Formula 1

Alonso and Button announced as McLaren drivers.
The right choice for Honda.

Can't help but think that McLaren, or Ferrari, should follow Red Bull's lead and takeover a junior team.
Magnussen and Vandoorne in Caterham would help McLaren's young driver program.
As it stands their last two young drivers, Magnussen and Perez, have been ejected after one season.

Great news for Button & British racing fans, I think Button may surprise some next season.

Great news for Button & British racing fans, I think Button may surprise some next season.

if he is in a decent car he will do well

Button will deliver the points if they give him a good car.
Looking forward to the reunion.

I've been asked to do some Formula 1 blogs this season.

I'll post them on here. Would appreciate some feedback.

As part of our plans for 2015, we will run an F1 Blog. Keeping up with all the latest news, it may also be slightly tongue in cheek- as you would expect. Here is issue one from the virtual pen of ex racer David Hall.

Last season showed what happens when the Formula One rulemakers left something vague in the regulations.
All manner of nosecones emerged in response to the FIA’s attempt to lower the front end of the cars.

It was great. The highlights being Red Bull’s keel, Mercedes’ inverted U and the Twin Tusked Lotus.
Unfortunately it also led to Ferrari’s vacuum cleaner and the cheaper researched “gentleman’s appendage” or anteater nose.
Such was their effort to rid the sport of some vulgarities the FIA chose to make this season’s nose regulations more restrictive.
See the link below:

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2014/0/1246.html

Unfortunately this attention to detail was found wanting when it came to the difficult second year of the new hybrid engines. Ferrari and Red Bull lobbied hard to get the engine freeze lifted for 2015, having both been blown away by Mercedes’ split turbo, and in what can best be described as an extremely fortunate coincidence a loop hole has emerged which will equate to just that.

The 2014 regulations specified a date, February 28th, for homologation of the engines. The 2015 regulations have no such date and as such Ferrari had indicated that it was their interpretation that they could use their allocated tokens during the season, rather than before the season had started.

Charlie Whiting agreed:
“As it is not specifically stated… when a power unit may be modified in accordance with appendix 4 [of the technical regulations], we feel that the weighted items (32 in this case) may be introduced at any time during the 2015 season,” “The basic homologated power unit will remain that which was homologated for the 2014 season, including any changes made in accordance with paragraph 1 (c) of appendix 4 [of the sporting regulations].”

Well, at least it affected every team the same way.
At least it did if you homologated an engine in 2014.

Unfortunately for Honda not having competed in 2014 means they can only homologate one engine. They will have to do so at the start of the season. At best they will match Mercedes early on and then fade away when every other team brings upgrades during the season. Effectively Honda will suffer an engine freeze while Mercedes, Ferrari & Renault have time to upgrade throughout the season, although in the case of Ferrari & Renault it would be in their interest to bring the upgrades early in the season.

Even if they can match the Mercedes unit at the start of the season their competiveness may lie in the hands of McLaren. Blessed with the best engine on the grid last season, McLaren found themselves left behind by Mercedes and fellow customer team Williams. Worst still they found themselves behind Red Bull and Ferrari.

If a protest over the engine freeze is out of the question then McLaren will have to hope for an Ace to make them competitive in the way Red Bull did last season. They may have their man in the shape of Peter Prodromou, formerly Adrian Newey’s right hand man at Red Bull. Time will tell- literally!
‪#‎msirl‬ ‪#‎F1‬

Enjoyed that race for once.

Monza is a proper circuit, how many overtaking opportunities were there?

Not like these safer photogenic generic tracks that they are compulsed to generate nowadays.

I wish Hochenheim had not been bastardised to conform, that too was a real racing track.

The old Hockenheim was a challenge with 3 overtaking spots, but it wasn't tv friendly.

The new Hockenheim is a karting track with 1 overtaking spot, but suits tv viewers.

However, the Far East races will start one hour earlier this year. As they should. Driver/spectator safety at the circuit should be prioritised over tv viewers. Sadly it took the Bianchi crash in order for it to happen.

Anyone watch Ricciardo's Top Gear lap?

33 minutes in if you cant stand them pratting about.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b052r1b5/top-gear-series-22-episode-3

Anyone watch Ricciardo's Top Gear lap?

33 minutes in if you cant stand them pratting about.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b052r1b5/top-gear-series-22-episode-3

No doubt they'll invite Hamilton back for a third time. Probably allow him numerous attempts until he succedes whilst carefully editing the footage to the mandatory 3 laps too knowing those shallow wankers.

No doubt they'll invite Hamilton back for a third time. Probably allow him numerous attempts until he succedes whilst carefully editing the footage to the mandatory 3 laps too knowing those shallow wankers.

Yeah, I think you're taking that programme a bit too seriously.

I'm going to be doing some F1 blogs this year at this link:
http://motorsport.ie/category/f1/

I've a couple up all ready, including this one.
Hope it's a good read.

TIME FOR CHANGE IN F1?

Posted on March 4, 2015   


1st February was the first day of pre-season testing- a day F1 fans had waited for all winter.
At a glance there are interesting headlines.

– Sebastian Vettel was fastest for Ferrari.
– Mercedes, 3rd fastest, completed a mammoth 157 laps.

It’s always difficult to judge pre-season testing. Was the Ferrari running light or were Mercedes concentrating on long runs? It was probably a mixture of both. Definitely running light was Sauber – Ferrari, only one tenth of a second slower than the works car, and given the lack of sponsors on the Sauber they’ll be looking to impress in testing. That said it was a great first day for Marcus Ericsson and the team.

