The latest season of F1 has fans geared up for potentially exciting prospects following the Australian Grand Prix. A race win from Carlos Sainz has fans hoping for more such instances, leading to closer competition this time around. While the on-track prospects have given a ray of hope to the fans, the off-track developments have left them disappointed. Series such as McLaren’s ‘Unboxed’ and Red Bull Racing’s ‘Behind the Charge’ have both been discontinued for 2024.
‘McLaren Unboxed’ became a revolutionary series in the world of motorsports with its content. The makers of the show gave fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the McLaren facility. Insights from race weekends were an adored part of the series. Unboxed also allowed F1 drivers to become more ‘humanized’ as it highlighted their mistakes, jokes, and other humorous elements, adding to the show’s appeal. The McLaren show became particularly popular among the youth because viewers were able to relate with youngsters Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Only just realised that McLaren’s Unboxed YouTube series doesn’t look like its being continued for 2024
A real shame as McLaren Racing were the first to give real insight into their races, creating the blueprint for so many teams, not only in F1 but other championships too pic.twitter.com/KB7hYrXEgT
— Matt (@mattamys) March 25, 2024
Red Bull joined the trend and launched their version of a BTS show. Hundreds of thousands of fans enjoyed the show as it gave them a chance to know more about their favorite team. However, all of the fans now stand disappointed because of the discontinuation of both shows.
Per an update on X by user Matt, the FOM intervened in the shooting of these series. They limited the amount of Behind the Scenes content that teams can release on YouTube. The primary reason behind the same stands as potential overlapping with what Drive to Survive is capturing. However, fans of the sport and series aren’t happy with the decision.
Fans react to McLaren discontinuing their shows
While Drive to Survive played a pivotal role in bringing a new audience to F1, many of those people now prefer to stay away from the series. They claim the ‘human element’ is vanishing from the series, with drama playing the titular role. Hence, the discontinuation of the McLaren BTS series has fans enraged.
rip landoscar mclaren unboxed you’ll be missed pic.twitter.com/E8tjEWg64V
— nour ♧ (@mclandoscar) March 25, 2024
Teams getting banned from showing much behind the scenes content because of dts only for dts to use fuck all of the actual exciting bits of the year
Like we could’ve gotten a Japan or Qatar McLaren unboxed but instead we get nothing
It’s stupid as hell pic.twitter.com/J75M2SanQL— ciaran⁸¹ | キアラン (@UnknownAster) March 25, 2024
mclaren unboxed x scott street
rip mclaren unboxed 2019 – 2023 pic.twitter.com/d9wEORPhwx
— em⁴ (@LNLTBGP) March 25, 2024
Some fans detailed the significance of the series in their lives.
no because i actually used to look forward to mclaren unboxed every wednesday after a race weekend sitting waiting for my behind the scenes fix
— jas ⁸¹ (@piastrisjpg) March 25, 2024
losing mclaren unboxed feel like losing my first born child
— ellie (@455NATION) March 26, 2024
Meanwhile, one fan demanded the return of the series.
BRING BACK MCLAREN UNBOXED!!!
— bia (@LNFOURS) March 25, 2024
McLaren Unboxed became a groundbreaking series with other motorsports disciplines also taking inspiration. Amid the rising ‘dramatization’ of DTS, a Behind the Scenes series was much more appealing to fans. However, it no longer stands as an avenue for fans to enjoy.
