The last weekend in April marked the first and highly anticipated F1 Academy race. Formula 1’s official social media accounts, major news publications and big-name presenter personalities generated buzz around the female racing series.
However, simply switching the channel or tuning into F1TV come race day wasn’t possible. Fans were either one of the lucky few watching from the grandstands in sunny Spielberg, or the waiting game began.
A quick highlight reel 24 hours post-race may have sufficed, but watching the real thing likened to a delivery service, requiring a lengthy three-to-five-day wait.
While the seven races are spread apart, with weeks spanning between one race to the next, seasoned motorsport fans know the importance of timeliness. In the case of this year’s F1 calendar, Monaco’s electrifying race was long forgotten mere days later in the swirl of social media teasers, new circuit analyses and pre-race ‘what you need to know’ articles ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
As the action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya already hangs in the back of a collective memory, fans look to the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. By next Wednesday, most supporters won’t be talking about the race, despite it occurring a brief three days prior.
The breathing room between races is cramped. With short attention spans and an even shorter capacity for consuming the flurry of motorsport content pre- and post-race, viewers move on quickly.
This poses an issue, or rather several, for the new racing series. From guardrail sponsors to motorsport’s future faces, minimal screen time doesn’t just disappoint, it costs. With black screens comes blank checks.
May wrapped up the first stint of the F1 Academy season. With three of seven race weekends complete, the new racing series is, simply, good.
As five different winners took the top step over eight races, the rest of the season is sure to excite.
So why is the hum of that excitement, echoing from one media outlet to the next, now distant?
From devoted F1 Academy viewers to newbies curious about the women’s series, there’s a fanbase. However, the lack of live on-track action has serious implications for the longevity of the series and keeping those watching engaged.
While watching races after they have aired has its benefits—pausing and pressing play, then rewinding only to do it all over again—there’s a human element missing. Watching a live race tickles something, coming with the awareness that across the world or maybe, thrillingly, down the street there are real people driving at speeds unimaginable to most.
Reliability is also valuable. F1 viewers know wherever they are, race coverage can’t be far—whether tuning into the race come Sunday on Sky Sports, F1TV, ESPN or watching from their local bar.
The significance of televised races spills over into post-race content.
As the news cycle spins rapidly and social media churns out content, fans want to read about a race they’ve watched. Post-race coverage may tell readers stats, standings and spectacular scenes from race day, but spectators want to see Marta Garcia’s double overtake with their own two eyes, rather than in print.
Liberty Media, a media and communications company that owns SiriusXM and the Atlanta Braves MLB team, saw the need for and profit potential in consistency and accessibility.
In 2016, Liberty Media bought the commercial and media rights to Formula 1 for $4.4 billion with a clear vision for success. Seven years later, Forbes called the media group the “World’s Most Valuable Sports Empire.”
F1’s revenue rose 20% in 2022, achieving a staggering $2.5 billion. The steady climb in profits was partially due to media rights. With nearly 37% of revenue stemming from televised deals, there is a proven market and area for growth. Formula 1’s governing corporation, the Formula One Group, reached $381 million in media revenue just for the first fiscal quarter in 2023, according to Liberty Media.
The American market has been an important factor in achieving these figures. This year, the company signed off broadcasting rights for the Miami, Las Vegas, Canada, Mexico, Monaco and United States grands prix to ABC.
While there’s economic value in televised races and diversifying the sport, F1 doesn’t seem to connect the two.
The company cited infrastructure challenges that prevented them from airing F1 Academy races as they fail to align with F1, F2 and F3’s locations and schedules.
However, if a return on their £2.25 million investment in the women’s racing series is expected, a broadcasting rights deal seems necessary.
Live footage also plays a vital role in brand exposure and the effectiveness of sponsors.
From the iconic Marlboro logo stamped onto Ferrari’s rear wing to Rolex clocks acting as symbolic stopwatches, sponsorship is the blood pumping through the veins of motorsport; keeping it alive and relevant.
In an industry determined by minuscule margins and cosmic operating budgets, screen time is another number that determines the bottom line.
“Sponsors keep track of things like the number of minutes of television coverage your car received during a race and how many times a team sponsor was mentioned on the radio,” Eric Zimmerman, owner of Finish Line Motorsports Marketing, said in an article by Performance Racing Industry Magazine.
Without live coverage and a slimmer streaming audience than its counterparts, F1 Academy doesn’t have the influence other series do. Does Lando Norris’ McLaren, spinning with the Google Chrome emblem as tire rims, make viewers second guess clicking Safari or Firefox as their default internet browser? No one can say for sure, but when fans repeatedly see a brand advertised—especially by people and teams they admire—they’re more likely to add it to their cart or desktop.
The audience the new series brings in is small and at risk of shrinking.
The seven F1 Academy videos posted to the official Formula 1 YouTube account fail to compete with Formula 3 for views—the third series in the Formula family that is broadcast live and uploaded to F1TV in real-time. While Formula 2 and 3 race highlight videos peak at 654,000 views and 425,000 views respectively, F1 Academy hit a height of 302,000 views.
The W series, F1 Academy’s predecessor, made headlines after hitting a record-breaking one million viewers in the UK in 2022. The Silverstone race, claiming the title as the highest-viewed non-Formula 1 motorsport race since 2014, attributed the record to the nearly 713,000 Sky Sports and Channel 4 viewers.
F1 Academy isn’t making much history or headlines without broadcasting opportunities.
The fans are also noticing the lack of coverage and speaking out.
On the 2023 Valencia race recap video, one user commented “Big fan of the idea of the series, but everything seems like an afterthought. I know this isn’t F1 and doesn’t generate anywhere near the same amount of revenue for liberty [Liberty Media], but if you’re gonna go to the effort of posting about this series on socials, creating highlights, getting Harry [Harry Benjamin] in for comms then why can’t we watch it live?”
The comment sections continue to flood with pleas for live coverage.
The exasperation is understandable. As headlines report women’s sports falling short in coverage, broadcasting minutes and viewership compared to men’s, access to live matches, games and races remains negligible. In a 30-year joint study by the University of Southern California and Purdue, 80% of the sampled channels set aside no time for highlights, debriefs or live women’s sports content.
In 2022, Forbes reported that viewership had begun to increase as coverage did. With a record-breaking year, the NCAA saw a 20% increase in Final Four coverage from the previous year and the title game soared up 18% percent from 2021 as well, making it the top-viewed championship game since 2004. The broadcasting rights deals with sports confederations and media powerhouses like ESPN, CBS, and Desser Sports Media paved the way for increased popularity.
The demand is there as F1 fans see the rarity that is F1 Academy, with a diverse range of pole sitters and a fresh format—including a reverse grid. There’s just no supply to see the action.
As F1’s comments show, spectators aren’t the issue, screen time is.
The launch of Discover Your Drive, a global initiative to increase the female driving talent pool and Hello Sunshine’s docu-series on F1 Academy are monumental steps toward a woman standing on the top podium step in F1. However, the news is tainted by a sense of being out of the loop. The brief seven race weekends with long stints in between and the delay in live coverage means constant catching up, always feeling like yesterday’s news.
Susie Wolff, former racer and current F1 Academy managing director, expressed the need for role models in racing so young girls can envision themselves in a race car. Her words ring true for screen time as well.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t believe it,” Wolff said.
This is a really good look at the realities of F1 Academy's current situation. I just cannot believe it's not broadcast live, or even just uploaded onto F1TV! It seems like a huge waste :(