Fueling nationalism: social and cultural media frames in French and British newspaper coverage of Formula 1 racing, 1981–1985

ABSTRACT

Research into media coverage of sports news has lately shed new light on expressions of nationalism and media framing. Nevertheless, much of such research has been about national teams, has offered little historical perspective, and has neglected most of the socio-cultural aspects through which nationalism is connected to sports. This article aims to overcome these shortfalls by examining how French and British newspapers shaped and sustained national identities in writing about Formula 1 racing between 1981 and 1985. It demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between nationalism and sports through the interlinked connections of media framing, class, and gender.

KEYWORDS:

• Nationalism
• national identities
• motor sport
• framing
• Formula 1

Introduction

‘A Brazilian, Piquet, in an English car, Brabham, fitted with Italian tyres, Pirelli’

–Jean-Pierre Delacroix in Libération (1985, July 8, p. 19)

This subtitle of an article about the 1985 French Formula 1 Grand Prix is a clear example of how complicated, yet relevant, national identities are in this motor sport. In most sports, national players compete internationally in national teams. Formula 1 is a rare case, however, in which the nationalities of teams, drivers and constructors are mixed, resulting in multi-layered sympathies. A connection to nationalism remains nonetheless. Consider fanatic Italian Ferrari supporters, the American flag on the Haas cars, and the national mourning in Brazil after Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash. This long-standing connection has more aspects to it than one might expect on first sight, which is why it deserves more elaborate study.

Studying nationalism in Formula 1, however, is complex in many ways. National identification and pride arise when it comes to teams, drivers, circuits and even tyres. Nationalism in Formula 1 is not consistent, either. There may be moments in which it is fervent, like when an Italian driver is on the podium at Monza and the anthem is played, but also moments in which it is as mundane as the sport itself (Chaloemtiarana, 2016, p. 542; Jenkins, 2016, p. 155). Another complicating factor in researching Formula 1 is that it is essentially a mediated sport. Since the races take place all over the world, the media are crucial in reporting it to the public (Sturm, 2014). Research into Formula 1 in relation to nationalism is therefore almost inevitably conducted through media sources. As the media plays an important role in constructing and transmitting images, including national self-images, other links between the sport and nationalism are often included. One of these is, for example, the role of masculinity in national identities. Unlike most other sports, there is no separate women’s competition, which makes Formula 1 suitable for studying gender roles (Matthews & Pike, 2016). Moreover, Formula 1 is in practice not only limited to men but also to ‘gentlemen’. The glamorous and expensive sport has a high-class profile since only those who can afford to are able to participate in it (Nichols & Savage, 2017). That this is associated with ideas about national identity, may currently be illustrated by the British driver Lewis Hamilton. As the first Black driver to win world championships, he is challenging such ideas about social class and British identity.

This article will therefore try to answer the question of how cultural and social framing of Formula 1 played a role in the degree of nationalism in French and English newspaper coverage between 1981 and 1985, particularly of the Renault and McLaren teams. Formula 1 does not only make a noteworthy case study for nationalism and national identities because of its character, but also because of how large it is: being the most famous, global and heavily-invested-in motor sport, it has strong political links, impacting societies and economies (Sturm, 2014). Because of this broadness, a case study will be essential. The French Renault team and the British McLaren team offer interesting perspectives on nationalism, because they both have a strong historical connection with the country they are based, and these countries are also culturally and politically tied to motor sports. The Renault team is even partly state-owned (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 154; Cofaigh, 2011; Conord, 2020; Dauncey, 2012; Jenkins, 2010; Holt, 1995). Apart from a focus on these teams, however, it will also be important to pay attention to all French and British drivers, circuits and tyres in order to include every expression of nationalism. The period from 1981 to 1985 will be fruitful to examine because it shows a shift from the success of Renault to that of McLaren. Focusing on these teams and this time period thus allows for perspectives on success and failure. The 1980s were also a period in which motor sports became popular in television broadcasting and the Formula 1 season was made into one coherent competition, generating a growing popular interest (Haynes & Robeers, 2020; Sturm, 2014, p. 69). Nevertheless, newspapers were an important source of information for people and were able to pay the most attention to Formula 1 racing because they appeared daily anyway. The choice of printed media is also motivated by the fact that from the late twentieth century, historians of sport almost exclusively focus on radio and TV, and thereby ignore the fact that newspapers still acted ‘as the interface between sporting, political and ideological discourses of identity and meaning’ (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 145).

