Interviewed by Tom Evans, Edited by Harshi Vashee
New Zealander Josh Revell is well known for his highly entertaining motorsport and Formula One videos for which he has amassed an impressive 250 thousand subscribers on his YouTube channel!
Tom: When did you start to take an interest in Motorsport?
Josh: Pretty much from the age of 5. I was always sort of interested in cars, but motorsport in particular first came to my attention through video games such as Formula One 2001 and TOCA World Touring Cars on the PlayStation. From there, it was seeing stuff like V8 Supercars and Formula One on TV and it snowballed from there.
Tom: Who were your biggest idols growing up? And who is your biggest idol now?
Josh: In motor racing terms, I’d have to say Michael Schumacher and Mark Skaife. Those two were at the peak of their games when I was first becoming engrossed in the sport and it helped peak my interest in it even more. Obviously, Michael is still a hero for me, and a lot of other people around the world. Mark Skaife – yeah nah, can’t say he still is.
As for idols today – not really sure I have any, to be honest.
Tom: What are the biggest challenges, but also the biggest rewards of being an F1 YouTuber?
Josh: The biggest challenge perhaps with being an F1 YouTuber is staying on the good side of the algorithm. Because it obviously has a direct impact on your channel performance and subsequently your income. So, while I produce, the content is largely down to what I’m feeling at that particular time. Sometimes you have to anticipate when the best time for any particular video may be (i.e. leading up to a Grand Prix weekend or driver announcement). It does keep you on edge a lot of the time, but for smaller creators especially, it’s very hard for them to get off the ground.
The biggest reward of the whole gig? That my day job is literally making videos about the sport that I love (and sometimes hate). It’s a much better experience than my last job – repairing laptops for cranky Neanderthals.
Tom: You hit a quarter of a million subscribers, very recently. Did you ever think you could hit this number?
Josh: At the start, no. But then again, I never set out to make a channel that would hit ‘the big numbers’. I just wanted to make content that no-one else was doing. And that still is the case today. Of course, once momentum got on my side, at the beginning of 2020, I started to believe in the 100K mark. Once I passed it, I set sights on the bigger numbers. While at the same time, trying not to allow my head to get bigger than it already is.
Tom: What’s the favourite video you’ve ever made/most proud of?
Josh: That’s a hard one, cos I never rewatch my videos and a lot of them I’ve forgotten by now. The Mahaveer one may seem like the obvious answer to a lot of people, but personally, I’m not sure that’d be near the top of my list.
Tom: If you could choose a brand, team principal and 2 drivers to join f1, who would you choose?
Josh: Brand? Well, Lamborghini would be nice to have back in Formula 1. Preferably this time with an engine that would last long enough to pull out of the pits. I’m not certain on a team principal from outside of Formula 1, although for the two drivers, I’d go with Theo Pourchaire and Dan Ticktum…it was bloody hard choosing just two from the crop of potential candidates
Tom: You recently did a collaboration with formula 2. Do you hope that f1/2 will do more collaborations with YouTubers going into the future?
Josh: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve seen other sports embrace content creators because they’ve realised how much it benefits the sport by promoting it through different means. It seems like F1 are taking this approach too, and I hope this is actually the case and not me just being off with the fairies. But it’s promising signs given how, not too long ago, F1 YouTubers typically ran their channels like fugitives on the run.
Tom: Looking into the future, what’s the next milestone that you want to hit?
Josh: Well, each 100K sub mark I hit is another goal attained. Half a million is the next big one, and I’ve gotten it into my head now that the one million subscriber mark is actually feasibly possible now. Albeit, still a while away from happening. Beyond that, I’m not too sure. But like I said before, the aim is really to make the videos that I want, within the timeframe I have, telling stories of the sport that no-one else has, or does, or wants, or whatever.
Tom: And finally, could you give us a sneak peak on any upcoming videos?
Josh: Well, I’ll be revisiting the Alessio Deledda topic at the end of the year…which’ll be fun 😉
We wish Josh all the best in his future endeavours as we are sure he will excel at anything he puts his mind to, and as always, Don’t be a Manus!
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