F1 content creators fuel the sports growth by embracing its newest fans

April 19, 2024

Lydia Harper found herself in a difficult spot when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world — and her job.

She had freelanced as a wedding and fashion photographer for about five years, but the pandemic eliminated her business. Her sister Alice worked in the fashion industry. As the two sat in lockdown, they watched old motorsports content, thinking about a career change.

“When we (could) travel again, we (wanted) to find a way to be in that world, to move with this mad thing that goes to all these different countries,” Lydia said. “We were looking at the motorsport world (in terms of) how can we put our skill sets of photography, creative direction, my sister’s fashion background into this world?”

Cue the creation of Parc Fermé, a creative agency the sisters launched in 2020 to document “the human stories and lifestyle of motorsport” in various formats. In addition to photography and interviews, the agency creates travel guides and merchandise. The Harpers have changed direction a few times, going from highlighting historic races when they couldn’t attend in person to most recently working with their first F1 client, Alpine, and its Driver Academy.

“We wanted to cater to the people who found it through, like, weird routes, not just ‘We love F1, and we want the facts and the news.’”

Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” is often credited with F1’s recent boom in fandom, particularly in the United States. But the show was just one element in a perfect storm. When the pandemic began shutting down the world, the show’s next season dropped, sticking to its usual release time before the season. Simultaneously, people in lockdown began creating content on social media. Creatives like the Harpers saw a gap in the market. They seized the opportunity to join the burgeoning motorsports content creator economy, growing audiences on social media as they sustained F1’s fan base.

Parc Fermé’s creation and rise mirrors other pandemic success stories as content creator economies boomed across fandoms – including the world of Formula One.

“Three years ago, everything felt quite stale,” Lydia said. “It felt like there was loads of opportunity to come in and just be different to everything that already existed.”

What is the content creator economy?

“Content creator” is a common term without a one-size-fits-all formula. A slew of platforms is at their disposal, including TikTok, Twitch and YouTube. Forbes reported in 2022 that there are approximately 2 million professional creators worldwide – though many more are considered amateur creators – and the market as a whole is estimated at around $100 billion. According to Deloitte, 58% of creators make less than $50,000 a year, and brand partnerships make up more than half of their revenue on average.

“Influencer” is another term mentioned when discussing making money off social media. Despite the overlap, there is a difference between the two, as F1 content creators are quick to point out.

“Influencers, in my experience, tend to want brand partnerships with brands and products,” said Toni Cowan-Brown, widely known as F1Toni and creator of The Beginner’s Guide to F1. “Whereas content creators seem to be building their own franchise and their own products.”

Lissie Mackintosh, a content creator, podcaster and F1 presenter with more than a quarter-million followers on TikTok, said F1 “content creators aim to educate” because they’re bridging the gap between the fans and the sport.

At this time, getting credentialed as a content creator is tricky. It’s a new development in the world of F1, and it appears that they are still determining which box content creators fit in for credentials and passes. “What are you if you’re not an influencer, and you’re not a freelancer, but you’re not a journalist?” Cowan-Brown asked.

A couple of paths in the content creator economy: those who use it as a stepping stone and those who view it as a destination, Cowan-Brown said. She falls into the latter category.

Mackintosh embodies the former. Her content creator journey began on TikTok in 2021 when she had “nothing to lose” with just her mother and friends watching her videos. Mackintosh said no one was doing anything similar then, which “blew her mind.” Even if she was a few weeks late to a piece of news, she likely was the first to mention it on TikTok because no one was taking this approach then.

“Why is no one tackling this niche?” Mackintosh asked. “Why is no one tackling it now from such a personal angle? From a young angle? Why is no one just breaking it down in simple terms?”

TikTok’s three-minute limit on videos (which since has risen to 10 minutes) forced creators to explain complex topics quickly while keeping the content fun and engaging. For example, Cowan-Brown broke down tire logistics for a Grand Prix weekend, and Mackintosh has a running series called “What the F1 does that mean?”

“I believe that the way you diversify an industry and the way you get more people onboard is by lowering that barrier to entry, telling those stories, under-simplifying things and making it more digestible,” Cowan-Brown said. “Whether it’s tech or politics, you can look at the space on the outside and go, ‘This is daunting, I don’t feel like I know enough,’ when in reality, you just have to start having those conversations.

“This was my big gripe with Formula One.”

Filling the void

Content creation is a 24-hour, 365-day type of gig.

Mikaela Kostaras runs SheLovesF1, with over 91,000 followers on TikTok. She keeps a content idea list in her notes app, constantly saves trending sounds (such as viral music) and always looks for ways to connect things back to F1.

But analyzing her engagement data is her biggest focus. She said creators need to separate themselves from their work and consider what their audience likes. Analyzing the data of what is and isn’t working is how to grow and perfect a craft. For example, Kostaras creates SheLovesF1-isms like the “Pierre Effect.” If her audience runs with the “ism” or nicknames, it’ll stay. It’s “a lot of trial and error,” she said.

It also has to be authentic. “If you’re trying to be something or copy something, I think, especially, Gen Z is going to sniff that out,” Kostaras said.

Lydia Harper agreed. “If you do something different in this space, people notice that, and motorsport is quite intimidating from the outside. And it seems very hard to get into. But I think if you are doing something genuinely different and for the right reasons, you get noticed and let in quite easily.”

Parc Fermé was the first to bring a specific style of photography to Formula Two, what Harper describes as “very human, very detail-oriented.” Drivers told them they hadn’t been interviewed in the same manner as how Parc Fermé did last year.

While these drivers are athletes, they’re also brands. That balance makes their recent project with Williams’ Alex Albon and LPGA’s Lily Muni He unique as they gave a glimpse into the F1 driver’s world.

“Different photography serves different purposes,” Harper said. “I hope one day the accreditation process starts to realize that and that different types of imagery and different types of content have different value. Fans want different things for different reasons.”

In a world where a fast pace almost isn’t quick enough to keep up, creators slow down, survey the market and find ways to serve the growing audience. They’re not coming to any of these content creators to find out who won the race, but to see the sport in a different light and learn more about it. Content creators have shaped the space, serving as a not-so-hidden force helping grow F1’s visibility in creative ways.

“(There’s) a need for it and the sport; the fans, there are enough fans, and there are enough really passionate fans to have the extra bandwidth to watch randoms on the internet who make stuff,” Harper said. “And then that those people get to turn into people who work in the sport is pretty mad.”

(Top photo of Lydia and Alice Harper: Courtesy of Parc Fermé)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k21rbm5maXxzfJFsZmlsX2eCcLKQZpqopqSau7V5wqucmqyfp8BustSeo2asmJp6tLzOq6usZZenvLjAx2aZsmWVoq%2BzrcKipaBlmanAbrrEsJysrF2brq%2B%2Fjg%3D%3D