The last few years have been a bit lean so far as us McLaren supporters go in Formula 1. It’s hard to imagine but it’s been a whole decade since we last won the Constructors Championship and nine years since we last got a Drivers crown.
As a distinctly ‘not football’ sort of person it’s always been a bit of an annoyance when considering the vast amount of media coverage that sport receives compared to my own sporting preference. As far as the British media has been concerned Formula 1 hasn’t really appeared on the radar for almost a decade and a half. Subsequently popular enthusiasm for the sport has been on the wane in the UK but it is curious this season.
With the arrival of Lewis Hamilton and actually the prospect of a British driver winning races and in with a shot at the top prize suddenly the media are jumping all over it. Although admittedly with what can be seen as a reactionary approach in that the quality of reporting is a bit on the poor side. One can only conclude that editors saw fit to drop their F1 correspondents years ago and are now making do with people writing reports who know sod all about the sport.
What it also shows is the rather disappointingly short-sightedness and national bias of their approach. Like a bunch of vultures jumping on the back of success by a new British driver they show their insincerity for reporting. We’ve had close on 15 years of under-reporting on the F1 scene where interest in the sport has dropped. In that time we as a country may well have missed out inspiring some young person to take up the sport and come through to the top level. This accounts for nothing more than a parasitic relationship for which the media has had with Formula 1.
As for the actual coverage on television in the UK through ITV, a similar analogy can be made. This is not to consider that previously under the BBC coverage was any better. Thinking back to 80′s if I recall correctly we were treated to the race and qualifying for the British GP only. ITV did improve on that situation by showing qualifying although over sporadically in this place or the other. Dare the GP be held at a time that clashes with something of far more importance like Coronation Street or some cheap low budget mid-afternoon movie and it gets shunted to the baren wilderness of ITV4. This is hardly a commitment from a broadcaster who paid a rather substantial amount of money for the priviledge of broadcasting Formula 1. Contrast this to RTL (German Commercial Channel) who hold the rights to broadcast in Germany and incidentally who we watch the Formula 1 coverage on. They broadcast everything, race, qualifying, warm-up sessions and extensive analysis. Far too many times have the post race press conference been cut short or not shown at all on ITV because we have to rush off to Corri.
It will be interesting to see the renewed interest of the media has on viewing and interest in the sport by the general public. Will new fans be created, will some of the old fans whose interest has drifted away over the years return to the fold? Probably yes. Will young people take an interest in taking up the sport, quite possibly. How many potential talented drivers could we have missed out on in the past decade and a half because a (British) driver wasn’t up there and the media took little to no interest? It’s sad really but the attention is very welcome now, pity about the quality of reporting though.
Anyway, after a fair few years of frustration with regard to my own team not doing too well it’s turning out to be a quite enjoyable season with us now holding a 35 point lead over Ferrari and both drivers pulling a clear gap away from the rest at the top of the Drivers Championship. Looking forward to France.