Social media was quite a buzz over colour schemes.
Sauber launched a colourful, if sponsor shy, blue and yellow.
Red Bull sported a zebra camouflage for their first outing.
McLaren, despite the hype and videos of going “Back”, remained in grey/chrome and black.

There was that much of a reaction to McLaren’s insipid change that Ron Dennis felt the need to make a statement on it.
“Yes we could change colour. Yes we could do something more daring. Yes we could do all these things. But give me a reason why?

“If it is just to make something more aesthetically pleasing, that is not enough reason for me.

“Don’t worry – it will change. But I will not say when.”

Perhaps McLaren fans could organise some crowdfunding to get “papaya orange” (McLaren Orange) on to the car.

If you skim past the Ronspeak there is a pretty clear message behind what Ron says, and it would be similar to why Sauber are running to suit Nasr’s sponsors. They won’t give away title sponsorship on the cheap and it’s getting harder to find somebody willing to match the demand when your team isn’t at the front. Plenty of Sauber’s sponsors have jumped ship to Ferrari. Similarly Lotus have lost sponsors to the resurgent Williams. Brands associate themselves with winning teams and drivers.

Pre-Season testing has always been interesting. Watching who’s going to be quick and seeing if anybody has found a loophole to gain a significant advantage. This season though it’s interesting, and worrying, to look at who actually had a car run in the first test-day.

Caterham and Marussia’s struggles have been well documented, but at the end of last season Bernie Ecclestone commented that “It could go down to 14,” “If we lose another two teams that is what will happen. I can’t predict if it won’t or it will. But if it is 18 no drama at all.”

Well, as it happened, Lotus and Force India were absent from the first test day and, while Lotus arrived in the evening, the latter won’t make the Jerez test at all.
Whether it wants to admit it or not, Formula 1 is in crisis. Not so much the big teams. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes will get a large slice of revenue and have the benefit of works status. Lower down the grid you only have to listen to Lotus team owner/principal Gerard Lopez:

‘The sport needs to find a better way to encapsulate financial equity. What was true two years ago is maybe not true anymore – in terms of where the sport is going.

‘Two years ago we were told the engines would last longer and be cheaper than what we had – but they are now almost twice as expensive. The bilaterals are what was true two years ago. What is true today is that F1 still has to attract sponsors, which it still hasn’t done like it did in the early 2000s or late 1990s. That is something where two years ago people thought the world would come around.’

While others are talking about whether engines should be made more powerful, which would add more expense, Lopez talks a lot of sense here. In 2011 the top teams received the following in Prize Money: Red Bull – $98.97 Million, Ferrari – $96 Million, Mercedes – $88.72 Million and McLaren – $68.2 Million from their share of commercial rights. Caterham saw their income boosted to $35 Million. Marussia – $13.6 Million. The gap is staggering.

It’s the racing equivalent of La Liga in Spain, where Real Madrid and Barcelona bring home the largest share of the revenue. The only difference is – In football the smaller clubs go and buy the cheaper players. In Formula One – Not only do the bigger teams get the biggest share of revenue but they get manufacturer backing, while the customer teams hand out 20 – 30 million on their power units.

Formula 1 compares even less favourably when prize money amongst the teams is compared to the Premier League. Figures taken from the 2013/2014 season saw Liverpool receive £97.5 Million. By comparison, Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff, who were all relegated, received in excess of £60 Million each.

To compensate the teams take on young pay drivers to make ends meet. This is supposed to be the pinnacle of Motorsport.

At what point does Formula 1 decide that it needs to realign how it distributes revenues to the teams? These small teams are the heart and soul of the sport. Bernie Ecclestone may have been right when he lashed out at Caterham’s “Begging Bowl” antics, but what now for the likes of Lotus, Force India and Sauber. Surely these are teams worth keeping so that young drivers and young engineers can learn their trade before signing for a big team.

More importantly for the manufacturers, the small teams keep them from being at the back of the grid. How long would Renault and Honda commit to Formula 1 if Mercedes remain dominant and there is nobody behind them on the grid. 3 car teams and junior teams wouldn’t solve that.

Even back when Lotus really was Lotus Formula 1 has always been about small, innovative teams taking on the might of the likes of Ferrari. Sometimes they even taught them a lesson. How can small teams continue to do that if they are not rewarded for being part of the show? Formula 1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport but it is a sport in crisis.

The Formula 1 Strategy Group passed proposals for wider tyres, increased aero and a lifting of fuel pressure restrictions, which will bring power to 1000bhp. They also blocked a capping of costs and rejected a proposal for older chassis running V8 engines.

Compared to the likes of Le Mans Formula 1 is starting to look like a spec series. Heavy aero restrictions and identical layout engines are at odds with how other top class motorsports have setup in recent times. Moto GP also suffered with cost issues for smaller teams. In 2012 Moto GP only had 12 bikes heading into the season. They responded with the CRT class. This lead to occasional embarrassment for Ducati, whose bikes were well off the pace, but it showed a willingness to compromise for the greater good of the class. More importantly Dorna had seized technically initiative away from the manufacturers who had lead the class to collapse. (Sound familiar?) “The basics of motorsport are the combination of entertainment and technology. In times of crisis, if we cut back on something, it must be in technology, not the entertainment,” Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. CRT bikes got Moto GP out of a large hole and it has been resurgent since. It enters this season with all 25 entries back on Prototype bikes, albeit two different classes, Factory and Open.

