Formula 1 Re-Focus: Marketability
When I, a lay F1 fan, step back and observe the current state of Formula 1, what do I see? A car that looks like Hannibal Lecter (HALO — reason enough to justify moving toward an autonomous racing series), an engine that sounds like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises (turbo/MGU-H), a series whose on-track product emphasizes technology over entertainment, and a cost/revenue model that could cause a current team to wonder why they’re even in the sport. Hmmm…I wonder why no one is lining up at the gates to enter the series, in 2021?
From a marketing and sales perspective, it seems the FIA and FOM could not have made it more difficult on prospective OEMs, teams, and fans, to want to join the fray. In essence they’re asking fans, like myself, to eat a pile of feces, with the promise that it will taste better as they get their (pardon my French, but pun intended) shit together.
I spent a good five years in a marketing department endeavoring to promote an orchestra that, on a really good day, was OK, and on an average day was crap. I would not wish that kind of soul-sucking hell on anyone, especially the marketing/PR soldiers fighting in the F1 trenches, at the moment. To say each of them deserve a raise, and a Ferrari, would be an understatement.
In the words of Apple’s Steve Jobs, my suggestion would be to: “Think Different”. It would seem that Ross Brawn had that in mind in endeavoring to simplify, and rid us all of the MGU-H, among other things, but even that’s in doubt, as the teams/OEMs clamor to retain the current formula, citing new engine development costs. While a legitimate concern, I still feel like F1 ought to go even further by considering a moratorium on forced induction (turbo), and MGU-H, altogether.
Instead, focus on what made them the pinnacle of motorsport during the late 1990s, and early 2000s: the sound, pitch, and power of the naturally-aspirated V10 engine. I’d be willing to wager that most current F1 teams, and fans, equate Formula 1 with that engine, in particular. It had the perfect balance of torque, and horsepower, sitting in between a V12 that lacked a bit of torque, and the V8, that lacked a bit of top-end horsepower. It also was pitched perfectly; the V12 arguably had too high of a pitch, and the V8, while formidable, just didn’t sound like a V10.
To keep things realistic, if OEMs require an energy recover component, why not further develop MGU-K, while slowly developing other modes of energy recovery? One that comes to mind is vibration from dampers/suspension; let’s call it ‘MGU-V’.
While we’re on the subject of changes, I think they ought to ditch the HALO, close the cockpit with the addition of a canopy, and keep the drivers cool via air-conditioning. Just put us all, drivers/fans, out of our misery.
Lastly, add gradual developments in driver autonomy (think Tony Stark in Marvel’s Ironman): helmet visor/canopy heads-up display, data recall/input via Siri/Alexa technology, improving how quickly data can be relayed, without an army of analysts/number crunchers, and fundamentally changing how a driver communicates with his/her car. In this way, a driver would push less buttons, and turn less knobs, and simply give more verbal commands.
And yes, I understand all of that would be costly, AND weighty, but given advanced warning, Formula 1 could choose its battles wisely, and find a way to make it less cost prohibitive, and generally make it work. Hell, maybe OEMs and Silicon Valley would find it highly intriguing, and financially go all-in, like many already have with Formula E.
My point is, maybe FIA and Formula 1 could lead OEMs, sponsors, and teams away from their MGU-H obsession, for a few years, give them a new target that puts more emphasis on the driver as hero and ‘director of operations’ inside the cockpit, and appease fans, who have been dying for cars that look and sound like a super hero, instead of Hannibal Lecter talking through a bad cell connection.