This research thus combines an approach much used in media studies, namely framing, with a historical perspective on theories of nationalism and group formation. Although the concept of framing is frequently used, few models or theories provide a clear explanation of what it is and what it does, according to sociologist Scheufele (1999, p. 103). He has built a typology that determines what kind of questions should be asked when researching a certain kind of framing. He stresses that scholars should look at how frames are formed instead of whether they are present (1999, p. 115). This case study of Formula 1, however, actually shows how complicated and multi-layered framing can be in some cases, which means the task of proper detecting the frames themselves should come before trying to explain the process. Apart from this typology, Scheufele’s article does offer many definitions of framing. He borrows a compact one from Gamson and Modigliani, who consider a media frame to be ‘a central organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events’ (1987, p. 143). Furthermore, Scheufele distinguishes between media frames (presenting) and individual frames (comprehending), but also admits that these are often linked (1999, p. 106). This appears to be the case in Formula 1. The media may, for instance, use national frames, but the audience already thinks in national frames for the most part as well. Nevertheless, the main limitation of Scheufele’s article, and many other publications, for the topic of the present article is that they mainly focus on political news. Edelman, for instance, takes the Gulf War as a case study and writes that framing of issues by societal groups is a result of intentional considerations (Edelman, 1993). Such conclusions are much more difficult to draw from more subtle and naturalised framing found in sports news. The same political focus is apparent in the work of Pan and Kosicki (1993). They define a news media frame as ‘a cognitive device used in information encoding, interpreting, and retrieving’. Despite their political focus, an interesting observation they make is that news discourse operates using shared beliefs about a society, which are often considered by a majority of society as common sense or conventional wisdom (Pan & Kosicki, 1993, p. 57). Many of the frames used in Formula 1 coverage tie in with this: they are assumed to be natural, and therefore used by journalists and accepted by readers.

Nationalism in Formula 1 seems to be a very mundane kind, with its everyday character and subject. Storm has identified this as a possible characteristic of what Billig has defined ‘banal nationalism’ (Billig, 1995; Storm, 2020, p. 206). Since the concept of ‘banal nationalism’ is somewhat ambiguous, ‘nationalism’ in this article will primarily refer to mundane expressions of nationalism that help to construct national identities. That these expressions are called mundane, relates in this case to the fact that they refer to ‘mundane spaces, (…) objects, and practices’ (Storm, 2020, p. 223). Whereas Storm writes about architecture and cuisine, sports can also be an example of such a mundane practice. The same could be said for media: framing is necessary up to some extent in these mundane spaces, yet it is not necessarily nationalist. However, that such nationalist expressions are present in sports news, Billig already argued. He stresses the importance of nationalism in mediated sports and points out that the nation is often represented in media as masculine and high-class (1995, p. 119, 102). He also pays attention to masculinity and nationalism in sport, yet mostly restricts this to the metaphor of war, focusing on international competition and politics rather than on national social and cultural aspects, as this article aims to do (1995, pp. 123–124). Another view from the field of nationalism studies that can be applied to the Formula 1 case study is that of anthropologist Anderson. His concept of nations as ‘imagined communities’ (1983) connects to how drivers and teams in Formula 1 can be framed by media as representatives of the imagined community of the nation. The way this imagined community is presented and made identifiable through frames in journalism, can in turn help to construct and sustain national identities. Anderson also wrote from a top-down perspective about the role of print technology in spreading images of the nation. He considered national newspapers the channel through which international events reached people on a local level. In this case, Formula 1 is such a global event (Anderson, 1983, p. 63).

The link between nationalism and sports is a relatively young field of study. Publications include case studies about military sports in the nineteenth century, Olympic Games, and the tensions between Britishness and Englishness in sports (Attali & Saint-Martin, 2010; Bowes & Bairner, 2019; Holt, 1995). These studies provide useful illustrations to this connection. Broader publications are for instance Bairner’s, who in his book properly and comparatively examines the relationship between sports and national cultures, while paying close attention to the influence of globalisation. For instance, he elaborates on ‘national sporting identities’, connecting specific sports to a nation (2001, p. 2). In this context, nationally ‘mixed’ sports such as Formula 1 are recognised to be an unusual case. More focused on the media are social scientists Boyle and Haynes. Their study is very helpful because it analyses in great depth how media, sports and culture are interrelated, and occasionally touches upon nationalism (2009). Their insightful analysis invites historians to look for historical examples of such relations. Thirdly, Alberts and Zaniewski reveal the connection between national teams and international athletes. Although they focused more on migration than on nationalism, the type of connection they demonstrate is apparent in Formula 1 as well (2011).

