Formula 1 needs to get its house in order

Formula 1 never sleeps. It’s only been a short few months since Lewis Hamilton won his second world championship and already the teams are preparing to commence battle once again as testing kicks off tomorrow at Jerez in Spain. The preparation started long ago, and developments will be coming thick and fast from the first test onwards.

Of course a sport that never sleeps sometimes suffers from sleep depravation which is why Formula 1 seems to make so many issues for itself. Bernie Ecclestone has been brilliant in building Formula 1 up to the global phenomenon it is today but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got some things wrong.

In fact as the 2015 machines take to the track there’s a lot of issues still raging. How can a sport which generates billions not keep 12 teams on the grid? Why are classic races being forced off the calendar making way for countries which have no hope of filling the grandstands? Why are the tickets so outrageously expensive?

The answer to most of these is money and the private equity firm CVC which Bernie sold the promotional rights to while still running the sport himself. They do little promoting though but are more than happy to suck every last penny out of the sport while seeing it go to pot.

We should’ve been rejoicing about what sensational power units were created last year, how efficient but fast they were not how quiet they were. Yes, the noise takes away a little impact live, but once the race is underway you soon forgot it and on television it doesn’t matter.

We should have been remarking how excellent the racing was, how close the wheel to wheel combat was and what a brilliant fight to the end of the championship we had. But we didn’t, we talked about the sport losing viewers, teams falling off the grid, the uneven distribution of money for the teams.

These make people question the product, but there’s nothing wrong with what’s on the race track. They need to take a look at how it’s promoted. Reach out to the fans, to the younger viewers (note to Bernie, they’re important for the future) through social media, which even now is only just beginning to be looked at by the sport properly. Also maybe if you don’t want to lose viewers, don’t sell the television rights to pay TV channels. Now there’s a thought.

This has all been created by Bernie, or if you want to go further back to 2000 by the FIA’s then president Max Mosley selling the commercial rights to Bernie for a cheaper than cheap fee and for 100 years at that. It enabled Bernie to do what he does best and make money and dividing the teams with various commercial deals that split the grid into haves and the have absolutely nothing.

There’s plenty of detail that can be gotten into, but the gist of it is that Formula 1 which has the fastest cars in the world supposedly driven by the best drivers now has less than 20 cars on the grid, many of which are driven by drivers who have to bring a tremendous amount of sponsorship to even get a seat, usurping many better drivers who simply don’t have the backing.

That’s not right for the supposed pinnacle of motor sport. Not that the teams will come together to thrash out appropriate cost reductions or the FIA will step in even though it is technically their championship. The FIA is weak while the teams mainly think only of themselves. It’s a survival of the fittest sport and none will want to give up an advantage.

I’m a huge fan of the sport, I love the idea of the best drivers, driven by such focus and desire to be the best in the world climbing into their state of the art machines and taking them to the edge. This is Formula 1 at its purest.

But it hasn’t been pure for a very long time, and there will continue to be clashes. In the end I just want to enjoy what’s on the track and as a fan I’m in mind to just ignore it and hope the problems go away and concentrate on the racing, which I think is the basic premise of most teams attitudes and particularly Bernie Ecclestone and CVC.

That’s not the way though, it’s time for a change and a fresh approach at the top of the sport, give the money to the teams, let them pick the best drivers, not the biggest wallet and open the sport to the fans and reduce costs for circuits so you don’t rip a hole in the traditions and soul of the sport. But the racing? Leave that alone, it’s great, time to start shouting positively about it as the cars hit the track.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Solutions to what is wrong with F1

Since the summer break started I’ve been reading a lot of columns dedicated to discussing what is wrong with Formula 1. There’s a simple answer to this, there isn’t anything wrong with Formula 1, the racing is great, there is a fantastic fight for the championship, there’s nothing amiss with the sporting side of F1 and these new regulations should be deemed a success by all.

There’s still some complaints about the noise, I’m sure they’ll figure out some way to make it a bit louder, but to be honest if you’re at a race and the racing is good you forget about the noise pretty quickly, and I find there’s something awesome about the combination of the rumbling thunder and the electrical whine, it’s a wonderful hybrid of old and new.

Anyway, we’re not here to talk about the noise, or even the looks of the cars, both issues will be sorted at some point, the noses by next season. No, I’m wondering why the Formula 1 authorities seem to feel the need to constantly tamper with the sport, or complain about their own product? Is that really a selling point when you have the likes of Bernie Ecclestone or Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo running down their own business?

With many Formula 1 teams fighting to survive and several territories losing viewing figures and not being able to fill the grandstands on race day, even in countries with a motor racing tradition, as well as an ageing audience, then surely it's not the wisest idea to sell the sport short?

I think these new regulations have pushed Formula 1 to a more sustainable future. I mean surely this sort of move to a greener power resource makes the sport more relevant with the added bonus it’s producing racing which is better than ever. But it seems this has failed to stop declining viewing figures around the world so they try and keep the championship alive longer by introducing absurd ideas like double points for the final Grand Prix, which undermines the previous rounds.

