Drive to Survive: Negotiating Access, Control, and Value in Formula 1
2026
| Case No.
SPM64
| Length
16 pgs.
When Drive to Survive premiered on Netflix in 2019, Formula 1 was seeking to reverse declining audiences and expand its footprint, particularly in the United States, following Liberty Media’s 2017 acquisition. The series offered unprecedented behind the scenes access to a sport long defined by secrecy and centralized media control, reframing Formula 1 as a character driven narrative of rivalry, ambition, and pressure. Across multiple seasons, the partnership required ongoing negotiation among Netflix, Liberty Media, Box to Box Films, teams, and drivers, each balancing commercial opportunity against concerns over editorial framing, competitive sensitivity, compensation, and governance. The case examines how this repeated game of access, trust, and narrative control reshaped the sport’s global trajectory and altered the balance of influence among its key stakeholders.
Learning Objective
Students are invited to analyze complex multi-party negotiations in media, sports, and entertainment and to examine how incentives are aligned among a rights holder, a distribution platform, a production company, teams, and talent. The case highlights tradeoffs between editorial independence and commercial partnership, evaluates how narrative framing shapes brand equity and bargaining power, and considers how shifts in media economics alter leverage over time.
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