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.

Some Good News from F1: Project Pitlane

Given that recent weeks have been dark, it makes me proud to say that the lack of photons has shone the light upon the greatness of Formula One: my sport. While most us, quite rightly, have remained at home, the Coronavirus crisis has united some of the world’s greatest minds to help tackle this epidemic in the best way that we can. The seven British-based Formula One teams have a wealth of intellect and resources. They have come together in what has been called ‘Project Pitlane’. Mercedes Formula One team and UCL confirmed that they had been collaborating and Mercedes appear set to make 1000 Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines per day. These are breathing devices that will help keep patients out of the intensive care units, limiting pressure on the NHS. Incredible. But when you think for a second, this is what Formula One is all about.

When there is an issue in a race on Sunday, the engineers are up against the clock. A team will identify the problem in hours, design a solution in a day and produce the new part by Tuesday or Wednesday. The cameras focus on a weekend sport where the best drivers in the world go wheel to wheel. However, the race continues in the factory, where alumni of the most prestigious institutions search for fractions of a second. This is a world where a tenth of a second per lap is the difference between picking up a trophy or not; an average race has around 60 laps, hence, a tenth of a second per lap, becomes 6 seconds faster per race.

So we know that the people in this sport are good at overcoming challenges to make a real difference. It’s all very good talking about tenths of a second, but what about the real world? Do not fear, Formula One has got us covered there too. With the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, Honda and McLaren involved, F1 is a testbed for the car industry on how it approaches our road cars. Much of the hybrid engine technology, present on the road, comes from Formula One.

Finding a clear identity for Formula One has always been a challenge. Primarily, it is a sport, where some of the finest athletes dance with death, lose up to three kilos of sweat and withstand forces up to 6 g as they negotiate the ownership of a trophy. It can be compared to a high-speed game of chess, in a sauna. Like most sports, with substantial interest comes significant stakeholders, looking to flex their products or even countries as the world looks on. Unlike most sports, the athletes’ equipment is as essential as their ability to drive quickly. While you will rarely hear Roger Federer blaming his racket for bowing out of a tournament, Lewis Hamilton could drive the best race of his life, but if his engine decides that it wants to set ablaze, it’s not exactly his fault.

If you were Mercedes, and responsible for Hamilton’s equipment costing him and your team victory, you’d be pretty concerned about what message that says about the reliability of your engine. Therefore, it’s imperative for the business that Formula One teams find solutions quickly so that they can be the ones that are stood on the top of the podium and headlines at the next race, demonstrating that their products are fast and will last. This is why teams hire the best in the business: the best people produce the best results.

It’s important to note that the majority of those involved in Formula One do so out of love for the sport. They are true racers. But when a crisis such as this takes place, racing and sporting competition, in general, is put into perspective. This is why ‘Project Pitlane’ makes so much sense. It would be nonsense to waste such abundant talent and resources by asking them to sit at home. Many have likened this period in time to a war period. Such comparisons feel almost uncouth, – we must stay at home whereas our ancestors and relatives faced the demolition of their homes. But the war was a time when industry and intelligence discovered a new level due to its unified approach, and you can bet your bottom currency of choice that the world’s greatest minds are convening as you read this to fight this pandemic. Surely that is good news.

Thursday evenings at 8pm have become a time to put scrabble, walking and other self-improvements or sanity-maintainers on hold as we applaud the NHS for all of their hard work. Like many, I shudder to imagine the stress that is faced by our champions that wear white and work day and night. Let’s be clear. They are our soldiers. While the world of sport stops and stares, I can’t help but feel proud to look at what my sport is doing; taking the initiative, doing what it does best and playing the supporting act in this tragedy where doctors and nurses play the role of the heroes.

This post was originally published on my Medium Site on 6th April 2020

Ferrari should leave Formula One; it’ll be best for them.

Recently in the media, there has been a threat of Ferrari walking away from Formula One, a sport they have competed in since the first world championship season. So what has caused such as serious consideration? Is it a real threat?

Many members of the Formula One paddock have rolled their eyes, recalling that there have been similar threats from the Italian outfit before. But as the Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne put it, “if the sandbox is changed to the extent that it is unrecognisable, Ferrari don’t want to play.” This comes after Liberty Media, who bought the sport in the Autumn of 2016, unveiled plans for the future of Formula One. Liberty Media is an American brand who Marchionne believes are looking to build Formula One into a “global NASCAR.” Something of which Ferrari are disinterested.

Ferrari are not the only ones who are complaining after attending the meeting in Paris which outlined the changes to the teams. Mercedes and Renault have both expressed their concern too. But neither have threatened to quit the sport like the team in red. This issue appears to lie with the proposed plans for new engines; however, the teams are arguing that it will mean redesigning the whole engine, making the millions, even billion pounds of investment into the current engines pointless.

Many people who have been involved in Formula One or Ferrari have said more or less the same words. “Formula One is Ferrari and Ferrari is Formula One.” This includes Marchionne and the former boss of the sport, Bernie Ecclestone. In a recent interviewer, Ecclestone claimed that he and the former head of the FIA, the governing body, would change the regulations to suit Ferrari as it was best for Formula One for them to be at the front. So perhaps it was clear that Ferrari wasn’t likely to be as supportive of the new bosses as much as Ecclestone simple because they were probably going to want to make the sport more well-balanced. And so it has been.

