It is often said that perception is more important than reality in F1. What irony then, that at a time when Formula 1 is struggling to reinvent itself as an environmentally responsible sport that the organizers of the Singapore Grand Prix have chosen Earth Hour to debut megawatt using streetlights that will be used to illuminate F1’s first night race later this year.

The lights (300 times more powerful than normal street lights) are being tested today when much of the world is turning their lights off for one hour to symbolically bring attention to the growing environmental crisis. The lights (only a fraction of the 1500 that will be used in the race) will be left in place and turned on each evening at 7 PM along with the regular street lights in Singapore for a week.

Formula 1 has an enormously difficult task in trying to convince that world that it is anything other than a gross display of excess. Thanks to the organizers of the Singapore Grand Prix (incidentally that’s the Singapore Government) that task is now even more difficult.

F1 and the companies associated with it need to be smarter than this.

The Singapore Grand Prix will run until September 28.

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I read an article on Pitpass.com (an independent F1 website) yesterday that has me pondering the importance of F1. Actually the importance of the name F1, rather than the sport itself. The article, which you can access here, suggests that Formula One Management czar, Bernie Ecclestone might have plans to change the F1 series’ name to GP1. This would create a hierarchical structure with GP1 being the top tier of a racing ladder above GP2 and a possible future GP3 series - all of which Bernie owns the trademarks to.

For me, Formula 1 is Jim Clark four-wheel drifting a Lotus through a bend at Spa, Fangio exercising sublime control of his Maserati around the Ring or Senna driving beyond the limit in the canyons of Monaco - I could go on and on. I can’t think of F1 without seeing those images and a thousand more in my mind’s eye. F1 is as much about the past as it is about next season’s champion or tomorrow’s race winner.

The danger of changing the name - in the collective minds of the public, it now becomes something entirely new. When even die-hard fans examine grand prix racing, we only go as far back as 1950 - we discount everything before. Of course there was no formal world championship before 1950 so it’s not completely fair to say only that the name is to blame for this historical amnesia but there was the European Championship in the 1930’s which was essentially the grand prix world championship.

In my opinion it’s vital to preserve the continuity of the sport. How many people today really know the names Nuvolari, Rosemeyer or Caracciola. Each was a legendary grand prix driver in the early days of the sport. But, once the sport was labeled Formula 1 and a world championship was established, they were consigned to the past. Only the real anoraks of grand prix racing recall their exploits.

Other motor sports have suffered from name changes. Sports car racing suffered from an identity crisis when season after season, the name of the series (and format) changed -incidentally one time at the behest of Bernie Ecclestone. Likewise, after the split in open-wheel racing in North America, CART became Open Wheel Racing Series and then finally Champ Car. While there were many factors that contributed to the demise of each series, the inability of the public to easily identify them hurt their popularity.

If Formula 1 suddenly becomes GP1, most of the current fans will no doubt accept it as status quo. The same participants will be there as before: Ferrari; McLaren; Williams. Would new fans make the same connection and balance the racing against nearly 60 years of rich history? What connection would fans have with Lotus, Brabham, Tyrrell, Senna, Villeneuve or even Schumacher?

History and sentimentality have rarely prevailed over business interests. It is no secret that Bernie Ecclestone has tried several times and at great cost to trademark the names F1 and Formula 1. He has, for the most part, been unsuccessful because of the generic nature of the phrase, “formula 1.” The name GP1 is a brand however and Ecclestone could successfully argue ownership. Financially, this would be lucrative for Bernie, who could license the name as he saw fit and deny its use to anyone not willing to pay up.

I hope that the article from Pitpass proves to be idle speculation and that Formula 1 can look forward to a long and distinguished history. Business concerns seldom enhance sport and I worry that this particular strategy by Ecclestone could destroy the heritage of the sport. It’s only a name, but so is Ferrari. How iconic would a Ferrari be if tomorrow it was renamed a FIAT Ultra Brand Sportscar.

If you have an opinion on this topic, please post your thoughts in a comment here or e-mail me at rob@f1underground.com

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Its not hard to see that Bernie Ecclestone loves a good game of poker. He’s forever backing his adversaries into a corner with a wild, ‘all in’ declaration and then sitting back, stone faced and cocky while the rest of the world debates whether or not he is bluffing. Many a poor soul will tell you that they regret misreading Bernie.

