Esteban Ocon believes F1 has the potential to overtake football in terms of viewership

Esteban Ocon believes F1 has the potential to overtake football in the upcoming season in terms of viewership and fan engagement. The Alpine driver feels if the new regulations can improve racing as intended, the 2022 season will be just as exciting, if not more, than the previous season.

Speaking in a post-season interview with Motorsport-Total, the Frenchman said:

“(The sport) has made fantastic development recently. The last lap of the race (in Abu Dhabi) sums up the whole season aptly. It was just crazy until the last lap. Of course, there are still things that we could do better.”

“I can still remember 2017 and 2018. Sixth place felt like a win. You simply had no chance of a podium place or for a win. We saw a lot of different cars on the podium (in 2021). That’s great, and that’s the way it should be.”

“If the cars are closer together, then F1 can even overtake football in terms of excitement. Because everyone is talking about it. I have friends who hadn’t dealt with it before, but now they are full included.”

Ocon was one of the “surprise” winners from last season, along with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Frenchman seized the opportunity at the chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix to claim his maiden victory by expertly holding off four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel throughout the race.

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How Liberty Media managed to revitalize F1 that was losing fans and sponsors at an alarming rate

Throughout the last decade, F1 has struggled to attract new viewers, while slowly losing older fans. Many have accused management under former boss Bernie Ecclestone of going in the wrong direction and drafting regulations that hindered racing.

After Liberty Media’s takeover of the sport in late 2016, the new management under Chase Corey and the technical department under Ross Brawn worked hard to revitalize F1’s brand image while trying to improve on-track racing.

Unlike Bernie Ecclestone, who was notoriously against social media, Liberty Media openly embraced the tech platforms, building up a solid presence and attracting new fans, particularly from the younger demographic. Additionally, Liberty Media also experimented with Netflix and produced the “Drive to Survive” docudrama series. The show is often credited with making the sport popular in the Americas and helping new viewers get acquainted with the complexities of the sport.

As part of the wider overhaul, the FIA introduced a cost cap the previous year, taking away the biggest advantage of the top teams, while introducing sweeping aerodynamic regulations for the upcoming season.

The new regulations were carefully crafted by F1’s technical team in close collaboration with the FIA to produce cars that can race each other more closely at high speeds.

The Formula One Management (FOM) is hoping that the sweeping changes bear fruit in the upcoming season and that the sport continues on an upward growth trajectory.