Liberty has revealed plans to make it cheaper for teams, something of which Ferrari are in favour. But what is likely to cause the issue is the fact that Liberty Media isn’t expected to grant Ferrari an extra $70 million per year for their “heritage”. What will also be playing on the minds of those on the Ferrari board is that they have not won a championship since 2008, which happens to be when the former FIA boss, Max Mosely, who may or may not have helped Ferrari, left the sport. It would appear too that Ferrari’s shareholders would be happy if Ferrari walked away from Formula One as it would be financially beneficial. So if it makes Ferrari more money and they aren’t winning anyway, why are Ferrari not pulling the plug already?

What is stopping them is the heritage with Marchionne being one of many believers that Formula One is part of Ferrari’s DNA, it is hard for them to walk away as it will be a significant gap to fill for them. What is more, back home, in Italy, Ferrari are seen not just to represent a brand, but a nation. This pride and passion is shown each year at the Italian Grand Prix with the “Tifosi”, a word used for a group of Italian fans. It is widely accepted that these Italian fans are some of the most passionate in the world and they are all there to support the Ferrari team, irrelevant of the driver. This was demonstrated when Italian, Riccardo Patrese, crashed out of the lead of the Italian Grand Prix in 1983 to be met with cheers around the circuit as it had granted a Frenchman a win in a Ferrari. This pride and passion for Ferrari would probably diminish, affecting the Ferrari brand in Italy if they were to pull out of the spot. This is because Ferrari has an image of passion and excitement, if that is no longer clear on a global stage, then people may lose interest in the brand.

So will Ferrari leave? As they have never left the spot before, it would be a surprise to see them go now. This is why the likes of Jonny Herbert and Paul Di Resta believe that Ferrari are “playing games” and making noise in the media.” This is all in a bid to make the new owners of the sport reconsider their plans. However, Martin Brundle’s remark; “If they want to leave, leave, you can’t let the tail wag the dog.” Is probably similar to the stance that the new owners will take. This means, of course, that Ferrari are likely not to get what they wish which indicates that they may just call it a day in Formula One. A sad revolution, but all great relationships must come to an end. What Formula One has now, regarding pillars of history, is perhaps the tracks of Monaco, Monza, Spa and Silverstone. In good time, they will go too. This is called change, unfortunately for those who like it now, or like the past, this is life, it is how we grow as a human race.

This post was originally published on my Medium Site on 7th December 2017

There’s More To Art Than Paint

Given that during art lessons, I never ventured above a level 3, which isn’t very good, it’s ironic that I have decided to write about art. What is art anyway? After asking Siri, I found that the definition of art is “the expression or application of human creative skill.” So according to Siri, who I trust, the art lessons which I had in school until year 9, have limited my art in the same way that turning off your phone limits the amount of phone calls you receive. In other words, it was a waste of time and pencil lead. This was mostly down to the fact that I was as practical as a coat made from glass during these lessons, so the net result was a mess and no expression or indeed application of my skill.

When I think about it, I’ve spent the majority of my life under the impression that I wasn’t very good at art, however, I now believe that art is more than drawing a tree. Art should be subjective if you ask me. Sport could be art. The other day, I witnessed a masterpiece of tennis from Nadal and Federer. I’m not as good as those two, but I’d like to think that I am producing some art, as hitting shots in tennis is a skill in itself.

When you think about it, pretty much anything is art. Obviously you’ve got the likes of Kanye West to Oasis performing the art of music. Then there are more obscure things, like food; Heston Blumenthal treats food as an art. Look at most of humanity and you can probably find some art.

I do think it’s a shame though that some people don’t see art. Just yesterday, I heard a friend saying that Drake’s music is not art but instead, something that you flush down the toilet. I know that we as humans can’t all like the same things, but the way in which Drake writes clever poetry is and will always be an art and said friend should accept that.

Not everything can be an art it seems. For example, I can argue with my maths teacher that I am correct because maths is an art and art should be subjective, but I would be wrong saying this whilst my answer is a factor of 50 off. So if I get an answer in a maths question incorrect, I have performed the art of maths wrong, therefore I am wrong. It would be like using a rake instead of a football at Wembley, it’s not going to be much of a performance from either team because it is simply not right.

Maths and science are different to art, any engineer is likely to mock and artist and vice versa. However, as a hopeful student of maths and science, even I admit that despite the fact that subjects are different, science and maths do produce artwork. The list is endless; rockets, dams formula one cars, they are all examples of human skill, therefore, they are pieces of art.

So, art teachers of the world, it’s all very well telling young people that art is colouring in, but once they are able to think for themselves, let them find the art that they enjoy, want to do or are good at. Don’t tell us that we are inept at art because we don’t possess a certain set of skills. Don’t limit us as children, in limiting us, you are limiting a future generation.

I’ve never been a fan of painting anyway, so put down your paint brush, grow up and open your mind a bit more.

This post was originally published on my Medium Site on 9th February 2017