F1 Academy’s Susie Wolff Big Bet On The Future Of Women's Motorsport

Forbes

Managing Director of F1 Academy Susie Wolff joins Forbes Talks to discuss the business strategy driving F1 Academy. Wolff explains how she approaches the academy like a scalable startup, prioritizing long-term financial sustainability over temporary hype. She also talks about how the series is capitalizing on the booming female sports economy.  00:00 Introduction 00:13 F1 Academy Season Finale In Las Vegas 00:49 Building Momentum With A Startup Mentality  01:30 Securing Major Partners By Selling A Vision  03:22 Tapping Into The Explosive Growth Of Women’s Sports  04:28 Prioritizing Financial Sustainability Over Box-Ticking Exercises  07:58 Creating A Unique Standalone Product Within The F1 Ecosystem  10:40 Competing For Eyeballs And Ensuring Long-Term Growth  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00i'm justin birnbaum a staff writer here at forbes joining me today is suzy wolf managing director

00:08of f1 academy suzy thanks for being here today it's a pleasure so we're in the third year of f1

00:17academy uh the season finale is coming up it's going to be held at the las vegas grand prix

00:21i'm curious putting an event like that alongside one of the sports marquee races what does that do

00:27to elevate f1 academy thank you to the team at las vegas the ceo emily prazer for making it all

00:33possible and one thing's for sure we're not just racing there we are going to light up las vegas

00:37we've got a merch collection with hello kitty dropping we've obviously got a huge title fight

00:42between dorian pan and maya book ferrari against mercedes so it's going to be a big weekend for us

00:48what is what's kind of the the broader expectation coming out of that weekend what do you see coming

00:54out of there that kind of builds momentum going into the next season well i think long term with

01:00f1 academy we know change takes time and we always wanted to build a very strong foundation that year

01:05on year would solidify and just create more and more momentum we're bold we're big with our visions

01:11but we're only in year three so we're still very much like a young startup it's about optimizing the

01:16calendar making sure we're reaching new audiences that we're speaking to that very young female

01:20demographic that now is such a big fan of formula one and creating opportunity in the sport so that

01:26we see female talent both on and off track being given opportunity f1 academy secured major consumer

01:32brands like charlotte tilbury american express and tommy hilfiger so i'm curious for an all-female

01:38single make racing series what kind of unique value proposition does that offer well we didn't just

01:44want to be a diverse diversifying a project that everyone could tick a box with it was really about

01:50creating positive and impactful change in the sport very grateful for the partners that came on board

01:55because when i presented to them it was just a vision you know i didn't have the data i didn't

01:59have the eyeballs i didn't have the business case that could warrant them coming in to support f1

02:04academy but some of them were in the sport already and said we absolutely want to help you build

02:09we want to come on this journey with you because we see how important this can be for the future of the

02:13sports so how does the sponsorship inventory or the the partners you kind of are after or generally

02:18deal with how does that differ than the broader general kind of typical you know usual suspects of

02:24formula one well i think at the core of all of our partnerships is an authenticity to help us build

02:31and grow f1 academy there's nobody there that's just ticking a box to say okay we're in f1 we better

02:36help f1 academy all of them have come on board because they see how much momentum women's sports

02:42have they see how the fan base is growing they see the potential of the future mid to long term

02:47so these partners have really come on come on strategically to help us in the long term build

02:53something and to be proud to see the change that they've helped forge alongside us in the sport but

02:58i think initially it was important to get brands that have never been in the sport before because

03:03we want to disrupt we want to do things differently we want to challenge the perceptions

03:07that it's a man's world that the old data stereotypes of female drivers well they don't

03:13exist anymore and there's so much female talent out there that the sport in a way is really developing

03:18alongside the new partnerships that we're bringing in you know we're obviously at a time where women's

03:24sports are really booming i mean here in the u.s we've seen um you know whether it's the national

03:29women's soccer league the wmba valuations are booming from a motor motor sports perspective i'm wondering

03:34if you can kind of elaborate on that momentum and how that's been growing what kind of new audiences

03:38are you finding with that is it is it really kind of opening the gates here well formula one i mean we

03:45can be so grateful where the sport is right now it's got an incredible global fan base it keeps growing

03:50year on year what's incredible is that now 42 percent of the global fan base is female the fastest

03:56growing fan demographic the 18 to 24 year old female so we're really lucky to have that young

04:02female skewed audience and i think real credit to formula one because they thought up of f1 academy

