Sophomore Mila Bhatoey-Bertrand discovered Formula One through her mother. Her mother was born in Belgium not far from the city of Stravelot, where the Belgian Grand Prix is held, but hadn’t tuned in to any races in years, according to Mila. But, while at home during the height of COVID-19, Mila’s family began watching “Drive to Survive,” a documentary following Formula One racing teams, which sparked Mila’s interest in the sport.
“F1 was super popular in Europe, and the people in the U.S. just didn’t clock that it was a thing,” Mila said. “The Netflix documentary was getting good reviews and people thought, ‘Woah this is cool. We should watch this more.’”
Mila isn’t the only new fan. Since its start in the United Kingdom in 1950, Formula One has quickly become the most popular annual sporting series in the world, with millions tuning in to watch each race.
At U-High, the sport has found its own dedicated community of fans. In the 2021-22 school year, a group of U-High students established Aeros Racing, a Formula One in Schools team, which went on to be the only American team to compete in the 2024 World Finals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where they placed 13th overall.
The team’s co-captain, senior Aran Malhotra, first got into Formula One after joining the Aeros Racing team. His admiration for the sport is rooted in his love for engineering and manufacturing.
“Formula One is noted as the pinnacle of motorsport because of how difficult it is for drivers to get in as well as the engineering of the cars,” Aran said. “I’d say the engineering is what really draws me to it.”
The Formula One fandom surged in popularity after the release of “Drive to Survive” in the United States. From 2019 to 2022, there was a 10% viewership increase in the United States, according to a study from Nielsen. Junior Kayla Monterola discovered the sport through this series.
“They definitely over-dramatized it,” Kayla said about the show, “but I think it gave me a very good basis of what the sport is about, and it helped me get into my favorite drivers.”
Kayla said that there is a growing community of female-identifying fans in U-High, although this comes with its own stereotypes.
“I feel like we receive more judgement for liking F1, though. People think we only like it because of the drama and because the boys are attractive,” Kayla said.
Drama is a legitimate reason Formula One captivates so many fans. Two famous drivers, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, were locked in an intense rivalry for years, but it culminated in 2021 as they fought for the World Championship title.
Both Aran and Mila recognized that this drama was instrumental in boosting Formula One’s popularity in the United States.
“People like the stories that come with Formula One,” Aran said. “It’s kind of something people find interest in and can connect to even if they’re not pure motorsport enthusiasts. They can still follow their drivers, follow their favorite team.”