Studies on the organisation or history of Formula 1 itself, or on political or cultural aspects of motor sports, are more numerous. Some mostly serve this research by providing information because they are about technological or managerial aspects, such as some of Jenkins’ articles (2010, 2016). Others take a sociological perspective, such as Evans’ dissertation on the media representation of Formula 1 as a ‘spectacle’ (2012) and Sturm’s study of Formula 1 as a commercial mediatised spectacle (2014). Such publications demonstrate the wide impact of the sport and take the role of the media into account. Only a few authors, however, discuss the historical perspective, such as Cofaigh, who explains the long-standing connection between France and motor sports (2011). Haynes and Robeers have examined the BBC’s post-war broadcasting of motorsport, providing insights into the mediatisation of motor sports, focusing mostly on radio and television (2020). The clearest connection between nationalism and Formula 1 is perhaps demonstrated in Chaloemtiarana’s article on motor racing and Thai nationalism (2016). Chaloemtiarana offers insightful perspectives on the connection between the sport and top-down nationalism. He elaborately analyses the Thai royal family’s nationalist mission to make Thailand’s image that of a modern (Western-style) nation, which is telling of Formula 1’s reputation as a state-of-the-art sport. This case study thereby offers useful insights, although it cannot simply be applied to the case of the European media.

The newspapers that will serve as sources for this research are Le Figaro, Libération, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. These newspapers represent a broad political spectrum. The articles from The Guardian and The Daily Mail were digitised and have been selected by searching for ‘grand prix’ or ‘formula 1’ on the qualification day, race day and the day after the race, for each race of the seasons 1981–1985. Le Figaro and Libération have been consulted in the archives; the articles on the aforementioned days were examined. In total, almost 700 articles have been analysed. Of these, for each country about 200 contained evidence useful for this research, because they expressed nationalist sentiments and/or contained explicit national frames. This means that journalists did not merely write, for instance, ‘Prost, the Frenchman’ or ‘McLaren, the British team’, without characterising such a frame. Instead, evidence has been selected by considering the articles in which such a national frame was connected to associations. Such associations can demonstrate ideas about national identities and stereotypes, which means they can be used in this research. These 400 articles have shown some recurring themes (for instance: masculinity) which will be central to this study. Not every article can be mentioned, but representative examples will be cited. Obviously, there are articles written about Formula 1 between the races as well, such as changes to the cars or changes of drivers. However, such changes are always also elaborated upon in race reports.

This study will focus on the relationship between nationalism and social and cultural framing of Formula 1 newspaper coverage. The aspects that will be concentrated on include nationality, gender and class. Each of these aspects will be introduced with the help of literature, and will be examined in each newspaper separately, to allow for differences between these to become visible. Through this critical media study, several social and cultural aspects of sports coverage in the 1980s will become visible, but central to this is their connection to nationalism, and the production and sustaining of national identities. For as Orwell already believed in 1945, sport is ‘war … minus the shooting’, (Orwell, 1945) and Formula 1 will prove to be a battlefield for the struggle for (national) identity.

National frames

Nationalism is essentially very much about belonging to a group. Newspapers make their readers feel part of the same group by engaging them in nationalism, but also make them feel socially and culturally connected, enhancing the feeling of belonging. The case study of Formula 1 media coverage can show how these two are connected. Other authors have mostly focused on one of the two. Law, following other authors before him, has shown how the (British) press enforces national belonging by using personal pronouns like ‘us’ and ‘we’ (Law, 2001). Sociologist Brubaker has stressed that group formation is an ongoing process in which categories (e.g. readers of The Guardian) are made into a group (Brubaker, 2002, p. 167). This counts for national groups as well, and newspapers play an important role in constructing and sustaining such national identities. Several social and cultural factors thus play a role in nationalist newspaper coverage of Formula 1, stimulating feelings of groupness and national identity.

