Kym Illman comments on female F1 fans are tone-deaf

Kym Illman, generic, Dutch GP — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Social

Kym Illman comments on female F1 fans are tone-deaf

There is still work to do regarding stereotypes in motorsport

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 23 May 2026 12:56

Formula 1 hasn't always been a sport where women have been made to feel welcome.

Luckily for the fast-growing female fanbase however, that has changed over the last decade, yet it seems there are still some stereotypes and generalisations about the female audience which need to be addressed.

Ahead of the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, F1 photographer and content creator Kym Illman posted a video on his website and YouTube channel titled: "F1 target FEMALE FAN growth in 2026!"

Article continues under video

That in itself is true. The sport is majorly trying to take advantage of the fact females now account for three in four new fans, with an F1 survey reporting last year that nearly half of all Gen Z respondents are women.

But what no one should be doing is attempting to predict the interests of F1's ever-growing female fanbase and grouping them together as a separate entity to the male audience.

Not least Illman, who has divided fans in the past on social media thanks to his 'Women of the Paddock' series and tendency to focus on influencers and the partners of F1 drivers more than the women working in motorsport or the drivers themselves.

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F1 fashion isn't purely female-centred

In his latest video, Illman states: "F1 is no longer an exclusive blokes game...and dare I say it a fashion runway, with the new growth market being women, 16-24 years of age."

It only takes one look at the merch stand of a grand prix weekend to note that with fashion giants adidas, PUMA, Tommy Hilfiger and Hypebeast all releasing official team merchandise, the intersection between F1 and fashion is more culturally intertwined than ever before.

But acquainting their presence with the sport's increase in popularity among women is not only a stereotype, but also untrue.

I'd argue there is a demand for more creative, more daring and less corporate team kits in F1 more than any other sport, and Red Bull's 2025 collaboration with streetwear brand Hypebeast proves this.

The Hypebeast era was booming in the mid to late 2010s and their audience was male-skewed at the time, with the 2019 streetwear impact report noting: "Male respondents reported a slightly higher spend than female respondents while non gender-binary respondents reported spending significantly more."

But even the drivers themselves prove Illman's point wrong. Lewis Hamilton is without question the most stylish star on the grid and recognised for bringing flair to the paddock at a time where he feared pushback for wearing anything other than team kit during a race weekend.

The seven-time champion was co-chair of the 2025 Met Gala for goodness sake, it's far from just young girls who are shaping F1's crossover with the fashion industry.

Hamilton has even inspired 2026 rookie Arvid Lindblad to be able to voice his interest in skater style in his maiden year in the sport. Should Red Bull ever announce another streetwear collaboration with Lindblad at the forefront of the campaign, I doubt it would only be marketed to women.

Illman referenced that 42% of F1's global fanbase is female, up from 37% in 2018

Illman needs to take his own advice: 'Stereotypes are lazy'

Addressing the rise of the female fanbase in F1 since 2018, Illman said: "So why are so many young women falling in love with the sport? It's not because it's less technical these days or more feminine, it's because F1 is now easier to enter emotionally."

To force a link between women and their interest in sport being driven by emotion is not only unsubstantiated but also wildly offensive.

He even notes in the same video that 35 per cent of his own Instagram audience are female, a number which has grown over the past seven years and represents a demographic who are, "lapping up the shots of drivers girlfriends, dissecting what they're wearing and some of them, purchasing those outfits."

But this is based purely on the metrics of his own social media pages and doesn't represent a wider audience. If a female F1 fan is tired of pages like Kym's that spread gossip and flood their feed with outfit details and shop links for a driver's girlfriends wardrobe, then they wouldn't be following him in the first place.

What's more is that if you are aware you have a significant percentage of female followers, why are you so willing to offend them with ideas such as the ones presented in his video?

Oh, and the female F1 fans in question did not hold back over Illman's comments. One 'X' post read: "Disrespectfully you can shut up have you consider the possibility that we may just like the f****** sport?

Another said: "Kym, none of us are getting into F1 because it’s 'easier to get into emotionally.' Women watch F1 for the same reasons as men. We also watch for the racing and the strategy. All this video did was perpetuate stereotypes against women to a fanbase who already views us negatively."

Among the phrases and discussion points that have received the most backlash include the aforementioned 'emotional' connection, the implication that women don't understand 'technical' aspects of motorsport, and the comparison between 'purist' fans (apparently only male ones in Illman's eyes) and the 'young female fans' who he states mostly: "aren't starting out watching every practice session, qualifying, and the full grand prix," instead only interested in social media content.

In fact, he even said that female viewers are tuning in because they know they can see Charles Leclerc and his wife Alexandra in the paddock, or glimpse Rebecca Donaldson [Carlos Sainz's girlfriend] on the broadcast in the garage during a race.

But even Sainz himself pushed back against this last season, criticising the broadcaster's for 'going overboard' on showing shots of the girlfriends and missing out on exciting overtakes as a result.

One fan put it bluntly, responding to this ridiculous idea on 'X' saying: "Yeah cuz we sit through 2hr races every week plus the other sessions just because liam lawson makes funny tiktoks- his whole tone is filled with misogyny don’t p*** m* o**."

And yes, you guessed it, the mention of women only getting into F1 because 'the drivers are good looking' did come up, but Illman was so far off the mark with this reference.

Welcoming female fans to F1 isn't enough, stop treating us differently

Social media can be a harsh place and in an attempt to address the misogyny that Illman thought might crop up in the comment section of the video, he said: "Now, up front, you're going to see a lot of comments below from people saying, 'Oh, those girls are only in it for the drivers.' But as many of you would say, 'So what if the driver's good-looking, grabs their attention?' That might be just the entry point. Many, I'm sure, go on to learn about racecraft, team, strategy, and so on, just like any new male fan.

"Remember, a fan doesn't have to pass a purist test. And assuming girls are only interested for the good-looking guys is a lazy stereotype that completely ignores their actual curiosity and enjoyment of the sport."

Somehow, whilst trying to defend female fans, the F1 photographer has also sadly offended them. Yes, the conversation around women only getting into F1 because of the drivers appearances is outdated, but Illman has only added fuel to the fire.

Women, or any fan for that matter, don't need a reason to get into any sport.

In the video, Illman added: "The growth in the female fanbase is one of the defining business and cultural trends shaping modern Formula 1."

But women’s interest in motorsport isn’t just a trend that will eventually die down and by grouping all female F1 fans into the same bracket and assuming we’re all suddenly interested in the sport because of ‘emotional access’ and social media, you’re exposing yourself as being far more out of touch with the fanbase than you’d like to let on.

GPFans have contacted Kym Illman for comment on the matter.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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