Is F1 Becoming Too Corporate?

[Lee]

(Taken from ITV.com/f1)

Damon Hill believes that manufacturer control of Formula 1 and the associated corporate ethos are robbing the sport of much of its public appeal.

Speaking in an interview with F1 Racing magazine, the 1996 world champion said that he has lost interest in F1 to such a degree that he didn’t watch a single race last season.

“I couldn’t tell you what the new qualifying regulations are – and, to be honest, I don’t care,” Hill said.

“I honestly haven’t sat down and watched a grand prix for years.

“I don’t think I watched a single one in 2005. I just don’t even think about watching them, to be honest.”

Hill stressed that he has not lost his respect for F1 or its practitioners, but no longer regards it as a compelling activity.

“The emotional investment I once had in F1 has gone,” he said.

“What I am saying is that for a long time I aspired to Formula 1, but now I see it as an intriguing business but a frustrating sport.”

Hill explained his ennui by saying that “the essence of the sport has been diluted” by its corporate paymasters.

“The essence of the sport is man and machine: A team of guys build a car and take it to a racetrack and watch this naturally gifted individual do his stuff with what they’ve built.

“That’s the essence of F1.

“TV audiences are now slipping, but that’s what people did watch and would still watch.

“They want to see a hero and a car, but more than that, they want to know that he’s relishing and revelling in his own abilities.

“But now it’s portrayed as a job. You know, what’s the difference between a guy who drives a Renault F1 car and a guy who designs cup-holders for Renault?

“What I am saying is that when a company or companies are running the sport, then you have to ask yourself, ‘What are their true motives, and how do those motives satisfy us, the consumers, as human beings?’”

Hill added that whereas the tobacco companies which used to be F1’s staple sponsors were looking for “individuals who broke the mould”, the car manufacturers and blue-chip corporations that now pay the bills have very different image requirements.

“Mohammed Ali was, and is, the greatest sportsman the world has ever known – but, however brilliant he was, someone like Ali would be much too outspoken for modern F1,” Hill said.

“Inevitably, everything that commercialism touches will turn that way. It’ll simply become an endeavour to satisfy its controlling commercial interests.”

These commercial imperatives are at odds with the fans’ priorities, Hill reckons – and will eventually cause the public to shop elsewhere.

“Punters can choose. They can watch the Grand Prix Masters or A1 Grand Prix,” Hill said.

“If people don’t get what they want from F1, I’m afraid they’ll go somewhere else to get it.”

I think he has hit the nail right on the head there, F1 I believe is becoming more and more about the money produced by corporate giants rather than the entertainment value itself.

Your take on this statement?

 

[Electric.......]

I agree with Hill 100%.

I seen some recordings of some F1 races from 1980's and early 90's.

And to be honest,watching those old races was way more exciting than watching modern F1.

When I watch a F1 race,I wan't to see battle,overtaking,drivers pushing their cars to the very limit,and not 20 guys just circling around the track.

 

[amp88]

I normally find Hill to be a bit whiney and don't agree with him, but on this matter I think he's spot on.

 

[THE ED3]

I normally find Hill to be a bit whiney and don't agree with him, but on this matter I think he's spot on.

Agreed. 👍

 

[Mt. Lynx]

I can´t really agree. To some extent of course, but I think the ´05 season offered a lot of joyous races, especially the second half of it. Unfortunently, FIA has taken a bad turn on the matter, and the sport will deminish further. It shall be interesting to see the split rear wings as of ´07, but after that, restrictions will offer very little state of the art competition.

 

[somebody]

I agree with Hill on this one.

 

[Appie]

yes modern F1 is rubbish i rather watch FIA GT

 

[Roo]

I think he has hit the nail right on the head there, F1 I believe is becoming more and more about the money produced by corporate giants rather than the entertainment value itself.

Your take on this statement?

Amen to that. The drivers have to do so much more than merely drive the car - he has to advertise stuff and say what the companies want him to say. I always enjoyed watching the private teams like Jordan and Stewart taking on the manufactuer teams and occasionally winning. Now I prefer Red Bull Racing and Williams, because you get the feeling that they'd still be racing if sponsership wasn't there - they actually care about the races and the team, making the sport great*. You don't get that feeling with the big faceless corperations who are just in it to sell cars (Renault, BMW, Ford with Jaguar a few years back, etc.)

*I know RBR is trying to sell their energy drink, but I somehow think they'd be racing even if they weren't advertising.

 

[Lee]

The drivers have to do so much more than merely drive the car - he has to advertise stuff and say what the companies want him to say.

Yeah, Kimi and JPM with their watches on as soon as they jump out the car...

 

[Sting]

The drivers have to do so much more than merely drive the car - he has to advertise stuff and say what the companies want him to say.

