ROAD RAGE : An Academic Study of Formula 1 Media Outlets and Their Negative Content
ROAD RAGE : Do Formula 1 News Outlets Purposely Post Negative Content To Increase Their Engagement?
Executive Summary
Since the birth of social media, the goal of such platforms has been to seek engagement. This is prevalent now, more than ever, as certain individuals and companies use social media platforms as tools for marketing. The more eyes on their product, the better.
In such, this has led to an increased social approach known as ‘rage baiting,’ which is officially defined as ‘manipulative, emotional tactic used by content creators to elicit outrage’ [Demolder, 2025]. This analysis will look specifically at two digital outlets who publish social media content about Formula 1 and investigate whether they utilise the practice of ‘rage bait’ to promote their physical media and online journalistic platforms.
Literature Review
The concept of ‘rage bait’ is relatively new to the social media sphere. It stems from its “internet cousin” [Gruet and Lawton, 2024] clickbait. Clickbait, as defined by Merriam Webster [2025], is “something, such as a headline, designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.” It is a tactic commonly used by social media pages that receive revenue from views or clicks.
Social media networks, such as Instagram, no longer prioritise content on their algorithm based on views alone however. The algorithm now favors posts with high engagement, including likes, comments and shares, especially soon after they’re published [Radu, 2024]. This now encourages pages to post content that generates interactions, rather than content that is simply enjoyable to watch or see.
As researched by Susanth and Milton [2024], rage bait fosters an environment where hatred thrives. Susanth and Milton’s study concludes that rage bait, although profitable for the organisation, is a negative for the consumer of such content. “The manipulation of emotions for online engagement not only weakens civil discourse but also amplifies the potential for real-world consequences, such as increased social tensions and decreased trust in institutions” [Susanth and Milton, 2024].
Consumer outrage is exactly what ‘rage bait’ encourages, as this outrage will flood comment sections, sparking aggressive discourse, and thus increasing a social media pages ‘engagement.’ This can be backed up by a study from Linden [2017], who found that social media posts and communication that is dominated by emotional and moral language, experiences “higher virality as compared to neutral or objective communication.”
This constant bombardment of negativity in order to maximise revenue has extremely negative effects on those who are constantly consuming it. A study by Hans and Rai [2023] delves into the concept of moral signalling, and a person’s willingness to identify within certain groups in social media. The increasing consumption of negative social media leads to more commenters associating within certain groups. An example of this could be those who express their opinion for a certain individual versus those who express their opinion against a certain individual. The study by Hans and Rai [2023] found that there is a “direct correlation between rise in moral signalling and group identity, and violence in the real world.” Although the topic of this paper is sports media, which has an extremely unlikely possibility of creating outrage beyond comment sections, it demonstrates the physiological effect that persistent negativity has on the consumer.
Methodology
The purpose of this analysis is to answer the question, ‘Do Formula 1 news outlets participate in ‘rage bait’ in order to increase their social media engagement?’
This analysis studied two popular digital Formula 1 news outlets, ‘Autosport’ and ‘The Race.’ Both of these outlets primarily operate digitally, using their social media pages as advertising for their journalistic websites, however Autosport do still produce a print magazine.
The study took place over a specific time frame due to the nature of Formula 1 media. Outlets are most active during Grand Prix weekends, therefore choosing a specific period before, including and after a Grand Prix, allowed for the most accurate study. The timeframe for this analysis was during the ‘Bahrain Grand Prix’ weekend from Thursday April 11th to Monday April 14th.
A total of 30 Instagram posts were selected for each outlet, and these posts were specifically selected to include at least 1 Formula 1 driver. Autosport posts about other forms of motorsport, however these posts have not been included as there is no direct equivalent posted by The Race.
Each post was analysed on Instagram, and the following questions were asked of it :
Which driver/s features in this post?
What type of content was posted? [I.e, Photo, Reel, Graphic Designed Photo]
How many likes did this post receive?
How many comments did this post receive?
Does this post display a positive, negative or neutral tone?
To determine whether the post featured a positive, negative or neutral tone, the content of the image/video was analysed as well as the caption provided for the post.
An example of a post that has been marked with a ‘positive tone.’ The reason for this is, the content included in the graphic designed photo is positive, as well as the caption, which includes a ‘heart’ emoticon to help display the intended tone of the post to the audience.
In all screenshots included in this study, the content of the comments have been covered. This is due to the study not investigating the reaction to the post, but just the post itself.
An example of a post marked with a negative tone. This has been chosen due to the content of the post being negative, as well as the caption provided.
Results
The following charts are the results of the individual post analysis for both organisations.
AUTOSPORT
Post tone indicators :
14 Negative, 10 Positive, 6 Neutral
Negative Post Statistics :
Average likes = 23.3k
Average comments = 199.2
Positive Post Statistics :
Average likes = 28.52k
Average comments = 76.1
Neutral Post Statistics :
Average likes = 39.1k
Average comments = 76.8
All but 3 posts were ‘Graphic Designed Photos.’
All 5 posts about ‘Max Verstappen’ were deemed negative, they amassed an average of 20.4k likes and 153 comments. For comparison, all 5 posts about Kimi Antonelli were deemed positive, they amassed an average of 58.25k likes and 117.6 comments.
THE RACE
For the purpose of this analysis, the post marked ‘both’ in the tone indicator section has been excluded.
