A moment to define sports for the next generation

One year ago, I was in the pub. Not drinking, but eating pancakes, drinking juice and reminiscing about the Birmingham 10K race in which my team and I had just completed. A perfect Sunday morning for a student. A far cry from the world that we are in today. I remember leaving the pub to run to my flat at 12:50 pm, arriving just in time to see five lights go out at the Monaco Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton would spend the next 78 laps being hunted by the ever-hungry Dutchman, Max Verstappen. Hamilton would have what the engineers call a ‘sub-optimal strategy’ and, despite Max throwing himself at the Brit from all angles, Lewis managed to hold on to his third win in the principality. 

Yes, it was just one of Hamilton’s 84 wins so you wouldn’t think it was that special. However, such a notion couldn’t be further from the truth. Firstly, Monaco is the biggest challenge for any racing driver: a tight layout creates one of sport’s most significant challenges. It is often compared to cycling around one’s living room. Just one mistake usually results in a crash so it’s not for the faint-hearted. Thus, a win in Monaco means that little bit more to any driver, even Lewis.

Secondly, Hamilton’s Mercedes and, indeed, Formula One had just lost one of their greatest heroes. Niki Lauda lived and breathed what it meant to race. So, to win in Niki’s honour, wearing a tribute helmet would have been emotional.

Finally, to shrug off the young charger, Max Verstappen, is no mean feat. It has been evident in recent years that there is a changing of the guard in Formula One and fresh-faced talents, like Max, are coming for Lewis’ title as ‘the King of F1’. Monaco 2019 embodied the transition that F1 is going through. 

One year on, all sports find themselves at a critical juncture: the approach to competitive events returning is crucial for the success of any championship for the following generation. As we all sit at home, watching on, the world is more open than ever to the sports with which it interact. Human culture needs sporting competition. A captive and thirsty audience provides an opportunity to sell plenty of drinks. I envisage a world with unprecedented levels of sporting viewership on the horizon. 

So what does this mean for the not-so-distant future of sport? Sport is just as much about business as they are about the excellence on the track, court or pitch. Hence, those with fingers in a sporting pie will be interested in getting the show back on the road, an interest further strengthened as sports jostle for position to be the first and the best entertainment to give those waiting patiently in the sofa-like grandstands what they want. Consequently, while competition has ceased in the arena, it continues behind closed doors and is set to burst from its confines as soon as possible.

Another thing to consider is the reality that many will financially suffer from governmental restrictions. Such economic issues have many consequences. Primarily, the government are going to want to allow sporting events to take place as soon as possible. Sports taking place means consumers spending money, which is positive for the economy. There are also those who can gradually gain sources of income from sporting events taking place. From the book-makers to the groundskeepers, many will welcome the return of sport with open arms. Economic recession means that the captive audience that sports will be fighting for has reduced funds to spend on watching competitions. As a result, access to sports for a lower price will become a necessity.

In past weeks, E-Sports have come into their own. F1 has done a fantastic job of getting many great names involved in online races. This weekend’s Virtual Monaco Grand Prix will feature 8 of the 20 drivers from the 2020 season. It will also include other sporting names such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thibaut Courtois, huge for Formula One, as it beckons interest from supporters of different sports. Virtual ambassadors have also headed to the USA, an audience upon which F1 puts emphasis. Lando Norris would have won the Virtual Indy 500 were it not for being taken out in a headline-making crash with Pagenaud. F1 owners over the years have often credited Lewis Hamilton with attracting new audiences but there is no doubt that Norris’ involvement will put Formula One in the global conversation. 

F1 have used E-Sports to court a significant audience which is interested, particularly in comparison to those watching football players play FIFA. The difficulty is that Formula One, like tennis, golf and many others, is an international sport. This puts these sports at an inherent disadvantage compared to sports that take place within national boundaries. As has been proven in Germany, football can be restarted relatively quickly, albeit eerily, behind closed doors. Yet to get a Grand Prix season underway requires multiple governments to approve a globe-trotting group of people flying from circuit to circuit for a motor race. The hoops to jump through seem endless. 

This takes us back to last year - not the pub but the Monaco Grand Prix. Formula One is in a transition phase at present. This week, a cost cap was put in place for the teams - a necessity - mainly because car manufacturers are not going to be cash rich. A change in regulations was already on the cards for 2021 (now 2022). It seems that a substantial engineering change is on the horizon. There is also talk about editing the format of races and even running multiple races at a single circuit; sensible for this year, but who knows? We may like a change, moving forward. And, finally, there are the protagonists. Will Seb Vettel retire at the end of this season? I sense so. Last year, Vettel was calling for the bringing back of the V12s. A forward-facing sport like F1 moves on quickly from someone out of love and missing the past.

The characters and their machinery may be changing, but racing instinct never does. This is Formula One’s opportunity to seize the apex and lead the way for the sport of our future.