Ariana Bravo on working with F1, Channel 4 and interviewing Sir Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone

Ariana Bravo has become one of the most well-known faces, and voices, in Formula 1 over recent years. A familiar face at the track, on social media and on television broadcasts, Ariana studied Economics at university and worked in the field for a few years before deciding to take the leap to motorsport, a world she had always been aware of but never from a career perspective. From podcasting to presenting, Ariana has spent her time in motorsport working with F1 and Channel 4, as well as partnering with teams and partners to work on exciting campaigns year-round during an F1 season.

Hosting an iconic end to the 2024 British Grand Prix weekend at the Silverstone Main Stage with Sir Lewis Hamilton and his family to celebrate his ninth win at the home of British motorsport, Ariana’s story is one to influence and inspire the next generation.

Initially introduced to motorsport through her dad as a young child, Ariana remembers Formula 1 always being on television at the weekend, each race growing her interest and planting the seed for her future love of the sport.

“It wouldn’t have come on my radar in the same way, or piqued my interest in the same way, had it not been for the family introduction,” Ariana says. “Then, as I got older and I understood more about what F1 actually was, that’s when my own personal interest in the sport developed.”

Ariana’s interest in F1 remained passive through her teen and young adult years, where she studied an Economics degree at university, a topic with little motorsport crossover. However, like for anyone who goes to university, a huge part of the learning is not necessarily what you learn from textbooks. It’s the life skills and the personal development that are part of the learning curve.

“University really gave me several opportunities to develop as a person,” she explains. “It pushed me to the extreme and that still benefits me today.

“I’m able to really push my limits when it comes to work and university made me realise that the limit is maybe beyond what I thought it could be.”

While F1 was always in the back of Ariana’s mind, her transition into the sport was quite gradual. She worked on the Driven by Diversity podcast and was making videos for social media covering race weekends before she worked with Autosport to host their F1 podcast, all while still working nine to five as a management consultant.

“I’d taken the leap in terms of getting the confidence to start exploring avenues in motorsport, but I hadn’t got to the point where I was fully comfortable actually making the leap,” Ariana says. “A few races in, the people I was working with within F1 were telling me I needed to take the leap and commit to it. 
“After those few races, I realised that it was definitely the thing that felt right to be doing and I felt like I could make a career out of it. There were no nerves when I made the decision, so that’s when I knew it was the right decision and I haven’t looked back on it.”

Ariana’s first race with F1 came in 2021 at the Austrian Grand Prix, where she worked as a Track TV presenter. An Austrian double header, she worked the second race in the Virtual Paddock Club, as it was known at the time due to COVID restrictions, as a presenter. But both weekends were quite different.

“Track TV is very much a role that is short bursts across the whole weekend from the start of the day to the end and you’re checking with fans at different points throughout the day,” Ariana says. “Virtual Paddock Club is a show-based product, where you have a set time to go live, interviewing guests and filming feature pieces in advance so they were quite different in that sense, but both were live products.

“It was good the way it worked because it meant I got experience of both avenues very quickly rather than just doing one.”

In 2022, Ariana continued working on Track TV and, with the return of Paddock Club, took up the role of presenting in-person for guests and fans, speaking to drivers and special guests during a race weekend. 2022 was also the year Ariana began taking part in stage interviews, something which became part of the Track TV role.

“It was very different from anything I’d done before, working in a completely different environment,” she says. “You’ve got tens of thousands of fans, it’s very much an energy-based role in comparison to others, and it’s a role that I absolutely adore.”

Ariana joined the Channel 4 team on a small basis as a reporter in 2022, working on a handful of races with the team.

Fast forward to today and with F1, Ariana still does Track TV and stage presenting, the latter having taken a huge step up compared to when she first started. The operation is much bigger, with the team at F1 really building out and elevating fan experience on race weekends. Ariana also works on F1TV, F1’s own coverage of on- and off-track race weekend action. Now, ultimately, Ariana has a full breadth of what she covers; she does Track TV, Fan Forum Stage interviews, media pen, Parc Ferme interviews and is a reporter with Channel 4.

“It’s a real range in terms of how journalistic those products are,” she says. “It’s like a sliding scale because the things you’re asking onstage are on the other end of the scale to what you’re asking in the media pen and equally, Channel 4 and F1TV, even though they’re both covering the same things, one is live, and one is pre-recorded.

“I’m very fortunate to be able to cover as many aspects of the sport I do. It’s one thing that I do really love and there are so many ways of sharing the sport with fans, so that is something I really enjoy and try to keep hold of when I’m planning my season.”