Perhaps they might consider that championships can’t always go down to the last race. I’m not aware of the premier league thinking they should add double points to the last round of games to keep the title fight alive. Why not? Because there would be justifiable outrage among supporters about how the sport is being made artificial.

There was uproar amongst fans and leading F1 journalists, but this being Formula 1, the sports leaders failed to listen to them, so far at least. The championship being wrapped up early has nothing to do with viewing figures (although admittedly figures tend to tail off if the championship is wrapped up early) and perhaps, I suggest somewhat timidly, it could be to do with selling the Television rights to pay TV services.

Perhaps also the reason that many races aren’t attended well is that some of the countries are only on the calendar because their governments can pay the exorbitant fees that Bernie charges each country so F1 will bring their toys to play in front of empty grandstands like in Korea. A lot of these countries have no great history of motor sport and the public simply doesn’t care. It’s good to try and create interest but it seems to me the sport is going to too many countries like this and has no hope of attracting a crowd, especially when in a country like China a ticket can often be more expensive than a year’s wages.

That affects other countries which do have a fan base too. Bernie charges each circuit millions upon millions of dollars for them to hold a race. He also takes the revenue of all trackside advertising. Circuits don’t receive any television money either, what they do get is the ticket money, which is why often they’re so expensive. Most circuits won’t make a profit from the race but it’ll be their largest attendance of the year so they have to make it count so that money is taken from the customer. The customer who will have to shell out in excess of £500 to take a family of four for some grandstand seats and that’s being conservative.

So let's think of a few points which might help push Formula 1 in the right direction. First of all let's look at ways of attracting new and younger fans.

There should be a full social media profile for Formula 1 to engage and interact with fans. Having that platform would have enabled them to connect with more people and help new fans understand the sport. All through the last winter there could have been videos and articles explaining the new regulations and creating a buzz about this new adventure. Or after the races and in the gaps between races, have videos of the best passing moves with the drivers explaining what they were doing and what they were thinking in that moment. In the lead up to races, there should be promotions months in advance, particularly centred to that countries audience.

Just having the website which has some nice content but no official Facebook or Twitter profile just doesn't cut it these days. It's been said Bernie Ecclestone sees no point as you can't make money from it, but surely pushing the product you're more likely to attract new fans who will spend money.

There should be a cost cap. I'm in favour of this, very difficult to police but with the many big brains of Formula 1 people I'm sure some compromise could be reached somehow. With the cost cap, you get freer regulations. The essence of Formula 1 is pushing the boundaries and I don't want to see these cars become too standardised, so to prevent costs spiralling if rules were freed up, cap the spend. It would also be nice to get the cars at least 3-4 seconds faster.

Fairer deal for teams from Formula One Management. The TV money should be split equally between all teams no matter how much history they have. Then we'd stop hearing about how teams are struggling so much and need to hire pay drivers. Prize money would obviously be based on results, so the best would still earn more, you'd just not have a money advantage built in to begin with.

Fairer deals for circuits too. Bring the cost of hosting a race down, or at the very least let them make some money from the advertising space surrounding the circuit, this should at least be split more evenly between the circuits and Bernie who pockets the lot at the moment. Fairer deal for circuits might just lead to a fairer deal for fans too.

Don’t damage the traditions of F1. No more gimmicks such as double points. We need to maintain the purity of the sport, so make sure the cars are the fastest in the world, and drop rubbish ideas like double points. As much as sport is entertainment, lets not make it into WWE. However, the green technology should and progress, F1 is after all the leader in motor racing.

Testing should be limited for money reasons but why not have longer Friday's with a whole day of testing and allow the third car they already bring to be built up for the third driver to get more opportunities to test and help with their F1 experience.

Limit of 20 races with no exceptions. Eighteen would be better but saturation is the way forward apparently. I believe less is more though, Grand Prix used to be must watch events, now there's so many, some people choose not to watch every race. There's nothing wrong with expanding into new markets either, but perhaps have a rotation system. Your core classics like Brazil, Canada, Japan, Belgium, UK, Italy, Germany and add to that a race in the USA should be essential on the list every year. From there you have races in up and coming nations, or races with money and an audience, but if necessary they can be rotated bi-yearly. Races which suffer from lack of crowd might then see a bigger crowd as it's more of an event.

I think there's a lot right with F1, but yes there are some issues which simply if people could think of the bigger picture needn't be there. More of the positives should be mentioned, but I think some of the things I've listed would help to progress Formula 1 for the future and keep it at the head of the field.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Will Bahrain Grand Prix go ahead?

At the moment the Bahrain Grand Prix is still scheduled to take place on April 22^nd, a week after the Chinese race, but it has come to light that the teams have already made contingency plans to head straight back to Europe should Bahrain be cancelled.

