Welcome to the Formula 1 Content Gold Rush - By Alrika Möller

Written By: Alrika Möller

Category: Essay

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Alrika Möller presents an insightful essay titled "Welcome to the Formula 1 Content Gold Rush" for the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Delving into the world of Formula 1, Möller explores how the proliferation of content has transformed both the sport and its fanbase. Her work captures the dynamic relationship between content creation and fan engagement, offering a lens through which to understand the rapid evolution of this global phenomenon.

About the Work

Möller's essay offers a detailed examination of the evolution of Formula 1 content and its impact on fans. Through an engaging narrative, she weaves together data from fan surveys, social media trends, and personal anecdotes to showcase the sport's transition into a content-driven industry. Her exploration highlights the shift in fan dynamics, revealing a landscape where content is king and engagement is paramount.

Welcome to the Formula 1 Content Gold Rush

Original Submission by Alrika Möller

Welcome to the Formula 1 Content Gold Rush

How F1 content changed the game and the fanbase

Written by Alrika Möller

Recently, a few family members told me that my love for Formula 1 is slightly obsessive (I added the slightly). Where this obsession sits on the spectrum from healthy to very worrying is up for debate. This conversation, however, caused me to do what I do best: overthink and spiral. You see, I have other F1 fans in my family, and few have been fans for much longer than I have. So why am I so obsessed?

This question was idling in my brain for a while until I finally figured it out. I went on Instagram for my usual late afternoon doom scroll and was not at all surprised that my feed was mostly Formula 1-related. Scrolling through the plethora of content and posts, I realised two things: 1, I might be obsessed, but I am not nearly as obsessed as some of the people online, and 2, the overwhelming amount of Formula 1 content available is what gives my love of the sport the DRS it requires to drive straight into obsession.

I have identified the cause, so you would think I can move on; after all, this is clearly not my fault. I wish. With the way my brain works, I couldn’t stop there; I had to know more. When did this start? How many people experience the same thing? How has this affected the sport? I have never been able to do anything in a chill way, so I started digging.

I went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole and found the F1 Global Fan Survey. These surveys are completed every four years with over 100,000 fans participating all over the world. I looked at the results from the Global Fan Surveys of 2017, 2021, and 2025, but I am only focusing on results that are important for my digging mission.

We are starting with 2017.

A whopping 26% of the participants were under the age of 25, and only 10% of the participants were women.

A further read of the results shows that TV and F1 websites are most people’s main sources of F1 information and content. Social media and streaming were rising in popularity, but were not nearly as popular as they are now.

Fan support for drivers specifically, instead of teams, was increasing slightly, with Lewis Hamilton being crowned as the fan favourite.

Now we fast-forward to 2021.

It is important to remember that the 2020 and 2021 seasons were dominated by this little thing called a global pandemic.

The results show that 34% of fans were under the age of 24. The number of female participants grew to 18.3%.

The survey also had a few other interesting tidbits, with 34% of the participants having only been following the sport for five years or less.

TV and F1 websites were still most people’s go-to F1 content source, especially those who are 35 and over. That being said, TV viewing severely declined amongst fans, and social media was climbing the popularity ladder quickly, with Twitter and Instagram getting special shoutouts for being big with the 16-24-year-old crowd, and streaming joining the chat in a big way.

Last but not least, we look at the survey for 2025.

The numbers look as follows: 27% of the participants were Gen Z, and half of those were women; that is pretty noteworthy if you ask me. The 2025 survey also had a big increase in female participants, with 25% of the people who completed the survey being women.

This time around, the survey results actually had a whole section for content and engagement, which means I am clearly onto something here. The survey shows that 61% of F1 fans engage with F1 content daily; that would be me. If you are in the F1 content business, you probably find those numbers simply lovely.

Clearly, the fandom is changing, and 58% of global respondents say they are very emotionally invested.