Take for instance the drama that is the British Grand Prix. Usually about this time of year there is a quote from Bernie in the press warning Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, that they need to spruce the place up, put in more corporate hospitality seats and find more (government) money to pay the ever-higher sanctioning fees demanded by Ecclestone. Each year the same story unfolds. No one has a right to a grand prix, says Bernie, and the privilege costs money. Silverstone and its owners plead poor. Somebody (never Bernie) finds a bit more cash and the race survives for another year. Nothing changes but it always provides high stakes tension.

Maybe because Silverstone has become a deadlock, Bernie is on the lookout for another player to hustle. Enter Melbourne Australia, inconveniently located on the other side of the world and who’s F1 race is played out while most of Europe chooses to sleep.

One of the great dilemmas for Formula 1 is that there is a lot of cash available in the Asia-Pacific market but the historical fan base and the TV viewers are not interested in watching races in a time zone that forces them to turn on the television in the middle of the night. Always wanting to have their cake and to eat it too, the ever-spinning marketing minds of F1 may have found a solution - night racing.

Beginning this season, F1 will present its first ever night race. Live from Singapore and run under massive, computer controlled lighting systems, the entire course will be illuminated to a level sufficient for safe racing and television broadcasting. Because it will be run at night in Asia, the live feed will arrive in European living rooms mid-morning. This makes the race more attractive for the traditional viewer who can now watch the grand prix over scrambled eggs and coffee.

So Singapore will pilot the program, Malaysia has recently indicated an interest in moving to a night race format too, and Australia? Actually, far from choosing, Australia is being told it needs to go to a night race format or be dropped from the calendar. Bernie is playing up night racing like a card shark hinting at aces. No one can be sure if he’s bluffing or not, but threatening a long time race venue like Melbourne makes it clear to everyone how high the stakes are .

What the Melbourne threat really means is that Eccelstone is under pressure. He wants the money available from the emerging economies of Southeast Asia, China, India, and the Middle East but he knows he needs to appease the sport’s fans who are mainly in Europe. Without those fans, TV ratings (the basis for lucrative TV contracts and subsequently team prize money) will fall sharply. Additionally, F1 could become a marginal sport in Europe.

For Ecclestone, night racing is a hand he can’t afford to lose. Its a dangerous gambit because the format is a complete unknown. What happens if it rains heavily or there is a power failure mid race? F1 has not canceled a race in many years, not even when Ayrton Senna was killed. How will organizers deal with a blackout during the race and how will fans react if a race is canceled? As quickly as night racing arrives it could disappear, taking a lot of fans with it.

Beyond Melbourne, the future of Formula 1 is at stake. Bernie wants F1 to grow into new markets without alienating and abandoning the fans who made it what it is today? If he can’t achieve that, is it possible to shift the sport into the Asian market, abandoning Europe, and grow the fan base quickly enough to continue to feed the sport’s huge appetite for cash?

The relatively new races in Bahrain, Malaysia and Turkey all shared one thing in common - empty grandstands. The local populace aren’t keen on racing when basic survival is the primary concern for most of the population. Similarly, well-heeled Europeans aren’t flocking to sweltering Asia and its various security concerns to see races. So far, the odds seem to be stacked against Ecclestone.

Bernie has made his fortune by winning these high risk games but eventually everyone’s luck runs dry. If night racing works and proves popular, F1 could spread further into the Asian market and still keep European interest. If it proves to be a dud with fans or organizers, then we could still see a shift to Asian races but without European interest or support.

Knowing Bernie, there is probably an ace up his sleeve still to be played. That’s just the kind of game it is.

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Heckling is part of the game.  Fans yelling sometimes witty (sometimes childish) taunts in an effort to throw off a rival team’s game or disrupt their concentration is something professional athletes are expected to deal with.  However, what happened in Barcelona, Spain this past weekend was not good natured heckling, it was racism.  It was ugly.