As well as working trackside with Channel 4 in her role as a reporter, Ariana has also worked some Grand Prix races from F1 Arcade in London, which again, is a totally different role compared to if she was on the ground at the circuit. She worked as Lead Presenter for Channel 4 for the first time covering the Canadian Grand Prix at F1 Arcade, and presented from the venue again for the Mexican Grand Prix. The show from F1 Arcade is shorter than if it was covered trackside, with a reduced  presenting at either end of it and more of a focus on the highlights package for viewers.

“When I’m at a racetrack, typically and most often, I am in the reporter role with Channel 4, whereas when I worked at F1 Arcade for Canada, I was in the presenter role, which is different,” Ariana explains. “The reporter role can’t exist in the F1 Arcade environment because you don’t have the drivers or the team members to be interviewing, so that is quite a big change.”

Diversity and inclusion have always been topics Ariana has held close, something she believes comes naturally to her as a mixed-race woman, and they are at the forefront of motorsport, too. Ariana recognises that she is in a position to push for change, to push the boundaries and continue helping others break into what is a typically male-dominated industry.

“I’m really grateful for the platform I have and it’s an honour to be able to represent and inspire women, girls, anyone interested in F1 in whatever way people may resonate with me,” she says. “I want to have a platform so I can make change, so that I can bring people along with me on the journey and to make it easier for the people who are coming after me to achieve their dreams.

“It’s something that I really care about.”

However, Ariana highlights that while some people think she inspires them, it also inspires her that there is such a movement online for change in motorsport, that there is a real community on social media and now with F1 Academy, change really is happening.

“It encourages me to keep going because I can be the voice for people who maybe aren’t in the position yet to have that voice,” she says. “I love it and I think that the community and the movement is just incredible.

“I adore the work that I do, I love what I do in terms of the presenting, the reporting, but it would not be nearly as dear to me if I wasn’t able to do the diversity and inclusion aspect of it, too.”

SEE ALSO: REFLECTING ON A HISTORIC YEAR FOR WOMEN IN MOTORSPORT

At the beginning of her journey into motorsport, more specifically at the first ever Dare to be Different (now Girls on Track) event, Ariana met a number of incredible women who ultimately helped her get to where she is today. Susie Wolff started the initiative and is now in the F1 Academy paddock close by, Rachel Brookes was at that first event offering support and advice to Ariana, something she still does to this day, and she found herself reaching out to Natalie Pinkham for advice, too.

“It’s these women that put their hands out and were able to pull me in and get me to this point by offering their advice, offering their time and sharing whatever resources they could,” Ariana says. “It is incredibly surreal to be working alongside your role models, and there are so many role models that I have within Formula 1 and motorsport more widely who I’m now very blessed to be able to call my colleagues and friends.

“But also, there are so many men who have helped me on this journey. I work with amazing people on both sides.”

Silverstone is a special place for many people involved with motorsport, whether that be fans, drivers or those working in the sport, and Ariana is one of many who hold it so dear. Her first ever British Grand Prix was one of her first few races in F1. She was working on Track TV and, more particularly, was asked to interview Sir Lewis Hamilton for a Track TV hit. He was going to come onto the track so that the fans could see him, and they did the interview there.

“I remember it really clearly, meeting him and interviewing him on the grid,” she remembers. “Silverstone delivers energy on another level, and I remember the fans just being so loud and so happy to see him, just this overwhelming amount of love and adoration for him.

“It was the first time I interviewed him, and I remember just thinking that I was interviewing Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, at his home race, and it was just such a special moment.”

Ariana worked with Channel 4 at the 2023 British Grand Prix, their only live race of the year, and she remembers the absolute buzz of doing live TV at Silverstone.

“We had so many people on the ground, so many presenters, so many cool ideas and that just felt special to be part of,” Ariana says. “Working with Channel 4 was such a huge goal of mine from the get-go, so to be there, home race again, with this incredible team and to be bringing live coverage… I loved it.”

The 2024 British Grand Prix saw Sir Lewis Hamilton take his ninth race win at Silverstone, the first ever driver to do it, and he ended an incredible weekend in the Northamptonshire countryside by making history. After the race, thousands of fans flocked to the Main Stage to see their hero, to hear just what it meant to him to win at home again, and Ariana was up there with him, leading what was the best way to round out a perfect weekend. Quite the full circle moment, after interviewing Lewis for the first time at the home of British motorsport only three years prior.

SEE ALSO: THROUGH THE EYES OF AN F1 FAN - THE 2024 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Ariana Bravo is back for another season hosting on F1TV, Channel 4, and plenty more as her involvement in the world of Formula 1 continues to grow.