Formula 1 has gone the opposite way, with the F1 Strategy Group handing more control to Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams. In their desire to stay technically relevant Formula 1, like Le Mans (WEC), has introduced Hybrid power units. A must to attract manufacturers given that Le Mans similar move has attracted Audi, Toyota, Porsche and Nissan. There are significant differences. Le Mans has a much broader spectrum of machinery to admire. Front engined. Mid engined. Petrol. Diesel. Front wheel drive. Four wheel drive. They also run different energy levels of Hybrid units. A world away from the drive in Formula 1 for teams to make everything down to the nosecone almost identical. 34 Prototypes have entered this year’s Le Mans and 22 GT cars. Formula 1 are missing a trick in there. Outside of the Manufacturers the teams aren’t forced to run expensive hybrid units. Privateer teams run non-hybrid engines. No manufacturer in Formula 1 would risk being beaten by a non-hybrid engine. Surely that’s a decision for the regulatory body and not the Strategy group.

Formula 1 will have four manufacturers lining up at the start of 2015. Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. What is harder to see is how long smaller teams like Lotus, Sauber and Force India will remain to challenge them, and who will arrive to replace them? Changing faces of Formula 1 teams is nothing new. In the past Mercedes was Brawn/Honda, Red Bull was Jaguar/Stewart, Force India was Jordan, Lotus was Renault. Teams change in cycles. Only Ferrari, McLaren and Williams have withstood the test of time, but where is the new blood of Formula 1 going to come from and can Formula 1 find the compromise to make itself affordable to more than just Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull?

link

I'm going to be doing some F1 blogs this year at this link:
http://motorsport.ie/category/f1/

I've a couple up all ready, including this one.
Hope it's a good read.

TIME FOR CHANGE IN F1?

Posted on March 4, 2015   


1st February was the first day of pre-season testing- a day F1 fans had waited for all winter.
At a glance there are interesting headlines.

– Sebastian Vettel was fastest for Ferrari.
– Mercedes, 3rd fastest, completed a mammoth 157 laps.

It’s always difficult to judge pre-season testing. Was the Ferrari running light or were Mercedes concentrating on long runs? It was probably a mixture of both. Definitely running light was Sauber – Ferrari, only one tenth of a second slower than the works car, and given the lack of sponsors on the Sauber they’ll be looking to impress in testing. That said it was a great first day for Marcus Ericsson and the team.

Social media was quite a buzz over colour schemes.
Sauber launched a colourful, if sponsor shy, blue and yellow.
Red Bull sported a zebra camouflage for their first outing.
McLaren, despite the hype and videos of going “Back”, remained in grey/chrome and black.

There was that much of a reaction to McLaren’s insipid change that Ron Dennis felt the need to make a statement on it.
“Yes we could change colour. Yes we could do something more daring. Yes we could do all these things. But give me a reason why?

“If it is just to make something more aesthetically pleasing, that is not enough reason for me.

“Don’t worry – it will change. But I will not say when.”

Perhaps McLaren fans could organise some crowdfunding to get “papaya orange” (McLaren Orange) on to the car.

If you skim past the Ronspeak there is a pretty clear message behind what Ron says, and it would be similar to why Sauber are running to suit Nasr’s sponsors. They won’t give away title sponsorship on the cheap and it’s getting harder to find somebody willing to match the demand when your team isn’t at the front. Plenty of Sauber’s sponsors have jumped ship to Ferrari. Similarly Lotus have lost sponsors to the resurgent Williams. Brands associate themselves with winning teams and drivers.

Pre-Season testing has always been interesting. Watching who’s going to be quick and seeing if anybody has found a loophole to gain a significant advantage. This season though it’s interesting, and worrying, to look at who actually had a car run in the first test-day.

Caterham and Marussia’s struggles have been well documented, but at the end of last season Bernie Ecclestone commented that “It could go down to 14,” “If we lose another two teams that is what will happen. I can’t predict if it won’t or it will. But if it is 18 no drama at all.”

Well, as it happened, Lotus and Force India were absent from the first test day and, while Lotus arrived in the evening, the latter won’t make the Jerez test at all.
Whether it wants to admit it or not, Formula 1 is in crisis. Not so much the big teams. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes will get a large slice of revenue and have the benefit of works status. Lower down the grid you only have to listen to Lotus team owner/principal Gerard Lopez:

‘The sport needs to find a better way to encapsulate financial equity. What was true two years ago is maybe not true anymore – in terms of where the sport is going.

‘Two years ago we were told the engines would last longer and be cheaper than what we had – but they are now almost twice as expensive. The bilaterals are what was true two years ago. What is true today is that F1 still has to attract sponsors, which it still hasn’t done like it did in the early 2000s or late 1990s. That is something where two years ago people thought the world would come around.’

While others are talking about whether engines should be made more powerful, which would add more expense, Lopez talks a lot of sense here. In 2011 the top teams received the following in Prize Money: Red Bull – $98.97 Million, Ferrari – $96 Million, Mercedes – $88.72 Million and McLaren – $68.2 Million from their share of commercial rights. Caterham saw their income boosted to $35 Million. Marussia – $13.6 Million. The gap is staggering.

It’s the racing equivalent of La Liga in Spain, where Real Madrid and Barcelona bring home the largest share of the revenue. The only difference is – In football the smaller clubs go and buy the cheaper players. In Formula One – Not only do the bigger teams get the biggest share of revenue but they get manufacturer backing, while the customer teams hand out 20 – 30 million on their power units.

