Sunday's race was the 11th Grand Prix to be staged at the vast Shanghai International Circuit, as good a time as any to muse upon the progress the sport has made in promoting itself in a crucial market. The only problem with that is there has been no progress. And China is far from alone.
Effective local activation, especially in new markets, is a rare thing in Formula One. Oliver Weingarten, the secretary-general of the now-defunct Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), says: “The question is, whose responsibility is it?” Is it the promoter of the sport, as in the commercial rights holder or is it the promoter of the Grand Prix, or is it the teams? The promoter of the Grand Prix isn’t getting enough back from his deal – you could argue that’s his own fault, because that’s the way it’s been negotiated, but ultimately it’s ticket revenue which they have agreed they will retain. With the fee that is being paid by the circuit they are saying ‘we don’t have much left and we’re not recouping that much in ticket revenue, so we do need some assistance’.”
That assistance has, thus far, not been forthcoming. There's more from Weingarten on why FOTA folded and what it means for the sport in June's SportsPro magazine.
Best of British
Remarkably, for anyone who remembers his Grand Prix debut in 2000, Jenson Button is now the most experienced driver on the grid – for the record, only Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso are older. In Bahrain, two weeks ago, the Englishman celebrated his 250th race, so it is somehow fitting that Button's latest commercial deal is with that most traditional of British brands, Rolls Royce. The deal began in China, and Button will be chauffeured into the circuit at Grands Prix in Canada, Austria, Britain, Germany, Italy, Abu Dhabi and the USA this season in a variety of models, including the new Wraith.
Kazakhstan calling?
Highly rated 22-year old Spaniard Daniel Juncadella secured a reserve driver role this season with Sahara Force India, and his place there is due largely to a toe-in-the-water deal by Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The central Asian company's sovereign wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, is currently placing several of Astana's sports teams under the Astana Presidential Club banner, as part of a strategy to promote the country. Juncadella is not part of the project directly but Astana Motorsport, which is, has paid €2 million to place him at Force India, after signing a deal to look after his commercial interests. For now, at least, there is only a small Astana logo visible on the car, but Darkhan Kaletayev, who heads Samruk Kazyna, is in no doubt about the value of Formula One, telling SportsPro: “Our participation in one driver is an investment of the size of €2 million and it gives us more PR in the world of sport than investments of €10 million in some other projects.”
Kolles and Haas make their bids
After accepting an application from Haas Formula, the proposed new Formula One team from America run by Nascar team chief Gene Haas, earlier this month, world motorsport's governing body, the FIA, also confirmed that it was 'in the process of conducting further investigations' on a second potential entry. Forza Rossa, as it was named in the FIA World Motor Sport Council's press release, turns out to be the name of Romania's Ferrari dealership, leading to speculation that the project, which appears to be headed by former Formula One team principal Colin Kolles and backed by Romania's government, will forge a technical partnership with Ferrari if it gets the green light for a 2015 debut. Little else is known about that project at the moment, but Haas revealed details of his proposed entry in a press briefing in North Carolina last Monday. Tellingly, however, Haas, the founder of machine tool giant Haas Automation, cannot yet say whether the team will be ready for 2015, or have to wait until 2016 to join the party.