The main point of this though is that the race hasn’t yet been cancelled. Last year the race was taken off the schedule as the ruling minority Sunni Al Khalifa royal family decided, after a lot of hesitance, to deal with the majority Shiite people protesting against their rule and for democratic reforms and a Formula 1 race would not and should not have been a priority.

But over the last week, despite assurances from the Bahrain government that they are in control, there has been a fatal shooting, tear gas has been fired at protesters and Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights has been arrested, reportedly before a planned march in the capital Manama to show support for fellow human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who is on a hunger strike (joesaward.wordpress.com).

Bahrain want to use the race to unite the country, while Bernie Ecclestone told jamesallenonF1.com that he has no problem with the race being used as ‘”a force for good”’. I find that to be uncomfortably close to the old warning of politics and sport should not mix.

Even if it is meant as a positive show of support, it is especially unwise when a lot of the protests are being directed against the Grand Prix running, especially when the country is still unsettled. The race is important to Bahrain economically and promotes them on an international stage, but when there is still so much unrest in the country is it the wisest decision for Formula 1 and its partners to associate itself with them and put the security of the teams at risk as well?

There are other places Formula 1 and other global sports visit where you could say they have a dubious past and even present, but politics and sport should not mix which is why sports go there, but these events are happening right now.

Is it right for a global sport to go to a country which seeks to use it to unite its people but will violently crack down on them to do so? The protesters are using the race as a focus point and as a sign that the rulers would rather draw a curtain around them and pretend everything is fine and surely that is reason enough not to go?

However, at the moment the teams will go where they are sent and Bahrain feel they are equipped to make the race safe. I’m not sure that is a good thing for the sport, its teams or for the people of Bahrain.

BBC to share coverage with Sky

I believe I share a common opinion with many fans of Formula 1 when I say I’m hugely disappointed with the announcement today that the BBC will only be screening 10 races live at the most, with highlights* packages of the rest. Sky now has the rights to the full calendar of 20 Grand Prix from next year including practice, qualifying and the main event. This deal runs to 2018 and at least keeps the BBC involved beyond their current deal which ran to 2013.

It’s a bit of a shock to be honest. As far as I was aware in major markets the teams have certain guarantees in the Concorde agreement (the deal the governs how the sport is run) with Bernie Ecclestone that Formula 1 should remain free to air so as to guarantee maximum exposure.

Obviously with this deal the UK, one of the major markets, loses half of its free to air exposure. There had long been rumours that with the BBC having to cut expenditure due to the license fee freeze, Formula 1 was on the chopping block.

Having trawled through the various Formula 1 websites, I have noticed that Channel 4 were rumoured to be in the running to secure the rights should the BBC not be able to continue with the coverage. If Channel 4 were prepared to bid for the rights, surely there could have been a compromise deal whereby Channel 4 and the BBC share the rights, thus keeping it on free to air television.

It's of course conjecture but Channel 4 would have had a ready made 6million audience just ready to be dumped on its doorstep every other race and the teams and their all important sponsors would have got full exposure to the British public. Sky, not being free to air could perhaps expect to get half that at the very most.

However, rumours go that the Sky deal is worth £60m, £20m above what the BBC has been paying per year since 2009. Taking a wild stab in the dark here, it appears to me that Bernie Ecclestone has gone with the more money option than thinking about the fans of the sport. In fact the teams are looking into clarification as to what this deal really means for the sport, so maybe it’s not over yet.

This deal obviously means that if you’re a Formula 1 fan and want to watch all the races you will not only have to continue paying your license fee, but also have to shell out nearly £40 to obtain a Sky sports package.

What this effectively means is that because the BBC will be showing 10 races live, if you don’t already own Sky sports and would only want it for the Formula 1, you will be paying for the privilege of only 10 live races. It’s a deal that looks to short change the fans.

Having said all that, Sky generally present fantastic coverage of sports and are already looking into whether they can do a few races in 3D (I wonder how many of you already own a 3D television?). As I’ve said they’ll be showing all the sessions live and have extensive multi platform coverage utilising their television coverage, the internet as well as phone coverage. They’ll obviously be full pre and post race discussion, probably until your heart’s content. They’ve also guaranteed not to show adverts during the race, which is a definite blessing.

As good as the coverage will be on Sky, I still feel a compromise could have been found to keep it on free to air television. The fans have to pay more money in hard financial times, the teams and sponsors lose an awful lot of audience and after the hard work of the quite fantastic BBC team, the BBC lose out too. If you’re paying so much for Sky, why would you watch the BBC coverage?

However, I’m sure they’ll be more details announced that may placate the fans including who’ll be involved in the coverage for both sides. There are many options available to them both and that will be interesting to keep note of. Despite this and having looked at opinion on various websites, most fans seem to not be best pleased at all.

*Update: According to Jamesallenonf1.com Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's team boss and FOTA chairman has said after a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone that the BBC will now show the full race delayed by a few hours instead of highlights. Shall wait for this to be confirmed, but that's fairly positive I think. 

Sources: Autosport.com, bbc.co.uk/formula1, Planetf1.com, Jamesallenonf1.com