Formula 1 compares even less favourably when prize money amongst the teams is compared to the Premier League. Figures taken from the 2013/2014 season saw Liverpool receive £97.5 Million. By comparison, Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff, who were all relegated, received in excess of £60 Million each.

To compensate the teams take on young pay drivers to make ends meet. This is supposed to be the pinnacle of Motorsport.

At what point does Formula 1 decide that it needs to realign how it distributes revenues to the teams? These small teams are the heart and soul of the sport. Bernie Ecclestone may have been right when he lashed out at Caterham’s “Begging Bowl” antics, but what now for the likes of Lotus, Force India and Sauber. Surely these are teams worth keeping so that young drivers and young engineers can learn their trade before signing for a big team.

More importantly for the manufacturers, the small teams keep them from being at the back of the grid. How long would Renault and Honda commit to Formula 1 if Mercedes remain dominant and there is nobody behind them on the grid. 3 car teams and junior teams wouldn’t solve that.

Even back when Lotus really was Lotus Formula 1 has always been about small, innovative teams taking on the might of the likes of Ferrari. Sometimes they even taught them a lesson. How can small teams continue to do that if they are not rewarded for being part of the show? Formula 1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport but it is a sport in crisis.

The Formula 1 Strategy Group passed proposals for wider tyres, increased aero and a lifting of fuel pressure restrictions, which will bring power to 1000bhp. They also blocked a capping of costs and rejected a proposal for older chassis running V8 engines.

Compared to the likes of Le Mans Formula 1 is starting to look like a spec series. Heavy aero restrictions and identical layout engines are at odds with how other top class motorsports have setup in recent times. Moto GP also suffered with cost issues for smaller teams. In 2012 Moto GP only had 12 bikes heading into the season. They responded with the CRT class. This lead to occasional embarrassment for Ducati, whose bikes were well off the pace, but it showed a willingness to compromise for the greater good of the class. More importantly Dorna had seized technically initiative away from the manufacturers who had lead the class to collapse. (Sound familiar?) “The basics of motorsport are the combination of entertainment and technology. In times of crisis, if we cut back on something, it must be in technology, not the entertainment,” Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. CRT bikes got Moto GP out of a large hole and it has been resurgent since. It enters this season with all 25 entries back on Prototype bikes, albeit two different classes, Factory and Open.

Formula 1 has gone the opposite way, with the F1 Strategy Group handing more control to Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams. In their desire to stay technically relevant Formula 1, like Le Mans (WEC), has introduced Hybrid power units. A must to attract manufacturers given that Le Mans similar move has attracted Audi, Toyota, Porsche and Nissan. There are significant differences. Le Mans has a much broader spectrum of machinery to admire. Front engined. Mid engined. Petrol. Diesel. Front wheel drive. Four wheel drive. They also run different energy levels of Hybrid units. A world away from the drive in Formula 1 for teams to make everything down to the nosecone almost identical. 34 Prototypes have entered this year’s Le Mans and 22 GT cars. Formula 1 are missing a trick in there. Outside of the Manufacturers the teams aren’t forced to run expensive hybrid units. Privateer teams run non-hybrid engines. No manufacturer in Formula 1 would risk being beaten by a non-hybrid engine. Surely that’s a decision for the regulatory body and not the Strategy group.

Formula 1 will have four manufacturers lining up at the start of 2015. Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda. What is harder to see is how long smaller teams like Lotus, Sauber and Force India will remain to challenge them, and who will arrive to replace them? Changing faces of Formula 1 teams is nothing new. In the past Mercedes was Brawn/Honda, Red Bull was Jaguar/Stewart, Force India was Jordan, Lotus was Renault. Teams change in cycles. Only Ferrari, McLaren and Williams have withstood the test of time, but where is the new blood of Formula 1 going to come from and can Formula 1 find the compromise to make itself affordable to more than just Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull?

link

I'll keep an eye out for those Racer.

Any chance you can post the links on here as a wee reminder?

I always mean to 'get back into' F1 as I was a big follower of the sport thorugh the 90's etc but keep losing track as the season goes on but every new season I plan to at least see the highlights and again that is my plan this year.

I'll keep an eye out for those Racer.

Any chance you can post the links on here as a wee reminder?

I always mean to 'get back into' F1 as I was a big follower of the sport thorugh the 90's etc but keep losing track as the season goes on but every new season I plan to at least see the highlights and again that is my plan this year.

No worries Si.
I'll throw the links up here as I go.


By the way, Sauber are fu**ed.

van de Garde won his case against them reneging on his contract.
3 car team required.

UNSOCIAL MEDIA- F1

Posted on March 13, 2015   

Yesterday, the 12th of March 2015, was something of a landmark in terms of Formula 1.
Something small that hopefully marked a change in how Formula 1 looks to promote the sports contents and archive footage. Rather than looking purely for monitised media content.

A simple tweet:

Formula 1        ✔ @F1

As we celebrate #65YearsOfF1, we asked Bernie Ecclestone to choose his iconic F1® moment. Here's what he picked…
8:03 PM - 12 Mar 2015



Gold dust for Formula 1 fans. Here was the official account finally putting video footage online. What a choice Bernie. The devastating moment that Massa thought he had won, but ultimately lost the title at home. The hysteria from the McLaren garage as Hamilton claimed the title on the last corner of the last lap. Brazil 2008.

