We rated Liberty Media’s first year as the owners of Formula 1 a few weeks ago and in this week’s episode, we talk about a topic that I personally believe is a step in the wrong direction – Formula 1 car design being inspired by video games comes 2021.
Liberty Media’s management is seemingly taking important steps to secure the future of the sport and business of Formula 1 while tapping the usually untapped opportunities under the Bernie Ecclestone rule. While their marketing and commercialisation strategies seem spot on, if a redesign of Formula 1 cars will make them look like video game cars, there is a large section of the existing fan base that they risk alienating. This holds true for the business of Formula 1 too – will renegotiating the historic bonuses for the top tier teams with a view to attract new manufacturers alienate the long standing iconic teams of the sport? We can leave this discussion for another day.
Why Fernando Alonso Named His Lifestyle Brand ‘Kimoa’
Brawn indicated that the video game inspired designs would take into factor the ‘halo’ concept and make it more intrinsic than an external add-on. While I agree that the ‘halo’ may impede the current cars from looking good, I would still choose the cars that appear in the 2017 Formula 1 video game!
However, with the sort of changes expected starting the 2018 Formula 1 Season, I wonder if 2017 was the last season of Formula 1 as we’ve always known it.
Mithila Mehta and I have partnered with Firstpost and will feature in their Firstpost Pole Position videos all through the season. Basically, we’re now available in text, audio and video!
The new Formula 1 logo has already found itself in a possible copyright violation – this means that there are two companies out there with a hideous logo! While I understand why Liberty Media revealed a new logo, I am surprised that the marketing team there didn’t do its due diligence. This is standard operating procedures for marketing and branding related changes.
Finally, Formula 1 will have more ‘F1 Live’ events in 2018, five in total. The venues include Marseille, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Miami and will see fewer cars (and maybe drivers too?) in attendance. Basically, the question we asked when F1 Live in London happened – who is footing the bill for these large scale marketing events? The answer is the teams are; from their central revenue pot and they are certainly not pleased about it.
Let’s see how things go. Is this really the last of Formula 1 as we know it?
