--- title: Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 description: The F1 CEO talks to TIME's Sam Jacobs about how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and his future retirement. canonical: https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-20T16:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-20T16:05:21.029Z article:section: Collection Item og:title: Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 og:description: The F1 CEO talks to TIME's Sam Jacobs about how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and his future retirement. og:url: https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f859c2ec8945faf/6ad22941fb727151c13387be/ep_6_Stefano_Domenicali_web.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 twitter:description: The F1 CEO talks to TIME's Sam Jacobs about how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and his future retirement. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f859c2ec8945faf/6ad22941fb727151c13387be/ep_6_Stefano_Domenicali_web.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 20, 2026 # Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Sam Jacobs](https://time.com/author/samuel-p-jacobs/) ## Sam Jacobs Editor in Chief of TIME ## Video: Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 [Watch (HLS stream): Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WOY24ETm.m3u8) (29:15)  _Published 2026-10-20. Few sports have embraced the pursuit of new audiences quite like F1, the motorsport league acquired by Liberty Media nearly a decade ago. Leading that effort today isStefano Domenicali, the CEO who first fell in love with racing as a child at the track in his hometown of Imola, Italy. First, he turned F1 into Formula 1: Drive to Survive, a reality show on Netflix. Next, he welcomed Apple as a broadcast partner, which included working together on F1, a movie starring Brad Pitt. A major focus for Domenicali has been winning over American fans. Ahead of races in Austin in October and Las Vegas in November, Domenicali joined THE CEO MOMENT, our interview series featuring the world’s most influential business leaders. We discussed how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and what retirement might look like when his contract is up in 2029._ Few sports have embraced the pursuit of new audiences quite like F1, the motorsport league acquired by Liberty Media nearly a decade ago. Leading that effort today isStefano Domenicali, the CEO who first fell in love with racing as a child at the track in his hometown of Imola, Italy. First, he turned F1 into [_Formula 1: Drive to Survive_](https://www.netflix.com/title/80204890), a reality show on Netflix. Next, he welcomed Apple as a broadcast partner, which included working together on _F1,_ a movie [starring Brad Pitt](https://time.com/7295043/f1-the-movie-review-brad-pitt/). A major focus for Domenicali has been winning over American fans. Ahead of races in Austin in October and Las Vegas in November, Domenicali joined [THE CEO MOMENT](https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/), our interview series featuring the world’s most influential business leaders. We discussed how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and what retirement might look like when his contract is up in 2029\. **Have you decided whether the Abu Dhabi race and the Qatar races scheduled for later this fall are going to take place as planned?** I said that the calendar is confirmed today, confirmed to add the races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In case something will happen…we have a Plan B to put in place. But the decision today is to keep going. **You’ve regularly teased the potential for a race in Africa. Where would it be?** That's something I can tell you straight away. Pragmatically, the only country that's presented to us a serious plan is [Rwanda.](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/formula-1-returns-to-africa-with-10-year-agreement-to-race-in-rwanda.13xs9VMK7cGFiBd2IplyES) **You’ll be there by the end of this decade?** Much, much earlier than that. **You've had a number of crazy ideas: the Netflix show, the F1 movie with Brad Pitt. What's next?** I cannot say that, but I will tell you one thing: We move in the kids' world with relationships with Disney, with Lego….This is another way to try to diversify our audience, to capture them. **What's your relationship with** [**Max Verstappen**](https://time.com/6331364/max-verstappen-formula-one-interview-las-vegas/) **like?** I have known Max since he was a kid, and Max is an incredible champion. He's not shy to say what he thinks. **Why is the American market important for F1?** The American market has a special meaning because the potential of growth in this country is huge…When the Americans are engaged with the sport, you start this engagement from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. So it is really something that you breathe every moment and that is really our goal. **Do you think you need an American driver to fully win this market?** It would be great to have an American driver, but \[they\] has to be fast. The passport is not enough, **Will there be a female F1 driver in your lifetime?** In my lifetime, I hope so. But realistically speaking, it would be wrong to give a deadline. It's definitely something that will happen. There's not anymore, as it was in the past, any physical barrier to prevent a woman from driving a car. **How do you think about staging races in places where some people may feel they do not share their values?