A lot of Formula 1 fans complain that there are too many races these days outside the sport’s traditional heartland in Europe. Grand Prix racing used to be all about Monaco, Monza, Spa, Silverstone and the Nürburgring.
There were extraneous races, but the 'World Championship' was actually a bit of a misnomer, although not perhaps on the scale of Major League Baseball’s World Series.
In the last 10 years Bernie Ecclestone has taken F1 global. Where once there were 10 races in Europe and six 'flyaways', today we have 11 races outside Europe and only seven or eight on the traditional European tracks. And Europe’s dominance will weaken further as F1 aims to consolidate its presence in the Americas. These strategic moves offer the world’s largest companies a package that no other sport can match.
This is all the more important when you realize that this year, for the first time, China is almost certainly going to produce more cars than all the European countries combined. Europe’s share of global automobile manufacturing is down to only just 20 per cent of the total.
The new car owners in Asia may not have embraced F1 as yet, but these things take time…
A fascinating prospect
It is going to be a fascinating year for British F1 fans, who are keen to see how Lewis Hamilton will do with the Mercedes team. I have to admit that I am not convinced that this is a good move for Lewis. I can see why he felt that he wanted to get out of McLaren, any offspring wants to leave the nest at some point, but it would have been wiser, perhaps, to wait until a top drive was available.
The idea that Lewis will mould the team around himself and they will all march forward together is a great idea, but Hamilton did not show such team-building skills at McLaren, leaving the older and wiser (and slower) Jenson Button to have the emotional leadership. Lewis seemed lost.
Jenson left Mercedes (then known as Brawn GP) at the end of 2009 because he did not think it had what was needed to win on a regular basis – and he was right. Hamilton is gambling that things have moved on. Lewis is a great racer, but great racers have made mistakes before when it comes to choosing the wrong team at the wrong moment.
The one thing that we do know is that the team will be under the microscope more than ever. Hamilton is a known quantity and we will soon see whether or not Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher have been getting the most from the recent cars, or whether it was the team that was underperforming.
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Enjoyed that article Joe.
Enjoyed that article Joe. Good stuff.
Maybe...just maybe
In terms of last season, Michael Schumacher was probably getting more out of the car, than Nico Rosberg, but was seriously being let down by Mercedes (and his poor night vision). Both of them were. Fortunately Lewis Hamilton is going to find a different Mercedes team than the one that Michael Schumacher has left behind.
I've said for ages that Lewis Hamilton needs to move away from McLaren to win another dirver's championship. I'm not sure of the idea of the team being moulded around himself because, as you say Joe, he's not shown much aptitude for doing so in the past and all of his past team mates have said (implied) as much. But that is neither here nor there. Mercedes know what they are getting (oddly, in a way, with Michael Schumacher they didn't) and much of their success will depend upon his relationship with Ross Brawn, Bob Bell, et al. Unlike McLaren I believe Mercedes can run two drivers, competing against one and other, and the other 22 (20?), without getting themselves tied up in knots when things don't go to plan, and that will play a role too. It'll take time, but so long as they can punch through from time to time, a WDC will come his way. With Mercedes.
I don't agree that it would have been wiser to wait for a "top drive" to become available. Waiting is, perhaps, exactly the wrong thing for him to do, which could see him leaving the sport earlier than he might otherwise. Think about it, even if Mark Webber and Felipe Massa had left, in 2012 or at the end of 2013, there is no reason to believe that either Red Bull or Ferrari would have gone for Lewis Hamilton. Surely someone younger (I know), and greener, like Lewis Hamilton himself in 2007, is what they would go for, bearing in mind the other seats filled?
Give it a few years, where a genuine No. 1 opportunity at one of those teams comes available, and then he will find a home. At Ferrari, I hope.
With regards to F1 in Asia taking time to take off, it's true but, and you must have seen an awful lot more of this than I, while the teams, the drivers, the broadcasters and FOM do an awful lot to bring great competition and entertainment to the Far East races, don't you think that the FIA just leave a lot to be desired in wider promotion?
Finally, it's just nice to see some balanced, open minded, writing on F1 from Autocar. Keep it up.
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Welcome Joe!
I think the Mercedes move will be good for Lewis Hamilton, if not in terms of results. No-one is in any doubt of his raw talent but he doesn't appear to be a likeable character in the way Button is. I think the Mercedes move may teach him a little humility and should give us watching fans some exciting racing back in the pack.
Incidentally, the Baseball World Series is so-called as it used to be sponsored by a long defunct newspaper - the Daily World. Nothing to do with ideas above its station, as we like to think in Europe. F1 needed to spread its wings a little and ditch the poorer European races like Valencia and Turkey (aptly named), I guess we just need an African race to be truly global. I am saving for the Newark GP, though :-]