The Decreasing Attractiveness of F1

There is no doubt that over the years, and since quite some time now, F1 has lost a considerable number of viewers. We are here to discuss as to why this is happening.

To the question “Is F1 dying?” the answer would be no, but the instances owning F1 need to be careful and change the trend we are seeing. F1 has lost many viewers since 2008 due to several reasons. Main ones are:

• The Pay-TV switch (probably the most important reason).
• Too many races, and often a driver winning the title way before the last race.
• A dominating team making races predictable like Red Bull from 2010 to 2013 or Mercedes since 2014.
• Quieter engines which produce less sound.
• Less exciting race tracks for safety reasons.
• Leaving some known venues in established countries (like Imola) in order to follow the money and go race in Abu Dabi.
• Pay drivers like Perez or Stroll who are on the rise and not the fan favourites.
• Young people turning to other means to watch F1. Maybe with illegal streaming sites.

In Europe, the sport is losing traction while in the targeted new countries the rise in viewership has not been as expected. Race tracks like the South Korean Grand Prix or Indian Grand Prix have been cancelled a few years after their creation. F1 also never truly went massive in the big market that are the US.

So let’s start. How has interest in F1 evolved over time?

Evolution of Interest & Viewership

First, we need to explain the difference between cumulative audience measurements and unique viewers.

Before 2004, F1 used cumulative viewership measurements in order to track the popularity of the sport. With this method, if one person watches 2 different races he is counted as 2 separate viewers. This method gave advantageous results and sometimes absurd ones such as the claim that F1 was watched by 58 Billion people in 1999.

In 2004, the measurement system was changed to a unique viewer metric. A person who would watch at least 15 minutes of a race would be counted as a single viewer over the course of the season no matter how many races or events he would have watched. F1 then shortened these 15 minutes needed to be counted as a unique viewer to only 3 minutes in 2018 which is certainly bringing an advantage as far as the number of viewers is concerned. We will come back to this in a minute.

So what are the figures saying? Let’s start with the internet presence of the sport. Here is the Google Trends result on the Formula 1 keyword from 2008 to now:

The Google Trends analysis shows that from 2008 to 2016 the decline in internet searches for the F1 word has been constant with a diminution of nearly 40%. Since 2016 however, things got back up and met their 2014 level.

Regarding now the TV viewership, according to many well-established sites such as Forbes, in 2016 F1 had lost 30% of its total viewership compared to 2008. This matches the data obtained from Google Trends.

Following this sharp decline, Formula One Management took measures in order to increase viewership. In this article of the official F1 site, it is stated that the viewership figures both on TV and digital platforms have increased for 3 years in a row now. This is also consistent with the Google Trends analysis.

However, from 2018 to 2019 there was a diminution in unique viewers of 20 million according to the same article. This bearing in mind the fact that in 2018 Formula One Management diminished the minimum watch time needed to be counted as a viewer.

In short, after a sharp decline from 2008 to 2016, the situation got a bit better from 2016 to 2019. But even then, F1 is losing viewers and with the change in the counting method, the situation might be worse than it is presented.

We are not even considering the fact that we are talking here about the absolute number of people. The situation is worse if we take into account the increasing global population and global market share by percentage.

So Why Is F1 Struggling?

The Switch To Pay-TV

This is the main factor for most. Back in days, when it was free one could stumble upon a race on TV and be hooked in. But things are not that simple as with new means of entertainment such as Youtube, social media, video games, etc, youngsters are not watching TV as much as their parents. Switching to pay-TV had certainly and influence but this is need to be put in perspective.

Furthermore, a lot of countries were F1 is trying to enter were not previously broadcasting races for free. The loss of viewers due to the pay-TV switch has mostly affected the 30+ years old living in western Europe.

Unexciting Races

Some say that since 2010 F1 has lost its thrill. Between 2010 and 2013 Red Bull won all titles. Red Bull won 41 races of the 76 that were held these years. They were absolutely dominant in 2010 where they won 12 races out of 19 and in 2013 were they won 13 out of 19.

Things did not improve as with the engine regulations change in 2014, Mercedes took Red Bull’s mantle as the most dominant team in F1. They won all the titles since. The only thrill we had was in 2016 when Rosberg won the title ahead of Hamilton by a 5 point margin. Mercedes won 49 races out of 57 between 2014 and 2016 which is an astonishing performance. It came to such an extent that we already know before the start of the season who is going to win it all. Obviously, this does not help the sport’s attractiveness as it has become unexciting.

Too Many Races Per Season

During the 50s, an F1 season had only 8 races it gradually increased after. In 2007, there were 17 races. Today, there are 21 races per season. Besides the 2016 season, all past seasons have been decided before the final race. This diminishes the interest for the last races of each season. In short, the higher the number of races, the less attractive and more common each event is.