** The community is so vast that it will be difficult to make sure that everyone is happy. But as I said, we are focusing on connecting people… That's the most important thing that we want to achieve through our sport. **You're contracted at F1 through 2029\. Are you ready to retire in three years?** I'm definitely focused on what I'm doing today. I'm very lucky…I feel the responsibility of taking this sport in the direction that we have today. But in 2029, for sure, one thing that I want to consider is the quality of my personal time, because as you can imagine, when you are full in, in this job, you are full in. That means that you travel every day. There is not a lot of time for you with your family, with your friends. So if I would have a dream today, it would be, try to find a better balance for that. Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1 ## Transcript Do you think you need an American driver to fully win this market? Well, I would lie if I say no. It would be great to have an American driver, but it has to be fast. The passport is not enough. Not a slow American driver. Stefano Domenicali, we're going to focus on how Formula One learned to say Speak American again. We're proud to have you here. We have coming up in just a couple of weeks two major US races. The sport is growing immensely at this moment. Revenues up I just saw. So we want to talk a little bit about your leadership style, how you got to where you are and where you're leading the sport into the future. Thanks, Sam. Thanks for these opportunities. Magic to be here in New York. Look at what we have here and happy to discuss about F1. What is your first memory of racing? I go back many, many years because I was a kid that was born in Imola, a city in Italy where there is a track with a lot of history. So when I was a boy, you know, I was going there with my my dad and then with my friends to watch races. That's where I started to be engaged and in love with, with with motorsport, with action that you were also breathing because you had the, you know, the, the smell of the oil. I remember very clearly the sound. So this has been part of your entire life. When did you first realize that racing could be a job? At the end of university? I sent my CV to a lot of company, and the company who hired me was Ferrari. I was never. An okay first job. It was not bad. I would say very lucky in a way, because I can assume that thousands and thousands of requests were arrived at the same time. But at that time, I realized that at least I was getting into the dimension of a company that was a, well, quite popular in motorsport, even if at the beginning I was not directly in the motorsport department. That was in the fiscal and business relationship activity. But then I started to smell, once again something special. You became team principal of Ferrari in 2014. You quit after three races. How hard was that decision? Well, it was a decision that was, in a way, hard and easy because as always, when you take certain decisions, you need to digest it. You need to do it in a very rational way. You should not do it because that day you are a very emotional. Therefore, after 23 years with incredible moment, fantastic success, but also difficult moments when you lose some championship at the last race or the last corner. Believe me, it's physically painful. It was the right thing to do, to give new motivation, new fresh blood to a team that will be always in my heart. But I go back to your question. I left that morning to go into the office with the right spirit, with the right approach, because I felt it was right thing to do. Was that the hardest decision of your career so far? Yes, because it was a mix of emotion. It was the first business family that had to leave. So yeah. In 2016, you became the CEO of Lamborghini. What did you learn about yourself in that job? Well, I learned a different dimension. I was in Germany at Audi, and as you know, Audi was is still the owner of Lamborghini. And when you are working for 23 years in a company like Ferrari, you believe that there is only one way of working. And actually, I discovered the opposite because being in a German company and then moved to an Italian company with a German structure in terms of organization and so on, I discovered a lot. What, in your mind is the difference between these two business cultures, the Italian culture and the German culture? In Germany there is an incredible organization, incredible matrix way of doing the things very in a way, overstructured from what I was used to had before. You cannot take decision alone because there are so many people that have to be involved in a process. That's the German perspective. In the Italian way, there was much more flexibility and direct way, and time to market was definitely faster. You're contracted at F1 and your current position through 2029. Are you ready to retire in three years? Well, I don't know. I'm definitely focused on what I'm doing today. I'm very lucky, very privileged. I feel the responsibility of taking this sport in the direction that we're having today. But in 29, for sure. One thing that I want to consider is the quality of my personal time. Because as you can imagine, when you are full in, in this job, you are full in. That means that you travel every day. There is not a lot of time for you, for your family, with your friends. So if I would have a dream today, it would be try to find a better balance for that. Okay, it sounds like you might be thinking about it. You might be ready. Um, as I said, we have two major US races coming up on the calendar. F1's return to the United States in a significant way, and I want to talk about that. How do you think Formula One learned to speak American. Well, we don't have to forget