The Macau Grand Prix could not provide a starker contrast to Formula 1, highlighting how the pinnacle of the sport has lost its way, according to JONATHAN NOBLE
As Formula 1 heads to a Tilkedrome on the artificial Yas Island, for a title showdown threatened by the gimmick of double points, some of us will at least arrive there refreshed by the reality check that comes from a dose of the Macau Grand Prix.
While the F1 world appears to get ever more wearisome of paddock politics - be it fights over costs, income distribution, engine freezes or snipes at young fans - a few days in Macau is always a fantastic reminder of what this sport is supposed to be all about: the racing.
Last weekend was no different. Not once as Formula 3's finest battled it out for glory around the famous streets on which Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard have triumphed, was there any discussion about the latest political developments, panic about where the sport was heading or fears about conspiracies to drive the weakest out.
Instead, all that mattered for the drivers, team bosses, media and the enthusiastic sell-out crowd, which cheered every overtaking move, spin and clash with the barriers, was what was going on out on track. What happened on that 3.852-mile strip of asphalt was everything.
It's no wonder that everyone who ever goes to Macau is drawn back. What's not to love about the event?
Mika Hakkinen leads future F1 title rivals Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher in Macau in 1990 © LAT |
I bumped into Mika Hakkinen, who had a big grin on his face as he kept a close eye on events. F1 race director Charlie Whiting flew in and caught up with old friends in the pitlane, and former grand prix driver Stefan Johansson clearly loved that his man Felix Rosenqvist came out on top.
The joys of pure motorsport, an intense and unpredictable fight for victory, plus a dramatic finale that threw up plenty of surprises and a big shunt, were in stark contrast to the way that F1 appears to be bouncing from one off-track political mess to another.
In fact these are strange days for F1, where on track we at least have had a thrilling title head-to-head, but the sport seems to only be able to generate negative headlines off it.
Having rumbled on through new-regulations chaos, criticisms of the noise, falling television audiences, cash crises and then collapsing teams, the latest broadside came from the very top as Bernie Ecclestone spouted some astonishing words last week about why the sport's marketeers shouldn't be chasing younger fans.
While he may not give a damn about social media, the internet, or those that cannot boost his coffers, to tell millions of youngsters - as well as anyone under 70 who can't afford a Rolex - that F1 is not something that cares much for them was shocking.
What benefit comes from alienating the masses? How is F1 going to build up the fan base of the future and lure them in for when they are the cash-rich consumers in decades to come if they are not brought on board now? Get someone hooked early enough and you have them for life.
It's the same for Macau. Speak to any F1 driver who has ever raced there and their eyes light up and they rave about it. They are unanimous that it remains the best street track in the world.
Check out what Daniel Ricciardo said on the eve of this weekend's event. "If Formula 1 never races there, then I'm going to try to get as many F1 drivers as we can to enter one year and just do it," he said. "Because I have to race on that circuit again. I have to. I have to drive that circuit again. Once is not enough."
I mentioned Ricciardo's comment to future Toro Rosso man Max Verstappen on Sunday night, and a smile spread across his face as he too suggested one outing was not enough. "Well, maybe we should do it together then," he said.
A big impression made early, then hooked for life. That's something F1 should be thinking long and hard about right now.
The Macau Grand Prix could not provide a starker contrast to Formula 1, highlighting how the pinnacle of the sport has lost its way, according to JONATHAN NOBLE
As Formula 1 heads to a Tilkedrome on the artificial Yas Island, for a title showdown threatened by the gimmick of double points, some of us will at least arrive there refreshed by the reality check that comes from a dose of the Macau Grand Prix.
While the F1 world appears to get ever more wearisome of paddock politics - be it fights over costs, income distribution, engine freezes or snipes at young fans - a few days in Macau is always a fantastic reminder of what this sport is supposed to be all about: the racing.
Last weekend was no different. Not once as Formula 3's finest battled it out for glory around the famous streets on which Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard have triumphed, was there any discussion about the latest political developments, panic about where the sport was heading or fears about conspiracies to drive the weakest out.
Instead, all that mattered for the drivers, team bosses, media and the enthusiastic sell-out crowd, which cheered every overtaking move, spin and clash with the barriers, was what was going on out on track. What happened on that 3.852-mile strip of asphalt was everything.
It's no wonder that everyone who ever goes to Macau is drawn back. What's not to love about the event?
Mika Hakkinen leads future F1 title rivals Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher in Macau in 1990 © LAT |
I bumped into Mika Hakkinen, who had a big grin on his face as he kept a close eye on events. F1 race director Charlie Whiting flew in and caught up with old friends in the pitlane, and former grand prix driver Stefan Johansson clearly loved that his man Felix Rosenqvist came out on top.
The joys of pure motorsport, an intense and unpredictable fight for victory, plus a dramatic finale that threw up plenty of surprises and a big shunt, were in stark contrast to the way that F1 appears to be bouncing from one off-track political mess to another.
In fact these are strange days for F1, where on track we at least have had a thrilling title head-to-head, but the sport seems to only be able to generate negative headlines off it.
Having rumbled on through new-regulations chaos, criticisms of the noise, falling television audiences, cash crises and then collapsing teams, the latest broadside came from the very top as Bernie Ecclestone spouted some astonishing words last week about why the sport's marketeers shouldn't be chasing younger fans.
While he may not give a damn about social media, the internet, or those that cannot boost his coffers, to tell millions of youngsters - as well as anyone under 70 who can't afford a Rolex - that F1 is not something that cares much for them was shocking.
What benefit comes from alienating the masses? How is F1 going to build up the fan base of the future and lure them in for when they are the cash-rich consumers in decades to come if they are not brought on board now? Get someone hooked early enough and you have them for life.
It's the same for Macau. Speak to any F1 driver who has ever raced there and their eyes light up and they rave about it. They are unanimous that it remains the best street track in the world.
Check out what Daniel Ricciardo said on the eve of this weekend's event. "If Formula 1 never races there, then I'm going to try to get as many F1 drivers as we can to enter one year and just do it," he said. "Because I have to race on that circuit again. I have to. I have to drive that circuit again. Once is not enough."
I mentioned Ricciardo's comment to future Toro Rosso man Max Verstappen on Sunday night, and a smile spread across his face as he too suggested one outing was not enough. "Well, maybe we should do it together then," he said.
A big impression made early, then hooked for life. That's something F1 should be thinking long and hard about right now.