Derek Chang: Liberty has taken F1 “well beyond” a core sports product

Liberty Media chief executive Derek Chang believes Formula 1 has shifted from being a series to becoming a “cultural phenomenon” in the past decade.

Chang was appointed as successor to Greg Maffei at the start of January, eight years on from when Liberty completed its acquisition of F1 and set about taking the series to new audiences, in new markets.

The findings of the 2025 Global F1 Fan Survey, a collaboration between F1 and the Motorsport Network, are set to be published soon but recent trends have shown an uptick in women engaging with the championship, as well as a younger demographic now being active fans.

Chang, speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange: Monaco, feels the changes – which have also seen a groundswell of American interest with races added in Miami and Las Vegas – have elevated F1 to a different level.

“I think when Liberty acquired Formula 1 it was very much of a core motorsports activation,” he said.

“I think what we’ve done over the last 10 years, under the stewardship of Chase Carey and then Stefano [Domenicali] is really make this thing sort of a cultural phenomenon that’s gone well beyond a core sports product.

“It starts with what happens on the track. It’s a compelling product that we have out there, but where we’ve gone to a much more mainstream and a broader entertainment asset. You’ve seen it in Drive to Survive, you know we have the Apple movie coming out this summer, which will, again, I think renew a whole new level of interest in the sport.

“Then I think what you’ve seen in terms of the drivers and how they participate within what this brand is all about now and the interest level that people have following the drivers – not just what happens to them on the track, but what happens to them in their lives. And again, as we continue to open the aperture of what Formula 1 is all about, I think you’ve seen new brands coming to us.”

Chang pointed to recent deals signed by F1 as examples of how its partnerships have branched out from more traditional B2B companies to customer-facing brands, which helps continue the fan engagement away from the track.

“We’ve gone from an endemic, advertising-based, sponsorship-based B2B to then B2C. We just announced a deal with Disney earlier this week, a tremendous deal with Lego that we did last year that of culminated in a great spectacle in Miami a few weeks ago with the life-size cars that we rolled around the track.

“And I think what you’ve seen is the viewership continues to increase for Formula 1…and you’re bringing new people into the audience all the time. Kids, casual fans, all that sort of stuff.”

While brands and fans continue to pour in from most corners of the globe, Chang admits there is still plenty of room for growth in the huge market in China.

The grand prix in Shanghai is now a firm fixture on the calendar but outside of the race, there is relatively low pick-up, including among partners.

A former chief executive of the NBA in China, Chang is keen to expand into the large market the country offers.

“When I was running the NBA there, which probably was a preeminent global sports brand in China at the time – and probably still is – and being able to see the energy that the Chinese audience has for sports, I think Formula 1 can continue to grow in that country.

“We were set back, to be honest with you, with COVID because we didn’t run a race there for four years. So we probably lost some time there over the years, but there is a legacy and a history of F1 in China.

“We’ve been in Shanghai for 20 years at this point. We had a Chinese driver [Zhou Guanyu] who unfortunately is not on the grid this year, but maybe one day will come back. But look, it’s 1.3billion people in China.

“People love sports there. They love brands there. And I think where F1 can continue to shine is that we are such a high-end brand and the brands that we actually associate with, you’re going to see that take up continue to happen.

“We do need to continue to build there and invest in the sport there. We are across the major social media platforms. We’re on the Tencent and CCTV (China Central Television), but we probably aren’t where we would like to be.

“We’re going to continue to invest and make that happen because it’s such a big market and such a big market for major consumer brands that we really want to continue to develop that.”