For years Formula One has resisted the change in how media is consumed. While other sports live streamed events and added extensive YouTube footage to On-Demand coverage, Formula 1 closed off avenues for casual fans to access the sport. Only recently it was taken a step further, with many twitter accounts having a reference to F1, Formula 1, or a variant of such being shut down.

Audiences haven’t looked as impressive since 2008 saw viewing figures hit 600 Million. In 2014 that figure had dropped to 425 Million. Some blamed a dominant Red Bull team for much of the decline, but a Pay TV strategy has seen revenues increase while overall viewing numbers steadily declined. Casual and younger viewers are being priced out of Formula 1.

Bernie Ecclestone’s comments on marketing to a younger generation and in particular a generation raised on social media was pretty stark:

“If you have a brand that you want to put in front of a few hundred million people, I can do that easily for you on television,”

“Now, you’re telling me I need to find a channel to get this 15-year-old to watch Formula One because somebody wants to put out a new brand in front of them? They are not going to be interested in the slightest bit.”
“Young kids will see the Rolex brand, but are they going to go and buy one? They can’t afford it. Or our other sponsor, UBS – these kids don’t care about banking. They haven’t got enough money to put in the bloody banks anyway. That’s what I think. I don’t know why people want to get to the so-called ‘young generation’. Why do they want to do that? Is it to sell them something? Most of these kids haven’t got any money.”
“I’d rather get to the 70-year-old guy who’s got plenty of cash. So, there’s no point trying to reach these kids because they won’t buy any of the products here and if marketers are aiming at this audience, then maybe they should advertise with Disney.”

“I’m not interested in tweeting, Facebook and whatever this nonsense is. I tried to find out but in any case I’m too old-fashioned. I couldn’t see any value in it. And, I don’t know what the so-called ‘young generation’ of today really wants. What is it? If you ask a 15 or 16-year-old kid, ‘What do you want?’ they don’t know.”
“How are you going to get all the fans to meet these drivers, who don’t even want to meet their girlfriends? You are right that we should use social media to promote Formula One. I just don’t know how.”

 

It’s easy to understand Bernie’s reluctance to engage in Digital media. He attempted it before with Digital F1 and it failed. Back then he was ahead of the curve. Now, Formula 1 has fallen behind.

Niki Lauda however seemed more aware of some of the modern problems facing Formula 1:

“It is logical that the young people of today have other priorities,”
“Everything in the world is changing, but only Formula 1 is staying where it was.”

“Young people do not want to stay at home on Sunday when the sun is shining to sit in the lounge with their father for two hours,”
“The problem is that today, there is no alternative. You can’t just sit on the beach and watch the race highlights on your smartphone.”

“We have a generation of drivers that, if they were not wearing their racing overalls, you would simply walk past some of them and not notice,”
“The ‘formula one system’ is to supervise, monitor, regulate. But we must again have the drivers, not the bureaucrats, in the foreground.”

“If we continue like this, no one will be bothered about formula one anymore. It’s five minutes to twelve,” he concluded.

On its own, Formula 1’s actions were that of a dying brand. Failing to adapt as the world changed around it. If you wanted to see a perfect illustration of that you needed only to look at YouTube.

The Official Formula 1 YouTube Channel was set up 28th December 2005. It has no posts.
Ferrariworld was set up on 21st November 2006. It has 50 Million Views.
RedBullRacing was set up on 16th March 2006. It has 23 Million Views.

Here is a media, made for trailer type video snippets to promote the sport and it would appear that Formula 1s only action was to prevent anyone else from taking the name. Hopefully we see that change in the future. Small clips of highlights, sometime after the Pay-TV channels have aired their footage, would be perfect for the YouTube platform. Ferrari and Red Bull see the massive benefit to this. Surely the media teams can put plans in place to help Formula 1 adapt in the same way the teams have. Perhaps the biggest stumbling block to this is increasing TV rights deals. Any move towards on-line footage could be seen as devaluing the product. Aligning their on-line packages would be a start. Formula 1 already have an App. There is an opportunity for them to make more content available on the go. Even if it ultimately costs the fans an increase in the yearly subscription, but the content would have to justify the cost. Post occasional free content, linked to the @F1 twitter feed, and show the clips available if fans sign up. Let them view Formula 1 on phones, tablets, and computers.

Maybe the first video tweet from @F1 is just the start. Like it or not Bernie, Formula 1 needs young fans, new fans. They are the future- if the sport is to have one. It’s easy to forget that when the sport is focused on following the money. Eventually though, if the dwindling viewership and sponsorship is anything to go by, Formula 1 will need to take an active role in how the teams and drivers approach Social Media.

While the official YouTube channel posts no videos and the official twitter account only follows teams, the teams and drivers work tirelessly to interact with the fans. It is the teams, big and small, that have dragged the sport into social media.

Team   Facebook   Twitter
Mercedes   9.45 Million   1 Million
Ferrari   16.7/3.4 Million   980 Thousand
McLaren   2.9 Million   856 Thousand
 

 

Driver   Facebook   Twitter
Lewis hamilton   3 Million   2.6 Million
Fernando Alonso   1.56 Million   2.2 Million
Jenson Button   740 Thousand   2 Million
Looking at the tables above, there is currently more value in a sponsor having Hamilton, Alonso or Button tweet about them post-race or at an event than there is to sponsoring any of the teams. Right now the big name drivers, with the big followers, are worth more for their exposure than the biggest teams in F1.