This was fun, looking at the numbers and the timeline, but what does that have to do with the F1 Content Gold Rush, as I like to call it? Well, the way I look at it, the fandom and the content are clearly linked. The fans influence the type and amount of content produced, and the content produced has an influence on who ends up being fans and how they practice their fandom.

We know how the fanbase has grown, the demographics have changed, and the level of investment has increased. Now we can dig into how and why this happened by looking at the many, many, many different forms of F1 content out there and how the fans choose to interact with it. Spoiler: it is not very chill.

Okay, let’s roll back 10 years to 2016, when social media was really popping off all over the world, but in Formula 1 they used it quite minimally, and the FIA had strict rules on the filming of content in the paddock. That being said, they did realise it was time to join the social craze and give us a little more, and so Grill The Grid was born.

For those who don’t know what Grill The Grid is, you are severely missing out. Grill The Grid is a series of videos of the F1 drivers competing in quizzes and challenges to crown a Grill The Grid

Champion every year. The videos typically get released during the summer break to keep fans like myself fed with F1 content at a time when we don’t have any races.

Over the years, the challenges and videos have gotten a lot more sophisticated; they even have a very official-looking trophy. The first-ever Grill the Grid videos almost looked like they were filmed in someone’s backyard, and if my calculations are correct, the average number of views on the 2016 Grill The Grid videos is 771,000, after having 10 years to grow those numbers. Now they have production value, and the average viewership for a 2026 Grill The Grid video is 2.025 million on YouTube. For many people, the original videos were the first time they got to see more about the drivers’ personalities and, as it turns out, they all have them, and they are not at all bad.

Since then, the use of social media has become more and more normal in Formula 1, and the rules around filming and posting in the paddock have become a lot more relaxed. The use of YouTube and Instagram increased bit by bit. There were a few F1-related podcasts coming up in the scene, but to be honest, podcasts have not popped off as much as they have in recent years, so the listeners were mostly devoted fans.

Then something big happened in 2019: Netflix released Formula 1: Drive to Survive. This really changed a lot for the sport. Netflix reached audiences that F1 had never reached before, and people got a lot more invested in the drivers themselves. Up until this point, the surveys and fan interaction in general showed that while there was a bit of an increase in support for drivers over teams, most fans supported a team first and driver second, and then came Drive to Survive.

If you thought that Grill The Grid showed us more about the drivers, Netflix went even further by giving us drama, intrigue, bromances, and insights into the people we were cheering on for so long. It was reported that over 1 million British households streamed the first season within the first 28 days of its release, and 288,286 US viewers in the first week. Those are some pretty decent numbers.

Let’s get one thing straight: Drive to Survive did not create the concept of fans falling in love with, and supporting, drivers rather than teams. We already saw the movement happening bit by bit in the 2017 survey. That being said, it did give the movement one crazy boost.

This was a big time for Formula 1, because a new generation of drivers entered the grid and brought with them new young fans and a new relationship with social media and content. Suddenly, they had all these young men who formed part of the social media generation. In his rookie year, Charles had between 1 and 2 million Instagram followers; now, as I am writing this, he has 24.2 million followers.

These drivers also popularised the trend of drivers having YouTube channels and doing vlogs about their training, race weeks, and other aspects of their lives. The most famous of these YouTube channels is Lando Norris’ Landologs, and Charles’ vlogs and racing shorts.

The effect that this group of drivers had on F1 content and the fanbase did not stop there; four of them are also, rather affectionately, referred to as the Twitch Quartet. George, Lando, Charles, and Alex streamed video games and hosted virtual races on Twitch during that little COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020 that we mentioned earlier. It was their funny interactions, interesting personalities, and general goofing around that drew in existing fans even more and pulled in a whole new fanbase as well. Once again, people fell in love with the drivers.

