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Minardi factor in audience figures?
I'm just flicking through the Economist, and there's a little table (page 68) of F1 audience figures between 2006 and 2010. In Britain it rose over 30% in the period but in most other countries it fell (most in France, Germany, Italy and China) to a total overall decline of 10%. Annual ticket sales fell 15%. I can't help but think that this has to do with the exit of a certain little team from Faenza.
Comments
http://www.economist.com/node/18682148?story_id=18682148&CFID=164029371&CFTOKEN=23149571
The numbers in the table are quite curious. China you can understand, because they don't understand and that's the reason.
As for the rest, I rather think that some of this has to do with the tracks. Everyone hates the borezones of Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Bahrein, Shanghai, Hungary, etc. And of the tracks that are interesting, there is no penalty for screwing up. You just let the car run out of angry on the huge tarmac runoffs and rejoin.
I think that people really react to this. Look at Monaco. There is a track where some drivers will never do well. You can't play the percentage game on that track. You either concentrate and keep the car just on the island, or you lose. It's the same with Monza. If you get it wrong on the parabolica, that's it. Get it wrong on Turn 8 at Turkey and you lose a place or two.
It used to be like that at Imola before they stuck the chicane in. It wan't the corner that killed Senna, it was rotten luck. If Massa had died in Hungary, would they have changed the straight?? Both of these incidents were caused by suspension
parts comming into contact with the driver's head, yet Imola lost one of the best corners in F1 as a result.
People will always need the perception that there is a consequence for making a driving mistake in order to get the blood going. Check yourself the next time that you watch a wet race. You will be a little more forward on your seat, a little more anxious. you will be watching like a hawk to see the slightest sign of lost traction. Hell, the race in Korea last year was a case in point. It was clear that with so many drivers with so much at stake, that someone would lose the plot. I was wound up like a spring. When it turned out to be Webber, I just had to go outside for a bit cause I knew that was the end of his title shot.
That's the stuff that you need to keep the audience there. No pain, no gain, the saying goes. You don't need actual pain, but you do need to feel that the drivers don't have reserve parachutes if you want to sustain interest of such a large and diverse audience.
PS - Webber & Stoddie as joint owners of Minardi next year. Webber drives, with Will Power in the other seat, and Sam Michael as engineer. Go on, get the rumour going.