that F1 was in US since the 80s. But unfortunately. It's different now. Absolutely. But it was not really the way to engage with the American fans, with the American culture. So we have changed. You know, the direction we try to engage through different way, like lifestyle, creating contents every day, talking every day about Formula one. And that is something that is totally different from the past. In 21, we had Miami, and then three years ago we had the Las Vegas. The popularity of this sport has grown dramatically. Just a couple of years ago. So the path of growth is still very big. And for me, there is one simple answer to how we can reach that. We need to be relevant, culturally relevant, relevant for the Americans. It's a global sport, and we'll talk about that. And I know how important that is to you. But it seems like the American market has a special meaning to you. Why is that? Definitely the American has a special meaning because the potential of the growth in this country is huge. At the beginning, it was a European centric championship, and then we had developed that year by year, and now we have 24 races that are around the globe, and USA is becoming a big part of it, where the potential of having more fans engage with the sport. And you know better than me that when the Americans engage with the sport, you start disengagement. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. So it's really something that you breath every moment. And that is really our goal. So to do that, we need to be present and listening to the change of habits and sensitivity and sensibility of the American fans. Have you have three races here now. You used to have one. Is there a room for another American race? Realistically, I would say I need to be prudent because we have 24 races. There is an incredible number of requests that are coming from different countries. So I do believe that today in US three plus we have one in Canada, Mexico, Brazil. So I think that the American continent has already quite a lot. It's saturated. You're saying I would say could be saturated, but never say never in life. So we could have a race here in Central Park. If the mayor will be ready to discuss it, why not? Let's talk about this Apple partnership and its role in the sport. Why partner with the company who's a broadcaster, whose reach is much smaller here than a more traditional sports partner? You could have gone with an ESPN or an NBC. Why was Apple the right fit for you? Well, for many reasons. First of all, we do believe that Apple is the right partner to get in touch with. What is our focus younger audience today? The shift versus a balance between 6040 men and women and from almost 60 to 32 average age of our fund. You brought the age down from 60 to 30. 2 in 5 years. Amazing. It's that sounds sort of terrifying for a leader of a business. I'm very happy. Do you think you need an American driver to fully win this market? Well, I would lie if I say no. It would be great to have an American driver, but it has to be fast. The passport is not enough. Not a slow American driver. With Cadillac joining the grid, what does success look like for this American team? Well, Cadillac understood the possibility of using our platform to develop the technology to develop the brand awareness around the world. And we discuss with them very openly. F1 is a tough beast. You know, you cannot believe to come in because you have money. You have a great brand. It takes time to be really good. You know, one thing is to compete and one thing is to be competitive and to be competitive. It takes a little bit of time. I know they are resilient and they will be there, definitely. And they are structuring themselves to be able to do it like Ford has done it together with Red bull. So I would say the attention on us from the American community is getting bigger and bigger. So we need to be patient, even if we're not known for our patients. I'm sure they will come. Definitely. But not tomorrow. You're known for walking the three mile track before a race. What are you looking for when you do that? First of all, it's the only moment I can really walk and not stay in the office. Because all day long I'm sitting in the chair meeting people, and it's a moment of decompression. But also, when you walk, you have your eyes on the professional side to see if there are details that you need to tell to your people to improve. So it's a way to relax, but also to keep attention to details that is needed for the F1 of today. We're seeing massive investments in sports and entertainment right now. You're a beneficiary of that. What do you think is the biggest threat that might prevent that from continuing in the future? Well, today there are three elements which I believe are crucial. First of all, to anticipate the need of your customers to create the right experience, the right journey for the customers. The second, we have avid fans that want to have all the information, all the different technical details of our sport, and we need to make sure that this keeps happening. Third is we are definitely not at all a political organization. But, you know, due to the complexity of the business that we are managing, we are in touch with all the governments of the world. Therefore, to understand the dynamic of what is happening around the world is important to make sure that we are taking the right strategy for the future. And of course, together with the international Federation, we need to make sure that we take the right decision in making sure that the drivers are driving the best car in the world, the fastest one, the most advanced one in technology. And this is something