During this time period, it became clear that Formula 1 fans were eating up every bit of content about the drivers that they could. For anyone in a position to create, post, and monetise content about these guys, it was like owning a gold mine. So the teams themselves started posting more and more content answering that need. The tone of the content also changed over time, and we were blessed with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo wearing crop tops, Charles screaming at a blindfolded Carlos driving a simulator, and Lewis and George doing the hilarious Whisper Challenge.

These social media admins walked so that the current group could run, and now we have Max flexing his acting chops in a funny skit to announce his contract extension, thirst traps of George Russell taking a ‘shower’ after his race win in Baku, and Liam Lawson being ragebaited by the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls social admin team. Each team has its own style of content and its own aesthetic.

The teams used this as a way to increase their reach and build their brands, which has a direct impact on the team’s income through merchandise and the sponsorships available to them. Brands now want the F1 drivers to be the face of their campaign, and so they form a relationship with the team. The 2025 Global Fan Survey even showed that the newer fans, especially the younger and female fans, have actual commercial value and are more inclined to purchase from F1 partners and sponsors. It is not at all surprising then that we keep seeing F1 drivers with brand collaborations and ad campaigns.

Everyone is taking up a shovel to dig for gold during this Gold Rush, but what they are actually digging for is attention.

Teams and brands are not the only ones fighting it out for fan attention. This whole boom in online content provided the slipstream for influencers on Instagram and TikTok to build entire brands and businesses, making videos and posts about Formula 1, often earning paddock invites and the opportunity to meet the drivers they are posting about. I am not jealous at all. For many of these influencers watching F1, attending races and then posting about it is their entire job and source of income.

At the same time, the number of F1-related podcasts is growing, with something for everyone, from educational podcasts and race analysis to funny discussions and people just dishing the behind-the-scenes drama and possibly drivers’ dating lives. I have tried my best to find exact numbers, but neither Apple nor Spotify publishes their exact totals. That being said, Feedspot

did publish their list of the 100 Best F1 podcasts, implying there are a lot more than that. I, for one, stopped counting at 150. Don’t judge.

On top of all the various types of content I discussed (and I haven’t even mentioned the F1 movie), the classic that is written content not only kept its place in the Gold Mine, but evolved with the times. There are so many online publications that either focus on F1 exclusively, motorsport as an industry, or sport as a whole, and all of these are constantly pushing out F1 content.

They give us updates, report the various newsworthy moments, and let us know what the drivers said during media day. My Google notifies me of an F1 article at least once every hour. That is a lot of articles, and a lot of articles mean there is a whole industry of people and businesses being sustained by one thing: writing about Formula 1.

All of this has resulted in fans getting involved in ways I don’t think anyone ever dreamt of. If you are an F1 fan in any way, shape, or form, you probably know what I am talking about when I mention the fan edits. There are so many edits. We have thirst edits of drivers and overtakes, fan edits of drivers and teams, edits of teammates, friendships, and other relationships.

Basically, if a driver looks good, does something cool, or interacts with another driver at all, it will feature in an edit somewhere. And if they do something funny, best believe it will become a meme.

The fan-created content does not end there; there is a whole world of F1 fanfiction that, in all honesty, should probably not be seen by the drivers themselves. I don’t know if they would be flattered, horrified, or intrigued, but it is better if we never find out. That being said, the creativity, time, and work that go into creating these pieces are amazing.

This brand of fan-created content does not exactly offer an opportunity for monetisation, but it still adds to the amount of content available out there, and the more content the fans come in contact with, the more content they crave, creating more opportunities for the teams, influencers, and more official sources.

I have seen countless posts and videos on TikTok and Instagram about how someone discovered Formula 1 through a fan edit or a fanfiction, and now they are a fully fledged fan who is engaging with paid content and purchasing merchandise.

It is clear that F1 content truly is going through a Gold Rush, with everyone wanting a piece of the pie. McLaren and Gemini saw a chance to utilise the insatiable nature of F1 fans for marketing purposes and brand value by releasing a three-part YouTube docuseries about the process of preparing for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in 70 days.

