Tips to convert your other half to be a Formula 1 fan

Formula 1 has seen unprecedented growth in recent times, but as a fan, you’re probably already aware.

According to a Nielsen Sports study reported in Forbes, F1 is the world’s most popular annual series reaching a total audience of 750 million, and women make up 41 per cent of the fan base. In Australia, 12 per cent of the population tunes in to watch every single race of the 24-race calendar. 

When I was newly married, I learned just how much my husband was into AFL, and not at all into motorsport (“they just go round and round”). I made it my mission to lure him into the world of Formula 1 to become fan, and I can say, mission completed. 

There was no other way – as a fan myself and as someone who once worked in F1, I was never going to live under the same roof and share one TV with someone who didn’t like the sport.

If you’re in the same boat, now is the perfect time to start your own mission. Season seven of Netflix’s Drive to Survive drops on March 7, and the Formula 1 season opener starts on March 14 with the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

This is what you need to do

Firstly, show them clips of any big crash. The crashes are the reason so many love the sport so much, it’s perilously exciting. 

For two hours every race, drivers are on a knife edge; a lapse concentration for a millisecond could mean their $20 million car ends up in a wall, and they end up in hospital or worse. 

Just a few short decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon for drivers to die in F1, which might sound morbid, but as a racing driver once told me, if F1 was without risks, if it was safe and easy, then no driver would want to do it, and consequently, no one would want to watch it. 

While showing your other half crash clips, add your own commentary: “Can you believe he just walked away from that?” or “that crash impact was more than 20G in force!” Verbalise just how miraculous Formula 1 can be.

Secondly, start watching or re-watching Drive to Survive on Netflix. The series is entertaining, even if a little pent up to create drama, but that’s why we love it. Well made with high production values, it give us fly-on-the-wall access to the secretive world of Formula 1, far beyond what happens on the track. 

The politics, the rivalries, the wealth and the glamour – and it’s not just the drivers. Red Bull Racing’s team boss Christian Horner is married to Ginger Spice. Before the series, fans would only have limited access to the behind-the-scenes happenings. In my case, and that too of my F1 podcast co-host, just having the tele on was enough to pique interest and grow the intrigue to be drawn into the fascinating world of F1. 

Drive to Survive is key to turning a non-F1 fan into a raving rev head. 

Thirdly, demonstrate the popularity of F1 and start creating FOMO. There’s nothing like the ‘fear of missing out’ to motivate someone to take an interest. 

Formula 1 is as rich, exclusive, prestigious, dangerous and exciting as it gets. No other sport attracts celebrities and the supremely wealthy like F1. 

F1 drivers are like rock stars – seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has 38.5 million followers on Instagram, compared to 11-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater who has 3.3 million, and Robbie Williams who has 3.2 million.

In 2024, Max Verstappen was paid $121 million, and Australian Oscar Piastri, in his second season of Formula 1, was paid $8 million plus $27.5 million in bonuses, and he’s just 23 years old. 

Since 2021, F1 has experienced annual growth of 5.7 per cent, which is about 50 million new fans.

Fourthly, chat to their family, friends and others in their sphere – there’s bound to be someone else who watches F1. This was another key turning point – when I could hold my own and discuss races, incidents, drivers and general F1 happenings with other men, my husband started to listen. And the FOMO was starting to set in.

Next, watch the races and insist that you need the main TV to watch the start. Explain how the first laps are the most exciting and that’s where the accidents are likely to happen, and then react to the close calls, get excited when the telemetry shows drivers reaching speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour, and the like. I’d suggest turning the TV on 45 minutes before to catch the grid walk, which is chaos for commentator Martin Brundle but fun to watch as he tries to interview celebrities on the grid moments before the car engines fire up to race.

Lastly, take them to a race. Entice them with travel to a desirable destination and go to a race. Watching F1 on television is one thing, but sitting in the grandstands and feeling the seats rumble as the engines roar past, is another. People are drawn to people who are passionate and the most passionate of them all are the ‘tifosi’ or the Italian Ferrari fans. If you can manage a trip to Italy to go to the race in Monza (near Milan), or perhaps go to ‘Little Italy’ in Carlton after the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne just to be around the tifosi, it’ll be near impossible for any partner to resist.

Do you have any other tips for turning a partner into a F1 fan?

Dianne Bortoletto co-hosts a weekly podcast And Away We Go F1 Podcast that goes beyond the track limits to talk travel, food and lifestyle surrounding the sport.