© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff reveals his feeling on Netflix’s hit docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’, adding that he’s “watching this – episode one, episode two – and I hate it”.
There’s no denying the impact Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ had on Formula 1’s popularity, especially among the younger demographic.
However, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff isn’t as in love with the show as a lot of worldwide viewers seem to be. In an interview with the Irish Independent, the Austrian described his first reaction to the series.
“I’m watching this – episode one, episode two – and I hate it,” Wolff said.
“I never wanted to have the camera in my face. We gradually grew into this. Suddenly you realise that it has become so big everywhere in the world with new audiences, younger audiences.
“It’s scary how much we let them in. You hate to see yourself in there. They create a spin to the narrative. They put scenes together that didn’t happen.
“I guess you’d say as an insider: ‘Well, that’s different than how it was’. But we’re creating entertainment, and that is a new dimension of entertainment.
“Bernie Ecclestone would say: ‘I’m not interested in the 15-35 [year olds] because they are not buying Rolexes from my sponsor!’
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“But obviously that has changed because, with social media, this is the demographic that’s driving the audiences, that’s driving the reach, and they are the future decision-makers.”
Wolff then talked about Formula 1’s increasing popularity in the world, especially the United States.
“Formula 1, from our perspective, always was a global sport – big in Europe, big in South America, big in Asia and in the Middle East.
“In a way, we never accessed or excited the American audiences. My theory, back in the day, was that it takes a long time for a sports league to establish itself in a country.
“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 U.S. that nobody had expected,” Mercedes’ team boss concluded.
