AM: Motorsport Ireland is responsible for 11 different forms of motorsport, each run by relevant committees. The Karting Committee already had a social media policy in place but that still left 10 other disciplines that didn't have a policy in this regard. A number of issues arose on social media last year in those other disciplines and there was no effective way of dealing with them. What was needed was a policy that covered all competitors and officials in all disciplines and a strong, independent, transparent disciplinary process. We think we have now achieved that.
Motorsport Ireland’s Social Media Policy Document can be found here: http://www.motorsportireland.com/Libraries/Misc/Social_Media_Policy_indemnity.sflb.ashx
NG: When we started this work with the CEO of Motorsport Ireland, the words “BULLYING” and “INTIMIDATION” were used. It’s unusual to hear such words used in the context of sport and if such bullying and intimidation is preventable through such process and importantly for the younger competitors through education, then it makes total sense for every governing body to do so. It is the hope of Motorsport Ireland that with our new policy and process the words “bullying” and “intimidation” in Irish Motorsport will in the future be a thing of the past.
BW: I agree – creation and implementation of the Social Media policy is a brilliant initiative. I suppose something else to remind these young drivers is that what they say or post online does not only affect them. If other people are trying to get into the sport, and they see these negative comments, they could be discouraged from the sport.
BS: We’ve been working on some workshops for Driver training and empowerment to know what to do when they feel they are being bullied. The other course is about being careful what they say online and being their authentic selves
RET: Sadly, some drivers don’t always follow the rules even if they are informed of it. Young or not so young drivers sometimes get into trouble because they don’t have a social network manager or because they want to do this in their own way.
Q3: There seems to be more back-to-back F1 races in 2016 calendar e.g. USA & Mexico; how does this affect race organisers, tracks, fans and teams?
BW: Travel costs are a big part of a teams’ budget. The F1 circus starts in Australia, then Asia, travels to Europe, flies to North and South America and ends up in Abu Dhabi so it literally travels the globe which is a time, cost and environmental expense. I know from our work at Driven
International that the FIA is keen on promoting environmental initiatives within race teams and race tracks so this may eventually have an influence on race calendars. Obviously logistically it makes more sense to order the races and reduce travel costs and environmental impact.
RET: Your example of USA and Mexico is an interesting case – Last year, USA Grand Prix attendance was propped up by Mexican fans so it will be interesting to see what the 2016 turn-out at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) will be compared to Mexican GP’s second year. Also, I believe USA is a warrior country and to convince people to go to war, it has to be something they believe. F1 is a “foreign” sport so that’s why Americans prefer Baseball, NFL etc which they see as their own.
NG: The Back-to Back races that jumped at me this year are Spa and Monza. With regards to viewing, you have to ask "Can I spend a minimum of 3 hours 2 weekends
in a row to watch F1?". Not a chance!
AM: You have Singapore, Malaysia and Japan so we have about 3 weeks there (for a holiday!) and straight afterwards it goes Mexico, USA to Brazil so they all line up together geographically.
BS: I've said it before and I'll say it again; if you can afford to go to one race - for an extra 50% of the cost - you can squeeze in a second race and have a two-week holiday. That would be heaven for me personally and a fair chunk of F1 audiences would agree.
Moderator: I think it will also put the marketers on their toes - competing with race tracks close to them, they will have to come up with some interesting marketing techniques to ensure their tracks remain profitable.
NG: On a technical front, if you have a team or driver that is running away with the championship and you have races very close together in the calendar, are we going to end up with a situation whereby that team or driver keeps going and wins the championship (because there’s little turn-around for new development parts)?. Will this lead to disinterest in the sport and lack of competition? Will other teams lose interest and motivation?
BW: Yes, we said the “new calendar” will help reduce costs for teams but on the flipside, if a driver has an accident during the race weekend and teams need to do a big repair like a tub-replacement, that puts teams under pressure but that could be a good thing to raise the competition level between mechanics and engineers.
Q4: Tag Heuer has moved their sponsorship from McLaren to Red Bull—thoughts about the move especially with uncertainty around RBR’s engine deal
AM: To be clear, Tag Group is still sponsoring McLaren but Tag Heuer has moved to Red Bull Racing team so TG isn’t sponsoring McLaren any less but instead switched the branding around. Tag Heuer is no longer part of Tag Group, but now part of Louis Vitton group.
NG: My understanding is that the deal for Red Bull Racing was for an Ilmor backed engine supplied by Renault to be branded as Tag Heuer engine and I believe the deal was done before the sponsorship deal was then announced. Mclaren have taken on Chandon as a new sponsor now anyway and I doubt Mclaren will struggle financially with the loss of Tag Heuer.
Also, I heard rumours that Ron (Dennis) fell out with the CEO of Tag Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver in Monaco due to a lack of agreement on the route the brand now wanted to go and this didn’t fit in with McLaren’s plans for the future. Seemingly they didn’t share Tag Heuer’s view on the radical approach to sponsorship. Maybe Riccardo and Kvyat just fitted the Tag Heuer brand better.
AM: I wonder if with the imminent arrival of the new CEO for McLaren Team from Volkswagen World Rally Team, perhaps they’ve decided that whatever happens, they can’t do anything about it now, that they are happy to write off the 2016 season and start afresh when Capito arrives.