Owing to the burst of popularity of F1 in America, F1 has taken on a whole new strategy when it comes to marketing. As a result, there has been a large influx of influencers making their way to the paddock. This has left a sour taste in the mouths of hardcore F1 fans. However, when Charli D’Amelio made an appearance at the Monaco GP, fans had enough.
A guest for APM Monaco, a jewelry company, D’Amelio and her mother arrived at the paddock with VIP lanyards for the weekend. Amid snaps shared with Noah Schnapp and videos on the starting grid, D’Amelio fell prey to the toxic side of F1 Twitter.
However, this is hardly the 19-year-old’s fault. Sponsors and teams are trying to tap into Drive to Survive’s magic and expand their target audiences. The young TikToker is pretty much the paramount of influencer fame with a whopping 47.4 million followers. That’s almost 50 million fans the brand has reached out to with just one post from the TikTok star. And there’s still so much more to that.
Some fans saw this logic and stood up for the entrepreneur/ influencer, while the rest of the fans found it extremely unfair that people with zero knowledge about the sport get called to such unique experiences.
F1 Twitter rages against Charli D’Amelio
Most fans were green with envy at the arbitrary turn of affairs. Thus, war broke out. Fans were split into two camps.
https://twitter.com/itswhitsc/status/1663890266774724608?s=20
A fan also shared a video of D’Amelio trying to learn how the sport worked. If anything, having influencers at races on grows the F1 fanbase. Thus gatekeeping it shouldn’t be on the books.
On the other side of the battle line, were fans who gave the girl a chance. While some argued that sponsorships are necessary
Not only did she experience her first F1 race, D’Amelio probably got the best one. Thus, instead of resenting her, people should be glad to have one, or even 47 million people hear about the glorious sport of F1. The sport is growing, and instead of protecting the drivers and the tracks, education and spreading the loyalty that runs so deep in our bones should be the main objective.