One of the most obvious aspects of national newspapers writing about international sports is the focus on participants from their own country. Billig already wrote that sports sections of newspapers were often mostly ‘celebrating British success, or, rather, British avoidance of quick defeat’ (1995, p. 120). As has been mentioned, this notion of national success is rather complicated in Formula 1. Nevertheless, journalists do pay special attention to French/British drivers or teams. This happens equally in all examined newspapers. Sometimes it translates into a paragraph reporting on all French/British drivers, sometimes ‘national’ achievements are highlighted in titles or images, and sometimes foreign drivers and teams are just completely ignored. It is simply assumed that the readers are more interested in the achievements of their fellow countrymen because they share the same nationality. For example, Libération writes the following about the French Grand Prix of 1985: ‘Under our skies, Formula 1 was hit with all social temptations: 400 people were walking around with their buttonhole badges bearing the slogan “Hands off my Prost”’. (1985, July 8, p. 19). Support for other drivers is not mentioned. ‘Our’ is used as well, although that actually occurs only a handful of times in the newspapers examined. The identification is at times quite conscious, such as in short articles ending with ‘Vive la France!’ (Libération, 1983, May 24, p. 28) or a short phrase saying that French drivers ‘have made France the first nation of motorsport’ (Le Figaro, 1982, August 14, p. 11). Bell and Garrett argue that frames are also simply practical categories (1998, p. 121). That may be true, and it makes sense to use national frames in this case, but that does not mean there is no nationalism involved. An article from The Guardian also serves as an example: after Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve had a fatal accident, the author apparently thought the British public still had reason to be happy as he wrote in an article titled ‘Watson relieves Belgian gloom with victory’ that ‘John Watson brought some joy to a sad weekend when he scored a well-earned victory in the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder yesterday’ (1982, May 10, p. 21). A similar article appeared a few weeks later, when driver Riccardo Paletti died in a crash at the Canadian Grand Prix. This is briefly mentioned in the article, but not before the author had written about the British drivers’ high starting positions (The Guardian, 1982, June 14, p. 25). The Daily Mail also has a strong tendency to connect ‘Britain’ or ‘the British public’ to drivers’ performances, for instance by writing ‘Nigel Mansell carried Britain and his Canon-Williams team back to the frontline of Formula 1 here yesterday’ (1985, June 22, p. 34). Not just Mansell and his British car won, but with him, all of Britain.

In nearly all of the 400 articles containing any evidence, such examples of framing appear. It is clear that these newspapers all try to connect the performances of drivers and teams to their public by framing them as national. That illustrates the definition by Gamson and Modigliani of a media frame as something that provides meaning (1987, p. 143). This is exactly what happens in Formula 1 newspaper coverage: the results of a grand prix have no actual relevance for most readers, but because of the national frame used, they feel socially and culturally connected to the drivers and teams. These frames naturalise the social world and the repetition of them causes both the audience and the journalists themselves to take them for granted (Bell & Garret, 1998, pp. 120–121).

So far, these examples have looked at drivers and teams. Tyres, however, play a role in French newspapers as well – not in British, because no British tyres are used in Formula 1. Good results (for example from the McLaren team) are attributed to Michelin tyres, which are a product of great French technology (Le Figaro, 1983, July 18, p. 9; idem, 1983, October 17, p. 14). At one point Le Figaro even writes that no matter who wins out of McLaren or Renault, the victory will be French anyway because of the Michelin tyres (1984, April 28, p. 17). Libération joins in this praise but again uses it to bash Italian nationalism as well, writing that ‘the tyre is another affair that, if not political, is at least nationalist. The winner is Italian, Pirelli’ (1985, July 8, p. 19).

Drivers, teams and tyres may play a role as frames within the articles, but the circuit definitely is a factor with an even bigger impact. When the French or British Grand Prix takes place, the number of articles before and after the race is substantially higher in newspapers in these countries and there are more mentions of it on the front pages. Wins by French/British drivers/teams are celebrated more in the articles; as if the win is worth more when it is a ‘home win’. The Guardian seems most sensitive to the sentiments attached to Silverstone, and only Libération does not seem to give this factor as much consideration as other newspapers, only once it considers Castellet to be Renault’s ‘grounds’ (1983, April 18, p. 20). The papers also acknowledge the importance of this sentiment in other countries. Le Figaro even states that it is brave for a Frenchman to win on Italian soil (1982, September 13, p. 11). If the location of the circuit can thus help to enhance the national frame, the media will highlight it to make readers culturally identify more with the event.

