By Andy Marston, Sports Pundit
A new 45-minute Netflix documentary The Seat premiered the day after the Miami Grand Prix, charting how 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli landed Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes seat (and how much of the process happened over WhatsApp).
Produced by RadicalMedia and directed by Kyle Thrash, the film was made in partnership with WhatsApp and Mercedes, featuring private conversations between Toto Wolff and Antonelli as the team searched for its next driver.
The film is part of WhatsApp’s long-term brand storytelling strategy and follows earlier content like Push Push (with Lewis Hamilton) and We Are Ayenda (on Afghanistan’s women’s youth football team).
Rather than a standard ad, The Seat was acquired by Netflix like any other show, with the goal of reaching F1’s growing audience - especially in the U.S., where WhatsApp still lags behind iMessage in daily use.
Why It Matters:
This is a smart, high-impact move from WhatsApp. Rather than forcing product placement, it zeroes in on a moment where the app was already central to the story.
The project also signals where sport sponsorship is heading: away from passive logo badging, toward deeply integrated storytelling that holds up as premium entertainment.
With Netflix as a distribution partner and the timing locked to the Miami Grand Prix weekend, this is a calculated push into a key market where WhatsApp still has room to grow.
For fans, it adds depth to Antonelli’s rise. For brands, it’s a standout case study in using storytelling to create cultural relevance.
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