It is something that certainly ties in with the lack of sponsors further down the grid. As recently as this week Bose announced they would sponsor Mercedes, but they would only appear on drivers’ helmets and overalls. Immediately Mercedes tweeted pictures of the new sponsor on Hamilton and Rosberg’s Arai/Schuberth Helmets. Hamilton struck a pose with a pair of Bose headphones for his tweet. (No I am not angling for a new pair of headphones) The coverage received more attention than if they had been announced on the sidepod of the Mercedes.

How sponsors view Formula One has changed. Teams and the sport need to adapt.

Going back to the @F1 video tweet. If we’re giving our opinions on our greatest memories from Formula 1 then I’m going to have to disappoint Eddie Jordan and some other Irish fans who might be anti-McLaren. My favourite memories were Vintage 88-91 McLaren. Although I’d imagine that alarm bells would have gone off at FIA HQ at the thought of Senna and Prost using Social Media to manipulate events as they unfolded post Suzuka.
If Formula 1 is to reverse the trend of diminishing sponsorship then it needs to be pro-active in interacting with fans, and giving the teams and drivers the tools to do so. Give them some content and let them develop a brand identity and loyalty with the millions of fans that follow them across Social media.
Bernie could do worse than sit down with Ferrari and Red Bull to put together a strategy for Brand development on Social Media, and while they’re at it get Sebastian and Kimi to register on Twitter.

Thanks.

link

But it's ok to have 'kids' driving? How old is Verstappen again?

I can't bear the bloke. He's always been an odious, greedy, conniving and fraudulent shyster.

Great to see Ferrari back on top of the podium and a very good weekend for them and Vettel.

Lewis seemed a bit pissed with something that happened after his last pit stop.

Enjoyed the first full race I've seen in ages.

Here are some great pics of what was a brilliant race.

IS F1 SELLING ITS SOUL?

Posted on March 28, 2015

   
Monza

Last week, Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler said the circuit would not be hosting this season’s German Grand Prix due to the short turnaround to sell tickets. Hockenheim hadn’t been scheduled to host the race this year, in keeping with the alternating arrangement it had with Nürburgring. A change of ownership at the latter seems to have undone that and now, for 2015, there will be no German GP on the Formula 1 Calendar.

“We wanted to represent the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim despite the fact that we had not been committed to that. The moment to organise a race here has passed, otherwise the quality of the event would have suffered.”

The decision was made not to host the race because the lack of time would leave them unable to match last season’s 75,000 attendance, which itself was low. Crowds have been in decline since Schumacher’s second retirement, even with a dominant Mercedes, a 4 time Champion, in Sebastian Vettel, and a Championship contender in Nico Rosberg.

In the era of Schumacher dominance, it would have been unthinkable to suggest Germany would not host a Formula 1 race, yet here we are. The answer to why one of the stalwarts of the Formula 1 Calendar has fallen away may lie in the sport’s approach money and to fans. It contrasts starkly to how other sports in Germany approach the matter.

We’ll start with German football:

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness once accused Premier League clubs of ‘milking their fans like cows’ in charging high prices for season tickets. When defending his club’s decision to maintain low ticket prices, Hoeness said: “We could charge more than €130. Let’s say we charged €380. We’d get €2.5m more in income, but what’s €2.5m to us? In a transfer discussion you argue about the sum for five minutes. But the difference between €130 and €380 is huge for the fans. We do not think fans are like cows, who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. That’s the biggest difference between us and England.”

Yes, it was a dig at the Premier League, but Hoeness could have copy and pasted his quotes and sent them on to Bernie.

Adult Season Tickets @ Bayern Munich are available from €130.
Adult Season Tickets @ Borussia Dortmund are available from €378.
Grandstand Weekend Tickets for last season’s German GP were from €177 to €550
There are also plenty of motorsport options that will gladly take fans away from Formula 1.
Here are ticket prices from Hockenheim (DTM) and Le Mans:

Hockenheim DTM Weekend Tickets range from €35 to €75.

Le Mans General Admittance Tickets (Including Camping) are €87.

Formula e will arrive in London City on the 27th/28th of June.
They have a weekend in Berlin on the 23rd May.
Maybe Germans who missed a GP this year can get a speed fix there.

To quote fiaformulae.com:
The Berlin ePrix takes place on May 23 2015 and forms the eighth round of the inaugural Formula E season, and the second to take place in Europe. The 2.469km anti-clockwise layout has been designed by Rodrigo Nunes within the ‘Apron’ section of the former Tempelhof Airport, located just a short distance from Berlin city-centre.
Bronze. Standing Tickets: €8 – €10
Silver. Seated Tickets: €25 – €30
Gold. Seated Tickets: €45.

Formula 1 is pricing its fans out of the sport. With massive hosting fees now being demanded for the Formula 1 show to arrive, the circuits have little choice but to increase ticket prices, as it is their only way to recoup the cost. It may work for tracks like Silverstone, where Premier League teams have a similar approach to ticket prices but it’s disastrous for Hockenheim where the cost of Formula 1 has far surpassed the cost of other top level sports available to fans. A season ticket for one of the best teams in World Football or a weekend visit to Grand Prix? Even if you needed a fuel injected adrenalin rush for entertainment, why go to Hockenheim when you could use the money to see both a DTM race weekend and the 24 Hour of Le Mans for the same price, or even go to a Formula E weekend, in your city, from €8 – €10 for standing?

Formula 1 has expanded beyond its European roots. Indeed it’s a core that is now under threat. European tracks don’t have the Government backing to pay the fees for hosting Formula 1 and for the money men it is more attractive to host the races somewhere that sees the races as a means to showcase the country.

