Architecture
Emotional Alignment: The Formula 1 Story
How Formula 1 — and the World’s Biggest Brands — Engineer Feeling at Global Scale
The Living Experiment
Formula 1 isn’t merely a sport — it’s a living, breathing experiment in how to make millions of people feel something profound: excitement, awe, tension, delight — all at once.
Every Grand Prix becomes an adrenaline-fuelled phenomenon, where sound, danger, devotion, and technology synchronise in perfect harmony.
Long before Silicon Valley coined the phrase “experience design,” Bernie Ecclestone was already pioneering it.
For him, Formula 1 transcended speed; it became a meticulously orchestrated invitation to feel alive.
He didn’t just sell motorsport — he sold access to emotion, to memory, to moments that millions could share in real time across the world.
Yet beneath the billion-dollar spectacle lies something elemental — a sport that still begins in childhood, on karting tracks and racing simulators.
Formula 1 remains one of the few global industries that truly invests in its grassroots ecosystem.
Without go-karts, local tracks, and digital racing culture, there would be no Formula 1 at all.
The system depends on the dream — the journey from simulation to circuit, from the imagination of a young driver to the reality of the world’s fastest stage.
The Magic of Alignment
When Ecclestone seized control of Formula 1 during the transformative ’70s and ’80s, he orchestrated something revolutionary: teams, television networks, and sponsors united into one sleek global machine. He didn’t just organise races; he architected a rolling culture — complete with VIP suites, iconic brand partnerships, and tiered hospitality experiences that today’s festivals and leagues still religiously emulate.
By the 1990s, the reach was staggering — more than 180 countries tuning in simultaneously. Brands like Marlboro and Shell weren’t merely advertising; they were constructing mythologies around speed, risk, and human ambition, woven intricately into every race. Formula 1 was inventing “experiential entertainment” decades before the term entered our lexicon — layering engineering prowess, commercial genius, and raw emotion into one dazzling, unforgettable package.
And then, decades later, the numbers caught up with the feeling.
When Liberty Media acquired Formula 1 from CVC Capital Partners in 2017 for around US $8 billion, few predicted the magnitude of what would follow. Under Liberty’s stewardship, the sport evolved from a protected circuit into a global media ecosystem.
Annual revenue surged from roughly US $2.1 billion in 2021 to more than US $3.6 billion by 2024 — but the real story was the value multiple. The Formula 1 Group’s market capitalisation crossed US $100 billion in 2025, a twenty-fold leap in less than a decade, turning what was once a niche motorsport into one of the world’s most powerful experiential media assets.
The equation is simple: emotion at scale equals growth at speed.
Formula 1 isn’t selling advertising — it’s selling alignment.
Drive to Survive became the bridge, transforming viewers into believers and data into devotion. Every race now operates like a live-streamed cinematic universe: global, addictive, and infinitely monetisable.
180+ Countries
Global television reach by the 1990s
Experiential Pioneer
Invented the hospitality model others still copy
Brand Mythology
Transformed sponsors into cultural icons
Accelerating emotional performance to new heights
Formula 1’s magic lives on the edge — every single lap.
Drivers race knowing full well they’re balancing on a razor’s edge between perfection and disaster. Fans don’t just watch from the sidelines — they sweat, cheer, and hold their breath, their hearts pounding in sync with every apex and daring overtake.
But the sport’s heart isn’t invincible.
Moments like Senna and Ratzenberger’s tragic crash at Imola or Lauda’s fiery accident at Nürburgring left scars that still run deep. These losses didn’t just change the sport; they forged an unbreakable bond between drivers, teams, and fans. When people cry at these moments, it’s real — proof that what moves us most is the raw emotion beneath the spectacle.
What’s undeniable is that Formula 1 ignites something unique — a fire no other sport can replicate. It stands alone as the world’s premier elite performance arena, driven by athletes who live and breathe the pursuit of perfection.
And the fans? They aren’t just spectators. They’re part of the elite. They connect to the same intensity, the same passion, and the same relentless quest for greatness.
Formula 1 Goes Mainstream and the world loves it!
1
2017
Liberty Media acquires F1 for $8 billion, transforming the business model
2
2019
Netflix's "Drive to Survive" launches, revealing human drama behind the sport
3
2021
Revenue reaches $2.1 billion as digital transformation accelerates
4
2024
Revenue soars to $3.6 billion with doubled young and female fanbase
5
2025
The Formula 1 Group’s market capitalisation crosses US $100 billion


Everything transformed dramatically when Liberty Media purchased Formula 1 for $8 billion in 2017.
Ecclestone had built the hardware; Liberty unleashed the software — opening F1 to streaming platforms, social media engagement, and a new generation of passionate fans around the world.
Netflix’s groundbreaking Drive to Survive didn’t merely explain the sport; it transformed it.
