“I’m Daniel Ricciardo and I’m a car mechanic.”
Those were the words that had self-confessed “Drive to Survive fans” Zoe Jewell and Hannah Hall hooked on Formula 1. The pair fell in love with the sport, thanks in no small part to Ricciardo’s cheeky demeanour in the first episode of Netflix’s smash docuseries five years ago, and went on to launch the “Fan Behavior” F1 podcast. They joke that their entire business, and love for motorsport, would be nonexistent without him.
In the wake of the news that Ricciardo would be replaced by rookie Liam Lawson ahead of the United States Grand Prix, social media feeds were flooded with emotional videos as fans eulogised his 13-year career and pondered whether the ‘honey badger’ had been short-changed — not only by Red Bull, but by F1 at large, by being denied a proper send-off.
“Daniel’s the very first face you see, the very first person you’re introduced to,” Jewell told Motorsport while discussing the pilot episode of ‘DTS.’ “He has such an infectious personality; he’s so likable and so easy to root for. There was a human element about him straight away: you could see yourself hanging out with him or him being a part of your friend group.”
Lewis Hamilton, who is arguably the world’s best-known F1 driver, and both Mercedes and Ferrari declined to participate in the first season of ‘DTS,’ which forced Ricciardo into the limelight. By the time fans got a peek behind Hamilton’s helmet in Season Two, they were already enamoured by the Aussie’s boyish charm, and the promise that he was a world champion in-waiting.
“He was this connection point for a lot of people trying to figure out F1 for the first time,” Jewell explained. “For me, Daniel was step one, then I got obsessed with the racing, then it was learning about strategy … I don’t know if I would have continued with the show had it not been for him,” she admitted.
Hall chimed in, “I don’t think the impact of the show would have been the same if he wasn’t the lead character. And you just can’t ignore the fact he played a big part in this new, heavily female group of fans who are participating in the sport.”
Liberty Media, the multi-billion dollar conglomerate that purchased F1 from Bernie Ecclestone in 2017, has made no secret of its desire to capture the American sports market, and has boasted about skyrocketing attendance and viewership in the wake of…
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