Today sees our final part at all things Formula One. We hope you have enjoyed the detailed look at the world of motor racing and Formula One.
Revenue and profits
In March 2007, F1 Racing published its annual estimates of
spending by Formula One teams. The total spending of all eleven teams in 2006
was estimated at $2.9 billion US. This was broken down as follows: Toyota
$418.5 million, Ferrari $406.5 m, McLaren $402 m, Honda $380.5 m, BMW Sauber
$355 m, Renault $324 m, Red Bull $252 m, Williams $195.5 m, Midland
F1/Spyker-MF1 $120 m, Toro Rosso $75 m, and Super Aguri $57 million.
Costs vary greatly from team to team. Honda, Toyota,
McLaren-Mercedes, and Ferrari are estimated to have spent approximately $200
million on engines in 2006, Renault spent approximately $125 million and
Cosworth's 2006 V8 was developed for $15 million. In contrast to the 2006
season on which these figures are based, the 2007 sporting regulations ban all
performance related engine development.
Formula One teams pay entry fees of $500,000, plus $5,000
per point scored the previous year or $6,000 per point for the winner of the
constructors' championship. Formula One drivers pay a Superlicense fee of
$10,000 plus $1,000 per point.
There have been controversies with the way profits are
shared amongst the teams. The smaller teams have complained that the profits
are unevenly shared favoring established top teams. In September 2015, Force
India and Sauber officially lodged a complaint with the European Union against
Formula One questioning the governance and stating that the system of dividing
revenues and determining the rules is unfair and unlawful.
The cost of building a brand new permanent circuit can be up
to hundreds of millions of dollars, while the cost of converting a public road,
such as Albert Park, into a temporary circuit is much less. Permanent circuits,
however, can generate revenue all year round from leasing the track for private
races and other races, such as MotoGP. The Shanghai International Circuit cost
over $300 million and the Istanbul Park circuit cost $150 million to build.
Formula One drivers earn the highest salary of any drivers
in auto racing. The highest paid driver in 2010 was Fernando Alonso, who
received $40 million in salary from Ferrari—a record for any driver.
Future
The expense of Formula One has seen the FIA and the Formula
One Commission attempt to create new regulations to lower the costs for a team
to compete in the sport. Cost-saving proposals have included allowing customer
cars, either by teams purchasing a car from another constructor, or the series
supplying a basic chassis and engine to some teams at a low cost. Allowing
teams to share more car components such as the monocoque and safety components
is also under consideration. The FIA also continually researches new ways to
increase safety in the sport, which includes introducing new regulations and
accident procedures.
In the interest of making the sport truer to its role as a
World Championship, Bernie Ecclestone has initiated and organised a number of
Grands Prix in new countries. Proposals to hold future races are regularly made
by both new locations and countries and circuits that have previously hosted a
Formula One Grand Prix. One new race is currently planned for 2016, the Baku
European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan.
An enhanced rule package for 2017 is currently being
considered by Formula One. The introduction of 1000 bhp engines, achieved by
reducing limitations on the current 1.6L turbocharged V6 power units, is currently
planned in order to increase the difficulty of driving a Formula One car. It is
a massive television event; the cumulative television audience was calculated
to be 54 billion for the 2001 season, broadcast to 200 territories.
During the early 2000s, Formula One Group created a number
of trademarks, an official logo, and an official website for the sport in an
attempt to give it a corporate identity. Ecclestone experimented with a digital
television package which was launched at
the 1996 German Grand Prix in cooperation with German digital television
service "DF1", 30 years after the first GP colour TV broadcast, the
1967 German Grand Prix. This service offered the viewer several simultaneous
feeds which were produced with cameras,
technical equipment and staff different from those used for the conventional
coverage. It was introduced in many countries over the years, but was shut down
after the 2002 season for financial reasons.