Drivers became global icons, casual viewers became lifelong followers, and the sport’s reach exploded — particularly among younger and female audiences who had never seen themselves reflected in Formula 1 before.
Almost overnight, every race weekend became a global social event.
Each circuit began to feel like a hybrid between a movie premiere and a music festival — a place where engineering met entertainment, and culture met commerce.
Every driver generated headlines; every turn of the wheel became shareable content.
Each race evolved into a mega-sized, data-driven spectacular that transcended sport and entered culture.
And that same cultural intelligence began to ripple outward.
Formula E arrived as the experimental frontier — the silent revolution.
Powered entirely by electricity, it became a testbed for future mobility, sustainability, and fan engagement. Street circuits through cities like Berlin, London, and Seoul redefined what a race could sound and feel like: closer, cleaner, more intimate.
While F1 remained the cathedral of combustion and heritage, Formula E became its conscious twin — a laboratory for progress where technology and emotion coexisted on a new frequency.
Then came the F1 Academy, a step that changed the narrative again.
Launched under Liberty’s watch in 2023, it wasn’t about spectacle or scale — it was about access.
Designed to identify, develop, and promote the next generation of female drivers, the F1 Academy became both a talent pipeline and a cultural signal.
It proved that Formula 1 understood what it meant to evolve: the future of the grid had to look different, feel different, and include voices the old system had overlooked.
Together, these new layers — F1, Formula E, and the F1 Academy — form a living ecosystem of speed, intelligence, and emotion.
Each discipline speaks to a different human impulse: the thrill of risk, the promise of innovation, and the pursuit of inclusion.
And under Liberty Media’s stewardship, all three now move in harmony — one unified narrative of how emotion, sustainability, and equality can power the same machine.
Emotional Performance Architects — Formula 1’s Media Revolution
Liberty Media unlocked Formula 1’s emotional potential, but it was the storytellers behind the scenes who made that energy visible.
The Bloomberg Originals documentary on the Miami Grand Prix captured this shift — transforming a race into a multi-sensory narrative about connection, precision, and shared intensity.
It’s no longer just about laps; it’s about belonging to a world where performance feels personal.
Today’s cameras don’t just follow the track — they choreograph it.
They capture the pulse of the paddock, the rhythm of sound checks, and the interplay of light, movement, and anticipation.
The result is a cinematic broadcast that feels alive — part fashion show, part global tech launch — where storytelling becomes spectacle, and emotion becomes design.
The Story Architects
Emotion as the New Engineering
Formula 1 perfected the science of spectacle; McLaren and Formula E are now mastering the art of emotion.
At the centre of this evolution stands Henry Chilcott, Chief Marketing Officer at McLaren Racing — a creative leader represented by Amfo Talent, known for transforming storytelling into system design.
Chilcott’s vision at McLaren has reframed what performance means in the modern age.
Under his leadership, the team’s identity — expressed through films like Papaya and Driven by Change — has evolved beyond brand to become an emotional architecture: colour as optimism, design as rhythm, and narrative as coherence.
His approach positions McLaren not as a motorsport brand, but as a living culture of creativity, technology, and feeling.
That same philosophy extends through McLaren’s Formula E programme, where silence, sustainability, and proximity replace noise, power, and distance.
Here, emotion becomes innovation — every lap a dialogue between humanity and technology, every circuit an experiment in empathy.
Formula E shows that progress can be quiet and still carry force; that the absence of sound can be its own kind of presence.
Chilcott’s work bridges these worlds — the heritage of Formula 1 and the consciousness of Formula E — proving that the most powerful engines in modern sport are emotional ones.
He represents a new generation of creative leadership: leaders who design experiences, not campaigns; feelings, not slogans.
For McLaren, this isn’t marketing.
It’s coherence — the alignment of story, system, and soul.
Henry Chilcott Interview - How McLaren won the F1 Marketing War
Miami—Where Sport Became Festival
250K
Pre-Registration
Fans signed up before gates even opened
140M
Florida Visitors
Annual tourists in 2023, many drawn by events
10
Year Contract
Miami's permanent commitment to the spectacle
The Miami Grand Prix exemplifies this evolution perfectly. With 250,000 enthusiasts registering before gates opened and luxury experiences commanding six-figure price tags, Miami demonstrated how a city can synthesise tourism, aviation infrastructure, and pure collective excitement into an entirely new economic paradigm.
In 2023, more than 140 million people visited Florida—many transiting through Miami's airports specifically to celebrate, witness, and participate in something monumentally bigger than themselves. With a decade-long venue commitment, Miami has become a permanent experiment in what we might call emotional infrastructure—the physical and experiential architecture that generates feeling at scale.
Papaya — The Colour of Connection
If Miami embodied emotion at scale, McLaren’s Papaya distilled it to its purest form — colour as identity, movement as message.
