13 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Herald Scotland
F1 and Drive to Survive push motorsport growth at key Scottish tracks
And while racing has always captured the hearts of a big audience, those numbers have been put into the stratosphere since another streaming giant, Netflix, began its reality show Drive to Survive in 2019.
Chronicling the ups and downs behind the scenes at some of the major teams, the show has driven major audience growth, particularly in America, across seven seasons of intense action.
With numbers of eyeballs on the sport hitting a new peak, there's hope that tracks here in Scotland might enjoy a share of the burgeoning interest.
Stuart Grey, Knockhill director of events and marketing, is sure the famous Fife track will see an uplift in visitors.
He said: "We've had a large number of Formula One drivers race at Knockhill over the years, including Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. These huge names have raced on that very same bit of tarmac so we're doing a promotion at the moment to win tickets to go and see the movie and drive Knockhill, so it definitely must have a positive effect.
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"There's, without a doubt, been an increase in interest from younger people, and in particular females. That has been quite marked because of Drive to Survive. They've got a follow-up one which has just been released on the F1 Academy, the girls-only championship. I think when you're on such a large platform like Netflix and now in the movies, particularly with Brad Pitt, it's bound to have a spark of interest for a number of people, no doubt about it.
"I think it will boost numbers but also there will be more awareness, there'll be more interest and there's bound to be a bit of a spin-off, if you like, no pun intended. I don't think it will transform things but there will be a rise given the worldwide exposure that the movie's getting."
Alison Hayes, marketing director at Ingliston Supercar Driving Experience on the outskirts of Edinburgh, also sees potential for growth following the film's release.
She said: "Certainly on some of our social media, we're going to be pushing and linking into that to try and capture that new market of people who are suddenly exploring a passion for Formula One.
"Finding out more information about any subject tends to increase the interest in that area. Because the more you understand, the more interested you get and the more you want to find out about it. So yeah, absolutely, I can see it. But hopefully there'll be a knock on to kind of other motorsport events and car clubs in general.
"Since 2019 when the business started, seen an increase year on year since when we started. We usually expect around about 250 people per day. We haven't hit the 300 mark yet but usually around 250 people a day. That does include, we do have some people that just come along to watch or to support their family members that have an experience and we have age ranges. We have certainly at Ingliston, we have our junior drivers there aged from 12 to 16 and we do have much older drivers up to I think 97 is one of our oldest customers. So quite a wide age range."
David Coulthard in his McLaren pomp back in 1998 (Image: SNS Group 0141 221 3602)
One thing that could further electrify interest is a Scottish competitor for the nation to get behind, a Coulthard or Jackie Stewart to capture the imagination once more.
"If you've got Andy Murray playing tennis and winning Wimbledon, the number of people playing tennis in Scotland goes up," mused Grey. "If you've got Bob McIntyre playing golf and coming second last week, the role model effect is quite significant.
"Only yesterday my colleague Gordon Shedden won in the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park. It was live in front of millions of viewers and I'm sure will it have a measurable effect in our attendance in August when he'll be racing in front of his home fans."
