Max Verstappen may be running away with another world championship, but Formula One is still riding the crest of a wave.
Already, F1 has had the Netflix treatment, the cameras currently rolling on season six. And this weekend comes Hollywood, with Brad Pitt being filmed for a motion picture that Lewis Hamilton is helping to produce.
Some of the live scenes from Silverstone this weekend will be incorporated into the film, which is set for release in 2025. F1 also has a new artist in residence, Will.I.Am, and the British Government opened the doors to No10 Downing Street this week to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali for talks over the importance of British motorsport to the UK economy.
“It’s the first time Formula One has been invited inside No10,” says the Italian proudly from the London offices of the sport ahead of travelling up for the British Grand Prix. “It shows who we are now, it shows the perception that we’re giving the world. It’s a great honour and a great responsibility. But the more you grow, the more you have to have on your shoulder.”
While things will not necessarily come crashing down around him, Domenicali knows at some point the rise in popularity will arc off, but he is constantly pushing the dial in order to open up the sport to new fans. At the same time, the former Ferrari team principal is conscious of the traditionalists who followed the sport long before Netflix.
Silverstone is the essence of F1 tradition, with an estimated 480,000 fans expected through the turnstiles this weekend — 80,000 more than a year ago.
There is a concern Just Stop Oil protesters, who managed to make their way onto the track last year and have since disrupted events from the World Snooker Championships to the Ashes and most recently Wimbledon, will be among them. Plain-clothes police officers have been deployed and there is facial recognition software being used for those on watchlists.
Of the threat of on-track protests, Domenicali said: “Formula One is very dangerous. You don’t have to risk your life and the life of others trying to be brave. And the more they are doing these things, the more the boomerang effect will be against these things.”
F1 is an obvious target, but Domenicali is adamant the sport is going in the right direction with its Net Zero Carbon 2030 project and move to sustainable fuel. He insisted: “We do care about the world, like everyone else. We will do everything we can to give our contribution to make sure the world is better. Please don’t risk and jeopardise anything, because that would not be good for anyone.”
Formula One is very dangerous... you don’t have to risk your life and the life of others trying to be brave
F1 has not held direct talks with Just Stop Oil in the lead-up to the race, but Domenicali said he and the sport’s other powerbrokers were “always open to discuss that in a proper way, but not in a way that can be dangerous”. But he added: “I don’t think these people want to listen... not directly. Everyone should know we are always open to give the right space to anyone.”
Domenicali hopes the weekend talking point will be the racing, rather than any sort of disruption, even if that entails Verstappen once again disappearing off into the distance for another race win. As F1’s ringmaster, Domenicali would dearly love a closer-fought championship, but is still in awe of the “remarkable job” being done by both the Dutchman and his Red Bull team.
But he argues the budget cap will eventually bring teams closer together and end the years of one team dominating. He talks of a golden era for the sport in terms of driving talent, the overall businesses, the coffers of the teams and investors in the sport.
Among its key assets is Britain’s Hamilton. Domenicali takes pride in a picture of the pair together in 2008, when Hamilton had won a first title and Ferrari had sealed the constructors’ crown, and he is boosted by the news the seven-time world champion is on the cusp of signing a new multi-year deal at Mercedes.
“He’s more than F1, that’s pretty clear,” he said of Hamilton. “Wherever he goes, he attracts attention that is magnetic. What he’s done and is doing is aspirational and an example for a lot of people.
“I’m looking forward to him singing a long-term deal as a driver in Formula One. For sure, he will be a protagonist at the front again with Max and for a long time.”
