In a special guest column for Motorsport Week, former Formula 1 commercial and experiences expert Kate Beavan takes a look at what the sport’s relationship with Disney could mean, if it strengthened it a little further!

In early 2017, I sat in a lovely bar in London called Mews of Mayfair with Lee Jury of Disney and a nice bottle of red wine. I knew Lee as a very creative Disney guy and also a Formula 1 fan. He told me that they were about to launch the Cars 3 film in the UK and that this was going to coincide with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. 

Only weeks before, Liberty Media had acquired Formula 1, but the culture of transformation was already bubbling. The sport suddenly felt different. Possibilities that had previously been firmly controlled by Bernie, were now suddenly, tentatively, open. 

Where once we might have discussed a nice marketing tie-up for the forthcoming release of Cars 3 – some branding here, a screening there, the usual transactional pleasantries – we actually sat down and thought: what could we really do?  

After the second bottle, an idea emerged: what if we were to put life-sized ‘Cars 3’ cars into a life-sized Formula 1 garage at the British Grand Prix? Life sized pit equipment. Life sized team livery. Lightning McQueen in the F1 British Grand Prix pit lane looking like he belonged there.  

And all this on the Formula 1 global broadcast feed of course! We loved the idea. Except that I wasn’t sure that we would be allowed to do it. Someone would surely find some rule somewhere that would stop us. Or worse; maybe everyone would hate the idea! 

But in the end no-one did. It went ahead and some of you might remember it. We delivered for Disney and, for Formula 1 we showed a lighter, open and more welcoming tone. Perfect for the new Liberty era. 

And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Or is it? 

Here we are, almost a decade later, and The Walt Disney Company has been doing more and more with Formula 1 every year. Licensing deals, merchandise, Mickey on the F1 Podium, a Webtoon and all manner of cool tie-ins being relentlessly launched at pace by the ever-smart Emily Prazer, F1’s Commercial Director. 

So, the brands keep circling each other at getting closer and closer year on year, finding new ways to collaborate, new touchpoints, new commercial intersections. The relationship has deepened steadily, naturally, almost inevitably – but it has never taken the step that, to me seems like the logical destination. 

And, when you look at the two businesses side by side, you notice something.  

Something structural. And once you see it, it is hard to unsee. 

The same business, different clothes… 

The Walt Disney Company is built on three capability pillars. If you strip away the complexity – the divisions, the corporate reorganisations and the reporting lines – the model is simple: 

Pillar 1: Live events. Theme parks and experiences. Premium, destination-based, multi-day entertainment that people travel to attend. 

Pillar 2: Content creation and distribution. Films, animation, scripted and unscripted drama, documentary, lifestyle – all feeding streaming platforms and broadcast channels. 

Pillar 3: Product licensing. Consumer products that feed off the first two pillars. The toys, the clothing, the games, the retail – all built on the emotional connection created by the content and the events. 

Now let’s look at Formula 1: 

Pillar 1: Live events. 24 Grands Prix globally. Premium, destination-based, multi-day entertainment that people travel to attend. 

Pillar 2: Content. Live sport, lifestyle content, unscripted drama, technology stories, human interest — 24 weekends of compelling content and programming every year. 

Pillar 3: Merchandising. Team and F1-branded products, licensing, hospitality – consumer revenue that feeds off the first two pillars. 

It is the same model. The same flywheel. Not similar. The same. 

These three capability pillars may not be how Disney reports its business. The three pillars I have described here are a functional map of what Disney does, not a reflection of how it draws its org chart. But org charts change; core capabilities do not.  

Disney makes content, delivers live experiences, and monetises IP through consumer products. That is what it does, however the boxes are arranged. And it is precisely those three capabilities that Formula 1 needs if it is to maintain anywhere near the growth trajectory it has been on. 

Disney has spent decades building the world’s best infrastructure for exploiting all three simultaneously. Formula 1 has strong live events, increasingly strong content, and a licensing operation that has barely started. The fit is not just good. It is structural. 

Or, to put it more simply: 

Apologies – but I just couldn’t resist. 

What is really interesting is not just that the models are the same. It is what happens when you start thinking about what Disney’s infrastructure could do with each of F1’s three pillars. 

Pillar 1: Live Events 

24 Pop-Up Theme Parks 

Disney spends billions building theme parks. Shanghai Disney cost $5.5 billion. Each park takes years to construct, sits in one location, and then relies on marketing spend to get people to go to it. 

Formula 1 delivers 24 fully operational, globally distributed, premium entertainment venues every year. Each one draws 250,000–550,000 people who have already self-selected as affluent, experience-hungry, and willing to spend. The infrastructure is built, the logistics are proven, and the audience is pre-committed. 

It is hard not to look at that and think – these are 24 pop-up Disney theme parks, delivered annually, all over the world, with the customers already through the gate. Disney currently builds the destination and markets it to the consumer. Formula 1 is the destination, and the fans are already booking flights. 

And bringing the depth and breadth of Disney’s capability in live events to grands prix is a sure-fire way to improve fan experiences, revenues and yield. The race as the centrepiece of a broader event, the way a castle is the centrepiece of a park but not the whole experience. 

The obvious and immediate benefit to Disney is a timely shot in the arm for its parks division with a new, young and affluent Formula 1 audience to attract. Some undoubtedly going to Disney parks already. Some not. 

Owning a few circuits 

Let’s keep running with this fantasy tie-up… Why not own one or two of the circuits? 

Liberty Media has already tested this idea in Las Vegas. They bought 39 acres just off the Strip, built the Grand Prix Plaza – a paddock building, immersive Formula 1 experience venue, key parts of the circuit, a karting track with shops and restaurants – and it operates 365 days a year. 

Imagine Disney doing this. Silverstone is over 700 acres of prime Northamptonshire countryside, 90 minutes from London, with a globally recognised brand, a schedule of motorsport events and one weekend of peak commercial activity per year. Under Disney ownership it could become a year-round Formula 1 entertainment destination: The British Grand Prix as the annual tentpole, but the venue earning revenue every day. 

The same model at COTA in Austin – already in a city that positions itself as the tech and entertainment capital of the American South – create a permanent Disney/Formula 1 presence in the heart of F1’s fastest-growing market. 

You would not need (or want) to buy all 24 circuits. Three or four in key strategic markets would create a network of permanent destinations that anchor the brand between race weekends. 

Pillar 2: Content 

The sport that writes its own stories 

Every fictional franchise Disney owns – Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar – requires continuous investment in new content to stay relevant. Good content does not come cheap making the risks of investment much higher. A weak film dents the franchise. A poor series erodes the brand. The content pipeline must never and can never stop… 

Formula 1 generates its own stories, every two weeks, for free (and in fact gets paid to do so). The drama is real. The heroes are real. The rivalries are real. It regenerates every season – new drivers, new teams, new storylines.  

Netflix’s Drive to Survive proved that these stories are compelling entertainment in their own right. It also proved that telling those stories well transforms the audience: Formula 1’s US fanbase grew dramatically on the back of a documentary series that cost a tiny fraction of a Marvel film. 

Under Disney ownership, the content opportunity opens up across every platform in the portfolio. Disney+ and ESPN get premium live sport across 24 weekends in every major global market (post Apple of course).  

The studios get a universe of factual, documentary, animation and lifestyle programming built around the most photogenic sport in the world. The archive alone is a content library that no one has properly exploited. And Formula 1 the animated musical? Yes, yes, yes… Move over Simba. I’m in the queue already! 

Keep a look out for Part 2 of Kate’s feature tomorrow!