A thriving formula

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (right), a young and aggressive Dutch driver, won the 2021 Formula One World Champion, beating the seven-time world champion Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton; (right) Formula 2 player Jehan Daruvala hopes to enter F1 next year. Pic courtesy/Prema Racing

The season finale of Formula 1 last year in Abu Dhabi drew 108.7 million viewers, clocking a 29 per cent rise in viewership from 2020, according to annual audience figures released by Formula 1. Sports channel ESPN's ratings averaged 9,28,000 viewers per race in 2021 compared to 5,47,000 in 2018. It was a race that would decide the championship winner, pitting Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, current champion, seven-time winner and one of the greatest to ever sit in a Formula 1 race car, against Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, a young, aggressive Dutch driver. It was a race that Verstappen won, after Hamilton had been leading all along. An upset for many, a fortunate occurrence for some. But a thrill for everyone watching.

"I watched the championship finale in Abu Dhabi live on television. The overtaking part is better when you watch it live since it is unpredictable," shares Zash Ferro, 15, adding, "It is the speed that makes it interesting, even half a second matters." Ferro's favourite driver is Verstappen. "He is a rebel. His passion and the fact that he can do anything to win is captivating. At times, he exceeds the track limit to overtake… he does get a penalty for it, but that's okay."

The season finale of Formula One last year in Abu Dhabi drew 108.7 million viewers, clocking a rise of over 29 per cent from the same race in 2020. Pics/Getty Images

A student of Class X, he credits the Netflix show Drive To Survive for getting him hooked to the sport. The series, which began streaming in 2019, has released four seasons so far, each documenting the previous season in all its glory - the action as well as the drama - while also presenting the humane side of the sport. Ferro loves the sport so much that he ended up binge watching Season 4 in two days after it dropped on Netflix last month. "I watched it just days before my board exams," shares Ferro, whose favourite episode is Man on Fire from Season 3. "The episode where Romain Grosjean [Swiss-French driver for Lotus] crashed and survived is my favourite," he adds.

Ferro's craze for the sport is shared by Mumbai-based sisters Stacey, 26, and Mandy Christabelle D'mello, 23. While Stacey, who is a self-proclaimed Ferrari fan, roots for its drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, Mandy's favourite is Verstappen. "He dethroned the dominance of Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes Team through hard-fought racing and intelligent driving," Mandy reasons.

Abhishek Takle, motorsport journalist

The Netflix effect has brought in many new fans, and raised the profile of the sports to such an extent that it is visible in the number of sponsors coming into the sport, shares motorsport journalist Abhishek Takle. "The interest has grown significantly. In fact, the F1 CEO has also said that they have enough interest from countries and venues wanting to host F1 to put on 30 races, which is phenomenal considering where Formula 1 was only a few years ago," he says, adding that last year, one of his neighbours called over friends and did a live screening of the race at his garage in Dattaguru Society, Govandi. "The kids in my colony call themselves Hamilton and Verstappen as they race their bicycles. I had never seen this happen before. Growing up, I was the only one in my social circle who was fascinated with motoracing."

Content creator and ardent Formula 1 watcher Scherezade Shroff, 35, says that the show highlights the human side of the drivers, who are otherwise covered top-to-bottom in gears and fireproof costume. "[Through the show] you learn about every driver on the grid and not just the ones at the front. You see the behind-the-scenes video, the victories as well as failures, which you wouldn't see otherwise. There is a lot more drama now, which is new even for seasoned fans and acts as a crowd-puller for those who weren't into the sports earlier. Even when it comes to the live event, it is dynamic and offers much more than just two hours of a race - there is music, food, etc, which means everybody can enjoy the weekend," she says.

Formula 1 fans Stacey and Mandy Christabelle D'mello

But can Netflix alone get the credit for the same? There could be other reasons as well. There once existed Force India, founded by businessman Vijay Mallya in 2007, which gave Indians something to cheer for. There was also 2011, when fans from all over the country flocked to Delhi's Buddh International Circuit to watch the racers fight it out, before the race was scrapped in 2013, due to a tax dispute with the Uttar Pradesh government. Then came movies like the Asif Kapadia-directed documentary Senna (2010), depicting the life and death of Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna, and Rush (2013), made by Ron Howard, starring Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt, which had the audiences captivated by the racers' seemingly sexy life.

Scherezade Shroff with her father attending the Indian Grand Prix, a Formula 1 race that was held at the Buddh International Circuit, UP

While all this could have a massive role, especially in pulling the younger audience, admits Takle, he credits the last championship and the recent change in rules, which he feels have made the system more financially equitable. "Up until last year, Hamilton and Mercedes had dominated F1. While their success was unprecedented, it also turned a lot of people off because one team and one driver were winning them all [Mercedes won every championship since 2014, Hamilton won all championships except one since 2014]. Last year, Red Bull and Verstappen emerged as challengers to Mercedes and Hamilton and this made the battle more exciting. Plus, the fact that Verstappen belongs to the younger generation while Hamilton, 37, comes from the older generation made it a battle of generations. Adding fuel to this fire was the way the championship played out - there were 22 races and they both entered the finale absolutely even on points, making it nail-biting," explains Takle, adding that FIA has brought new rules in place, including budget cap - it is $140 million for 2022 and set to reduce to $135 million in 2023 - levelling the playing field.

Zash Ferro, 15, binge-watched Season 4 of Netflix's Drive to Survive days before his Class X board exams. Pic/Nimesh Dave

"The prize distribution money has also been revised in a manner that while the winning team will get more money than the team placed second, the gap has been reduced. This, together with the budget cap, means the smaller teams can no longer be outspent to a large degree by the big teams, thus making the business of owning an F1 team a lot more sustainable."

Mumbai resident Jehan Daruvala, 23, is currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Prema Racing. "F1 has definitely got a new fan base over the last few years and so has Formula 2 with Star Sports broadcasting it on television in India this year along with their regular Formula 1 coverage," feels Daruvala, adding that he hopes people aren't only watching the sport, but also hoping to pursue it. Daruvala started karting when he was barely 10 and continued in India, Asia and parts of Europe before he entered Formula Renault (entry-level series to motor racing) at the age of 16. Currently, he is participating in his third and last season of F2 and hopes to enter Formula 1 next year. Talking about the challenges, he says, "Unfortunately, because it's not big in India, you have to sacrifice a lot when it comes to family and friends. I am someone who likes to spend time at home but I had to move to a boarding school in the UK when I was just 13. That was tough. But I'm not going to complain, I'm living my dream and it's definitely what I wanted to do and what I enjoy doing the most."