We have witnessed a start to the season characterized by the clear dominance of Red Bull. Le controversy they started earlier, with the feint presentation in New York of the RB-19 last February 7, who however knew a lot about the RB-18. In short, a show. TO Gedda their performances overshadowed the performances of the other teams, exception made for Alonso, and with its AM-23 F1. Only for him though. It is therefore a matter of three men and two cars… Not to mention the marketing!
Red Bull dominance and marketing to the detriment of the show
Once upon a time there was a Ferrari that won. Which won hands down. Once upon a time Mercedes Benz which did the same, then followed by Red Bull, given its rise in recent years. A Red Bull that certainly put on a show in 2021, winning the world championship on the last lap (literally!). But many suspect such a force in Red Bull's dominance this year, that the world title can already be decided in Singapore. In short, for these people the risk of getting bored watching the F1 championship 2023 is – almost – guaranteed.
And then there is the marketing to fuel the discord and to make some lose the desire to see certain grand prix. Resounding is the example of vegas tickets: how much Rib access the paddock of this famous Nevada city? Tens of thousands of dollars? No, much more. A million. A million which is an insult to the living conditions of many people. And a little also to the same positive projects that Formula 1 could support for the world, as is now expected of large companies. Or rather, by Liberty Media Corporation, better known as Liberty Medium, the company of John C. Malone who bought Formula 1 on September 7, 2016 for an unspecified amount. A figure that would appear to be around 6-8 billion dollars.
F1, the marketing of Liberty Media
Since Liberty Media has been in charge of F1 races, the round of money it is, in fact, undeniably increased dramatically. And with that too show, thanks to the marketing operations of the new owner company. The first example that might come to mind is the very famous Netflix series Drive to Surviveboth acclaimed and criticized. It is disliked by many as it seems to highlight if non-existent, at least negligible rivalries. In addition to giving even more visibility to situations that once ended in a vote between drivers behind closed doors. Or fights between pilots. Which we do not justify - certainly - but what it ended there and maybe it wasn't even (well) filmed by the cameras.
Speaking of entertainment, we can also name the sprint qualifying which is also called sprint race. The name for now is, at least in part, wrong as the sprint qualifying consists of qualifications which today are held on Saturday of six race weekends in racing mode, of half an hour. It is partly correct to call it that precisely because of the race mode (mini), and why could potentially evolve in a sort of race 1. This would, in fact, transform the historic Sunday race of F1 in race 2, like F2. There are many opposed, like the four-time world champion Alain Prost who, interviewed about it in 2021 said: “This is not Formula 1".
Now LA f1 seems to have become one Show, which for now has increased the revenue di Liberty Medium of the 20% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Now, this figure may seem contradictory given the large number of scandals that Liberty Media often arouses lately, in fact the question is: will these marketing strategies work in the long term?
