Five ideas for Formula 1

Below are five ideas from our very own dedicated motorsport hitman Stephen Camp on how Formula 1 could be improved. Enjoy!

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Boosting TV

Not limiting greater engagement to just the fan at the track, but also to the ones across the world watching at home, I feel it would be a great idea to work with the FIA and allow Charlie Whiting to come over on the radio to everyone watching. Announcing the decisions being made by himself and stewards during a race weekend while cars on the track.

This is not a strange phenomenon either, Eduardo Frietas is the race director for the World Endurance Championship and provides a voice over the radio that gets broadcast to the world feed. This I feel would help fans at home understand decisions race direction have to deal with through the weekend, hand them out fairly with complete transparency instead of bringing up a message on the screen.

 One car

In recent years we have witnessed the loss of three teams in just six seasons, they all entered with the idea they could run in the sport on a limited budget, this meant subsequently they couldn’t get the results on a regular basis, losing out on valuable prize money. For the future of new teams, allowing a one-car effort for a season as an example to help test the waters for any potential new team, this would be a really good way of allowing a brand new outfit time to figure out the teething problems of such a task.

 The press conference

Thursday’s a media day in the paddock. Drivers and other key team members get quizzed to the ends of the earth by both broadcast and written media. To liven the press conference up, I propose the written media conference be not broadcast any further to allow them to get their work done without ruining the chance to break stories for the Friday morning papers. I would instead allow the journalists in the room through their respective publications to get fans involved to ask the driver’s questions that way. Viewing figures would likely increase, fan engagement with their channels and publications would also increase and drivers would likely have more fun answering off the cuff questions that could be entertaining or even enlightening to the fans watching, keeping them engaged and even potentially bringing in new fans.

 Personalised driver decals

The 2014 season saw for the first time in the history of Formula 1 drivers being able to choose the number to run on their car, a great idea to allow more personalisation to market themselves using their chosen number. With the new ruling for 2017 to make sure driver numbers are bigger and their three-letter abbreviated initials on the car to be larger so it could be well seen, I feel an extra touch was missing from this. In MotoGP, the rider’s numbers on their bikes are purely personal to them, allowing for a greater marketing ability for themselves as well as the team. If in Formula 1 that same process was followed, drivers can step out on their own in terms of marketing their own style through merchandise sales.

 Live-stream packages

One crucial problem facing the sport is more and more worldwide networks are putting their broadcasts behind a paywall, for years now what has been missing is a live-stream package being made available from FOM. For fans who are not at home or unable to access the sport in their own country for various reasons, this would be a huge way to keep and even gain fans across the world. For a fair price over the season the benefits of making one available could help grow a bigger online presence and fan-base. If they were to include the support races on top, their exposure will also increase which is a huge win-win.