The short film wasn’t promotion; it was philosophy rendered in light and motion.
Every frame carried intention: the saturation of orange as optimism, the texture of speed as human persistence.
What began as a racing livery evolved into a visual language — a brand heartbeat that spoke to legacy, innovation, and the emotional geometry of progress.
Papaya captured what few campaigns in any industry achieve — the translation of engineering into empathy.
It reminded the world that Formula 1 is not a contest of machines, but a conversation between emotion and precision.
For McLaren, it was a statement of continuity — that courage, design, and colour could hold the same emotional weight as a victory podium.
This is where modern performance culture lives: in the alignment between data and design, between logic and feeling.
McLaren’s Papaya proved that even at 200 miles per hour, emotion remains the most powerful form of signal.
Behind the Scenes:
The Aviation and Logistics Machine
Beyond the glamour, Formula 1 operates a colossal logistics narrative, orchestrating the movement of teams, personnel, and tonnes of precision-engineered equipment across five continents in just nine months. This global ballet is powered by partners like DHL, responsible for transporting up to 1,400 tonnes of freight per race.
This intricate choreography extends from race cars and power units to entire hospitality structures. Each team alone incurs over $8 million annually in logistics costs, reflecting a supply chain that demands military precision. Critical components often fly via air freight, with customs handled mid-flight, ensuring seamless delivery.
1,400T
DHL Freight
Moved per race weekend
44-55T
Team Freight
Shipped per season
$8M+
Annual Cost
Logistics per team
$40M
DHL Partnership
Approximate annual value
Performance under pressure
Today, Formula 1 sits at the forefront of sustainable freight and aviation innovation.
Through DHL’s biofuel-powered European trucking fleet, the sport has reduced carbon emissions by an average of 83 percent per tonne-kilometre, while testing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) routes across its 2024–2025 calendar.
Each iteration brings the sport closer to net-zero mobility — the fusion of speed, sustainability, and emotion into one coherent system.
This is the beating heart beneath the glamour: tireless human effort, continuous innovation, and the belief that movement — when synchronised with purpose — can connect continents through shared feeling.
The Human Circuit
The Road Warrior Economy
Surrounding every F1 live event exists a hidden universe of specialists: staging crews, audio technicians, marketing coordinators, and hospitality professionals who maintain the show's momentum—not just here, but for music tours, fashion weeks, global conferences, and cultural phenomena everywhere.
These modern road warriors travel constantly, sometimes transporting equipment more frequently than experiencing luxury hotel comfort. Their budgets prioritize reach and impact over personal amenities. They represent the authentic emotional supply chain of contemporary culture: countless professionals improvising, trusting instincts, solving unprecedented problems in real time.
Advance Teams
Scout venues and coordinate local partnerships weeks ahead
Build Crews
Transform empty spaces into immersive environments in days
Event Execution
Deliver flawless experiences under intense time pressure
Strike & Transit
Dismantle, pack, and relocate to the next destination immediately
No company adequately serves this community yet. But that will inevitably change—as artificial intelligence and sophisticated logistics platforms converge to bring emotional alignment and seamless mobility to life for this essential workforce.
Building a Superteam
The Human Architecture of Performance
Beyond the precision engineering and logistical ballet, Formula 1's true architecture lies in its human network. It's a testament to emotional intelligence, diversity, and purpose, rather than technology or capital alone.
Graeme Lowdon, co-founder of the Marussia F1 Team and now leading Cadillac's bid for a modern superteam, profoundly describes Formula 1 as "the ultimate team game." Success, he argues, originates in a culture of alignment, binding hundreds of experts under immense pressure.
1
Culture of Alignment
Fostering unity and shared purpose among diverse experts.
2
Empathy in Leadership
Prioritizing care over control, building trust, and protecting team members.
3
Survivable Risk
Creating environments where trust allows for bold decisions and resilience.
The Cadillac project embodies this philosophy: 300 hires driven by conviction, not guarantees. It's a new blueprint for high-performance leadership, where progress is measured not just in speed, but in shared strength.
Empathy-Driven Teams
Prioritizing human connection and understanding.
Belief-Based Systems
Operational frameworks built on shared vision and trust.
Shared Strength Progress
Measuring advancement through collective resilience.
Lowdon's insights reinforce a core truth: alignment in Formula 1, from infrastructure to partnerships, is fundamentally emotional.
The High Performance Podcast
Lowdon’s reflections are a reminder that leadership in Formula 1 is not about control — it’s about connection.
When tragedy strikes, as it did with Jules Bianchi, it is compassion that sustains progress, not policy.
When the odds tighten, it is belief that keeps the structure upright.
The High Performance Podcast captures this philosophy through its calm, human approach to excellence — drawing out the lessons that live behind the results.
