Formula 1’s growth in North America has been undeniable — but without a plan in place, it won’t last forever.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, though, recently outlined his ideal plan for the sport’s continued evolution.

Zak Brown’s rotating calendar plan for continued F1 growth

Formula 1 has been exploding in North America these past few years. The combination of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series being readily available for Americans in COVID-19 lockdown and F1’s early return to active competition introduced the sport to audiences who previously had no idea what open-wheel racing entailed.

And the response has been clear. According to statistics published by F1 in 2024, the US fanbase sits at around 45 million people — half of whom credited their interest in the sport to Drive to Survive.

It’s been enough to justify the simultaneous existence of three Grands Prix in the United States, to sell out crowds, and to encourage Hollywood to get in on the game with an F1 film starring Brad Pitt.

But what’s next for Formula 1?

On a recent episode of the Bloomberg podcast, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was quizzed on what he thinks needs to happen next for the sport to consolidate his gains and keep growing — and in Brown’s eyes, there’s no need to upend the playbook.

“What we’re doing is working, so let’s keep incrementally improving,” he said.

“Let’s not change the game, because as a sport, we’re winning.”

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That being said, Brown still has some ideas as to how to transform the direction of Formula 1 to continue capitalizing on its current wins.

“We have 24 races now. We have demand for more. We can’t do more in a year, so I’m a fan of, let’s go to 20 fixed Grands Prix and go to eight Grands Prix that rotate every other year,” he said.

“So you can get some geographic expansion, but not on an annual basis, because these 24 races around the world… we can’t do 25.

“But at the same time, you don’t want to kind of not grow.”

He then pointed to the United States.

“I think if I look at North America, our TV ratings, if you compare it to the big leagues here, [there’s] a lot of room for growth,” Brown explained.

“I don’t think we need more than three Grands Prix here. I think we could have more than three Grands Prix, but that would come at the expense of getting into India, South Africa, Korea, or some other areas I think we need to expand into.”

With the growing fanbase has come a wholehearted improvement in the finances of the sport.

As Brown stated, “Sponsorship is unbelievable — new brands coming in every day. The Googles, the Goldmans; these companies weren’t involved in Formula 1 historically, so it’s very healthy.

“We have the franchise value; [it’s] finally caught on. If you look at these MLB or NBA or NFL teams, Formula 1 teams are, you know — as a franchise owner, are all healthy.

“So, let’s keep doing what we’re doing, but let’s keep making incremental gains. You know, Netflix was amazing for our sport. I think the Brad Pitt movie coming out in June will be awesome.

“I think that will turn a lot more people on to the sport.

“And if you look at where the sport needed to grow from pre-Liberty acquiring it, we didn’t have the diversity that we needed, and we didn’t have the youth that we needed. We didn’t have North America, arguably if not the most important sports and commercial marketplace. We didn’t have as many women.

“And now you look at the audience — I just got stopped coming in here, and it’s women, it’s youth, it’s diversity, it’s North America, and you know, in New York.”

Brown then told a story about staying in a hotel in New York city when Netflix’s Drive to Survive had just begun to increase the prestige of F1 in the United States. He joined two basketball players in the elevator, cracking a joke about how they must be in town for tennis.

According to Brown, the players laughed but seemed to wonder who he was. And as they joined their teammates in the lobby and began to carve through the crowd of fans to climb on their bus, they politely declined the countless requests for autographs.

“I’m walking out with them for the front door, and these three fans popped from this group. They go, can we get your autograph?” he recalled.

“And [the basketball players are] like, sorry — and they’re saying, ‘No, not you! Mr. Brown! We love Formula 1!’

“And these two guys looked at me like, who the hell is this guy?

“I mean, that was New York, right? New York was the last place in the world that was a Formula 1 city up until a few years ago.

“So it’s been awesome for the sport. I think we need to keep exposing people to our sport, and I think that’s what Netflix did, is they showed us what goes on behind the scenes.”

Drive to Survive finally enabled F1 to pierce the public consciousness in America, and according to Brown, there’s still plenty of work to do — but in all of the world, not just the United States.

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