Qualifying Sprint Races

Formula One have announced that there will be 3 sprint races this year.

The plan is to hold a qualifying session on Friday afternoon, followed by a Spring Qualifying race on Saturday.  The Friday qualifying will set the grid for the Saturday race.  The result of the Sprint race will set the grid for the Sunday race.  Points will be awarded for the top three finishers.  These races are scheduled for the Grand Prix of Great Britain, Italy and probably Brazil.

This proposal has been met by a shrug of indifference by most people in the paddock and in the fan forums.  It is not quite certain what difference this will make to the results.  The only thing that could conceivably make a difference to the Sprint race is the fuel loads.  If the teams are allowed to fuel the cars to complete the sprint race without the need for fuel saving, that might make a difference to the result.  Other than that, it’s hard to see past the current front runners being at the front of the Qualifying and then the Sprint race and thus the Grand Prix.

The reasoning behind this initiative is apparently to attract a younger audience.  It has been said by the management of Formula One that the young people today do not have the attention span to watch an hour and half long Grand Prix.  This is of course insulting and ridiculous.  They are talking about the box set binge watch generation!  If they get into something, they watch.  The issue that they are not taking on board is that young people are not finding Formula One compelling enough to watch for that length of time.  Young people are, however, watching eSports for such periods of time.  Formula One needs to understand what it is they find compelling about eSports that they don’t see in the real thing.  That is the place to start, if they want to attract that elusive younger audience.

Finally, I am very disturbed by the language around this initiative.  Since Liberty Media took over, there has been an increased involvement from the USA.  An American company now owns Williams and there have been big sponsorship deals from large US corporations.  Whilst this investment is certainly welcome and it is great if Formula One is re-engaging with the US audience, there’s something concerning about the attitude on display.  There was recently a massive scandal in Europe over the proposed European Super League break away.  Major European football clubs, mostly owned by US Corporations, wanted to establish a pan European Super League to replace the European Champions League.  A lot of the language around that ill fated proposal had a familiar ring to it.  It makes me wonder if Liberty Media’s long term plans involve a franchise model similar to the Super League under US ownership.  I do not want to fall into a conspiracy theory trap but there was something familiar about the attitude that this was a sport that could be repackaged and sold into new markets, whilst not being too bothered about what they called “legacy fans.”  It was a big mistake on their part to underestimate the response of these fans to being taken completely for granted.  It would also be a mistake for Liberty Media to make the same assumptions about Formula One fans.  Formula One is not just a sport; it has a history and a culture and it is supposed to have a purpose more than simply being entertainment.   If they lose that, they lose everything.

By Clare Topic

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