Monday, 18 May 2026

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How F1 became a global obsession

How F1 became a global obsession

How fandom drove F1's unprecedented popularity.

A photo shows Louis Hamilton waving at fans. Caption reads

Last year, Formula 1 brought in $3.9 billion in revenue, a 14 percent jump from 2024. Attendance is up, races are selling out, and the stands look different than they used to. Younger. Louder. More online. More American. More feminine. A lot of that starts with Drive to Survive on Netflix, but it doesn’t end there.

In this Trending Now episode, culture reporter Christianna Silva and producer Teodosia Dobriyanova explore how 2025 became F1's most successful year to date. And making fandom more accessible means that the motorsport could be democratized.