This is not Formula 1: Chicken Shop Date mashup is wrong!

Sure, we’re used to seeing influencers in the sport by now. Under the stewardship of Liberty Media, F1 has become less about driving fast race cars and more about getting new fans to watch. Liberty has publicly, unashamedly turned it into an entertainment brand.

But long-time fans are starting to get a little tired—and the recent access granted to someone with no F1 affiliation whatsoever is perplexing, to say the least. Many of the sport’s leading journalists would love to get interviews with George Russell and Oscar Piastri.

Yet, all Chicken Shop Date host Amelia Dimoldenberg could think to ask was if Piastri “has a big neck on purpose” and Russell “pushes a button to start” his F1 car. You can’t help but feel like too much is being done to accrue followers. A sport that was once about excellence is now a bit of a meme.

It’s a shame that F1 is committing to this direction. At some point, these “fans” will get drawn into the next big Insta trend, and the sport will be left behind. Chicken Shop Date is not the main issue here; it’s merely the symptom of a growing shift away from driving glory.

Since buying the commercial rights to F1 in 2017, Liberty Media has changed the course of the sport. In many ways, this has been for the better. Next season, the likes of Audi, Ford, and Cadillac are all joining the grid, and its fan base is growing exponentially.

However, this has been achieved with little regard for F1’s racing ethos. Just last week, F1’s Comm’s Chief Liam Parker said: “We’re not just a sport anymore. The sport is still the core of who we are, but we’ve become a cultural phenomenon, an entertainment phenomenon. We’re not competing against NASCAR, IndyCar, or the NBA. It’s not sport; it’s entertainment.”

I genuinely don’t know a single fan who would agree with that statement. Straight out of F1’s marketing machine, this doesn’t reflect what the sport has been about for the last 75 years—and let’s be honest, it lays bare what this is all about: boosting popularity to raise revenue.

For legal reasons, I should say that Liberty has never expressly said this. But there’s plenty of evidence to support my view. F1 has now struck a TV rights deal with Apple, following hot on the heels of the movie they released together earlier this year. For what it’s worth, I considered it a fun film, but these deals constitute F1 chasing the bag.

During Palmer’s interview, the sport was also described as a “cultural zeitgeist.” Many fans would dry heave at this phraseology, but this is the positioning that F1 is going for. Drive to Survive has been instrumental in this change, Chicken Shop Date specials are just the next logical step.

Pre-Liberty fans will remember a time before Drive to Survive when it was a pleasant surprise to see someone wearing team merch in the street. Nowadays, they’re more likely to be part of a toxic fanbase—just take a look at the brawl at last week’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Ultimately, the majority of fans would like the focus to return to racing. No more gimmicks or celebrity tie-ins, just white-hot racing action. That’s what attracted us to F1 in the first place: the speed, the danger, and the intense battles to become known as the world’s very best.

Nothing trends forever, Liberty needs to remember this and keep longtime fans onside. If the upcoming rule changes in 2026 don’t deliver, no amount of social content is going to make up for it. On-track is where the entertainment really lies. They should focus on taking the technology behind motorsport forwards while keeping the cars bunched at the front.

Only by attracting the highest-profile, fastest manufacturers and drivers possible can the sport continue to succeed. The rest is just noise. And while we’re at it, let’s have fewer influencers in the paddock as well. Genuine fans and knowledgeable journalists only, please. [Quotes by The Race]