12/02/2024
FEATURE BY GUEST AUTHORS
Just when you think Formula One has exhausted the countless ways it can make you question why you remain a fan, it comes up with all-new ways to disappoint you. That was especially true during the month of January.
Last year I wrote a piece asking whether Formula One was at risk of losing its soul. On the evidence of the start to this year, the answer would appear to be a resounding yes.
Even though we're only a month into the new year, there's been a trifecta of embarrassing stories that have left me worried for the future of this once great sport. But, since the shock news of Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari may have conveniently made you forget them, let's recap.
Just a couple of weeks ago we heard the news that the new home of the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026 would be at a circuit that would appear to race around a nondescript industrial estate somewhere in Madrid. Not that you'd ever be able to tell it was Madrid if you looked at the real photos rather than the deliberately glitzy graphics F1 attempted to hype up on social media.
You have to wonder whether all the high-ranking management visited the site before they signed the ten year contract. For some strange reason, I suspect not. It looks like the sort of area you'd want to avoid when it gets dark for fear of having your expensive watch stolen... Lando, Charles please note.
Never mind though, because it's another street circuit, just what we need! And that's before you even consider the news that Osaka, the third biggest city in Japan, wishes to hold a race. Or that F1 has recently applied to trademark phrases relating to a Chicago Grand Prix. And the persistent rumours about a future New York Grand Prix.
Seemingly there must no longer be any permanent race tracks in existence in any of these countries for Formula One to now only be interested in racing exclusively on street circuits.
Then there was the news from Red Bull's second team. Having been known as Alpha Tauri for the past three seasons, Red Bull decided now was time for a new rebrand. Late last year, we heard rumours that they were considering "Hugo Boss Bulls Racing" as a possible name for 2024.
Oh, how we all laughed. Surely they wouldn't choose something as horrendously bad as that?
That's true. As if out of spite, they've gone for something far worse.
Behold the majesty of 'Visa Cash App RB'.
I mean...what the bloody hell is that? Even the most woefully incompetent candidates on BBC's The Apprentice would have been capable of coming up with better branding.
Title sponsors are sadly nothing new in Formula One. Recently we had the dreadful Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, whereas this year Sauber has joined the hotly contested competition for worst team name imaginable with their own mouthful: Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.
If you'd like to know what Stake or Kick are, I'd love to tell you - but I have no idea myself. Kick, I believe, is some sort of live streaming platform that is used by the type of people who've been permanently banned from using every other better-known site. Stake? Not a clue.
Thankfully, however, this name will only (hopefully) be a short-lived arrangement. Audi is due to take over the Sauber team in 2026, and will likely choose to partner with some companies that are decidedly less questionable.
Visa Cash App RB will unfortunately remain for longer. Even now, I can't get my head around it. The 'RB', we are informed, does not stand for 'Racing Bulls', as some people initially thought. It just stands for RB. It's hard to think of a more bland, less imaginative identity, and one that panders so totally to the highest bidder.
Unsurprisingly, the name has been largely mocked and rejected by fans - many of whom, myself included, will simply refer to this team from now on as Toro Rosso or Minardi, as it was previously known.
But if all of that wasn't embarrassing enough for the so-called pinnacle of motorsport, then we had the third and perhaps most depressing story of all. Despite having been approved by the FIA, Andretti's ambition to become Formula One's 11th team appears to have been thwarted, at least for now. FOM and Liberty Media, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to prevent Andretti from entering.
I've written in detail about this long-running saga over the past couple of years. I feared it would happen, but still hoped that common sense would eventually prevail, and that Andretti would be granted entry as soon as possible. But for the most credible and worthy prospective entry F1 has had in well over a decade to be denied is an incredibly sad development for anyone who loves this sport.
And FOM's reasons for preventing Andretti's entry are so laughably hypocritical. They claim that an 11th team won't automatically add value to the sport, and for it to do so, it would have to be competitive and achieve podiums and race victories immediately. Oh, and GM has to commit to building its own engine too.
But by these same lofty criteria, you can easily question the "value" of over half the current grid. Haas, which is now entering its eighth year of competition, has failed to secure a single podium in that time, and most recently has been better known for its awful sponsor choices (Rich Energy/Uralkali) and sweary (now former) team boss rather than on track results.
Meanwhile, Sauber's one and only victory to date will be 16 years ago this year. Williams have been largely irrelevant since 2004, and haven't won a race in over a decade. Red Bull's second team, which now has no identity and a name nobody will use, has only won the grand total of two races since they were bought in 2006.
You can even move further up the grid. Aston Martin was bought by a wealthy businessman so his son could race in F1 for as long as he can be bothered to, and have only won one race in the two decades since it was owned by Eddie Jordan. Even McLaren went nine years between wins. All of these teams currently rely on customer engine deals.
Maybe it is unfair to bring all this up, given that until the budget cap was introduced a few years ago, the chasm between F1's "haves" and "have nots" was as wide as the Grand Canyon. But to prevent Andretti's entry on these unbelievably high grounds is a massive mistake - particularly following a season in which a single team won all but one of the races!
Of course, some members of the F1 media (and particularly those on FOM's payroll) will try and convince you that this is the right decision. Or they'll just stay quiet until the fan backlash dies down, before they go back to telling you how awesome everything is.
But if you genuinely care about Formula One, this news should really make you consider why you should even continue to carry on watching. It has for me.
Due to the cyclical nature of modern F1 and Red Bull's current dominant position, we're unlikely to witness a championship battle any time soon. Team names are becoming increasingly ludicrous, street circuits are slowly taking over the calendar, and to top it off, a highly credible team has just been prevented from entering.
Oh, and if you did want to attend an F1 race with friends or family, due to ticket prices being so extremely expensive, your best bet is to either re-mortgage your house or hope you win the lottery.
It has never been so clear that the sport cares far more about making money than it does about what its fans want. And it's so frustrating to see all the goodwill the sport had just a couple of years ago being lost as a result of its own stupidity and greed. But ultimately, FOM and Liberty aren't listening, so why should we care?
The sad fact is the sport is now something I increasingly struggle to recognise, and far removed from the one I fell in love with as a young kid. But thankfully, for motor racing fans, there is a plethora of other series to enjoy and give your time to.
Sports car racing is currently enjoying a new golden era in the WEC and IMSA - and the recent Rolex 24 hour race from Daytona was stunning. NASCAR has finally shaken off its Redneck image and is enjoying a rebirth too, whilst IndyCar remains perhaps the most competitive series on the planet. Then there's a personal favourite of mine - MotoGP, arguably the most consistently exciting racing series around.
2024 looks like being a great year for racing, so with all that being said, I'll make one final plea:
Can the last person in Formula One who genuinely cares about the sport please turn off the lights?