Formula One pits nation vs nation in A1GP copycat shock!

Some time ago, I recommended to FOTA that it adopt some of the infrastructure of A1GP (the self-styled World Cup of Motorsport), were it to start a breakaway series, which was a topic being discussed earlier in the 2009 season by the F1 teams’ representative body. I meant it as a logistical efficiency, whilst bemoaning the decline of A1GP which I reckoned was founded on some interesting principles: nation vs nation in identical machinery.

F1 machinery is not identical and I am happy for that: A1GP could never offer a constructors’ championship. But I remain intrigued by the nation vs nation idea and think that – more by accident than design – F1 is heading this way. I think it would be good for the sport if it were to do so because national passions could be piqued, adding a spice to its competition that F1 has largely been missing. The news today that Jenson Button has signed for McLaren has helped.

To begin not with McLaren but with Jenson’s former team Brawn GP, here’s how I see it:

Brawn is now Mercedes Grand Prix. Mercedes is German. In 2010 its drivers will be Nico Rosberg and possibly either Nick Heidfeld or Adrian Sutil. All are German. They may be sited in the Northamptonshire countryside (Mercedes F1 engines are made down the road from Brawn’s Brackley site, in Brixworth) but this team will be under teutonic management. Team Germany.

Not ten minutes’ drive from Brackley, Force India F1 operates from Silverstone. Promoting Indian brands globally, and western brands in India, the team’s commercial proposition is clear. Owner ViJay Mallya is the face of this team that has no Indian drivers yet, though Arun Chandhok remains a decent bet for a drive next year. Flushed with pride at its late season progress and with an Indian GP on the cards from 2011, Team India is alive and well.

To the east, in Hingham, Norfolk (until it moves even further east to the home of its Malaysian owners) is Lotus F1, managed by Tony Fernandes, the man that built Air Asia on the back of a Williams F1 sponsorship. The corporate body behind the team (Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd) has embarked upon a programme of driver development aiming to put Malaysians in F1 cars in the future. In his tweets, Fernandes refers to “Team Malaysia aka Lotus F1″.

On the other side of London, the McLaren team pairs Jenson Button with Lewis Hamilton. Ignoring the fact that the team remains 30% owned by Bahrainis and will run Mercedes engines under its existing contract, we know that Mercedes will be reducing its investment in the team over the next couple of years. This will allow McLaren to become Team GB A.

In Oxfordshire, Williams F1 markets itself as the only truly British-owned team, the only true independent and the only team still managed by its founding partners. In 2010 none of these statements will be true, so the commercial proposition will have to evolve. Nonetheless, for Sir Frank’s unstinting loyalty to Queen and country, I think Williams can comfortably assume the mantle of Team GB B. At least it will run a British (Cosworth) engine in 2010.

One new entrant struggling to assert its nationality is Spanish team Campos Meta, which has been desperately trying to sign Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa but there is so little interest from Spanish sponsors that the team is having to run a Brazilian and (probably) a Russian or a Venezuelan. But it’s a Spanish team sited in Valencia and Madrid, and no-one else is laying claim to the title of Team Spain.

By contrast USF1 positively glows with pro-American sentiment. I cannot imagine a sports team from the USA with the name US in its title, based in Charlotte NC, being anything other than Team America, whoever ends up driving the cars..

Ferrari is of course an Italian brand and excites rabid passions among the scarlet-clad grandstands of Monza and beyond. Even though it has failed to excite with its driver selections since Michael Schumacher departed (a shame: Felipe Massa is a cool character worthy of more than he receives from the fans) it will doubtless rise again in 2010 to become Team Italy.

So there you have it: Team Germany v Team India v Team Malaysia v Team GB A v Team GB B v Team Spain v Team Italy. This is a solid reflection of where F1 is touring, location-wise, and I think we will see teams from Korea and Russia before too long.

The teams that do not fit this model (Renault, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Qadbak Sauber and Virgin Racing) are backed by sponsors with naming rights that care little for national boundaries and so fail to excite national passions. This is not a criticism: their commercial objectives are transparent and they will doubtless serve their sponsors well. But I predict that their share of national support will be weaker than the “national” teams with a corresponding reduction in media attention that may yet cause sponsors to take note.

All of which may mean that A1GP’s legacy is more memorable than most commentators assume, as Formula One becomes the true World Cup of Motorsport.

By Scott Garrett on November 18th, 2009

Tags: Default ,Formula 1 ,New Product Development

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Who would have thought a simple name change could cause such a rumpus? St James’ Park, more a cathedral to the Geordie Nation then a stadium, has been given the catchy title by its beleaguered owner of ‘sportsdirect.com@St James’ Park’. Cue much uproar across the media and more importantly among the fans.