04:09and they put the investment behind it they knew they wanted to speak to that new audience and make

04:13sure that in the long term the sport became more diversified and when i went out and looked for

04:19support from within the paddock within the sport i got it which i think shows how much the sport as a

04:25whole wants to see this positive change you know you touch on this a little bit i've spoken i've spoken

04:31with several other female owners and other sports owners in the women's sports space and many of them

04:35have said to me you know we're investing in this industry because this is a business this is going

04:39to make a lot of money there's a ton of growth to tap here and that extends on the sponsorship side too

04:44you know a lot in a lot of cases teams want to work with sponsors who don't see this as okay

04:48you know we want to you know be perceived well or you know make a diversity play of sorts we want to

04:53do this because we know this is a great business opportunity for us how do you ensure that the

04:57partners that you're working with see it similarly that this is not just you know we want to broaden

05:03the ecosystem but this is a great business opportunity and you can kind of build a long-term

05:07business out of that well i think financial sustainability is at the core of what we have

05:13to build up over time but it takes time and i've been incredibly lucky to get the full support and

05:17investment of f1 and obviously the owners of the sport liberty and that's given us a very strong

05:22foundation to go out to partners and say we would love you to come on this journey with us

05:26but we're not desperate that means we're not forced to sign any partner that we can

05:30i can tell on even the first discussion at a table if a brand really wants to come on board with us

05:36and build a true partnership or whether it's just a block-ticking exercise and in the end to

05:41build f1 academy to what we believe it can be we need the right partners on board with us we need

05:46to reach new audiences we need to make sure that the brands are talking about their involvement in

05:51f1 academy so that's been quite an easy process to understand who really wants to come on board

05:56and who doesn't and i've been in the wonderful position when i've realized that it's possibly

06:00just a box-taking exercise it's been a great conversation but let's not take this conversation

06:05any further because we have that strategy in place to say well what are we doing to build this

06:09not just now in the short term but in the mid to long term and i agree with many of the other

06:14women's sports owners there's huge potential within this sport it's got to be done in the correct way

06:19because when something's shiny and you're like f1 academy it can create hype it can create buzz but

06:24it's sustaining that momentum and building on it year on year you know you you articulate kind of

06:30what you're looking for in partners there um what you want out of them on the other side of the coin

06:34when you do agree with someone what is your expectation for how they work with you what is

06:39your expectation for their side of the relationship what are they going to do how much effort are they

06:42going to put into it and kind of what are the the kind of responsibilities that you kind of see when you

06:47want to be because obviously the partnership is a two-way street it definitely is and we never

06:52try to you know oversell and under deliver i like to do the opposite let me prove to you what we can

06:58deliver with f1 academy we're very lucky that we're one of the very few global sports in the world so

07:02we hit three different continents so it's really up to the partner to use those different regions

07:07in whatever way fits that region to really bring it to life with my brilliant partnerships team

07:12what activations are we doing either on the ground or digitally to reach that wider audience to tell

07:17those authentic stories from within the sport but how lucky am i you know we're only in our third year

07:23but f1 academy doesn't need to fill a stadium doesn't need to build a fan base we get to race

07:28one of the biggest sporting platforms in the world so when we take to the grid the grandstands are

07:32already full we have nearly all the broadcasters of f1 showing f1 academy we have our own netflix

07:38series from a very early stage we were able to deliver quite high numbers in certain in terms of

07:45data because these brands as much as they're willing to come on board with the journey there

07:49needs to be a return on investment they need to see that actually they're reaching the audiences and

07:53it's working for them as a partnership and that's something i always want to deliver for the partners

07:57while you do get to leverage kind of the grand stage of formula one which undoubtedly you know

08:02brings a ton of eyeballs and interests how do you then outside of that you know when you necessarily

08:07can't leverage you know kind of the broader formula one ecosystem like how do you make f1 academy

08:13a standalone product too in addition to kind of being a product that complements the f1 ecosystem

08:18very nicely well we offer very different assets um so our paddock is open to the fans we don't you

08:26don't need that special golden pass to get into the paddock anyone can walk up and see a young girl

08:31putting on a ferrari race suit and jumping in what looks like a miniature formula one car

08:35we also make sure that our partners are able to activate around f1 academy because obviously it's

08:40slightly easier than f1 who have the 10 formula one teams to work with some of our partners have

08:46a whole liberated design you know tommy phil health figure isn't just a logo on a car of an f1 team