The strongest and overarching factor in this nationalism is success. In the British media examined, the number and content of articles does not seem to change much when there is a British win. That is probably because in the 1980s there were so many British teams and drivers that there was always some success. For France though, a development is visible. At the start of the decade, the few French teams and drivers participating were not at the top. Renault was performing well, but there is a rise in media attention as Alain Prost becomes more successful. In Libération, the number of Formula 1 headers on the front page, or even pictures, significantly increases. The articles also become more elaborate, which happens in Le Figaro as well. Moreover, the number of articles dedicated to Formula 1 rises. Extra articles, such as information about circuits, or interviews, are increasingly published as Prost gets closer to being the first French world champion. In the articles, success is always nationalised, as has been shown earlier on with regard to framing. An article from Libération, to take a representative example, frames the podium positions of René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay as French victories (1983, August 29, p. 16), although the fact that they were driving for the Italian Ferrari team obviously challenges this assertion. Le Figaro portrays the expected success of Michelin tyres with the claim that ‘at Michelin, we are cautious but with a smile. A tricolour smile … ’ (1984, April 28, p. 17), connecting success to symbols of French identity. This is also a typical example of using metaphors as framing devices. Whitaker, Ramsey and Smith name metaphors as one of the ways through which media frames provide rhetorical context for text (2012, pp. 8–9). Success thus seems to evoke national pride, which is enhanced through the way that the media rhetorically put these performances in a social frame as national successes, inviting readers to identify with it.

It becomes evident from the examples given that framing necessarily happens consciously, because of the lack of ‘real’ national teams. This is probably because of the journalistic routine of writing about sports in national frames. Another way to explain it is by referring to Aristotle’s recommendation to ‘praise Athenians to Athenians’, a principle Billig applies to politicians wanting to unify the nation but which clearly works in news coverage of sports as well (1995, p. 97). Scheufele furthermore stresses that journalists are audiences as well; they are affected by both media and audience frames (1999, p. 117). It is therefore no wonder that journalists writing about Formula 1 adopt national frames that are used in other sports. Whatever suits at the moment can be used to frame and evoke national identification. Sturm wrote about this triviality with Force India as an example:

Despite the team’s nationalistic name, it is essentially “British” in terms of its technical staff and location in Silverstone, Northamptonshire (the site for the British Grand Prix). The drivers are Scottish and German, and there are few Indian nationals in the team’. (2014, p. 75)

Yet this team strengthened Indian nationalism and modern self-image, thereby adding to a national identity. Like Boyle and Haynes write, media-supported industries like sports are often involved ‘in the active transformation of these forms’ (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 7) Since the media is so powerful in transforming, it ultimately does not matter how ‘real’ these groups are.

Gender frames

National framing is a way to make readers identify socially and culturally with ‘national’ achievements. To allow for identification Formula 1 needs to be looked at through special lenses. These are first and foremost national ones. Existing national identities and stereotypes determine expressions of nationalism. However, the link between Formula 1 newspaper coverage and national frames is not singular. There are frames in between, that connect the news to the national frame. One of these is the gendered image of Formula 1 that is constructed and reproduced by newspapers. Many studies acknowledge the roles of gender and of nationalism, yet study them separately (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 15). National identity in sports, however, is often gendered. Perhaps even the more so in Formula 1, where no separate women's competition existed in the 1980s. There are no rules against women racing in Formula 1, and some have entered, but apparently cultural and social factors (still) keep women from participating. A female British Formula 1 television reporter, after being asked about being a woman in the motor racing world, said: ‘There are about two hundred guys to every woman. The only girls there are models or girlfriends. It is very chauvinistic’. (Bullock, 2002, p. xi). For her, Formula 1’s status as a men’s world was, interestingly, also connected to chauvinism. Bowes and Bairner remark as well that ‘it is men’s sport that is central in the relationship between sport and the nation’ (2019, p. 536). After all, men’s performances are linked to courage, which is associated with pride, honour and patriotism (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 26). The media also plays a role in this image. Matthews and Pike have chosen to study women in Formula 1 through the lens of The Times precisely because newspapers ‘offered insights into political, cultural and social thinking, conventions and values’ (2016, p. 1533). They have found the masculine character of the sport mostly in its history, when it was about ‘mechanical engineering, speed and bravery; traits not ascribed to women of the time’ (p. 1546). Boni has published a study that does not deal with Formula 1 but with how men and their bodies are framed in men’s lifestyle magazines. His findings, however, seem to tie in quite well with how Formula 1 drivers are framed in sports news. The ideal man is portrayed as muscular and strong, which is an image used in advertisements because it sells products (2002, p. 475). The ideal Formula 1 coureur shares these traits, and the product he seems to sell is national pride. In terms of gender, thus, media coverage of sports defines a certain masculinity. Billig already analysed this and concluded that sportsmen are considered representatives of the nation. He wrote that ‘the readers [of the sports pages], mainly men, are invited to see these male exploits in terms of the whole homeland, and, thus, men's concerns are presented as if defining the whole national honour’ (1995, pp. 122–123).

