Tracking: F1 Newsletter Content

Back in February, I signed up for the newsletters of each Formula 1 team. Since then, I’ve filed every newsletter received to get an idea of just how the teams communicate across the season.

Newsletters are a key fan engagement touchpoint. When done well, they keep fans in the loop, provide exclusive content, and direct clicks to other content. When done poorly, they’re a sales channel that fans learn to ignore.

So, what’s been happening in newsletter land?

The information below is as correct as possible as of June 22nd 2024 (AEST).

Newsletters

Aston Martin

Frequency:

Since the beginning of the season, Aston Martin have sent 33 newsletters. This evens out to about two per week, with a higher frequency during race weekends.

Content:

Aston Martin are the only team to directly address fans in their messaging. Newsletters begin with “Hi [Name]”, which increases feelings of connection. It’s also very simple to do - if you collect first names at sign-up, it’s an easy system option to make your fans feel like you’re speaking to them.

Aston are one of the teams with the greatest variety in their newsletter content. They send a message from Team Principal Mike Krack every race weekend, frequently spotlight non-driver members of the team, and share previews in the lead up to races.

Sales:Content Ratio:

Aston Martin have shared 7 sales-specific newsletters. This is approximately a ratio of 1:4

Ferrari

Frequency:

Ferrari have shared 59 newsletters throughout the season to date. This is approximately 3-4 newsletters per week.

Content:

While Aston have personalised their emails, Ferrari have forgotten to flick the switch that actually adds the fan name in, and awkwardly have previews addressed to “FAN”. Details matter, friends!

Ferrari have a pretty straightforward newsletter offering, with a mix of race previews, race recaps, and updates from their online store.

Sales/Content Ratio:

Ferrari have shared 39 sales-specific newsletters, for a ratio of approximately 2:3.

Haas

Frequency:

Since the beginning of the season, Haas have sent 26 email newsletters. This is approximately 1-2 per week.

Content:

While Haas don’t address in the body of their newsletters, they do often add fan names to their email subject lines.

Haas’s newsletters are primarily race previews and race recaps, with a sprinkling of competition highlights and a monthly message from Team Principal Ayao Komatsu.

Sales/Content Ratio:

Haas have shared 2 sales-specific newsletters. This is a ratio of 1:13.

McLaren

Frequency:

Since the beginning of the season, McLaren have shared 40 newsletters. This works out to be approximately 2-3 emails per week

Content:

McLaren’s newsletters follow a very predictable format: A graphic either relating to an upcoming race or a race result, short quotes from Lando and Oscar, links to stories on the McLaren website, and a plug for their online store.

There are no introductory messages in McLaren’s emails, nor is there newsletter-specific messaging. While they’re far from the only team to skip this messaging, it feels like an obvious content gap.

Sales/Content Ratio:

McLaren have shared 13 sales-specific newsletters. This is approximately a ratio of 3:10.

Red Bull

Frequency:

Since the start of the season, Red Bull have shared 37 newsletters. This equals out to approximately 2-3 emails per week.

Content:

It’s a bit harsh of me, but I find Red Bull’s emails to be eyesores. They’ve tried to be visually creative, but there are so many moving parts and bright colours that I’m never quite sure where they want me to look, or what they want me to do.

Much like McLaren, the Red Bull newsletters follow a predictable pattern of quotes, graphics, and links to their website. Broadly, the newsletters cover race previews, race recaps, and updates for their fan club, The Paddock.

It’s clear the aim of the newsletter is to direct traffic to the website, rather than providing information inside the newsletter itself. Much like McLaren, it does feel like they could do a little bit more in personalising the newsletter for those who are looking to read a newsletter.

Sales/Content Ratio:

Red Bull have shared 5 sales-specific newsletters. This is a ratio of approximately 1:7.

Visa Cash App RB

Frequency:

Since the beginning of the season, VCARB have shared 16 newsletters. This is approximately 1 email per week.

Content:

The VCARB newsletters are very bare bones, linking fans to the “race hubs” on their website during race previews, linking to race reports in their race recaps, and reminding fans of their “garage playlists” (with a quote or two from their drivers for good measure).

Sales/Content Ratio:

VCARB have shared 1 sales-specific newsletter1. This is a ratio of 1:16.

Williams

Frequency:

Since the beginning of the season, Williams have shared 88 email newsletters. This is approximately 5-6 emails per week.

Content:

Out of all of the teams, Williams are the most committed to their newsletter content. Rather than limiting themselves to just race previews and recaps (although they do both of these), they also spotlight the other content they’re producing (such as their driver-centric video series Team Torque), and remind fans they’re hosting Fan Zones in a number of cities (and share the filmed Q&As for the fans who can’t come along in person).

Williams see the value in keeping fans in the loop for more than just race results. They want to stay front of mind, and if my email inbox is anything to go by, it’s working.

Sales/Content Ratio:

Williams have shared 21 sales-specific newsletters. This is a ratio of 2:9.

Sales Only

Mercedes

When you visit the Mercedes website, there is a very clear button for you to sign-up to receive communications from the team.

However, if you expected this to bring you news or other team related content, you’d be sorely mistaken. 51 emails have been sent from Mercedes since February, and all 51 have come from their online store. For a team who are otherwise very on top of fan-facing content, the lack of proper newsletter is such a weird hole in their strategy.

MIA

Alpine

Okay, technically Alpine have shared 4 emails since the beginning of the season, but that’s so sporadic and it’s so difficult to find a way to actually receive the newsletters (why is there no sign-up on their website?!) that I’m calling it non-existent.

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

What is there to say? Sauber completely rebranded for 2024, but forgot that they need to bring fans along for the ride outside of their TikTok channel.

As you can see, it’s a real mixed bag in F1 newsletter land. Obviously the teams have their own metrics and know what works for them…although I always wonder if they have attempted to test some different formats. Do fans really prefer bare bones links to external content, or should some investment be given to more specifically curated content for the newsletter?

As the rise of Substack (and Beehiiv!) has shown us, newsletter writing can be an art, and I’d love to see a team play with that concept rather than just doing the same old because they can.