Formula 1 is exploding in popularity among women

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Formula 1, a historically male-dominated sport, has seen a rise in popularity among women.

In July, Formula 1 (F1) and Motorsport Network released their 2025 Global F1 Fan Survey, a large study that takes place every four years to gain insight into the global F1 community. More than 100,000 responses from 186 countries revealed a shift toward a young female fan base, with significant growth in the United States.

"Female fans now account for three in four new fans," Formula1.com reported. "Most are newer to the sport and skew younger, with nearly half of all Gen Z respondents being women."

History of Women in Formula 1

This year marks 75 years since Formula 1 began in 1950, with the first-ever race at the Silverstone Circuit in England.

Since then, five women have competed in a Grand Prix: Maria Teresa de Filippis, Lella Lombardi, Divina Galica, Desiré Wilson and Giovanna Amati. Amati was the most recent woman to compete in 1992.

Despite a lack of female driver representation, women have been forging successful careers in Formula 1 for years, and with the launch of the F1 Academy in 2023, the sport's landscape is changing.

Susie Wolff is the managing director of the F1 Academy and began her motorsport career in karting. She went on to compete in Formula Renault, Formula 3 and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, before making history at the 2014 British Grand Prix for being the first woman to participate in a grand prix weekend in over 20 years. At the time, she drove in the first practice session for Williams Racing.

And Bernadette "Bernie" Collins is a strategy analyst for Sky Sports and F1TV. She was featured in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list and previously worked as the strategy engineer for the Aston Martin F1 team.

In January 2025, Haas' Laura Mueller became the first full-time female to take on the role of race engineer. She works directly with Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon, bridging the gap between him and the team and ensuring the car's maximum performance during a race weekend.

Formula 1 Launches F1 Academy

"I've seen a slow but growing shift in the number of women working in our sport," said Lia Block, adding she has noticed the change in the paddock, but that it wasn't limited to F1 but the "entirety of the motorsport world."

Lia Block is a driver for Williams Racing in the F1 Academy's 2024 and 2025 seasons.

The F1 Academy was announced in 2022 and began in 2023. It's a women-only, Formula four-level series founded by Formula 1 that develops young talent, with the goal of progressing them into higher levels of the sport including the W Series, Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3, Formula 1 said in their announcement.

Earlier this year, F1: The Academy -- a docuseries produced by Reese Witherspoon's company, Hello Sunshine -- made its global debut on Netflix and offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the 15 drivers competing in the championship.

Lia Block credited her father for her passion for car racing and followed in his footsteps as the ARA Rally Champion in 2023 -- the youngest champion in the series' history.

The 18-year-old is the daughter of late rally car legend Ken Block, and she began karting as a preteen.

"It makes me so happy to go back to my local karting track and see multiple young girls racing in each class, versus six years ago when I first started karting and was the only girl in the entire series," she said.

"My love of racing began early, as I grew up in the motorsports world, watching my dad," she said. "I was always surrounded by loud cars and got sucked into it without realizing it. I tried different sports growing up, but eventually started racing off-road at 11 years old."

Lia Block's career has mostly been off-road and rally-style racing, so securing a spot in the F1 Academy "has been such an honor," the teen told Newsweek.

Netflix's 'Drive to Survive' Effect

In 2018, Liberty Media -- the American owner of Formula 1 -- announced it would end the long-running tradition of using grid girls, or female promotional models, on the starting grid.

A year later, Drive to Survive premiered on Netflix and documented the 2018 World Championship. So far, the hit show has had seven seasons and picked up two Sports Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Sports Documentary Series - Serialized" in 2022 and 2025.

According to Formula1.com, Drive to Survive has garnered a cumulative audience of over 700 million people worldwide since its launch.

James Bower, commercial director at Atlassian Williams Racing, told Newsweek: "Drive to Survive has definitely been a major reason for the growing the female audience -- and the audience overall -- particularly in the U.S."

He added, however, that the documentary -- which offers a peek inside the lives of the Formula 1 drivers, team owners and team principals -- "definitely isn't the only reason."