Post tone indicators :
9 Negative, 8 Positive, 12 Neutral, 1 Both
Negative Post Statistics :
Average likes = 4.1k
Average comments = 57.2
Positive Post Statistics :
Average likes = 11.1k
Average comments = 21.9
Neutral Post Statistics :
Average likes = 7.6k
Average comments = 13
All but 1 post was a ‘Graphic Designed Photo’, with 5 of these 27 being a satirical/humour piece of content.
Autosport Post 4 - Max Verstappen : The photo itself sets the tone
Autosport Post 9 - Oscar Piastri : All capital letters and celebration emoticons sets positive tone
The Race Post 23 - Oliver Bearman
The Race Post 23 - Oliver Bearman : The personalisation of the ‘admin’ in the caption indicates an unserious/satirical tone.
Analysis
Across this investigation, a number of intriguing factors have emerged such as the type of posts, the drivers targeted within them and the numerical statistics of posts with different tones and what this may mean,
Type of Posts
The overwhelming majority of posts by both outlets were Graphic Designed Photos. Only two posts by Autosport were regular photos and only one video/reel was posted across both accounts. This was also the third lowest performing posts in terms of likes across both accounts.
Despite the versatile options available on social media platforms, as well the modern version of ‘pivoting the video,’ pivoting to ‘reels,’ neither account has opted for these options. The traditional photo/graphic designed photos remain the number one post option for both outlets. Despite Instagram consistently pushing for a change of content on their platform, neither outlet has switched.
Drivers Targeted
On both outlets, multiple drivers were mentioned in different posts, some more so than others. The two drivers of note who did not get a direct mention on either outlet, were Alexander Albon and Liam Lawson.
The potential reasoning for this could be the nationality of these drivers. Albon is from Thailand, and Lawson from New Zealand. Neither of these markets are traditionally targeted by either outlet, therefore the decision to focus on other drivers, specifically British drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, may be a marketing tactic.
The leading two Formula 1 drivers in the 2024 championship were Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. All posts on both platforms about these drivers, excluding generic posts that included all of the grid, were deemed to have a negative tone.
The potential reasoning for this is that these two are two of the most popular drivers in Formula 1, therefore, there is a larger fanbase to ‘rage bait.’ It is easier to get a reaction out of a larger, arguably more passionate, group of people compared to a smaller fanbase.
Numerical Statistics
Overall, the average comments on negative posts are significantly higher than those on positive and neutral posts. Posts that intended to evoke emotion, such as questioning a driver's ability, did stir up fans of that driver and they do reply to the outlet. Neither outlet replied to a single comment on any post that was deemed negative, therefore the intention of the negative comment was not to have a public discussion between the author of such comment and the consumer comment.
Posts that were deemed positive on both outlets averaged a significant amount higher than posts that were deemed negative. This shows that consumers do still want to see positive content about the sport and about the personalities within it. The most liked post on ‘The Race,’ for example, was about Yuki Tsunoda’s success with his new team [see below]. This is in comparison to previous posts, on both outlets, that criticised a drivers performance, and did not receive as many likes but more comments.
The most liked post on The Race
Finally, posts deemed to have a neutral tone, included news reporting and journalistic writing. These were in the middle range of average likes and comments, as they were not intended to evoke emotion. The Race posted a significant amount more neutral posts than Autosport, however their social media posts gained less traction during this study than Autosport. Even if the consumers of such content do enjoy more journalistic pieces, they do not deliver the results that the outlet is looking for.
Conclusion
Social Media is a unique space like no other. Its successes can be instant, but this is not always a good thing. The trend of ‘rage bait’ has benefits for social media outlets, but no benefits for the consumer. It suggests a dangerous trend in digital journalism, where the purpose of journalism, to serve the public interest, is mostly forgotten and revenue hunting has become a dominant aim.
The evidence found in this media analysis suggests that Formula 1 news outlets do participate in ‘rage bait’ in order to increase their social media engagement, and therefore push promotion of their online and print media. Despite their followers not necessarily preferring this approach, it does in fact increase their engagement, therefore promoting their content to more people.
References
Demolder, K. (2025). Rage-bait: Why some influencers want to make you mad. RTE.ie. [online] doi:urn:epic:1496522.
Gruet, S. and Lawton, M. (2024). What is rage-baiting and why is it profitable? BBC. [online] 10 Dec. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gp555xy5ro.
Hans, N. and Rai, S. (2023). Outrage as Language of Social Media Discourse: Analysing Prevalence and Effects. International Journal of Communication Development, [online] 12(3&4). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371867741_Outrage_as_Language_of_Social_Media_Discourse_Analysing_Prevalence_and_Effects.
Merriam Webster (2025). Clickbait. In: Merriam-Webster. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clickbait.
Radu, A. (2024). Instagram Algorithm Explained: Your 2024 Guide. [online] SocialBee. Available at: https://socialbee.com/blog/instagram-algorithm/.
Susanth, A. and Milton, J. (2024). FROM CLICKS TO CONSEQUENCES: NAVIGATING THE SOCIETAL MAZE OF RAGE BAIT. Ajasraa, [online] 13. Available at: https://ajasra.in/index.php/about/article/view/697.
van der Linden, S. (2017). The nature of viral altruism and how to make it stick. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(3), p.0041. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-016-0041.
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