Formula 1 on Clubhouse

A mysterious Clubhouse has entered the market and the world of social networks has been shaken up to the fullest. There has been a substantial amount of talk about it for the last few weeks. Representatives of Formula 1 also did not stay away, they are already actively using this app, discussing important topics and communicating with fans. What is the Clubhouse phenomenon?

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This app appeared on the market last year. But the rapid growth in the popularity of the social network occurred only in January 2021, when famous personalities like Elon Musk came there, and the Andreessen Horowitz venture fund invested $100 million in the development of Clubhouse.

It turns out that the cost of the project, which just a couple of months ago was $100 million, has grown to one billion dollars now. But this is not the only record of the social network, as of February 2021, the app already has more than 5 million users worldwide. In the US, this social network is in 7th place in the AppStore!

What is this Clubhouse like? You can listen and talk there. Like Zoom but without a camera on. Communication takes place in the rooms of interest, any registered user can join the discussion and ask a question, even to Mark Zuckerberg, but in the circle of our interests, for example, to Mario Isola. It appears to be easy and simple, is it not? But no. You cannot just get into it. Why?

Some of the drivers have already registered in the app, these are Nico Rosberg, Nyck de Vries, Lucas Di Grassi, Vitaly Petrov, Sergei Sirotkin, Kamui Kobayashi, Yuki Tsunoda, Robert Shwartzman and others. The most active of them is Robert. He organizes meetings in the rooms almost every day and readily answers even the most pressing questions.

Jastina Golopolosova

Firstly, the app is only available on iOS. The developers promised an Android version, but not so soon. Secondly, there is an invitation system. 1) You can register and receive an invitation from a friend who is already a Clubhouse user. Each new member of the social network has two invitations. However, after a while, the Clubhouse gave a few more invitations. 2) Register and wait until you are let in, but this is a long time. Some users have already started making money on the app by selling invites on different platforms.

How can Clubhouse be of interest to fans of Formula 1 and motorsport in general? The answer is the simplest – this is a real opportunity to communicate with your favourite driver and ask him a question. Some of the drivers have already registered in the app, these are Nico Rosberg, Nyck de Vries, Lucas Di Grassi, Vitaly Petrov, Sergey Sirotkin, Kamui Kobayashi, Yuki Tsunoda, Robert Shwartzman and others. The most active of them is Robert. He organizes meetings in the rooms almost every day and readily answers even the most pressing questions. Another active user is Mario Isola. And there’s even Zak Brown! Motorsport journalists and photographers, team press officers, and even mechanics are already there. This is also a great opportunity to exchange contacts during the conversation.

So far, there are not so many rooms with discussions about Formula 1, but those that exist, are already popular. I think that the percentage of the F1 audience can increase greatly in this app over the next months, especially when the new season starts.

Will the app stay on the market as long as TikTok did, or will it be a similar story as Periscope had? It’s not clear yet. It definitely has potential and uniqueness due to its closeness, but it is unclear whether Clubhouse will remain popular after the registration opens. We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, there is a great opportunity to develop there, communicate with idols, get a new audience or expand an existing one.