Transforming F1: How the female and Gen Z fandom is shaping the sport’s future | CBC News

News F1 is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and its fan base is younger and more diverse than ever.(Alex Pantling/Getty Images) Cadence Wille started watching F1 in 2020 and posting content in 2024.(Submitted by Cadence Wille) James Hinchcliffe, Canadian racecar driver and analyst for F1TV, says the sport now has one of the most eclectic fan bases.(Alex O'Connor) F1 analyst Bernie Collins attends the launch of the McLaren Artura Spider in London on May 14, 2024.(Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for McLaren Automotive Limited) Lewis Hamilton, seen here at the paddock before a final practice in Mexico in October, has become a fashion icon. He's known for bringing fashion to the racetrack.(Hector Vivas/Getty Images) Tiggy Valen, pictured at the Dutch Grand Prix in August, says F1's new fan base is holding the sport accountable in a way it hasn't been before.(Submitted by Tiggy Valen) Laura Mueller, race engineer of Haas F1, looks on during practice ahead of the Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Oct. 24 in Mexico City.(Peter Fox/Getty Images) Max Verstappen, left, and Hannah Schmitz celebrate on the podium at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar on Nov. 30.(Mark Thompson/Getty Images) Transforming F1: How female and Gen Z fandom is shaping the sport’s future 42% of Formula One fans are now under 35 - and 41% are women Cadence Wille comes from a family steeped in car and motorsport culture. Her maternal grandfather was an automotive technician. Her dad’s family ran a classic car museum and racetrack. But she didn’t start watching Formula One until 2020. And once she did, she was hooked. "Instantly," said the 26-year-old F1 content creator based in Victoria. "It wasn’t just the track action that was exciting, but realizing that so much goes into the car development, the rules are so intricate - just everything about it." In Canada and the U.S., F1 has gone from niche motorsport to mainstream obsession in just a few years, thanks in large part to the Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive . It's become a global entertainment powerhouse, lifestyle brand and pop culture phenomenon - a shift driven in part by a new wave of content creators like Wille championing the sport online. They post memes and race reactions, dig into the lore and help explain the sport's rules to new fans. Wille started making content in 2024 under the handle @cadencebraking. She now has more than 100,000 combined followers on Instagram and TikTok. "So much of the social media landscape in F1 - there’s a lot of women in that space," she said. "It’s also giving all of the professionals in motorsport, all of the women working in motorsport, another place to talk about their jobs and their journey." Tiggy Valen, a California-based F1 content creator and host of the Paddock Project podcast, started making content in 2022 - what she calls starter-pack, 101-type explainer videos. At the time, she said, almost everything else was highly technical, inaccessible to new fans and...

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