The pandemic legacy that could threaten a vital motor racing tenet

Watching Formula 1’s return to Melbourne was fun. What with two years of cancellations and postponements it had been three years since Aussie fans had been able to cheer Daniel Ricciardo on his way and luxuriate amid the spectacle of grand prix motor racing.

They returned in their droves, 420,000 over the full race weekend, and the buzz was infectious. There was a sense of celebration, of the world returning to normal – or rather the ‘new normal’ – for Formula 1, which has been permanently changed by the pandemic.

Remote working is not entirely new to F1, teams have been running strategy rooms back at their factories for years, but the pandemic has created a new reality, one in which the grandstands, hospitality units and merchandise stalls are full but the international media centre is almost empty.

When I checked in on Friday morning, a few hours before first practice, I asked the super-friendly reception staff where I should sit. “Anywhere you like, just let us know which desk you opt for,” came the reply. Upon which I was handed a layout of the media centre showing which desks were free. The answer was ‘most’. 

It’s still early days when it comes to international travel; this is not everyone’s cup of tea, given the additional paperwork required and the requisite COVID testing that still remains for certain countries – Australia included.

Journalist Joe Saward who, along with long-time F1 freelancer Adam Cooper, has somehow braved COVID-afflicted travel to attend each grand prix during the pandemic explained “this is how it is now”.

Fewer journalists are able, willing or (frankly) allowed to travel to every race thanks to the cumulative effect of the pandemic, burgeoning calendar and sheer cost involved of covering a world championship that has pivoted far beyond its European heartlands. Some don’t much want to visit the countries now hosting grands prix.

During the tightest restrictions of the COVID-19 protocols, all media engagements were done by video calls

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

What this means is that Formula 1 fans are increasingly being served by media who are not actually in attendance, relying on live video, data and timing feeds to which they add their layer of expertise and insight. 

Thus, we have the pitlane reporter throwing back to commentators who are essentially watching TV and the pundit who appears on a live broadcast while sitting at home in Monaco…

In Melbourne I sat through a press conference and watched the questions being placed from journalists at home in Europe. The connected world has been supercharged by the effects of the pandemic.

It raises an important question about the extent to which the media’s ability to provide genuine insight, to build relationships with drivers, engineers and team bosses, is being diluted, even harmed

It’s quite cool and so economical, plus it helps reduce your carbon footprint when the only travel you do is to sit in front of your computer in the spare room influencing fans. But it does raise an important question about the extent to which the media’s ability to provide genuine insight, to build relationships with drivers, engineers and team bosses, is being diluted, even harmed.

The late, great Murray Walker used to wander into hospitality units for a morning coffee, chat to the technical director, have a word with the team principal and then disappear with a driver for a proper conversation. His ability to communicate Formula 1 went far beyond the carefully curated words of a press release or the limitations of the group interview.

His true successor Martin Brundle takes the same approach. He knows far more than the viewer ever will. It remains vital that the wider media does not lose its paddock connections. Nor its ability to interrogate them face to face.

Martin Brundle, like the late Murray Walker before him, maintains close paddock ties to provide insight to TV viewers

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images