"We have seen F1's popularity boom since it was acquired by Liberty Media in 2017 when there was a big effort to open up social media, get new races on the calendar like the three we now have in America, and really bring the sport closer to the fans," Bower continued. "That is something we embrace at Atlassian Williams Racing, hosting downtown Fan Zones at major races like Austin, Miami, Las Vegas, Singapore and in London, so that fans have the chance to get up close to cars and see their heroes in person."

Brett A. Boyle, associate professor of marketing at Saint Louis University, whose research includes sports business, agreed that Drive to Survive has played a key role in F1's growth.

"Formula 1 has seen a surge in popularity among young women. Much of that has been due to Netflix's Drive to Survive, which transformed the sport into a character-driven drama, spotlighting rivalries and personal stories."

Boyle pointed out that "motorsports -- unlike other sports -- is challenged by the fact that you cannot see the participants doing their work. However, Drive to Survive and similar productions lift the veil to humanize the drivers, creating compelling backstories."

Mike Lewis, professor of marketing at Emory University, whose work focuses on the intersection of sports analytics and sports marketing, echoed similar sentiments.

"One of the more significant trends affecting fandom is the ability of organizations to develop compelling narratives. This seems to be especially true for female fans -- the Olympics and the featuring of backstories are a prime example," he told Newsweek. "Drive to Survive has brought significant attention to F1 and also provided a vehicle to build compelling narratives. For a sport without geographic connections, this has been an ideal way to build fandom."

Rob Bloom, chief marketing officer at Aston Martin, said that over the last 10 years, F1 "has leaned more heavily into the lifestyle and human story, particularly through platforms like Drive to Survive, TikTok and more recently, the F1 movie."

"It's certainly brought more interest than ever before to the sport," he told Newsweek. "Within this growth is a new era of fans who are younger, and predominantly female -- the fastest growing demographic of F1 fan is 16-24."

'F1: The Movie'

"F1 is enjoying an explosion in popularity, as we have just seen with the release of F1: The Movie, which Williams was delighted to help bring to the screen -- the wind tunnel in the movie is actually our wind tunnel at our Grove HQ," Bower said. "Giving F1 the Hollywood treatment will introduce the sport to a whole new audience, and we have also seen major consumer brands coming in to F1 like Lego, LVMH and PepsiCo, which will help extend its reach and appeal."

F1: The Movie was produced by seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and features a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem. In addition to famous actors, many Formula 1 drivers -- like four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and current World Championship leader Oscar Piastri -- made cameos.

The film was released in June and has grossed over $512 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Celebrities are often seen enjoying the high-octane action in the paddock on race day. At this year's British Grand Prix, A-listers in attendance included Tom Holland, Keanu Reeves, Vin Diesel, Olivia Wilde and Tony Hawk. The checkered flag is also usually waved by a famous face, with Damson Idris doing the honors at Silverstone.

"F1 is being marketed as a global lifestyle brand, with races in glamorous locations like Monaco, Miami and Las Vegas. These sites blend the race with fashion and celebrity," Boyle said. "Social media platforms have amplified the trend, giving rise to fan culture that thrives on memes, commentary and driver posts. This also plays into a young female's interests."

The Power of Social Media

Bloom added that "in addition to Drive to Survive, many newer, younger fans are connecting with Formula 1 through social media and entertainment platforms -- particularly TikTok. The use of social media by teams, drivers and fans has unlocked unprecedented access, connecting the sport's global fan base on a more human level."

He added the trend is "only getting stronger," and cited current Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso as an example.

"Just look at how Fernando Alonso has embraced TikTok, to the extent of him being named 'TikTok Personality of the Year' in Spain."

Bower told Newsweek that at Williams Racing, they're "giving as much behind-the-scenes access on our social media channels" as possible "to show what F1 is really like and the people that make it tick."

"The ability for fans to learn more about the drivers, their personalities and their lifestyles has definitely helped [Formula 1's popularity]," he said. "It is about showing the humans behind the heroes -- these are 20 gladiators battling it out on track when the helmet is on and the visor is down, but fans have never had so much access to what they are like out of the car."