However, rather then add to the derision already rightly poured on this bizarre move, we think there could be an opportunity for a canny brand here. Any brand in sponsorship is fundamentally looking to engage, not alienate, fans and this naming rights debacle actually offers up a unique opportunity.

The answer is simple – try and strike a short term deal with the Newcastle United commercial team, buy the naming rights for the rest of the season and call it – this is the simple bit – ‘St James’ Park’.

In other words, give it back to fans: they’ll love you forever and no doubt you’ll get more than a few column inches to boot – for the first naming rights deal to get rid of the brand name.

By Dominic Curran on November 17th, 2009

Tags: Communications ,Football ,Football Sponsorship ,Naming Rights ,Newcastle United ,Public relations

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Settle back. This is a season review blog, and it’s been a long old season.

Before the last wheel had turned in 2009 we welcomed the second British World Champion in two years, driving for a team that has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of another. All the talk coming into the final few races was whether Brawn could keep ahead of Red Bull but in the end it wasn’t even close. And shame on the poo-poo-ers that decry Brawn for its failure to perform consistently over the whole year: Schumacher and Ferrari did that and it nearly killed the sport. Besides, when you’re 6-0 up at half time you’re entitled to take it easier in the second half.

For me, the season was fun because Ferrari tugged around at the back, whichever driver drove, and in true Italian style the team gave up early and went home. McLaren looked to be in danger of suffering a similar fate but Martin pulled his boys together and the silver cars looked quick at the end. This bodes well for next season, especially if the brilliant Red Bull team can keep advancing and the midfield can start to get two drivers in the points, every now and then.

In 2010 the grid will look somewhat different, and not just because the cars will have swelled to carry a whole race’s worth of fuel. We’ll be a manufacturer lighter than in 2009, following the withdrawal of Toyota and BMW, replaced by Lotus, with only Ferrari and Renault remaining as true manufacturer teams. Three manufacturers; ten independents. This is A Good Thing because it focuses the sport on what it should be all about: racing. It is less likely to result in the technological arms race that was responsible for driving budgets to irresponsible levels in recent years despite hollow assertions to the contrary from – you guessed it – manufacturers like Ferrari and Toyota.

More importantly, it will result in racing through to the back of the grid, as independent teams duke it out for the lower places and gradually find their feet enough to – I hope – occasionally challenge the big boys at the front. With the ability that resides in some of the new teams, I fancy the upsets might be more than occasional.

Which makes Ferrari’s attitude (I paraphrase only a little: “we blame the sport’s authorities for allowing in this bunch of monkeys that are not worthy to compete with us”) all the more understandable. I think the team is running scared not of losing next year, but of having to spend upwards of $400m – ten times the formerly proposed budget cap – in order to do so.

It will be interesting too, to see how ex-Ferrari boss Jean Todt fills Max Moseley’s shoes at the FIA. Todt’s manifesto was a strangely bland mix of policies that sought to appeal to all but alienate none. We’ll see what he makes of it and the sport will give him a year to do so before rounding on him in its typically toothless style although to be fair, there are no mechanisms in the FIA constitution for sanctioning the organisation’s leader anyway.

Commercially, I think the F1 patient is stable and out of intensive care after liegate, crashgate and the manufacturer withdrawals which while they may be good for the sport, do have a negative impact on teams’ ability to attract sponsorship. With no Honda, Toyota or BMW there are no first fill deals for Esso or Petronas, no technology partnerships with Panasonic, Dell or Intel and a massive number of road cars that no longer need to start their lives on Bridgestones. Bridgestone too, will leave the sport at the end of 2010, completing a Japanese exodus that will see fewer sponsors from that part of the world despite the fact that the country retains its GP. Shame; Japanese fans are among the most passionate in the sport.

Yet I see reasons for commercial optimism. The grid will be 26 cars long next year. More cars means more sponsorship opportunities, at lower prices probably, which will mean that more brands can enter the sport. Some of the teams have already shown that it is possible to attract top partnerships (Virgin, Megafon). The geographic base of F1 team ownership continues to expand with Qadbak-Sauber and Lotus spreading the love eastwards. If Tony Fernandez can excite Malaysians behind their own team, then everyone will benefit; Sepang has been quiet in recent years because of the failure of Malaysian business to realise the benefits of F1.

I think the show will improve, on and off the track. Bernie is trying to sort out HDTV at Abu Dhabi which may go some way towards livening up a dull race at least by giving us a more detailed look at the facilities on the telly. Social media advances irrespective of copyright concerns; about half the drivers tweet and most have facebook sites. F1 Rocks added great value to the Singapore race and if they can get their contracts sorted out, should appear at more races next year.

All we need now is a British Grand Prix. As I write, it doesn’t exist, but I fully expect that this situation will change before the day is out. Watch this space.

By Scott Garrett on November 9th, 2009

Tags: Default

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