TV stations all take what is known as the "World
Feed", either produced by the FOM
or occasionally, the "host broadcaster". The only station that
originally differed from this was "Premiere"—a German channel which offers all
sessions live and interactive, with features such as the onboard channel. This
service was more widely available around Europe until the end of 2002, when the
cost of a whole different feed for the digital interactive services was thought
too much. This was in large part because of the failure of the "F1 Digital
+" Channel launched through Sky in the United Kingdom. Prices were too
high for viewers, considering they could watch both the qualifying and the
races themselves free on ITV.
However, upon the commencement of its coverage for the 2009
season, the BBC reintroduced complementary features such as the "red
button" in-car camera angles, multiple soundtracks and a rolling highlights package. Different
combinations of these features are available across the various digital
platforms prior to, during, and after
the race weekend. Not all services are available across all the various
platforms due to technical constraints. The BBC also broadcasts a post-race
programme called "F1 Forum" on the digital terrestrial platforms'
"red button" interactive services.
An announcement made on 12 January 2011, on the official
Formula 1 website, announced that F1 would adopt the HD format for the 2011
season offering a world feed at a data rate of 42 Megabits/second . The BBC
subsequently announced later that day that their 2011 F1 coverage would be
broadcast in HD which has been made immediately possible due to SIS LIVE, the
provider of the BBC's F1 outside broadcast coverage, having already upgraded
their technical facilities to HD as of the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix.
It was announced on 29 July 2011 that Sky Sports and the BBC
would team up to show the races in F1 in 2012. In March 2012, Sky launched a
channel dedicated to F1, with an HD counterpart. Sky Sports F1 covered all
races live without commercial interruption as well as live practice and
qualifying sessions, along with F1 programming, including interviews, archive
action and magazine shows. The deal secures Formula 1 on Sky up to 2018. The BBC in 2012
featured live coverage of half of the races in the season: China, Spain,
Monaco, Europe, Britain, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi, and Brazil. They
also showed live coverage of practice and qualifying sessions from those races.
For the races that the BBC don't show live, "extended highlights" of
the race were available a few hours after it the live broadcast.
Formula One has an extensive web following, with most major
TV companies covering it such as the BBC. The official Formula One website has a live timing Java applet that can be
used during the race to keep up with the leaderboard in real time. Recently an
official application has been made available in the iTunes App Store that
allows iPhone / iPod Touch users to see a real time feed of driver positions,
timing and commentary. The same official application has been available for
Android phones and tablets since 2011.
To accommodate fans who were unable to video the races on
live television, Formula One Management's in-house production team began
producing exclusive race edits synchronized to music from some of the world's
top artists.
Distinction between Formula One and World Championship
races
Currently the terms "Formula One race" and
"World Championship race" are effectively synonymous; since 1984,
every Formula One race has counted towards the World Championship, and every
World Championship race has been to Formula One regulations. But the two terms
are not interchangeable.
the first Formula One race was held in 1947, whereas the
World Championship did not start until 1950.
in the 1950s and 1960s there were many Formula One races
which did not count for the World Championship . The number of non-championship
Formula One events decreased throughout the 1970s and 1980s, to the point where
the last non-championship Formula One race was the 1983 Race of Champions.
the World Championship was not always exclusively composed
of Formula One events:
The World Championship was originally established as the
"World Championship for Drivers", i.e., without the term
"Formula One" in the title. It only officially became the Formula One
World Championship in 1981.
From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the
World Championship. This race was run to AAA/USAC regulations, rather than to
Formula One regulations. Only one of the world championship regulars, Alberto
Ascari in 1952, started at Indianapolis during this period.
From 1952 to 1953, all races counting towards the World
Championship were run to Formula Two
regulations. Formula One was not "changed to Formula Two" during this
period; the Formula One regulations remained the same, and numerous
non-Championship Formula One races were staged during this time.
The distinction is most relevant when considering career
summaries and "all time lists". For example, in the List of Formula
One drivers, Clemente Biondetti is shown with 1 race against his name.
Biondetti actually competed in four Formula One races in 1950, but only one of
these counted for the World Championship. Similarly, several Indy 500 winners
technically won their first world championship race, though most record books
choose to ignore this and instead only record regular participants.
Tipster Street.
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