Why MotoGP needs Drive To Survive’s breakout F1 hero

Every time I step into the changing room at my ice hockey practice, I’m never not amazed at just how many people in there are wearing Formula 1 merchandise. From something that even 10 years ago was still considered a niche, the explosion in popularity for F1 - whatever your opinions on its direction - is a testament to the job Liberty Media has done since taking over ownership in 2017.

One of the key pillars of its success was doing something the Bernie Ecclestone-led regime before it senselessly stood against in throwing the doors open to the paddock in a mainstream behind-the-scenes documentary.

Drive To Survive’s home on Netflix was a genius move to get F1 in front of a fresh audience, though a great deal of luck was also involved in the fact the series’ first two season’s were available just as the COVID pandemic hit. All of a sudden, something many still would have glossed over became essential viewing.

The knock-on effect has been a booming popularity for F1 globally that motorsport really hasn’t seen before, with F1’s calendar expanding at a frantic pace post-COVID and events constantly being run to capacity.

It ha become the go-to place for celebrities to be seen to be seen; this summer, the Brad Pitt-helmed F1 hits cinemas to further keep the four-wheel series in the mainstream spotlight. All of this despite the fact that F1 racing remains reasonably dull in 2025.

The same can’t be said of MotoGP's spectacle, which has enjoyed an exciting start to its new campaign both off and on-track. It’s exactly what Liberty Media wants to be seeing as it gets set to finalise its €4.2 billion acquisition of Dorna Sports.

Announced last year, the sale has been in delay while a European Commission probe is carried out. However, Dorna’s chief sporting officer Carlos Ezpeleta told Crash.net recently that it was still expecting this deal to be granted approval and closed by the end of this month.

Guenther Steiner can be the link between F1 and MotoGP

The hope for MotoGP when Liberty takes over is that it can enjoy the same ascension to the mainstream that F1 has over the last eight years or so. MotoGP remains strong in its key markets: the French GP busted attendance records with its 300,000+ crowd figure in May.

But the 40,000 Sunday crowd at Silverstone was a glaring reminder of the job Liberty faces in establishing a better foothold in key markets. Steps are already underway in this regard, following the recent announcement that MotoGP has partnered with marketing agency Two Circles - who do work with the Premier League and the NFL, among others - to grow the fanbase.

The United States has already been identified as a key market for growth. Just over a decade ago MotoGP visited the country twice when F1 didn’t even have a US race. Now the latter has three. And it’s easy to forget just 10 years ago Brad Pitt was on the MotoGP grid at Silverstone promoting the documentary film, Hitting the Apex, he’d produced. The opportunity for growth is huge.

But whether MotoGP’s current core fanbase wants to admit it or not, there will need to be a bridge built with F1 to tap into its audience and its partners if Liberty’s flagship two-wheel series is to flourish.

Former Haas team boss Guenter Steiner is the person who could do just that.

During the British Grand Prix, rumours emerged that Tech3 owner Herve Poncharal was to be replaced by Steiner. The Italian, who wasn’t renewed as Haas team boss for the 2024 season, was present at Silverstone.

Poncharal has since confirmed that he has been in talks with Steiner over a potential investment in the Tech3 squad, as the Frenchman looks to safeguard the future of his outfit amid uncertainty over partner manufacturer KTM’s MotoGP plans beyond this year.

“We spoke with Guenther, who is a very nice,” Poncharal said on Thursday at Aragon. “Very straightforward and I like that a lot. He has a lot of experience in motorsport. But at the moment it’s only talk and people explaining to me what is their vision, what they would like to do.

“It can be coming as an investor, as a partner with a minority shareholder… Or having a mission to also help on the sponsorship research. I have also some proposals to eventually buy out Tech3. To run the team with me helping them to do the transition.”

Steiner’s, then, isn’t the only name looking for an in to MotoGP through Tech3. And it’s not even the first time an F1 name has been linked to the paddock. Last year, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was rumoured to be buying Gresini. That didn’t happen, but he expressed an interest in MotoGP investment. There was also briefly interest from the Hamilton camp in investing in KTM.

During his tenure as Haas team boss in F1, Steiner’s record was solid but nothing spectacular. Fifth in the constructors’ table in 2016 was the highlight for the US-owned team, before it slumped down the order again - including a write-off 2021 season in which it scored no points as the squad focused fully on the new 2022 rules, only to finish eighth that year.

But Drive To Survive made Steiner a cult hero, his foul-mouthed, shoot-from-the-hip approach to running an F1 team - and life, in general - making him one of the Netflix series’ biggest draws. His “do not f*** smash my door” outburst following a heated meeting with his drivers is a firm part of the F1 lexicon now.

Having his name attached to a team will get eyes on it purely for those reasons. But, crucially, Steiner knows the business side of racing well, having been part of the F1 paddock as far back as the Jaguar days in the early 2000s. Working for an American-owned team in Haas opens doors to sponsors from that side of the Atlantic that have so far been closed to the still Euro-centric MotoGP.

That these talks between Steiner and Tech3 have come just weeks ahead of Liberty’s deal to buy MotoGP being given EU approval won’t be coincidental. While nothing will fundamentally change in the short-term when Liberty comes in, it will want people it knows installed to start building the groundwork to opening MotoGP up to new investors and new audiences.

Having Steiner involved in MotoGP would be a very early big win for Liberty for this very reason…