That said, you should be thankful it hasn't gotten to the stage that NASCAR is at. Now I am a UK fan of NASCAR and love the series, but that is one of the most corporate racing series around. eg: Take Jeff Gordon in his 24 DuPont Chevy, he wins a race and if I remember (cause he's won quite alot and I've heard his after-race interviews) he reels off a list of sponsors that he thanks, DuPont, Lowes, Lays, GMAC, etc etc etc, its like he's reading his race overalls. lol

However, I do agree with Hill, F1 seems to be becoming far too corporate these days and is about the money rather than the racing. Look at the situation is Spa Francorchamps.... its been in danger in the past because of no money, nevermind that it happens to be the driver's favourite circuit and probably the favourite of the fans too. They would rather go with the money option than keep it on the calender. (Thank god a deal has been arranged. It wouldn't be F1 without Spa on the calender.)

 

[X-Othermic]

It is the FIA's fault, if they let F1 be like it was in the Early 90's, with every technical device possible, then it would be so much more watchable.

 

[Lee]

It is the FIA's fault, if they let F1 be like it was in the Early 90's, with every technical device possible, then it would be so much more watchable.

What that got to do with corporates taking over Formula 1?

 

[Mr. Boy]

That said, you should be thankful it hasn't gotten to the stage that NASCAR is at. Now I am a UK fan of NASCAR and love the series, but that is one of the most corporate racing series around. eg: Take Jeff Gordon in his 24 DuPont Chevy, he wins a race and if I remember (cause he's won quite alot and I've heard his after-race interviews) he reels off a list of sponsors that he thanks, DuPont, Lowes, Lays, GMAC, etc etc etc, its like he's reading his race overalls. lol

However, I do agree with Hill, F1 seems to be becoming far too corporate these days and is about the money rather than the racing. Look at the situation is Spa Francorchamps.... its been in danger in the past because of no money, nevermind that it happens to be the driver's favourite circuit and probably the favourite of the fans too. They would rather go with the money option than keep it on the calender. (Thank god a deal has been arranged. It wouldn't be F1 without Spa on the calender.)

Reply to point on NASCAR:Jeff Gordon always throws the Powerade bottles off his car every time he wins a race, since he's sponsored by Pepsi and Coca-Cola makes Powerade. NASCAR is a really corporate and entertainment-oriented business these days.

Reply to second point: Its the same thing with Suzuka. The Japanese Grand Prix is moving from the supreme Suzuka to the rather antiseptic Fuji Speedway. And last year's Japanese Grand Prix was one of the best races we've seen in recent years.

And I agree with Damon Hill. I have a couple of books that cover Formula 1 history, and one of them spoke of the effects of business imperatives on F1.
Like big, fat driver salaries (Ayrton Senna earned a million dollars every time he started a race in 1993, and Michael Schumacher earns 80 million dollars per year from Ferrari and sponsorship deals.), companies that see F1 not as a sport but a business (Flavio Briatore, for instance, has a background in business, so he has no qualms about saying that F1 is a business), and the astronomical costs ("The cost of F1 is what you got. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the technical regulations. If you had $150,000,000 and you were racing orange carts, then orange carts would cost $150,000,000 a year to run. And back in 1994, the money that was not spent on active suspension wasn't handed back to the sponsors on the basis of 'Thanks, chaps, we didn't really need this cash.' It was spent on something else."-F1 designer Frank Dernie.).
And here's a very perceptive quote from Sir Frank Williams:"This is a highly competitive business that becomes a sport for two hours every other Sunday afternoon during the season."

For me, the business aspect isn't the only problem with F1. Its the driver's personalities. They seem like robots. You don't really get much of an impression on who they were. Those of us who followed F1 in the 80s and 90s will remember Ayrton Senna as a very competitive, aggressive driver who wanted to win at all costs and drove as if he was possessed by a demon. You don't get anything like that from drivers these days.

 

[Brett]

Reply to point on NASCAR:Jeff Gordon always throws the Powerade bottles off his car every time he wins a race, since he's sponsored by Pepsi and Coca-Cola makes Powerade. NASCAR is a really corporate and entertainment-oriented business these days.

Who cares about NASCAR? The only races worth watching are the road races and there is only two of those a race. Those are only worth watching for their comic value of watching the drivers try to get them to go around the track properly.

Reply to second point: Its the same thing with Suzuka. The Japanese Grand Prix is moving from the supreme Suzuka to the rather antiseptic Fuji Speedway. And last year's Japanese Grand Prix was one of the best races we've seen in recent years.

Suzuka is a great track and it will be a real shame if they move away from it. Though Fuji isn't near as bad as some of the other tracks on the calendar, :cough: Hockinghiem :cough:.

