The Ferrari revival story is good for business. It is good for Formula 1’s commercial arm, for broadcasters, and for sponsors. Whether it is good for the grid is a different question. The narrative is being pushed for reasons beyond race results.
Who Orchestrated the Ferrari Narrative and What They Gain
When Lewis Hamilton moved to Ferrari for 2025, the sport and its partners had a ready-made story: the most successful driver of the era joining the most famous team. ScuderiaFans and commercial analysts reported that the partnership generated around 70 million euros in additional revenue for Ferrari in its first half-year; sponsorship and commercial revenue jumped from 313 million to 396 million euros between the first halves of 2024 and 2025. Merchandise sales through Puma reportedly increased eightfold. So Ferrari as a brand gains directly from the narrative. Formula 1 and its owner Liberty Media gain too: F1 revenue reached a record 3.87 billion dollars in 2025, up 14% year on year, as BlackBook Motorsport and Yahoo reported. Media rights account for about 31% of primary revenue. The Hamilton-Ferrari move was framed as a success in marketing terms before a single podium; MKTG and Alliance Agency described it as a branding win. The narrative benefits the commercial arm and broadcasters more than it reflects grid reality.
Broadcasters and FOM Have an Interest in the Story
Formula One Management (FOM) and broadcasters do not simply report the Ferrari story; they shape it. In 2025, during the Chinese Grand Prix, FOM selectively broadcast Lewis Hamilton’s radio messages in a way that created a misleading narrative, as RaceFans and Motorsport Week reported. Hamilton had offered to let Charles Leclerc pass and said he was struggling; that first message was not aired. Instead the world feed showed only later exchanges where he delayed the swap. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur called the broadcast “a joke,” stating that Hamilton had asked to swap but the edit made it look like the opposite. So the Ferrari narrative is not neutral coverage; it is edited for drama. When the 2026 season opened in Australia, Apple TV (which had secured exclusive U.S. F1 rights) saw app downloads triple around the race weekend, as GPFans reported. A Ferrari revival story keeps viewers tuned in. The story is being pushed because it pays.
Liberty Media and the Commercial Logic
Liberty Media owns Formula 1 and has a direct interest in maximising revenue from media rights, sponsorship, and attendance. Liberty’s Derek Chang discussed the F1–Apple deal in March 2026 as a strategic partnership, not just a TV contract, as Sports Business Journal reported. The Ferrari narrative—a comeback, a title fight, a famous team and driver—drives engagement and justifies premium rights fees. Forbes and ESPN reported that U.S. F1 viewership hit record levels in ESPN’s final year (2025), with the Abu Dhabi finale peaking at 1.8 million viewers. So when pundits and headlines talk up a Ferrari revival after one strong weekend in Melbourne, they are serving the same commercial logic: more buzz, more viewers, more value for rights holders. The story benefits F1’s commercial arm and broadcasters more than it reflects whether Ferrari will actually win races.
What This Actually Means
The Ferrari narrative is orchestrated in the sense that multiple parties gain from it: the team’s sponsors and merchandise, F1’s media and sponsorship revenue, and broadcasters’ ratings. That does not make the narrative false, but it does mean that the volume of the story is driven by commercial interest as much as by stopwatch reality. When the media talks up a Ferrari revival, ask who gains. The answer is Liberty Media, broadcast partners, and Ferrari’s own commercial machine. Grid reality—whether Ferrari fix their strategy and deployment and beat Mercedes—is secondary to the story’s usefulness.
What Is Liberty Media’s Role in Formula 1?
Liberty Media Corporation acquired Formula 1 in 2017 and owns the commercial rights to the championship. It sells broadcast rights, negotiates race hosting fees, and manages sponsorship and licensing. F1 revenue has grown sharply under Liberty; the 2025 figure of 3.87 billion dollars was reported as nearly 2 billion more than at the time of acquisition. Liberty has expanded into new markets and signed deals such as the exclusive U.S. broadcast agreement with Apple TV beginning in 2026.
That expansion includes the exclusive U.S. broadcast deal with Apple TV from 2026; GPFans reported that when the 2026 season opened in Australia, Apple TV saw app downloads triple around the race weekend. The Ferrari revival narrative helps justify premium rights fees and keeps viewers engaged across both traditional and new platforms. The commercial logic is clear: more buzz around Ferrari means more interest in the product that Liberty and its partners sell.
Sources
ScuderiaFans, BlackBook Motorsport, Yahoo Sports, MKTG, RaceFans, Motorsport Week, Sports Business Journal, GPFans, Formula 1