Bahrain and Abu Dhabi could become the rule. What then for historic tracks like Spa and Monza? Monza is already at risk if it doesn’t agree to increased hosting fees. Bernie has indicated as much. Failure to do so would see the race gone from the calendar after 2016. If losing the German GP seemed unthinkable then the threat to Monza is a threat to deprive the religious of their pilgrimage. Surely such an attack would be to strike a blow to the Tifosi. This church, this Cathedral of Speed. It is the most emotive of scenes – A Ferrari on the podium at Monza.



ALO Tweet

 

Formula 1’s most famous selfie. September 2013. Alonso on the podium. Behind him a sea of red and yellow. If Monaco is the Jewel in the Crown, then Monza was the very heart of the King. There is no price that can be put on this. Lose Monza and Formula 1 may complete the very selling of its soul.


Bernie Dollar

link

THE RED WINTER

Posted on March 28, 2015   



Editor’s note- David wrote this piece for our social media page during the off season. After this morning’s qualifying performance by Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia, we decided to run it again.
 

Reading through the headlines of Ferrari articles during the year it would be easy to think George R. R. Martin was putting together a House Maranello special for Game of Thrones.

The Spaniard has headed North.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this for the relentless Alonso, but his quest for titles has now taken him away from Ferrari. For years he has been Vettel’s nearest challenger and has twice been defeated at the death by the German.
In some ways, it seems to be history repeating itself, much like Alain Prost leaving Ferrari in ’91, although I don’t remember Alonso calling the F14-T a truck! The Spaniard’s demeanour had changed during 2014. While the podium selfies and tweets were a powerful positive tool for Ferrari when things were going well, the emergence of the beaten Samurai left many Tifosi wondering why their warrior was not being given the weapons to fight at the front of the grid. The connection between driver and fans was something Alonso worked and it focused attention on the plight of Ferrari. Here was a driver who promised to give the maximum and was desperate to win. With the team clearly in transition, relations were becoming strained.
Change had come too late for Fernando and, with no seat available at Mercedes, the prodigal son returned to McLaren.
All Men Must Win.
Ferrari’s worst season since ’93 came despite Stefano Domenicali stepping down early in the season. Luca di Montezemolo would also follow suit, as it quickly became the season of the long knives. His resignation very much signifying the passing of an empire and the severing of the final links to Enzo Ferrari. Those that serve harsh words about his final years in charge would do well to remember that di Montezemolo oversaw possibly the greatest Formula 1 team ever assembled. Ultimately though, his resistance to change cost him his job.
Marco Mattiacci and Sergio Marchionne replaced Domenicali and di Montezemolo respectively. The former’s abrasive style did not go down well with many behind the scenes and an exchange between Mattiacci and Alonso seemed to seal the former’s fate.

Mattiaci commented upon Sebastian Vettel’s arrival that Ferrari looked forward with “the utmost motivation and commitment”.
“With Sebastian, we get one of the youngest world champions ever, four championships. I met him personally in the last few months. He is an extremely hard-working guy, humble, disciplined.”

Alonso responded “I read the comments and I don’t think they were very good. If he tried to mean I was unmotivated then he arrived too late at Ferrari. He has only a few months here and he didn’t probably see all the five years I spent here and I fought every single race and World Championship.”
Step forward the politically astute Marlboro man, Maurizio Arrivabene. Ferrari have not won the title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2008, their hope now lies with Arrivabene replicating Jean Todt in reawakening this once great team.
Red 5.
Sebastian Vettel must wonder who he’ll be left to work with when the season starts. His hope lies in the hands of those that arrived from Lotus after Kimi’s impressive season before jumping back into the prancing horse. Not the Finn himself, who is struggling to come to terms with the new turbo era F1 cars, but the men who arrived with him, James Allison and aero man Dirk de Beer. They may have arrived too late to impact the design of the disastrous F14-T but if Vettel is to have any hope of being competitive he desperately needs them to get this one right.
For years Ferrari won by being bulletproof. Not always the fastest car, but usually the fastest one that finished. Lotus under Allison and de Beer were competitive because they were the closest to matching Red Bull’s exhaust blown diffuser, while leading the way on FRIC development. Red Bull and Mercedes have both shown innovations that meant that Ferrari’s approach was no longer effective. That doesn’t meant that Ferrari don’t have the people to turn things around. If they are to win then they need to allow the designers to do just that. Let the leash off and allow innovation to lead.

If it doesn’t work they’ll be grateful that at least now neither driver is on Twitter.
Forza Ferrari

Link

IS F1 SELLING ITS SOUL?

Posted on March 28, 2015

   
Monza

Last week, Hockenheim boss Georg Seiler said the circuit would not be hosting this season’s German Grand Prix due to the short turnaround to sell tickets. Hockenheim hadn’t been scheduled to host the race this year, in keeping with the alternating arrangement it had with Nürburgring. A change of ownership at the latter seems to have undone that and now, for 2015, there will be no German GP on the Formula 1 Calendar.

“We wanted to represent the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim despite the fact that we had not been committed to that. The moment to organise a race here has passed, otherwise the quality of the event would have suffered.”

The decision was made not to host the race because the lack of time would leave them unable to match last season’s 75,000 attendance, which itself was low. Crowds have been in decline since Schumacher’s second retirement, even with a dominant Mercedes, a 4 time Champion, in Sebastian Vettel, and a Championship contender in Nico Rosberg.

