While decorating at the weekend I took the chance to catch up on Peter Windsor's ever excellent Flying Lap podcast*. The discussion was centred around the recent test in Jerez, and re-triggered an idea I had been mulling a few weeks ago - the potential for F1 testing to return in-season, but in a way that brings some commercial benefit to the sport and engages the fans.
While at university in Northampton I used to work as a plate-waiter at Silverstone. Nearly dropping a plate of half-eaten bacon sandwiches on Felipe Massa is the nearest I've ever come to making a mark in the exclusive world of Formula 1. Table waiting was not my forte. I can't say I was dedicated to the job, and was clearly only there for the chance to get paid to glimpse F1 cars on track. I remember spending my lunch breaks watching the cars and wondering why the invited guests in the executive suites had bothered turning up when they so blatantly had no interest in the sport at all. It was also surprising see very few fans at the tests - I don't even know if the public were able to enter the circuit on the day. The pre-season tests in Spain always seem to attract a decent crowd for a non-competitive even however, as petrol-fume deprived fans get their first chance in months to see and hear the cars.
So, like Peter Windsor, I'm convinced there must be a way to attract paying fans to test events if they feel they are getting something from the event, with the income generated going towards the cost of putting the cars on track. After all, the only reason in-season testing is banned is through a voluntary agreement between the teams to save money. So, my idea is to hold a three day test, with teams mandated to run a combination of at least one race driver and a young driver (plus other drivers if the team chose). On each day of the test the vast proportion of track time will be given over to testing, but each day will also include a competitive element in order to give something to the fans who cough up to attend. These would be (in my blue-sky vision) - Day 1, a one lap sprint with each car getting three timed laps to try to set the day's fastest time. Day 2, a short race in non-F1 cars featuring F1 drivers. Day 3, a half-hour race featuring the team's young drivers.
In addition to the F1 test and competition, the event would also feature F1 displays off-track, alternative track displays from other motorsports, and plenty of off-track activities such as pit stop challenges and simulators. The teams would also be mandated to put on a range of activities to interact with the fans - competitions for garage access, driver signing sessions etc. In short there would be plenty going on during the event, but with time for the teams to get plenty of testing laps in. The events could even be held as a short series, with 3 to 5 events at European circuits (or further afield if the costs allowed) throughout the year.
The benefits to the teams would primarily come from the gate receipts, but they would also get increased merchandise sales, and it would reintroduce the chance to offer corporate events for sponsors and/or paying guests - the famous prawn-sandwich brigade I served so badly in the early 2000s! Young drivers would also get the chance to gain some experience at driving (and potentially racing) F1 cars in a less pressured environment than a World Championship Grand Prix. F1 can have an image as an aloof sport, removed from its fans, and test days like this could begin to change this perception too.
No doubt some (or all!) aspects of this are a touch pie-in-the-sky. The costs involved in running F1 cars may well mean any such event would need to draw a huge income in order to be viable. A race for young drivers in particular could be an expensive proposition if any collisions occurred, as I'm reliably informed carbon fibre is not cheap! But even if the teams don't break even, the events could be
structured in a way that at least mitigates the costs enough to justify
holding in-season testing again.
I also suspect FOM may have reservations about such events, potentially
feeling they dilute the value of the main Grand Prix, but
this is just my hunch. The sport's management seems to keep such a tight rein on
anything F1 related that getting the idea past Bernie may be the
biggest barrier, especially if there was to be any competition involved. These elements aren't essential however (though I do believe they would help draw fans), and don't need to necessarily involve F1 cars. Potentially national race series could be brought in with a few club races interspersed through the day with F1 stars as guest drivers. That also would benefit the sport beyond F1, while still providing an extra element for paying spectators.**
Would you attend a 'test' that was arranged like this? If you would how much would you be prepared to pay to go along? I think there would be thousands of fans across the country, especially families, who would love to attend a Grand Prix but simply can't afford it and would be interested in an event like this. I know I'd pay to come to one or more days of such an event (and that's on top of attending the Grand Prix!).
If you were designing a way of bringing back testing in a way that generated some commercial benefits for the teams how would you do it? If anyone out there has any ideas put them in the comments below or Tweet them to me via @ChrisPageNG. If we get some suggestions together I'll see about firing them off at some of the teams or FOTA to see what feedback they have. In recent years there have been free events in the UK featuring the
Brawn GP team, McLaren and Red Bull, all drawing big crowds. I'm sure
the teams didn't put these on out of the goodness of their hearts, so
there must be a way that paying events can be made to work for all
concerned. It would certainly be interesting to hear the reasons why
this might not be possible from those involved in the sport.
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*I was listening to Episode 56 of the Flying Lap, 'Looking Back at the Jerez Test' (from about 22:30). You can access this as a video and sign up to receive The Flying Lap from all RSS and Podcast feeds, including iTunes and I heartily recommend it for insight from a great range of people from within F1, including the great drivers and team representatives as well as those behind the scenes and from the F1 community (for example the excellent ScarbsF1 for technical insight and Keith Collantine from F1 Fanatic).
** I would pay many, many pounds to watch F1 stars racing a grid full of classic Minis. And to forcing Mika Häkkinen to come and play too. Hell, scrap the rest of the idea, I just want this to happen!
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