marketing. F1 isn’t just a sport you watch on a Sunday; it’s an immersive, 365-day brand experience. Cities now fight for the right to host races, knowing they’re not just bringing in motorsport, they’re bringing in a global event. Las Vegas built an entire street circuit from scratch to secure its spot. That’s how valuable an F1 experience has become.
What brands can learn
F1’s transformation is a lesson for any brand. It’s not enough to have a great product, you need to create an experience around it. You need storytelling, access, and engagement across multiple touchpoints. And most importantly, you need to evolve with your audience.
Because if a 75-year-old motorsport can reinvent itself and take over America, imagine what the right experiential strategy could do for your brand.
And that’s what made watching Lando Norris clinch his first World Championship so special. Thanks to Drive to Survive, we didn’t just see a driver cross the line; we knew Lando. We’d seen his struggles, his humour, his determination. We’d felt the pressure alongside him. And when he finally won, we felt it too. That’s the power of storytelling and immersive engagement: it turns spectators into participants, and moments into shared experiences.
Brands that can do the same – connect people to the human story behind the product – don’t just capture attention, they create lasting emotional impact.