In the newspaper articles examined, no women were mentioned playing a significant role. Therefore it is more worthwile to look at the construction of masculinities. As with other sports, courage, action, dominance and danger are important aspects highlighted in the articles; positive characteristics that were at the time ascribed to men. Quotes that can serve as representative examples from the sources are ‘The TAG-engined Marlboro-McLaren is proving a phenomenal weapon, as the charging Niki Lauda underlined until his machine blew up’ (The Daily Mail, 1984, May 7, p. 29). The car is compared by The Daily Mail to a weapon in the hands of a man, and even he is sometimes not strong enough to hold it. The comparison to war seems to underline the masculinity of motor racing and the fanatic rivalry between nations. A few weeks later, The Daily Mail continues this metaphor, writing that the drivers ‘are today's gladiators, battling at frightening speed’ (1984, July 21, p. 6). Le Figaro adopts the comparison to war, using expressions like ‘Dark Sunday. Renault lost a battle but did not lose the war’ (1983, August 29, p. 12). The French newspaper even writes articles about drivers, praising their looks and their masculine traits (1981. August 29, p. 17). Patriotic pride is considered such a trait, as becomes clear from the earlier quoted article about Laffite’s move to Williams (1983, March 12, p. 21). Conceiving the Formula 1 drivers as heroes due to the risk they take also is a common description (1983, May 13, p. 17). At times, newspapers nationalise these character traits. Libération writes that ‘after this coronation, everyone will therefore go soak their speech in the dusty lexicon of good values which “grammatise” French sport: courage, will, technique and tactics’ (1985, October 7, p. 22). Traits assigned to masculinity, such as courage and technique, are considered as those of ‘French sport’ here, and are thereby connected to French national identity. It can also work the other way around. The Daily Mail tends to highlight a certain physical aspect of French drivers, their short length, which is implicitly considered not to be masculine. At least eight times, there are mentions of Prost, Laffite and Arnoux being referred to as the ‘tiny Frenchman’ (e.g.: 1971, August 17, p. 29; 1985, April 8, p. 35). This ties in with the rivalry that existed with France, but tries to nationalise this rivalry by assigning French drivers a non-British masculinity, or even considering them to be less masculine. British (male) identity is asserted, while French (male) identity is ‘othered’.

Generally speaking, the tabloid The Daily Mail and the conservative Le Figaro concentrate on the drivers’ masculinities, as risk-taking and daring heroes embodying the nation. Of these, it is especially The Daily Mail in particular differentiates masculinities in a national way. Messner stresses that athletes’ backgrounds can result in the shaping of different masculinities (2007, p. 5), which is what seems to happen here through the media. Boni similarly refers to the existence of multiple masculinities competing with each other and framed as such (2002, p. 467). Bowes and Bairner’s article might give a hint on why this mostly happens from the British side, as they write that especially Englishness is constructed as male and masculine (2019, p. 535). How and why this might differ from French national identity, remains unanswered in this case study.

Class and cultural frames

A final social-cultural factor that evidently plays a role in Formula 1 is class. Formula 1 is one of the most expensive sports, and therefore participation is mostly limited to a small (primarily Western) elite group (Haynes & Robeers, 2020, pp. 408–409; Jenkins, 2010, p. 885). The notion of class, however, is not only socioeconomic, but also cultural. The sport is considered glamourous, high-tech and sophisticated. Formula 1 is only meant for countries and ‘gentleman drivers’ who fit in with this modern image (Sturm, 2014, pp. 68, 70). Even journalists writing about sports like Formula 1 are viewed differently from those associated with working-class sports like football (Boyle & Haynes, 2009, p. 165). It is no wonder, therefore, that developing countries wanting to belong to the modern Western elite world try to get engaged in Formula 1 (Chaloemtiarana, 2016, p. 542; Næss, 2017, pp. 537–538). The sport also has a lot of economic advantages for a country. For instance, its value to the British economy is estimated at £6.3 billion to £8.2 billion. It is therefore not surprising that the people representing the nation in Formula 1 embody this wealthy and sophisticated character (Nichols & Savage, 2017, p. 204).