08:52he has the whole liberated design he has a driver with a tommy phil health figure suit

08:56so it really means the asset is very different to what they're used to having

09:00in formula one and that means they can bring the partnership to life in what is a very new and

09:05novel way so kind of switching gears a little bit here uh beyond being an on the track pipeline

09:11for female drivers i'm curious how f1 academy supports uh women in stem and you know helping

09:17helping drive them pursue careers in motorsports in the broader f1 ecosystem or even engineering

09:21in general well being in motorsport we love data and unfortunately for me it's very difficult to

09:28find out what data we actually have of being successful in terms of changing perceptions

09:33in terms of a young woman in the middle of the us or the uk or germany choosing to study engineering

09:39at university because she loves f1 that's something i i cannot obviously um gather and and hold but we

09:47do hear the success stories and for us f1 academy is not just about getting a female driver on the f1

09:53grid if we do our job well that will be inevitable you know i i don't want to put you on the spot you

09:59mentioned success stories do any come to mind in terms of of any that you can kind of think of on the

10:03spot definitely i mean an outstanding one for me last season i was walking through the paddock and a

10:09young lady was shouting my name and i stopped and she said i just had to speak to you because i want

10:15you to know that it's because of you and f1 academy that i'm standing in this paddock and there

10:20are success stories of young women who have chosen to either change their career paths or pursue a

10:25path in motorsports and the amount of messages we get also from young students saying you know how

10:30can i get into this sport i think it shows that over time you will see more and more young talented

10:36women entering the sport not just on track but also off track in the the collection of motorsports

10:42fans globally obviously you know there are those who will consume every every type of racing product

10:47and there's those who you know will watch one race this race or that race how do you ensure f1

10:53academy claims its fair share of eyeballs over the long term i mean it's a big question it's a lot to

10:58think about obviously but you know you get to leverage these broader platforms but in a way you

11:03also compete against them because you are a similar product you know it complements but at the end of

11:08the day there are fans who will watch everything and there are fans who only watch one or two races so

11:11how do you make sure f1 academy claims the eyeballs it needs to grow that's a great question obviously

11:17not just an f1 weekend but there's so much content out there these days that we need to

11:22make sure that we are compelling for fans that we're creating great racing to watch that the

11:26content that we're putting up on socially is compelling enough for them to watch and i don't

11:32take that lightly i don't expect people to watch just because it's called f1 academy and it's female

11:36drivers it needs to be great entertainment to watch we need to have exciting races we need to have big

11:41battles we need to have rivalries we need to create a show before the race and make sure our

11:46podium ceremony has the buzz that a formula one one does and that won't happen overnight but we've

11:51seen some incredible racing this year we obviously have a title fight ferrari against mercedes going

11:56into las vegas finale so we're in a pretty good way but we have to earn our fans and we need to do

12:02that by just creating a spectacle for them to watch what do you think f1 and by association f1 academy

12:08need to do the most to keep growing because obviously the growth over the last few years

12:12has been incredible but to keep that momentum going to meet evolving fan base what is probably

12:18the top priority you think for me the top priority is ensuring that there's great racing to watch you

12:24know people need to be entertained when they switch to television on there's no point in there being a

12:28big show without there being the authenticity of brilliant racing at the heart of it it's the fastest

12:34racing cars in the world those racing drivers the speeds they go now how close it is in

12:38qualifying they're having to put everything on the line to get a great position either in qualifying

12:44or a race so it really is the best drivers in the world with the fastest machinery in the world

12:49some of the biggest brands in the world um going head to head for what is the biggest prize in

12:54motorsport and that will always be at the core of what f1 needs to be and like i said with f1 academy

13:00we need to be a spectacle and i think as long as the entertainment side where it's great racing if

13:04there's a big rivalry it always helps you know we're looking at a title this year that might go

13:08down to the wire in abu dhabi and that's something which i think people will just keep tuning into and

13:13more and more people will will hear of these great races these great rivalries and be interested to watch

13:19before i let you go is there anything else on f1 academy that i've missed along the way here any

13:23any point we didn't hit on anything that people need to know about f1 academy

13:27i think the fact that f1 academy exists because not everyone realizes that yet we're gaining an

13:32incredible amount of momentum and there's some exciting announcements coming not just in las

13:37vegas but also next year so watch this space we've we've got even bigger visions than you see right now

13:45susie thanks so much for taking the time today thank you for having me

13:57so

14:02you

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