In Lowdon’s story, we hear what truly defines modern performance culture:
teams that prioritise empathy over ego, trust over title, and coherence over chaos.
Cadillac’s project reflects the same ethos driving Formula 1’s evolution today — a new kind of high performance where emotional alignment becomes the ultimate differentiator.
The Road Ahead:
Opportunities and Challenges in F1 Storytelling
The story of Formula 1 is still being written, and the future holds vast potential for how that narrative unfolds. Emerging technologies and personalized content promise deeper fan immersion, transforming each race into a uniquely personal experience. Yet, the human spirit—the grit of drivers, the pursuit of excellence—will remain the emotional anchor.
Here are the key opportunities and challenges:
Immersive Technology
Virtual and augmented reality will invite fans to step inside the race, feeling the roar of engines and the tension of the pit lane with unprecedented realism.
Personalized Narratives
Bespoke storytelling will craft experiences that speak directly to individual fans, making every race feel like a private conversation between sport and spectator.
Anchoring Human Spirit
The core emotional resonance will continue to be driven by the drivers' grit, teams' relentless excellence, and the unseen heroes behind the scenes.
Preserving Authenticity
As storytelling becomes more curated, maintaining genuine emotion will be vital. Fans can sense when passion is true versus manufactured.
Maintaining Community
With content fragmenting across platforms, ensuring a united F1 community where stories are shared cultural moments will be a delicate challenge.
Purity of Racing
Drama must never overshadow the essence of the sport. The thrill of speed and precision, the core of F1, must remain front and center.
In this evolving landscape, F1’s storytellers are custodians of emotion, tasked with connecting millions to a world where every lap, every heartbeat, feels profoundly personal.
Ferrari: The Art of Engineering Feeling
If any brand embodies emotional alignment at its very core, it’s Ferrari. Every curve, every pulse within a Ferrari cockpit is painstakingly tailored to resonate with the driver’s nervous system. As Ferrari boldly embraces its electric future, the real challenge transcends battery tech—it’s about reinventing excitement when the primal roar of combustion fades. The forthcoming Ferrari Elettrica channels 16 years of R&D, harnessing F1 technology to deliver a powertrain experience where vibration and sound are artificially amplified to evoke that visceral thrill unique to Ferrari.
Ferrari, Miami, Liberty Media, Ecclestone—they all grasp the essential truth: emotion is the ultimate interface. It’s never just about specs or raw performance metrics. The feeling itself is the product. This philosophy stretches far beyond automotive craft.
Apple’s Business Connect platform lets any brand tap into its vast billion-user ecosystem, evolving digital presence into genuine engagement. American Express’s sophisticated B2B networks elevate payments into enduring relationship architectures. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s rapid rise to 3 million paying enterprise customers underscores how emotion-driven innovation accelerates adoption and loyalty across industries.
Curiosity at Speed: The Perplexity × Lewis Hamilton Era
In 2025, Formula 1's narrative of emotional alignment executed another audacious leap forward. Lewis Hamilton—global icon, relentless learner, seven-time world champion—joined forces with Perplexity, the AI-powered platform for those who never stop questioning, never stop exploring.
"Whether it's in sport or life, you can never stop asking questions. The best never stop learning. Curiosity is fuel, and that's why I like using Perplexity."
— Lewis Hamilton
"Lewis stands for greatness and excellence—brand values we want people to associate with Perplexity. The faster you learn, the more you ask, the greater you become—in any field."
— Ryan Foutty, VP at Perplexity
When Hamilton donned that Perplexity-branded helmet, he wasn't launching another conventional sponsorship. He was articulating a philosophy: the race isn't confined to the track—it exists in every question we ask, every lesson we pursue, every boundary we challenge.
Legacy
Ecclestone's experiential foundation
Alignment
Liberty's global media synchronization
Exposure
Netflix democratizing access
Resonance
Curiosity-driven engagement everywhere
This partnership means F1 enthusiasts globally receive an unprecedented upgrade: Perplexity's AI now powers real-time race insights, instant answers to technical questions, and behind-the-scenes access previously unavailable anywhere. Anyone passionate about racing—or progress in any discipline—now has Hamilton's approach hardwired into their experience: stay curious, keep learning, relentlessly chase what's possible.
Together, Hamilton and Perplexity have fundamentally redefined how athletes, fans, and technology platforms can align—not through transactional sponsorships, but through genuine shared purpose. As the world tunes in to witness every battle on track, a deeper race unfolds simultaneously—for knowledge, for meaningful connection, for measurable progress.
In a universe where every millisecond counts and every question potentially leads somewhere transformative, this is what the next era embodies: drive and curiosity, working seamlessly together.
Have a Play with Perplexity and if you're not using GPT yet, start today.

With love from the 1% Happier Movement
Authored by Tom Shakir with the support of my awesome AI team