Having an elite group represent the people in this sport generally has two consequences. On the one hand, the nation might feel pride in having their very best represent them. Others may not identify with the drivers, especially when belonging to a lower social group. Nevertheless, for them, sports can also be about what the nation, and with that, their national identity, could be. ‘Sport captures the national imagination. (…) Victories represent the validation of one’s place in the world. Or they symbolise an aspiration point that the nation wants to rise to’, writes Cha (2009, pp. 1584–1585). It is therefore not surprising to find constructions and reproductions of the high-class and glamourous character of Formula 1 in the different newspapers examined in this study. Although it cannot be presented as well as on television, this factor is present in the articles. Almost every summer, there are mentions of holidays the drivers have taken, and the fact that most of them live in Monaco. The Daily Mail even tries to contribute to this image by repeatedly informing its readers that it has paid for a lot of the champagne at the 1984 British Grand Prix (1984, July 21, p. 30). The engagement of royals in the sport is also something that is happily reported on. After the British Grand Prix of 1985, The Daily Mail dedicated an entire article and picture to how the British royals handed out the prizes, suggesting the royals are good friends of the drivers (July 22, p. 33). Le Figaro stresses sophisticated French manners when writing that Prost's rivals ‘took pleasure in grilling politeness’ (1981, May 29, p. 16). High-class traits of the French driver Patrick Tambay are highlighted, like his education and his ‘elegance in human contacts’ (1981, July 4, p. 18). But compliments like these are in almost all cases directed at French drivers. When Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet is interviewed and politely answers the questions, the journalist wrote right after his quote: ‘False modesty’ (1983, September 12, p. 14). Drivers who are not Frenchmen, are thus othered, strongly asserting that the true gentleman in Formula 1 is a Frenchman – and a true Frenchman is a gentleman.

The Guardian similarly criticises the elitism of non-British drivers. The Austrian Niki Lauda has no connection to his ‘countrymen’ and is a ‘tax exile’, because he lives in Monaco, from which the author concludes there is no reason why he should still win the Austrian Grand Prix (1984, August 18, p. 12). However, The Guardian thereby also implicitly holds up the sport’s nationalist and high-class image. Libération seems to do the same. At the 1982 South African Grand Prix, they explicitly criticise Formula 1’s elitist character (1982, January 25, p. 15). Nevertheless, when writing about the Canadian Grand Prix of 1984, the author laughs at the audience because he assumes they do not know the drivers’ names, do not know their wives’ names, and only drink cola and eat popcorn. He portrays the Canadian audience as ignorant of the Formula 1 celebrities and as ‘cheap’ folk who only come to watch spectacle (1984, June 18, p. 19). This shows that the author thinks it is important to know the heroes of Formula 1 and their personal lives, and that Formula 1 is a serious sport which is not meant for ‘ordinary’ people who drink cola and eat popcorn. The same snobbery appears when Libération writes about circuits in the United States. These are mocked and the fact that Dallas calls itself ‘the Paris of the West’ is especially despised (1984, July 9, p. 16). This implies a feeling of cultural superiority; Formula 1 being historically located in Europe is something the author values highly. Again, while explicitly denouncing the elitist character, Libération sustains it implicitly.

Albeit different in each newspaper, it is evident that they all construct and represent images of Formula 1 drivers as high-class gentlemen representing their nation not only with bravery but with style as well. This group of drivers, but also of participating nations, becomes an exclusively male international elite to which other countries want to belong as well, but which is at the same time nationalised by the media who still frame ‘national’ drivers as different from the rest. This high-end character can also be connected to Anderson’s ‘imagined community’: the elite group that is constructed is perhaps not imagined itself, but the identification with it by the journalist (equally aimed at including their readers) is imagined. Journalists and readers do not belong to the group, but they like to imagine that these men represent them and hence are part of their national imagined community, while the reality is often that drivers mostly feel connected to each other, regardless of nationality. National identities, in turn, rest upon this imagined community. Lastly, the (implicit) and mundane repetition of such icons leads not only to an identity but also to pride (Billig, 2017). Intuitively, such an image of the ‘national’ group of drivers is something that is attractive to identify with. Billig himself admits that he is very sensitive to national successes in international sports competitions, but does not know why (1995, p. 125). This study shows that perhaps the answer lies in the appeal of the identification with the masculine heroes that sportsmen are. In Formula 1, this attractiveness might actually be even stronger than in other sports since the drivers are not only physically strong but also are modern gentlemen, representing high technology and a progressive nation, as Chaloemtiarana has demonstrated. And as has become evident, in a mediated sport such as Formula 1, newspapers play a decisive role in this reproduction and identification.

Conclusion

For quite some time, scholars have known that mediated sports can play an important role in identity formation and reproduction. It is not surprising that this identity is in many cases a national one when it comes to international sports competitions between national teams. This case study of Formula 1 racing, however, has shown that nationalism is spread and national identities are (re)produced even through coverage of such a complexly organised sport.

