Walking into a new race weekend, it has become a common sight to see the fans show up in record-breaking numbers. The Netflix show, Drive To Survive is one of the core reasons for this major spurt in popularity.

As a result of the recent traction, most of the personnel operating in the F1 paddock have become a celebrity off track, and one popular name is the Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff.

He is the one who makes the crucial decisions for the team’s success and has led them to 8-constructor titles. The Austrian summarized how the show broadened the appeal of the sport further. He said “It is athletes in high-performance machines… it is about life and death, and on top of that we added Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” 

The docuseries has received a lot of backlash for staging fake rivalries. Consequently, drivers like Max Verstappen have even shown dissent by refusing to interview for the Netflix crew. Even though the Mercedes boss is in awe of the markets the show has opened up, he remains critical of the misrepresentation.

He said, “The problem is they will always position you in a way they want, so whatever you say, they will try to make you look reckless or trying to make you… whatever fits the story of the series. So I never really liked that. I prefer to just have a one-on-one interview with the person who would like to know me.”

Are Female Drivers Allowed to Compete in F1?

Earlier this year, Netflix renewed its contract for 2 more years with F1. Do you think that the streaming service needs to work upon the quality of the show it’s producing?

Mercedes Boss opines on how Netflix and Liberty Media changed F1

Wolff is not only in charge of the Silver Arrows but is also an avid investor in the company as he owns a third of the pie. He has majorly benefited from the recent growth as the value of Mercedes F1 has more than doubled since Liberty took over. The F1 owner, Liberty Media, brought in media-savvy reforms which translated into tens of millions of new supporters for the pinnacle of motorsport.

Trending

Liam Lawson’s Surprise Contract Clause Threatens Daniel Ricciardo’s RB Seat

April 24, 2024 11:15 AM EDT

F1 Rumor: Christian Horner and Wife Geri to Publicly Reveal All Details on Leaked Chat Scandal

April 22, 2024 04:10 PM EDT

Daniel Ricciardo To Be Replaced by Liam Lawson After Miami, F1 Pundit Dishes Out Harsh Verdict After Australian’s “Amateur Mistake”

April 17, 2024 11:14 AM EDT

Miami GP 2024: Max Verstappen Embraces the American Spirit With Helmet Design

April 23, 2024 06:15 PM EDT

Carlos Sainz Blames Charles Leclerc for Causing Fred Vasseur’s Painful Chinese GP Loss

April 21, 2024 12:23 PM EDT

Get instantly notified of the hottest F1 stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

The Mercedes CEO commented “In a way, we never accessed or excited the American audiences. Formula 1 is a niche sport – it’s a high-tech, high-income demographic, high-academic education.”

“I thought it must be easier to tap the audiences in the big cities, like New York, but we really never got there. Then Liberty took over, didn’t move the needle really. And then Netflix came, Covid came and people started to binge-watch. And then suddenly we have this huge momentum now in the US that nobody had expected.”

Watch This Story: How a Kitchen Rendezvous Prevented Lewis Hamilton-Toto Wolff “Divorce”

As things stand, each party is benefiting from the mutual agreement and the content that is created around the sport. How long do you think the Netflix show will continue to air and produce the F1 docuseries?