F1 keeping close eye on what rival series are doing with first of its kind event

Formula One personnel are closely monitoring another racing series this week as Formula E ventures into uncharted territory. Due to a gap in their race schedule, caused by the cancellation of a planned race in Thailand, the all-electric series FE is hosting an event aimed at introducing their sport to millions of new fans.

FE has enlisted the likes of former footballer Sergio Aguero, entrepreneur Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and actor Tom Felton to test drive their revolutionary Gen3 Evo race cars at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and share the experience with their followers in the inaugural ‘Evo Sessions’. The 11 celebrities or influencers participating have a combined social media following of approximately a quarter of a billion and will document their experiences on their own platforms, as well as collaborate with Formula E on future content.

YouTube’s most followed creator, Mr Beast, who has 370 million followers, is also present, creating his own content with Formula E cars. F1’s marketing team is keenly observing the event, curious about the potential impact of an influencer-led event on the growth of the sport.

“I think what’s been great is our friends within the Formula One world, when they’ve heard about it, they’ve always responded as real humans going, ‘oh my god, that’s so cool, I can’t wait to see how that plays out’,” says Ellie Norman, Formula E’s chief marketing officer.

“Despite the fact they work in the Formula One world, they love the fact that there’s something different happening and are just genuinely intrigued as to how it’s going to go, with it being social, digital, taking authentic voices and telling the story in a different way.”

The need for a fresh audience is more pressing for Formula E than any other racing series, given its rapid growth alongside the rise of electric technologies in vehicles. The goal is for celebrities and influencers – who have undergone six-week training camps – to demonstrate the difficulty of professional car racing and highlight the technological advancements of the cars.

Formula E is aiming for a new demographic, aware of the challenge in converting traditional F1 fans into supporters of the electric series. Jeff Dodds, Formula E’s CEO, says: “Formula One is 75 years old, IndyCar is almost 100 years old technically, and NASCAR 60-odd years old, so they don’t have the same challenge we have. They don’t have the challenge of trying to grow their audience from outside the core sport.

“Saying that, IndyCar was screaming about their viewership of the first race of St. Petersburg (Florida) this week, I think it was a 1.4million audience on FOX, which is amazing for them, big press release. Let’s remind ourselves we did double that for our race in Mexico on CBS.

“We have a different problem to them. They’re operating in a more traditional framework.

“One of the challenges, if this was Premier League football, people get to see those footballers for 90 minutes and get to look at their faces and their expressions.

“With racing, you don’t get that. The drivers have their helmets on for the duration of the race and the broadcast coverage is normally finished before the podium, before you get to see them without a helmet on. Building characters and personalities, showing the personality of drivers and building profiles is very difficult.

“We have to find ways of showcasing our drivers, and this is a great way. Take Cleo Abrams (tech content creator) and Sam Bird (Formula E driver), you’ll see a lot of them, helmet off, having fun, laughing, joking.”

This allows drivers to let loose and demonstrate their personality, which might otherwise be difficult in their sport: “It’s an opportunity for the drivers to express themselves and show their personalities in a way that’s very difficult to do in motorsport.”