Even the official Atlassian Williams F1 Team has its own podcast called Team Torque to build brand visibility and engagement. It is a pretty good listen, and Alex Albon, if you ever get tired of

racing, you can have a real future in podcasts and commentating. We eat it all up, and then we ask for more.

Teams are not the only ones hoping to strike gold; drivers want in on the action as well. Max worked with Disney Plus and ESPN to do the Max vs 100, which utilised many F1 podcasters, content creators and influencers, increasing the reach and amount of content related to the event. Lando Norris also announced the creation of his Prime Video docuseries, premiering in 2027.

So far, I've taken you through how the fanbase changed and grew over the years and how F1 content changed and increased alongside it. What we haven’t talked about yet is how the relationship that fans have with the sport and content evolved.

Where a great deal of F1 content originally focused on the sport and the teams, a massive portion is now focusing on the drivers and who they are outside of their cars, teams, and sport. Fans now feel as though they know the driver personally. They have knowledge about the personal lives, hobbies, interests, and even their families, as if they are people they know personally, and they experience every win, loss, or moment as if it happened to a close personal friend. This adds a whole new aspect to the Formula 1 fan experience. Fans are becoming incredibly passionate and parasocial.

When Max beat Lewis for the Drivers’ Championship in 2021, the reactions online were a mixture of memes, celebrations, funny posts, people voicing their anger, and people making actual threats towards the FIA.

In 2025, McLaren drivers Lando and Oscar were fighting it out for the top spot and ‘Papaya Rules’ were ringing in everyone’s ears. At this time, fans of the drivers often ended up in online arguments or leaving angry comments on the team pages when their favourite didn’t win or podium, even though they were all, theoretically, supporting the same team.

And so far in 2026, things have gotten interesting in the fanbase. Fans have voiced their frustrations with Mercedes’ strategies and treatment of George Russell with so much vigour in the comments, causing fans to call it ‘damage control’ every time the team posted George on their socials, and Toto felt the need to address the situation when speaking to Sky Sports F1.

Alpine found themselves in tricky situations with online commentators multiple times, with people making death threats towards Pierre Gasly after one race and Franco Colapinto causing a three-car crash in Baku the next. After Lando Norris said things he later regretted in an interview, fans reacted quickly with threats towards Franco, Lando and Pierre. Alpine ultimately released a statement regarding online conduct, and Lando had to let the world know that he did, in fact, apologise to Franco.

It might seem as though I am calling for the red flag to be waved when it comes to F1 content. Surprisingly, I am not.

Yes, fans are indeed becoming more and more invested and parasocial due to the vast amount of driver-related content. And yes, this can result in parasocial activity and concerning online behaviour, making me think we might need to send out the content safety car every once in a while. But it also creates the space for fans to live out their love of the sport, teams, and drivers in creative ways through editing, writing, and art. It creates an industry where people can turn their love for the sport into a brand, business, and income.

It doesn’t seem as though the Gold Rush is ending any time soon. Which works for me, since me writing this is actively contributing to the large quantities of content out there.

When I look at the data from the Fan Surveys and the content over the years, I can see exactly where I fit into this community. I love being an F1 fan and a Formula 1 content consumer. I am not planning on stopping any time soon, even if my family thinks I might be obsessed.

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026, hosted by Hashtag Kalakar, is a prestigious platform celebrating the diverse voices of writers worldwide. It provides an opportunity for participants to showcase their literary talents across categories such as poetry, short stories, essays, and creative writing. This competition is a celebration of creativity and expression, inviting writers to share their unique perspectives on a global stage.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Alrika Möller for her contribution to the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 with her essay, "Welcome to the Formula 1 Content Gold Rush." Her insightful analysis of the evolving landscape of Formula 1 content offers readers a unique perspective on the sport's cultural impact. We appreciate her participation and look forward to her future endeavors in the world of creative writing.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.