"Drive to Survive is part of that, but the drivers are also able to use social media to connect directly with fans and bring them into their own worlds, rather than only being able to see them from the grandstands."

"Today's sport fans, especially the younger generations, are drawn to the personal stories and attributes of athletes," Andrea N. Geurin, professor of sports business at New York University's Tisch Institute for Global Sport, told Newsweek.

"Drive to Survive, as well as social media, gives fans behind-the-scenes access to these drivers and allows them to develop a more personal connection," she shared. "This access to athletes' lives and personalities means that fans can identify with certain drivers who share similar interests, values or personality traits."

T. Bettina Cornwell, head of the Department of Marketing at the University of Oregon, whose area of expertise includes sports marketing, told Newsweek that "social media engagement now would not have been as impactful without the circuit expansion that preceded it."

In 2015, the Formula 1 season consisted of 20 races, one of which got canceled. Today, there are 24 Grand Prix races and several new tracks in the United States. The first Miami Grand Prix was held in May 2022, and F1 returned to Las Vegas in 2023 after its last competition in Sin City in the 1980s.

"F1 had been primarily a European-centric sport, but recent growth of circuits in Asia and America laid the foundation for expansion," Cornwell said. "There is really nothing like seeing F1 racing in person and the ability to 'feel one with F1' is central to social identification with the sport. It is these experiences that develop attendees into fans."

The Formula 1 grid currently consists of 10 teams and 20 drivers, however, that will change in 2026. Cadillac, an American automobile manufacturer, will be added to the lineup next year and feature two more drivers.

"Having a U.S.-based auto company competing in F1 will help to draw in American sports and motorsports fans who might not have given as much attention to F1 in the past," Geurin said. "Now, with a Cadillac team, these fans will feel like they have a team to support based on their national pride, which can be a major driver of sport fandom. F1's recent fan report showed that three out of four new fans are female, so if that trend continues, then the Cadillac team will certainly help to draw in new female fans from the U.S."

Lissie Mackintosh, 'Filling a Gap'

It is through social media that Lissie Mackintosh, now a Formula 1 presenter and content creator, has made a name for herself.

"I started watching F1 years ago, when it wasn't as well-known as it is now. After years of watching the sport, I began creating content as a young F1 viewer who wanted to see more online about the sport I loved and just couldn't find it," Mackintosh told Newsweek. "So I guess in that way I was filling a gap."

Mackintosh, 25 -- who earned a spot on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list as the youngest presenter at Formula 1 -- said she's been "able to show hundreds of thousands of young aspiring female fans that they can do it too, being a visual representation of Asian minorities and women in the paddock."

"It was tough because no one had ever done that before, creating content in F1 as a full-time job, so I had no one's shoes to step into and I didn't know if it could go anywhere."

The U.K. native noted that a "turning point" came "a few months after making F1 videos" when "Aston Martin invited me to their car launch as an official creator."

"That's when I knew that even though no one had done it before, I had to keep going," she shared.

Mackintosh currently boasts 430,900 followers on TikTok and has another 346,000 on Instagram. Her interview style is a mix of both "serious content" and "funny videos."

"I never would have believed the last four years could have looked how they have -- from joining the presenting team at F1 for two seasons, to now working with teams, sponsors and brands to create interviews which I have full creative control in."

Mackintosh highlighted other women's achievements in F1, like Mueller and Wolff, and said she "devotes a huge portion of my work to covering women's sports like F1 academy through interviews and race weekends."

Formula 1's Future

Formula 1's revitalization is something other sports "would like to replicate" one day, Geurin told Newsweek.

"With new sport leagues and teams being introduced around the world every year, the competition for leagues to attract and maintain fans is fiercer than it's ever been," she said. "F1 has done an amazing job engaging new and younger fans by meeting these fans where they are -- on streaming platforms and social media."

Additionally, Formula 1 has "shown that they care about women" through programs like the F1 Academy, Geurin continued, "so it is no surprise that they've been successful in growing their female fan base."