And I agree with Damon Hill. I have a couple of books that cover Formula 1 history, and one of them spoke of the effects of business imperatives on F1.
Like big, fat driver salaries (Ayrton Senna earned a million dollars every time he started a race in 1993, and Michael Schumacher earns 80 million dollars per year from Ferrari and sponsorship deals.), companies that see F1 not as a sport but a business (Flavio Briatore, for instance, has a background in business, so he has no qualms about saying that F1 is a business), and the astronomical costs ("The cost of F1 is what you got. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the technical regulations. If you had $150,000,000 and you were racing orange carts, then orange carts would cost $150,000,000 a year to run. And back in 1994, the money that was not spent on active suspension wasn't handed back to the sponsors on the basis of 'Thanks, chaps, we didn't really need this cash.' It was spent on something else."-F1 designer Frank Dernie.).
And here's a very perceptive quote from Sir Frank Williams:"This is a highly competitive business that becomes a sport for two hours every other Sunday afternoon during the season."

It is a lot like the bureaurcracy in the US. All of the different agencies that operate because the government feels they are needed spend all the money they are given. Why? Because they feel that if they do not spend all the money, the next year they will not receive as much. The same goes for F1. But instead of a million dollar flashlight, you get a million dollar juice box.

For me, the business aspect isn't the only problem with F1. Its the driver's personalities. They seem like robots. You don't really get much of an impression on who they were. Those of us who followed F1 in the 80s and 90s will remember Ayrton Senna as a very competitive, aggressive driver who wanted to win at all costs and drove as if he was possessed by a demon. You don't get anything like that from drivers these days.

Are you saying Kimi's mumbling is not personality?

 

[fatman_5050]

Those of us who followed F1 in the 80s and 90s will remember Ayrton Senna as a very competitive, aggressive driver who wanted to win at all costs and drove as if he was possessed by a demon. You don't get anything like that from drivers these days.

Slightly off topic: I am really hesitant to compare him to someone as great as Senna....but anyone else here think Taku Sato is out there trying to win and driving possessed (i.e. running over anything or, more often, anyONE in his way)?

But I will agree that the role of sponsors in F1 is slowly growing too large, not yet on the realm of NASCAR and hopefully never allowed to get close to it either.

 

[Kylehnat]

I hate to rain on Damon's parade, but F1 was also corporately-driven when he was racing. It's a lot more obvious now, but he's being hypocritical. Racing, in all forms, has to be a business or you can't do it (unless you're ridiculously wealthy). To succeed in racing, you have to earn money. You do that by winning and gaining new sponsors. In today's F1, you have the top teams operating on budgets of 200-400 million dollars. That money doesn't come from nowhere. If a sponsor gives you a huge check every year, you're going to do whatever they ask. This is the case now, and has always been the case, especially in F1. It is the dollar amount, not the sponsorship itself, which is ruining F1. If annual budgets were capped (not possible) to 75 million or so, teams wouldn't be able to spend 2,000 hours a year in the wind tunnel making a car which is diabolically fast in clean air, but rubbish in traffic.

F1 is a business? 100% correct. So is every other professional sport on the face of the earth. Is F1 the only sport manipulated by sponsors and corporate suits? No.

 

[Blake]

Well they always say that to succeed in motorsport you need a PhD (Parants have dough)!

I agree with you, kylehnat, F1 has been sponsorship driven since the late 60s and teams have been spending every dollar they could get hand on since motorsport began.

People have been treating motorsport as a commercial opportunity forever, that won’t (and IMO shoudn’t) change.

 

[Mt. Lynx]

I hate to rain on Damon's parade, but F1 was also corporately-driven when he was racing. It's a lot more obvious now, but he's being hypocritical. Racing, in all forms, has to be a business or you can't do it (unless you're ridiculously wealthy). To succeed in racing, you have to earn money. You do that by winning and gaining new sponsors. In today's F1, you have the top teams operating on budgets of 200-400 million dollars. That money doesn't come from nowhere. If a sponsor gives you a huge check every year, you're going to do whatever they ask. This is the case now, and has always been the case, especially in F1. It is the dollar amount, not the sponsorship itself, which is ruining F1. If annual budgets were capped (not possible) to 75 million or so, teams wouldn't be able to spend 2,000 hours a year in the wind tunnel making a car which is diabolically fast in clean air, but rubbish in traffic.

F1 is a business? 100% correct. So is every other professional sport on the face of the earth. Is F1 the only sport manipulated by sponsors and corporate suits? No.

Very well said!
And just to add something; I saw an interview with Bernie Ecclestone from the 70´s on Discovery a while back, and that interview was on the exact same topic as this thread, so this has been around ever since Colin Chapman painted his Lotus black and gold for the first time! And probably longer too!

 

[Brett]

I think the problem people have with all of the coporate images in F1 is that it does not necessarily allow the drivers to show their real personality, well that or they all are really boring. Right now, you don't have that guy like Senna, etc. Though I do think Kimi's mumbling is up there.