When it comes to nationalism in the Formula 1 newspaper coverage in the 1980s, it has become evident that a mundane nationalism is expressed by explicitly paying positive attention to national actors over other participants, downplaying the achievements of others, and celebrating the successes of these national actors. Nevertheless, framing their performances as national and identifiable is the key to these and almost all other expressions of nationalism in the newspapers. This underlines the mundane character of nationalism in newspaper coverage of Formula 1.

This framing is not only used to celebrate ‘national’ results and downplay others, but it has been demonstrated that newspapers also use framing to convey other messages connected to their nationalism. They tend to frame masculine sporting actors as representatives of the nation, and thereby construct an image of the nation. Participants from other countries are ‘othered’ through ignorance or stereotyping, enhancing nationalism even further. The nation is framed as masculine, with ‘male’ traits such as courage. In some cases this masculinity is even nationalised and differentiated from other masculinities. That way, not only the nation is framed as masculine, but also masculinity is framed to be a certain way. This underlines what other studies have concluded about images of the nation being gendered. The elitist character of Formula 1 is stressed and hence the representative is a man of high class, demonstrating the nation’s modernity and style. This study has shown that this image is not only important for developing countries trying to find their place in the modern world through sports, but that it is also used by French and British media to sustain this image of their nation. The elitist and high-tech character of Formula 1 also adds to the modern image of drivers and ‘their’ nations, resulting in a more layered masculinity than has been found in other sports. In all these cases, framing plays an important role, in which metaphors of war can be used to express rivalry, turning a Formula 1 race into a signifier of cultural battlefields.

This article has highlighted some differences between French and British newspaper coverage, and between the newspapers themselves. Variations among the newspapers are often related to political differences. Nevertheless, there are differences in style as well, for example in how The Daily Mail stereotypes French drivers more explicitly and in how both The Daily Mail and Le Figaro focus more on differentiating masculinities. Yet, albeit from various angles, in the end these newspapers all wrote about Formula 1 from a nationalist perspective, concealed in their own style.

This study can contribute not only to debates on nationalism, but also to our knowledge of how the media uses framing. It has become evident that by framing international competition as a national event, the national imagined community is reproduced. Formula 1 drivers are framed as national representatives, through which readers feel connected with them. Mundane nationalist expressions and national identity thus work hand-in-hand: the nationalism works to construct and sustain national identities, but likewise national identities determine the frames and, thereby, how nationalism is expressed. This seems to apply to both national identities and stereotypes. Framing thus does not simply function as a practicality or as a way of merely ‘making sense’ of things; it can actually strengthen nationalism, and produce and sustain certain national identities. At the same time, these national frames consist of underlying frames about gender and class. This finding adds to our knowledge of how different aspects of nationalism are at play, but also to our perspectives on how broad and multi-layered the impact of social and cultural framing can be.

Although most studies concerned with media frames are focused on politics, this article has demonstrated that using this approach for more social and cultural aspects can likewise be fruitful. Further research could investigate how widespread this kind of framing is, why the media chooses to frame events like Formula 1 in this way, how layers of frames come into being, and, in line with what Scheufele proposes, how the exact processes of framing and nationalism work together to form the results that we have studied. Furthermore, blurred lines between national and international interests are also apparent in sports like cycling and ocean racing, in which perhaps similar expressions of nationalism appear. Moreover, it could be rewarding to stretch a study like this over a longer period of time. This could provide more insights and could perhaps contribute to the debate around the impact of globalisation on nationalism in sports. For now, it is evident that in the 1980s, newspaper coverage of Formula 1 was inevitably connected to constructing national images and reproducing nationalism in many ways. And these national (self-)images continue to exist in the sport, as the managing director of the Renault Formula 1 team confirms: ‘We are French. We are passionate’ (2019).

Acknowledgements

For their valuable comments on earlier drafts, I am indebted to Dr. Eric Storm (Leiden University), who supervised this research, and to Peter George for his critical reading of it. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive input. I am grateful to the Leiden University Institute for History for hosting this project, thereby facilitating open access publication of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributors

Caroline (J.E.) Schep

Caroline (J.E.) Schep (1998) graduated in Art History and History at Leiden University, and is currently enrolled there as a research master student of ‘History: Politics, Culture and National Identities, 1789 to the Present’. At Leiden University, she assists in the research project ‘Scholarly Vices: A Longue Durée History’ and supports the Foundation for Austrian Studies.