If any sport was going to be hit hardest by the global financial crisis and the faltering automotive industry, it was always going to be Formula 1. But prior to the bombshell news of Honda’s withdrawal, you wouldn’t have known there was a crisis as F1 bosses stood idly by.
For decades now F1 has been a hot-bed of rampant commercialism.
The sport took a backseat to business, as F1 became one big cash cow, making its major players multi-millionaires.
F1 gave itself over to sponsors and manufacturers as fans were left on the outside.
Fans aren’t welcome into the paddock. It’s reserved for sponsors and celebrities. It’s an insular world that rarely mingles with its host cities.
Exclusivity rules.
As the global financial crisis hit hard, in their isolation from reality, F1 bosses consumed themselves with other matters – another proposal to revamp qualifying that doesn’t need to be fixed and the ludicrous proposal to replace the points system with medals.
This despite the fact that F1 enjoyed its most exciting championship ever as Lewis Hamilton took the crown on the final corner of the season.
Meanwhile, F1 is moving away from its heartland, slowly abandoning races in Europe and even in North America, despite the fact this market is critical to the manufacturers for races in Asia and the Middle East.
Governments from the likes of Malaysia to Bahrain foot the bill to stage the race believed to be in the region of $30 – 50 million per annum but without a racing heritage the grandstands at these races are often bare.
Officials in Montreal could no longer justify this price tag despite a huge fan base and heritage. The race was dropped with little remorse from the sport.
F1 needs this injection of funds to fuel the circus and maintain its mystique of exclusivity.
Despite the mammoth increase in costs, manufacturers, blighted by self-interest couldn’t find a way to make the sport affordable despite teams dropping by the wayside.
The manufacturers came in but don’t necessarily need F1. As Honda has shown it can be done away with.
According to inside sources teams only receive 50 percent of the revenue the sport generates.
The rest of the 50 percent has made Bernie Ecclestone and his cohorts filthy rich.
But not enough of this money is put back into F1 or grassroots motorsport. It doesn’t have sufficient global marketing strategies, it hardly promotes itself, and it’s left to each individual team to do that for their respective sponsors, only adding to their expenditure.
F1 does have a core group of worldwide fans not defined by sex, age or nationality; a group who remain loyal despite the processional races and political bickering.
But what hope is there in attracting new fans to this confusing and elitist game?
With manufacturers departing, a car industry in crisis, races in the sports heartland disappearing and fans being kept away, it is time F1 took a good hard look at itself and decides once and for all whether it a technologically advanced show or a genuine sporting contest.
In the wake of Honda’s bombshell, the sport seems ready to finally act.
The latest proposal from FIA President Max Mosely to provide cheap engines to teams who want them is a step in the right direction. But it is only the first step in what needs to be a larger overhaul.
But forget F1 for a moment.
There are now over 700 people facing redundancy in an industry humbled by economics. Just in time for Christmas.
Sport is about people, not dollars.
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