New F1 Engines

New F1 hybrid engines introduced in 2014 are incredible pieces of technology. According to fans, however, these new engines do not sound like the “old school” F1 engines. Pre-2014 engines were producing 145 decibels of sound. The new V6 1.6L hybrid engines are producing 134 decibels. Since the unit is logarithmic, this is actually quite a steep decline in sound. According to Sky Sports F1, Bernie Ecclestone was “horrified” by the lack of sound when the engines were first introduced during the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

Slower Cars

Between 2005 and 2015, lap times were increasing. Take for instance the Italian Grand Prix. In 2005 the fastest lap was 1:21.504 whereas in 2015 the fastest lap was 1:25.340. This was mainly due to the ban on refuelling during races and to the strict rules on embarked fuel quantity and tyre management. This rules kept drivers from using cars to the best of their capabilities.

However, since 2016 lap times started diminishing again. During last year’s Italian Grand Prix the fastest lap finally joined 2005’s level with a fastest lap of 1:21.779 set by Lewis Hamilton. Since 2016, hybrid engines have become so powerful that they started to counter-effect the impact of the above mentioned rules.

Obviously, with fastest cars F1 races are more impressive to watch. The increase in speed since 2016 matches the data shown above where we see that F1’s popularity is improving since this increase.

Safer Race Tracks

It might be a surprise to see this point here as obviously FOM and FIA are right to work on safety. The problem is that one of the approaches in improving safety in the sport is to make race tracks safer by changing high-speed curves which tends to slow down cars and make races less exciting.

Unsuccesful New Races

In order to counteract the declining viewership figures, Formula One Management is trying to enter new markets by adding new races located in the targeted countries to the calendar.

Some of these initiatives have dramatically failed. To name a few: the Indian Grand Prix that was held from 2011 to 2013, the Korean Grand Prix that was held from 2010 to 2013, the return of the Malaysian Grand Prix from 2011 to 2017, etc

Not only did some new races failed but in order to add a race, often an old race from the calendar had to be removed affecting F1’s following in already established countries.

Illegal Streaming

With the multiplication of free illegal live feeds on the internet, one does not need to pay to watch F1 if willing to go on these sites. The viewership figures of these illegal sites are not taken into account by FOM to measure F1’s popularity.

Pay Drivers

Lastly, let’s discuss about pay drivers. F1 refers to itself as the pinnacle of motorsports. It can be frustrating to watch pay drivers get a job in F1 only because of their money and not their skills.

Not only does it endangers the show by putting not so talented drivers in races, but it can be also frustrating for the average middle-class fan. In recent years, there were terrible pay drivers involved in F1. No one can forget Pastor Maldonado and his antics for example.

F1 is losing traction mainly due to the reasons above although things are a little better since 2016. F1 is not only trying to be as popular as it once was but also to enter promising new markets where, for sponsorship reasons, viewers need to have a high purchasing power.

In that regard, there is a strategic country with wich F1 has had a love and hate relationship. F1 tried for years to enter the American market without really succeeding.

A Case Study: Why is Formula One Not So Popular in the US?

Lack of American Drivers and Teams

Since 2016, Haas is participating in F1. Before Haas, previous American teams competing in F1 were found in the 70s. That is almost 50 years of non-american presence. On the driver’s front, it is not better. In almost 30 years, there were only 2 American drivers in F1. Scott Speed in 2006 and 2007 for Torro Rosso and Michael Andretti in 1993 for McLaren.

In F1’s history, only 2 American drivers ever won the title. Mario Andretti in 1976 and Phil Hill in 1961. No American team has ever won the Constructor’s Championship.

Racing in F1 for an Americal is difficult. In order to do so, one needs to have the funds to compete in lower racing categories in Europe during his teenage years. This is extremely difficult and requires lots of money.

The scarcity of Americans teams and drivers in F1 is impacting negatively F1’s influence in the US.

Complicated Logistics

This one is very simple to understand. When a race occurs in Europe or in Asia, a guy in America needs to wake up at 5 am to watch the live event. That is unfortunately inevitable. Races are held in such a way that they advantage the European viewer.

According to Peter Habricht, who is the founder of Formula One’s largest fan group in America:

“We have a difficult time following a lot of the European races because they go on at about five in the morning, so it’s a challenging proposition to get a group together, usually at a sports bar, to watch a live start of a race”

The 2005 US Grand Prix Debacle

This Grand Prix is one of the most controversial in the history of the sport and left a bad image of F1 among the American fanbase.

During that race, after the parade lap, all cars using Michelin tyres went back to the pits and didn’t participate in the race due to safety concerns. A race with 20 cars suddenly became a race with only 6 cars. Fans were obviously furious.

Following several tyre failures during the practice sessions held before the race, Michelin realized that their tyres were not properly designed to withstand turn 13 without a speed reduction. Since the FIA did not want to reduce speed in turn 13 in order not to penalize teams that weren’t using Michelin tyres, all Michellin shod cars were forced to retire from the race.

After the event, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said that the future of F1 in the US “does not look good”. David Coulthard, the former driver, said: “It throws into doubt the future of F1 in the US”.

A Ray of Hope

Besides all the laid out points, things can improve for F1 in the US. In fact, F1 has been bought in 2018 by Liberty Media, an American company, for $4.4 billion. With an American company holding the reigns, F1 should have more luck conquering the American market.