THE 2011 HUNGARIAN Grand Prix will be remembered for a number of reasons, statistics being the first. Jenson Button started his 200th Grand Prix and eventually won it. Toro Rosso and Nico Rosberg competed in their 100th career GP at the Hungaroring. 88 were the total no. of pitstops in the race, making it the highest ever in the sport. Leaving the statistics for you to ponder upon, leading upto the Hungarian GP, Bernie Ecclestone left the teams with a TV deal to ponder upon.
Taking a step slightly back from Button’s win, Formula1 is ultimately a business and as with every business it has its strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Ecclestone has identified its opportunities and used them well by expanding Grand Prix venues to the emerging markets and adding more viewers and followers to the sport, ultimately leading to a commercial benefit. Formula1 also faces various threats and the primary ones are its non-environmental friendly nature and costs.
Costs have been debated and have been a cause of concern in the sport since the past decade or more. It is also the single most important reason why a sponsor or car manufacturer decides to either join the Formula1 bandwagon or not. Most technical rule changes in the near past have been to reduce operating costs of the sport. Cost is also the biggest factor why the BBC decided to review its broadcast partnership with Formula1.
The new deal that Ecclestone proposed to the Formula1 teams involves a free + paid broadcast of the sport in Europe. This deal would be a shared broadcast model between Sky Sports and BBC. Sky Sports would broadcast LIVE all the practice sessions, qualifying and the race, which the viewer would need to pay for. BBC, on its free terrestrial network, would broadcast half of the seasons race LIVE and others will be a deferred live telecast or a highlights package.
This model is a first for Formula1 and clearly indicates that the TV deal between BBC and Formula1 was too expensive for the broadcaster to stay committed to. The deal was originally supposed to end by 2013. The proposed model has raised questions in the minds of the teams and fans. A pay model decreases the overall reach and visibility of the sport, something that can affect team sponsorships. However, the sum of the BBC-Sky deal is expected to be 45 million GBP, as opposed to a 30 million that was paid by BBC. This means that each of the F1 teams will receive a million plus pounds in this new deal. (courtesy: Formula Money)
Fans have expressed disinterest over this new TV deal for obvious reasons. An annual SKY broadcast package would be a little under 500 GBP, around 350 GBP more than a BBC package. This TV deal affects the European region, which is Formula1’s primary market. The Formula1 teams have currently shown support to Ecclestone in this new signing. However, team and fan reactions in the coming weeks will be interesting to note.
Many wonder if Ecclestone’s reasoning behind this new deal was to maximize revenue, but the reality behind this deal was that BBC would have actually considered dropping Formula1 broadcast altogether leaving the sport without a terrestrial broadcaster. Money and not viewership were BBC’s main reason to consider this 50% arrangement; after all viewership figures only increased since BBC started their Formula1 broadcast in 2009. Ecclestone’s deal now ensures that while there is a pay-per-view broadcaster, the sport is also free-to-air on BBC. For Indian Formula1 fans, the broadcast would still be on the ESPN-Star network, so the BBC-Sky deal doesn’t really affect our life.
For Indian Formula1 fans, the first time in the 2011 season, there wasn’t an Indian driver competing on a Grand Prix weekend. Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok both didn’t drive the Free Practice 1 session in Hungary. However, the Hungarian Grand Prix was yet another fantastic race for the Force India Formula One Team.
Force India managed to get at least one of their drivers into Q3 of qualifying for the 4th consecutive race this season. Adrian Sutil qualified 8th and ahead of Paul di Resta in 11th. However, in the race, it was time for Paul di Resta to deliver a strong finish after Sutil had an off-track incident on lap 1 of the race. Paul di Resta finished the race 7th and Adrian Sutil 14th scoring 6 important championship points for India’s only Formula1 team. The 7th place finish meant that Force India finished only behind Red Bull, Mclaren and Ferrari.
The Force India team currently stands 7th in the Constructor’s Championship table with 26 points, only 9 points behind Sauber.