that is not trivial but is at the center of a project. What does it mean to operate a truly global business and not be a political organization? How do you think you can manage avoiding that? Well, sport is an incredible asset to unify people and not to divide people. We are dealing with all the government because today, to promote and organize a grand prix in a country, a private company cannot do it. It's too expensive. Therefore, we enter in dimension where, you know, the government are attending to races, organize their meetings to promote the country. It's important to develop greater infrastructure for the country that will benefit to our sport. But that's really where we are. I mean, no one can is allowed to use our race to have any kind of political statement because we are not part of it. You mentioned that 40% of your fans are female now. Yeah. When will we see a female driver in a grand prix? Well, a couple of years ago, we took the liberty. The right thing to say to invest in female championship. That is called F1 Academy. We invested under the leadership of Susie Wolff. We see the effect after only a couple of years. An incredible numbers of young women are starting to enter in the world of karting. That is the first entry level. When you are between 6 and 10 that you start to have the first races. So to go to the answer to be straightforward, I don't think will be very short time. Do you think you'll see it in your lifetime? In my lifetime, I hope so. But realistically speaking, it would be wrong to give a deadline. It's definitely something that will happen. There's not anymore, as it was in the past, any physical barrier to to prevent a woman to drive a car. When we were young, I mean, we were loved. Cars and girls were not really part of the of the racing world. But now with these new things that we are doing, you know, we are pushing not only the drivers, we have now a female world that is actually very prominent in being leaders in the organization, in, in the engineering, in the mechanics, in the world of managing the sport. So I think that has an effect that is bigger than racing itself. But we need to make sure that the times is invested with the right talent. And as I said before, I don't know when, but it will happen. I want to push you a little bit on what it means to be a global sport. Avoiding politics. In 2022, there was a missile strike in Saudi Arabia. You had drivers who were at the moment afraid to take the course. How do you think about navigating challenges like that when you're leading a sport? How do you pull everyone together in those moments? Well, I think it's a matter of credibility. It's a matter of understanding the bigger picture. It's a matter of taking the right responsibility with the right level of information that you have. That's what we did in that moment that you mentioned it, because it was the first time for us, but you don't see what is behind the scene. Well, take us there. What was that like? It's something that is huge. Our business and our sport is very big, very visible. And the level of security that we need to guarantee to all the people that are coming in, no one excluded is very high. We are living in a world that, as you know very well, you know, there is a new normal things that we are living, which is not great. That is take us to be always very cautious. And we know that we are a very visible target, not only for big things. We are a big target for someone who wants to raise his attention because the. The attention of almost 1 billion fans. Billions of viewership is there, so we know that it's a matter of trying to be prepared to manage the situation as much as we can. With that, I think that we have to do. And how do you think about staging races in places where some people may not feel comfortable, where they say, well, that that city doesn't share my values, that country doesn't share my values? Talk about not being a political organization. I think that's a pretty political decision to say, we're going to move our business to this place. How do you process that, that decision? Well, the community is so vast that it would be difficult to make sure that everyone is happy. But as I said, we are focusing on connecting people, not focusing in in talking of something that is dividing people, no matter who we are, that's the most important thing, what we want to achieve through our sport. That focus on connecting people means having races where people feel safe. Also, you've said that you would make a decision by mid-September about the Abu Dhabi race and the Qatar race, whether or not those would go forward this year. Have you made that decision? No, I said that the calendar is confirmed today. Confirmed two other races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. With the information that we have and in case something will happen very, very close because of the nature of the situation, we have a plan B to put in place, but the decision today is to keep going and confirm that. The fans should expect to attend this. Race. And they sold out already? Yes, 100%. And if they can't go forward, they'll return to where you first. First watched racing? Perhaps. Possibly. But so far it's not even an option because as I said, with the info that we have today, the Canada is the one that is on the is on the books. You recently announced a decision to add Portugal and Turkey to the 2027 calendar. Where are other places that you're looking to bring F1? Well, there are a lot of countries that would like to host Grand Prix. Definitely one continent is Africa. You've been talking about Africa for years. