“We looked at sport as an area, particularly in the premium space, that felt underserved,” Martin told Deadline. “You had ESPN, which did 30 for 30 and HBO doingonce a year. But we felt there was a ton of opportunity for really well done, premium storytelling in the sports space. I don’t think we expectedto suddenly become this thing that was bigger than just a just a TV show. But we definitely sensed that there was an opportunity in that space.
The series has been given credit for massively growing the sports fan base in the U.S. In the past, one of the concerns for sports leagues was the distraction that a film crew would bring to elite sport. However, with the advent of social media, many of the stars were already starting to pull back the curtain.
“Most sports stars are used to being filmed pretty much all the time. It’s just about getting them to not just basically repeat those cliched PR answers,” Gay-Rees said. “With Formula 1, you’ve got 20 daring young, attractive men risking their lives every weekend and we just need to shine a light on that.”
He added that the sport is a perfect precinct for a docuseries because it’s contained every week and everyone knows where everybody’s going to be standing. “They’ve all worked for each other. They’ve all fired each other. You can tell all the backstory and the gossip so it’s a genuine soap opera.” Martin said one of the challenges is getting the balance right between keeping the hardcore fans happy and inviting new audiences in. “It’s got all the ingredients of a returning sitcom or drama series. Even though the races are in different countries… we joke sometimes that it’s like, there’s a certain comfort level for the audience,” he added.How long could it run? Gay-Rees said that viewing figures haven’t dropped. “I think it’s probably hopefully going to carry around a bit longer.