Axios House: The fight over FI's remote audience

CANNES, France — Only 1% of Formula One fans will ever attend a race in their lifetime — and the brands, broadcasters and drivers scrambling to reach the other 99% are just getting started, industry leaders said at Axios House Cannes.

Why it matters: Drive to Survive helped turn a niche European motorsport into a global cultural phenomenon and opened a commercial opportunity that nobody has fully cracked yet, said McLaren Racing CMO Louise McEwen.

Axios' Sara Fischer and The Race Media's Darren Cox moderated discussions with McEwen, Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard, and Lando Norris, McLaren F1 driver and 11x Grand Prix winner. The June 24 event was sponsored by Allwyn and CNBC.

What they're saying: Netflix aired its first live F1 race this year and will offer its ad-supported tier in 27 countries by 2027, Reinhard said — up from 12 today.

The Canadian Grand Prix proved the model works, Reinhard said. Sports brings in every kind of Netflix subscriber at once, making it uniquely valuable to advertisers.

"When things are eventized, people want to be in that moment," Reinhard said. "You want to make sure you're tuning in to see what's happening."

Between the lines: McLaren Racing is 100% funded by partners — not a car brand or a beverage company — which makes winning a commercial obligation, not just a sporting one, McEwen said.

"We're not allowed to use the word 'sponsorships,'" McEwen said. "They are partnerships — they mean so much more."

Norris said the cycle is straightforward: more fans attract more partners, better partners fund better cars, better cars win races.

"The better the circle works, the better life is for everyone," Norris said. "And that is normally helped by winning."

Yes, but: Reaching fans who will never attend a race requires something TV alone can't deliver — emotional connection, McEwen said.

McLaren rebuilt how it connects with fans digitally and launched a free fan membership program to stay connected with fans watching from home, McEwen said.

However, the social pressure that comes with F1's growth is real, Norris said. "I cared too much in some ways," he said of his early years on social media. Winning helped. "There's not a lot that people can say that's going to upset me now."

The bottom line: F1's fandom is global, passionate and mostly watching from home. "There's no shortage of stories for us to tell in this sport," McEwen said. The race now is to reach them before someone else does.

Content from the sponsors' remarks:

CNBC Versant president KC Sullivan said the network has partnered with McLaren since 2018, drawn by the sport's wealthy business decision-makers — and has since shifted to covering the sport as an investable asset class.

"Real business gets done around F1," Sullivan said.

Allwyn global chief brand and marketing transformation officer Tatiana Vivienne-Jouanneau said F1's live format is a rare commercial advantage.

"The completion rate in sports for watching the show, watching the content, beats pretty much any other content benchmarks," she said. "It really gives you the authenticity and a lot of social capital."