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. So when is that announcement going to come? Stay tuned. And where in Africa? That's something that I can tell you straight away. Pragmatically, the only country that's presented to us a serious plan is Rwanda. That's the target that we have clearly in. Kigali or somewhere. Else close to that. Yes. Okay. It sounds like you have a plan. We have a plan. Okay. This decade, Rwanda. Definitely much, much earlier than that. It'll happen in the next few years. I would say stay tuned and stay tuned. All right. We'll stay tuned. It's a good call. Try to push me. I love it. But there are other countries like Argentina, like India, like having other races in China, like Vietnam. We have an incredible list of countries that are really pushing for us to go there, but we cannot be more than 24 races. So 24 is the maximum number because it was in the high teens a few years ago. Exactly. You've decided this is it. This is it. We can go one more, but I think the 24 number is the right one. Football here used to be 16 weeks. It's now 18. So you really do feel like you've tapped out the potential. I think you know it's our call. I mean it's what is the right balance between sustainability for the for the for the championship sustainability for the team. Because there's no sport in the world, no sport in the world like us. We move from one Sunday to the other 950 tons of materials, more than 4000 people from one country to the other. So the logistic complexity are are not trivial. But the good thing is not only having this kind of new request is also that this new request that wants to have the Grand Prix will push every promoter to improve the quality. Well, it sounds like you've got race fans in Rwanda very excited. Now, not only they're. Not only there. Let's talk about the sport and the people in it. Important relationship with you. Max Verstappen what's that relationship like? Very good. I know Max since he was a kid and Max is an incredible championship. He's a guy that is not shy to say what he thinks. Definitely not shy. But the sport is bigger than anyone. It's bigger than the world champion. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than anyone. Because the duty of all of us is to to do what we love in the way that we believe is right. And our world is very open to to any kind of discussion. I prefer to talk about problems in the four walls, which is my style. I'm not shouting, but normally even if I don't shout, I achieve what I want. And therefore if there are things to be discussed with the drivers, we discuss it. And I remember very, very clearly at the beginning of the year, there was a couple of your colleagues that were saying this from one Max will never stay in for one for the future. So are you sure? Correct. 100%. Well, three weeks ago we were confirmed to be here for a long time. What I like about Max is, in a way, what I like about the other drivers. I don't want to have personally 22 drivers that are talking the same way that they are dressing, the same way they are behaving in the same way. It would not be good. One of the things Max has not been shy about, as well as his fellow drivers, are the new regulations. You've said net zero by 2030? Yes. How do you respond to their concerns? Very simple. F1 is evolving the technology applied to. For one, we don't choose that. It's a decision that we have to take together with the relevant manufacturer. Actually, the manufacturers seven years ago, when these rules had been set out, wanted to have a 50/50 hybrid electrical power. And I see because otherwise it would have left its port. So it's not too difficult to understand that without that we would have run with the horses, maybe not with the power. And then the regulation has been adapted. Now, the draft that I used to that, and it's part of the evolution of the best driver in the world. But together with the FIA, we have already decided and the FIA will inform soon. What is the plan to make sure that in the future the car will be lighter, will be a different ratio between ice and electrical power, keeping the sustainable fuel at the center? So it's part of the nature from one to be relevant in terms of technology, but to keep the motorsport different for mobility. It is pretty clear that electrification is hitting, in a way, the market of the mobility, but is not. What is what does that mean? Would that mean that you see in cities your electric cars are getting. But you don't feel like F1 will ever be that? No, that's what I'm saying. That's why there is a clear division between mobility and need of automotive manufacturer and the need of F1 Motorsport lover will never be electric. It's another championship. It's not us, but we are focusing on keeping the internal combustion engine very relevant. Because we are an entertainment business. It's motorsport. You need to activate all the sensors and if you don't know all the cells activated, you are missing a part of the emotion that we want to keep what we're talking about for one. And if someone's idea what you're describing right now is you laughing at the horses racing around in a circle, you would say, no, this is always and forever how this sport is going to be. Oh, the sport will be always internal combustion engine plus hybrid plus sustainable fuel. Yes, 100%. And light cars. You've called yourself an F1 dinosaur. What did you mean by that? Because I'm 61, the younger generation lives with a different DNA. I have the duty to understand them. I have the duty to capture what they want. If I want to make sure that also us as dinosaurs who loved the sport since we were kids, will keep loving that. Our approach has to be, I would say, evolve with