If fans in Spain want to believe that McLaren wronged Fernando Alonso and wish to direct their displeasure towards Lewis Hamilton, they are entitled to do so - to a point.  That entitlement does not extend to assaulting a young man with racist taunts while wearing black face paint.  The behavior of a few Spanish fans was a pathetic display of racism hiding behind sports partisanship.

Spain has the privilege of hosting two grand prix events this year (Barcelona and Valencia) - a situation many countries would like to enjoy.  Rewards like this come with expectations.  One of these expectations would be to not bring the sport into disrepute. The governing body is now, rightfully and properly, investigating this incident. The FIA have warned that one or both of the events may be canceled if the track organizers cannot control the fans and prevent an incident like this one from occurring again.  It would be unfortunate and even damaging to the sport in the short term to cancel races but would be nothing compared to the damage that could be inflicted on the sport if it was perceived to tolerate racism.

The FIA should be applauded for stepping in quickly to stop this behavior from continuing.  Tough decisions will need to be made in the next few weeks and hopefully commercial considerations will not come into consideration.  The issue is bigger than money.  If the Spanish people have to suffer for the actions of a few, it is a price worth paying to send a message to everyone that racism will not be tolerated in any form, in any place, at any time.

Now however, is the time for Fernando Alonso to step forward and speak to his fans.  The former World Champion’s voice has the power to halt the anger and hatred being directed to his former teammate, Lewis Hamilton.  Alonso needs to address his fans and demand the attacks on Hamilton stop.  The time has come for everyone to put the past behind them and it is the time for Fernando take the role of a champion and leader of the sport.

Spain is better than this.  Formula 1 is better than this.

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It was Shakespeare who penned, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Truer words were never spoken and history is populated with examples of good-intentioned men doing evil once they have tasted power. The annals of Formula 1 are no different.

The sport has grown from a largely amateur affair to what is now a multi-billion dollar sports entertainment enterprise. Along the way some of Formula 1’s participants have become fantastically rich powerbrokers on the world stage. Certain of these powerbrokers have done better than others and today control the sport. Of course, I speak of Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley who respectively, have gained a great deal of money and power from F1.

The contribution of both men must be acknowledged. They wrested the sport from the well attired polo club set and made it the professional motorsport showpiece it is today. That process began nearly 30 years ago but for the past 15 plus years, both have reigned unopposed, sharing near absolute power.

Increasingly its obvious that near absolute power is not enough. Yesterday, the FIA announced that it was replacing its independent race stewart, Tony-Scott Andrews who retired at the end of 2007, with three FIA nominated race stewarts. These ‘amateurs’ will come from various FIA affiliated national racing organizations.

To oversee the process and assist the nominated stewarts in their judgments, Max Mosley is assigning his official representative Alan Donnelly. Given the authority that Donnelly has in his role its not unimaginable that his guidance might carry considerable weight with the stewarts. Its also not a terribly large leap to imagine that Donnelly’s guidance is really the thinly disguised hand of the FIA President.

This reorganization of the race stewarts erodes the separation of powers (political and judicial) within the sports governing body.   Of course, the President of the FIA will point out that he has no influence over the decisions of the race stewarts - he doesn’t participate in the ‘independent’ committee.  He’s right of course, on paper he’s not part of the process.  But, one must be naive to believe this is true in practice.

Under Mosley, F1 is moving closer and closer to totalitarian rule.  The power that lies in the FIA Presidency today is as much or more than when Mosley came to office in 1991. Ironically, Mosley ran for the Presidency of FISA (eventually brought under the FIA umbrella in 1993) in response to political interference affecting a 1991 stewarts ruling.

“What happened to Ayrton Senna two years ago in Japan, disgusted me, […]That is when I realised that Fisa was not a fair organisation.”

Then FISA/FIA President, Jean-Marie Balestre was widely reported to have intervened to ensure that the race stewards disqualified Senna from the race (costing him the championship.)  Mosley campaigned on the basis that Balestre, who was also president of the FIA and of the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, could not effectively manage all of these roles together. Mosley won by 43 votes to 29. *

18 years later, it’s all coming full circle.  The FIA President will once again have influence over not just the rulebook but how the rules will be interpreted and administered.  From the idealistic outsider who rose to power on a platform of fairness, Max has become of very thing he campaigned to defeat - a tyrant.

* From Wikipedia

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