2013: Formula One hopes to change the world (Part 3)
Martin Whitmarsh, the chairperson of FOTA and team boss for McLaren is actively working with the FIA in order to decrease the fuel consumption and take Formula 1 to the next level. The FIA believes that they can decrease the cost spent on cars, fuel and
everything in between, as the Formula 1 is going through a tough time financially due to the global recession.
“We've also got to get it right that they're seen as the most technically advanced racing cars in the world, as they are now, and that we have the sound. The experience of being near Formula One cars, listening to them, is vitally important,” said
Whitmarsh.
He believes that they have to do things and the time has come, as the sport is facing a lot of financial stress for quite some time now and what we must keep our mind set on these set of rules that will cause a new set lose people along the way. The Formula
1 will emerge from this economic crisis strongly according to Martin and the sport should not be offhand as all the teams will still be here even if the officials get it wrong. They will have to sound great, be excited to drive, they have got to be perceived
to be the most advanced technology but they should be relevant to society and technologies that the FIA develops.
Introducing a fuel efficient, green, hybrid sport is one thing, and delivering this message to the fans, politicians and potential sponsors is another as it will be an entirely different endeavour. Tim Routsis admits that it is “very, very complex”.
“Formula One has quite a lot of challenges facing its marketing messaging, but we must never lose sight of the fact that it also has a huge amount that is right at the moment,” he stated.
He further went on to say that, the Formula 1 would have to be very careful in order to handle this situation as planned and they need to understand the reason why people relate Formula 1 and Motorsports differently. The Formula 1 should not lose that factor,
it is a very, very multifaceted, and that is the main reason why so many people did not think about it carefully.
However, one should wonder, will a greener Formula 1 really help the sport attract more sponsors? Harry Gibblings, the Head of Global Sponsorship at TW steel, a sponsor that supports Renault, thinks that this will drive the sponsors away from the sport.
He believes that from a sponsor’s perspective, the green culture is an important factor and after his experience with TW Steel, Renault has achieved great goals regarding this matter by taking the technology from the F1 programme and converting it in to small
fuel efficient cars.
“That's not the primary reason that we're in Formula One sponsorship. Obviously, we are there to get a return on investment - it hits 450 million people at each round - so from our point of view, that is the important thing. But to have positive green
credentials in the future is also an important aspect of it,” he added.
However, keeping the new engine regulations in mind, if the Formula 1 publicizes the fact that it will convert itself into road car technology and that it will make road cars more fuel efficient and economically helpful, people will not be interested as
much in coming to the Formula 1.
Nevertheless, if this technological revolution is introduced by the 2013, hybrid regulations successfully in transferring road cars in the future, the impact of the reduction of carbon emissions from the world’s crowd of automobiles will have a huge impact.
Formula 1 has a chance to change the world in 2013 and it must be supported in order to succeed. The future of this historic sport is uncertain and it must succeed in order to survive.
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