this new input that we are receiving by the younger generation that are following us. Are there changes that you've now accepted that you once resisted as a dinosaur? Are there things that the sport now represents today that you would have said ten years ago? That's not going to happen. And now you're now you're comfortable with it. Well, one thing that has a dinosaur I was reluctant at the beginning was the sprint event. To add sprint also means that we have a longer weekend when there is action. Sporting action since Friday is something that at the beginning, you know, us dinosaurs were a little bit of doubts. But now the reaction of promoters, fans, media is fantastic because there is something that you fight on the track since the first day when people arrive in. Order to take another one. Now the races are getting shorter. That's something I'm sure many people resisted. Yeah. Yes. But that's something that we need to remember is there is not only the technical need for that, but there is also the fact that the span of attention of a younger generation is different. People that are loving to watch five sets of tennis, five hours, there are fewer and fewer because the span of attention of the people that are watching everything, not only sport is getting shorter, so we need to make sure that we are on top of it before it's getting too late. We've talked about Apple. There are two other key media moments that have happened under your leadership. One, the introduction of Netflix and the show they've created, which has now been copied by many other sports that have followed. How did having Netflix's cameras behind the scenes around everyone in your sport, how did that shape the sport? Did it change not only how people experience it, but how the sport operates? Well, a change because at the beginning, above all, it was difficult to accept, you know, Mike's camera around you. Now it is becoming natural and it has to be natural because if it's done in a sort of fake way, it's not targeting what we need to do that. But are there people who said, you know, this isn't for me? I don't want to participate in a sport that's airing all of its laundry that has cameras everywhere. As all this. Part of the game, you can accept that. But I give you one example of that. The first series Ferrari and Mercedes were not attending. This isn't for us. This is for the others. Yeah. But I would say now they're in. The thing is this project is a case study. I mean, after so many years, the number of fans that are still watching it is incredible. It's increased. It's a little decrease. But between the first and second year of the series is going down 50%. After 8 or 10 years, we are going down 5% per year. So nothing. That was the first way to take F1 in a different dimension. What we did in the movie, for example, last year. Yeah, let's talk about that. It was another example where I talked with the teams with this crazy idea. The instant reaction was off and then they said, listen, what they did with nephew was incredible. So immediately the reaction was, we are all in. Let's do it. And actually what Jerry Bruckheimer as a production and Joe Kosinski did with with Apple support, with the music that by the way, we won an award, an Oscar. That's another thing that allowed us to get closer to our fans, closer to people that actually didn't know who we were. And I want to share one, one, one example. Before the launch of the movie, I went in a cinema close to Los Angeles, and there were 200 people at the end of the movie. There was question and answer. One of the questions was, how many people in this room knew about Formula One? And there were, I think, five people. Who knew about it before they saw the movie. Yeah, yeah. And the second question was how many people would recommend they will follow? For one. Everyone with their hands up. You've had a number of crazy ideas. Let's work with Netflix and turn our sport into a reality TV show. Let's let Brad Pitt be on the track and participate in this amazing world. What's the next idea? Stay tuned. Oh, come on with the. Stay tuned. I cannot say that. But I tell you one thing. We move in the kids world with relationship with Disney, with Lego. No one did it before kids TV. This is another way to try to be to diversify, you know, our audience, to capture them. And as I said, more things to come. Okay. But, you know, I need to respect the fact that we want to present the right thing, the right time. That was one of the things that I've learned in the last six years. Every earnings call, it was next. What's next, what's next? And I always said, we don't have to promise the moon. We want to reach the moon and then inform them. Mr.. Stay tuned. All right. Well, here's what I'd like to stay tuned. I think that on that, if I may say, Sam, we don't sit in the success. If we do that, we have. We are. I cannot the world. We are finished. You seem to be thinking about retirement. When I asked, you said you need to evaluate your family and your personal life. You must spend most of your time on the road. Exhausting as you think about the next chapter of your career. I'm not saying promise me the moon, but tell me, where do you want the sport to go? Where would you like to leave it when you're done with it? Well, I think that you want to make sure that these are really global sport. These are really global sport, but the world is big. If I look at the demographic, if I look continent countries, we are a solid, uncertain continent of the world, but some other gives incredible possibility to grow. I mean, we take America, America, we are still small. And I want to take all the dimension of the economics