Whilst travelling recently in the USA, this writer was surprised at the way Formula One has found its way into the national consciousness, pretty much everyone we spoke to knew something about Formula One. Contrast this to ten years ago in the US and the change is seismic.

Since acquiring F1 from capital investment group CVC Partners, Liberty Media have clearly unlocked the huge PR potential of the sport. One of the earliest moves was to remove the restriction of trade marked content so fans can now post content on social media.

This was a no brain move which the previous F1 supremo – Bernie Ecclestone – failed to understand, preferring to market F1 as an exclusive and restricted product. Now in less than a decade, F1 has increased its global reach and popularity to levels never seen before.

 

 

 

Miami hype rejected

Evidence of this is clear from the F1 calendar which now sports three Grand Prix in the US, something Ecclestone always strived to crack. Miami is now the season opener in North America and its glamorous setting is aside the colosseum that is the Miami Dolphins NFL stadium.

However, in its efforts to firmly stamp its unique presence on the F1 calendar, not everything the Miami organisers have introduced have gone down well in the paddock. This year the drivers were part of a never before pre-race showcase which started with Will.I.AM conducting a 30 piece black tie orchestra.

This was followed by a driver by driver introduction which saw each competitor run from a tunnel past the assembled cheerleaders as rapper LL Cool J mispronounced a number of their names. The Floridian showbiz razzamatazz had the effect of unifying the drivers, non of whom thought the charade had a place in F1.

“It is distracting because we’re on the grid for half an hour in all our overalls in the sun,” said the Mercedes driver George Russell, who is also the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director. “I don’t think there’s any other sport in the world that 30 minutes before you go out to do your business that you’re out there in the sun, all the cameras on you and making a bit of a show of it.”

Steiner denies Schumacher accusations

 

 

 

Driver introductions a total flop

Lando Norris confirmed: “None of the drivers like it,” emphasising the amount of publicity work the drivers do is already onerous. Valtteri Bottas added, “There’s no other sport where the athletes do so much stuff before the start of the race or event,” said the Alfa Romeo’s driver. “There needs to be a limit at some point.”

Originally F1 intended to roll this style of introduction out at up to seven further races, yet it appears the drivers won the day and it has now faded into another of F1’s failed experiments.

Like Miami a number of other wanna be F1 hosts have raised their head above the parapet, now wanting to be part of the F1 melodrama. On 23rd January this year, F1 announced that Madrid will host the Spanish GP from 2026 which raised eyebrows given the Circuit de Catalunya has contract until the end of that year.

The circuit is to be located in the area of Campo de las Naciones, close to the exhibition area of the city. Real Madrid’s facilities are in the vicinity and the track is set to be part permanent and part temporary.

Wolff admits Antonelli F1 debut a flop

 

 

 

Madrid Grand Prix labelled “a scam”

This will bring the number of Grand Prix in 2026 which are run on non-permanent facilities to nine which for some his a concern given just a decade ago only four were on the F1 calendar being, Australia, Monaco, Canada and Singapore.

Yet there’s trouble brewing in Madrid as the news broke, the organisers have been struggling to find a race sponsor. Their plan audited by the FIA and Liberty Media in particular assumed a sponsor would be found easily given Formula One’s increased global profile.

Now city counsellors are raising their voices in opposition to the proposed Grand Prix, as not only with their electorate nowhere to fund the track development but also the expected $250m hosting fee for the ten year contract.

The plan outlines the €4.5bn GDP benefit to the city over the term of the deal, yet Pablo Gómez Perpinyà, of Más Madrid, one of the city’s main political parties, is furious, claiming it is “a scam and not profitable”.

Marko finally spills the beans on the Red Bull “love triangle”

 

 

 

Has the F1 finance bubble burst?

Perpinyà questions the wisdom of the project: “If it turns out that the private sector decides not to invest in this operation, I say they will be the ones who know best where the money should not be put.”

This intervention follows the comments of Engracia Hidalgo, head of the Department of Economy, Innovation and Finance of the City Council, who stated earlier this week that “no company had been found that initially wanted to transfer that risk” of the management contract on offer.

This is embarrassing for F1 given they should be properly assessing the viability of any new proposed venue to the nth degree. Of greater concern is whether the F1 bubble is slowly losing its attraction to big money sponsors and whether the sport is in quite the rude state of health its leaders claim.

Its just over two years ago when Liberty Media’s F1 supremo announced the sport would be moving to a roster of 24 events a year and Stefano Domenicali put the cat amongst the pigeons when he added: “I would say there is potential to go to 30.”

SHOCKING weather hits during Norris F1 test

 

 

 

Has the F1 finance bubble burst?

Since then Las Vegas hosted their inaugural race along the strip, but no other serious proposals from new venues have come to light. There was hope that Kyalami could be resurrected and bring F1 racing back to Africa, but it seems greed amongst the organisers saw the government of South Africa withdraw from the process.

There are no other new F1 circuits with advanced planning in stage.  A rumour emerged earlier this year that Chicago was in line for what would be the fourth race in the USA when Formula 1 applied to trademark the title ‘Chicago Grand Prix’ and ‘Grand Prix of Chicago’; something which it has previously done in advance of other new race announcements, like those in Miami, Las Vegas and Madrid.

India has been mooted for a potential return of F1, which raced between 2011 and 2013 at the difficult to reach Buddh International Circuit but the race was discontinued in 2014 due to financial and bureaucratic issues.

The question is not whether Formula One has run out of ideas as to where the next big race opportunity is, but whether the pool of big money sponsors for F1 has now reached saturation point. After all it should have been a walk in the park to find a sponsor for a global destination such as Madrid.

Ricciardo crash-gate joke falls flat with Massa

 

 

 

Revealed: Wolff SHOCKD Red Bull engineer turned down Mercedes

Formula One remains in a state of transition since the arrival of the FIA financial regulations designed to level the playing field. A number of the larger teams were forced to shed employees to meet the annual cost cap, while smaller teams now financed better were recruiting and building their organisations.

Yet in recent years the number of ‘known’ paddock figures moving from one team to another appears to have increased in frequency. This year’s news has been dominated by Adrian Newey quitting Red Bull where he has spent the large part of his F1 career, yet a number of other notable senior F1 paddock folk have been on the move.

James Vowels was expected to be the man in situe to replace Toto Wolff when the Austrian decides to hang up his headphones, yet when Williams came calling for a team principal James grabbed the opportunity with both hands……. READ MORE