In the era of Schumacher dominance, it would have been unthinkable to suggest Germany would not host a Formula 1 race, yet here we are. The answer to why one of the stalwarts of the Formula 1 Calendar has fallen away may lie in the sport’s approach money and to fans. It contrasts starkly to how other sports in Germany approach the matter.

We’ll start with German football:

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness once accused Premier League clubs of ‘milking their fans like cows’ in charging high prices for season tickets. When defending his club’s decision to maintain low ticket prices, Hoeness said: “We could charge more than €130. Let’s say we charged €380. We’d get €2.5m more in income, but what’s €2.5m to us? In a transfer discussion you argue about the sum for five minutes. But the difference between €130 and €380 is huge for the fans. We do not think fans are like cows, who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. That’s the biggest difference between us and England.”

Yes, it was a dig at the Premier League, but Hoeness could have copy and pasted his quotes and sent them on to Bernie.

Adult Season Tickets @ Bayern Munich are available from €130.
Adult Season Tickets @ Borussia Dortmund are available from €378.
Grandstand Weekend Tickets for last season’s German GP were from €177 to €550
There are also plenty of motorsport options that will gladly take fans away from Formula 1.
Here are ticket prices from Hockenheim (DTM) and Le Mans:

Hockenheim DTM Weekend Tickets range from €35 to €75.

Le Mans General Admittance Tickets (Including Camping) are €87.

Formula e will arrive in London City on the 27th/28th of June.
They have a weekend in Berlin on the 23rd May.
Maybe Germans who missed a GP this year can get a speed fix there.

To quote fiaformulae.com:
The Berlin ePrix takes place on May 23 2015 and forms the eighth round of the inaugural Formula E season, and the second to take place in Europe. The 2.469km anti-clockwise layout has been designed by Rodrigo Nunes within the ‘Apron’ section of the former Tempelhof Airport, located just a short distance from Berlin city-centre.
Bronze. Standing Tickets: €8 – €10
Silver. Seated Tickets: €25 – €30
Gold. Seated Tickets: €45.

Formula 1 is pricing its fans out of the sport. With massive hosting fees now being demanded for the Formula 1 show to arrive, the circuits have little choice but to increase ticket prices, as it is their only way to recoup the cost. It may work for tracks like Silverstone, where Premier League teams have a similar approach to ticket prices but it’s disastrous for Hockenheim where the cost of Formula 1 has far surpassed the cost of other top level sports available to fans. A season ticket for one of the best teams in World Football or a weekend visit to Grand Prix? Even if you needed a fuel injected adrenalin rush for entertainment, why go to Hockenheim when you could use the money to see both a DTM race weekend and the 24 Hour of Le Mans for the same price, or even go to a Formula E weekend, in your city, from €8 – €10 for standing?

Formula 1 has expanded beyond its European roots. Indeed it’s a core that is now under threat. European tracks don’t have the Government backing to pay the fees for hosting Formula 1 and for the money men it is more attractive to host the races somewhere that sees the races as a means to showcase the country.

Bahrain and Abu Dhabi could become the rule. What then for historic tracks like Spa and Monza? Monza is already at risk if it doesn’t agree to increased hosting fees. Bernie has indicated as much. Failure to do so would see the race gone from the calendar after 2016. If losing the German GP seemed unthinkable then the threat to Monza is a threat to deprive the religious of their pilgrimage. Surely such an attack would be to strike a blow to the Tifosi. This church, this Cathedral of Speed. It is the most emotive of scenes – A Ferrari on the podium at Monza.



ALO Tweet

 

Formula 1’s most famous selfie. September 2013. Alonso on the podium. Behind him a sea of red and yellow. If Monaco is the Jewel in the Crown, then Monza was the very heart of the King. There is no price that can be put on this. Lose Monza and Formula 1 may complete the very selling of its soul.


Bernie Dollar

link

Interesting read mate.

As you know Racer I'm an F1 fan that struggles to find the time to keep up with the sport these days and if F1 started to lose the likes of Monza, Spa, Montreal etc then I think it would be a massive blow.

To me those circuits are what F1 is all about and Spa is my personal favourite and Monza a close runner as well and like many major sports these days F1 will start to lose it's heart I feel.

Interesting read mate.

As you know Racer I'm an F1 fan that struggles to find the time to keep up with the sport these days and if F1 started to lose the likes of Monza, Spa, Montreal etc then I think it would be a massive blow.

To me those circuits are what F1 is all about and Spa is my personal favourite and Monza a close runner as well and like many major sports these days F1 will start to lose it's heart I feel.

That's how I feel.
Formula 1 leaving the likes of Spa and Monza would be, for me, like Liverpool deciding to move away from Anfield.

That's how I feel.
Formula 1 leaving the likes of Spa and Monza would be, for me, like Liverpool deciding to move away from Anfield.

Aye, we almost did with the other money grabbers

F1 is heading towards the direction of the PL, going Corporate.

Shame.

That's how I feel.
Formula 1 leaving the likes of Spa and Monza would be, for me, like Liverpool deciding to move away from Anfield.

Agree.

I know the sport wants to reach new places but I don't think that should be at the expense of the traditional circuits like Spa etc.

Cannot believe there won't be a German Grand Prix this season.

Aye, we almost did with the other money grabbers

F1 is heading towards the direction of the PL, going Corporate.

Shame.

Agree.

I know the sport wants to reach new places but I don't think that should be at the expense of the traditional circuits like Spa etc.

Cannot believe there won't be a German Grand Prix this season.

All about the money for those at the top now.

Like Shabs said, it's a shame.