of sports because it's becoming part of the history of this country. But we are relatively, very, very small. Yeah. I want to think that our sport will reach the vast majority of of the countries. I would say tackling that today we are almost 1 billion fans. I mean, if you are able to think that we can reach the double of it, why not? So that should be our target. Do you think it can be as big here as it is where you grew up? Yes, 100%. So finally, what we'd like to do when every one of these interviews is end with what we call the leadership test. I'm going to ask you a series of questions to try to get a better sense of what type of leader you are. Answer with the first thing that comes to mind. You're used to speed, so this should be easy for you. What's the best summer job you ever had? Oh. Shelving. Uh, operator. I was going in UK when I was 14, and I was going around in a little truck to set up shelves. And what made that the best job? Because it was a fascinating by the first experience, I was born in a little city in Imola in Italy. And I remember when I was there, I was going with Truckies, with big tattoos everywhere. It was a bit scared. I was very young, and it was the first experience that I went out of my house for a couple of months. What's the phrase that you use most often? Oh that's easy. Full speed ahead. Avanti! Avanti! Keep pushing. How many direct reports do you have? Seven. When do you feel the most focused? Early morning. When are you not checking your phone? Normally, I shouldn't check during the night, but because we are a global sport. And remember, your friends at Apple are listening. That's what I'm saying. I always respond quite quickly, even in the night. So the only time really I don't I don't respond is during the race time. How many hours of sleep a night do you get. Between 5 and 6. How many minutes is your commute? I live not far away from what I what I work. So by car is ten minutes. Have you ever been fired? Fired? No. Quit. Quit? Yes. What is your coffee order. In the morning as an Italian before ten. It's a cappuccino. After. I'm a caffeine macchiato. You can't have a cappuccino after 10:00. You're fired. You're fired. There you go. How many meetings do you have on a normal day? Meetings with my management team. Let's see. Five. What book on leadership do you recommend? I know there is a different style of leadership, and it came with experience with role models that you admire. But I never read any kind of book of leadership. What's the one question you ask in every interview? It's not a question. Is, I want to see if the person in front of me is talking about me or we. How do you tell that? That question? If it's always me, me, me doing that, me, me doing that, I'm not really like it. Because I think that more and more today is a team work. When's the last time you changed your mind? Well, to say never. It is a weakness because I think to change your mind is a sign of strength. When was the last time, I think in a contract with a sponsor? Last year. But I don't want to say the name. Stefano, thank you for joining us on the CEO moment. We will, as you say, stay tuned. Stay tuned. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/"},"headline":"Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1","datePublished":"2026-10-20T16:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-20T16:05:21.029Z","description":"The F1 CEO talks to TIME's Sam Jacobs about how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and his future retirement.","url":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/","keywords":["Podcast","Magazine","video"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f859c2ec8945faf/6ad22941fb727151c13387be/ep_6_Stefano_Domenicali_web.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Jacobs","jobTitle":"Editor in Chief of TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/samuel-p-jacobs/"}],"creator":"Sam Jacobs","articleSection":"Collection Item","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f859c2ec8945faf/6ad22941fb727151c13387be/ep_6_Stefano_Domenicali_web.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/","name":"The CEO Moment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/","name":"Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Stefano Domenicali Thinks He Knows How To Get Your Kid to Watch F1","description":"Few sports have embraced the pursuit of new audiences quite like F1, the motorsport league acquired by Liberty Media nearly a decade ago. Leading that effort today isStefano Domenicali, the CEO who first fell in love with racing as a child at the track in his hometown of Imola, Italy. First, he turned F1 into Formula 1: Drive to Survive, a reality show on Netflix. Next, he welcomed Apple as a broadcast partner, which included working together on F1, a movie starring Brad Pitt. A major focus for Domenicali has been winning over American fans. Ahead of races in Austin in October and Las Vegas in November, Domenicali joined THE CEO MOMENT, our interview series featuring the world’s most influential business leaders. We discussed how the sport navigates geopolitical turmoil, when it will finally stage a race in Africa, and what retirement might look like when his contract is up in 2029.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WOY24ETm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-10-20T15:45:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WOY24ETm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/","duration":"PT29M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collection/the-ceo-moment/2026/f1-stefano-domenicali/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```