F1 hurt by previous short-term focus – Carey

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey says overhauling the sport’s approach and shifting to a long-term focus is likely to cause short-term pain while he placed a dig at former head Bernie Ecclestone’s approach.

Almost every F1 team is set to be hit with a dip in prize money next season as new owners Liberty Media look to invest in research and marketing to improve the sport as it installs its new ideas – starting with its successful F1 Live demo at Trafalgar Square and its new logo which was revealed during the podium ceremony at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Carey says Liberty’s initial changes have been met by a positive reaction from the teams but accepts some disruption as it invests in areas it felt had no grounding under Ecclestone. The ex-F1 supremo was famed for controlling all deals with circuits and teams so when Liberty purchased the sport at the start of the year felt there was “no research, no marketing and no ditigal organisation” installed, according to Carey.

“In the short term we're investing in the sport for the longer term. I think the sport has been underserved by a continual short-term focus,” Carey said in an F1 release. “We've got some fresh momentum back into it.

“A lot of things that were not going in the right direction in recent years, but this year attendance is up, viewership is up and I think we've got a much more positive spirit behind it. The sport needed fresh energy and investment.

“To grow things, well, to use an American phrase, there are no free lunches. We didn't have an organisation that was able to properly develop, to build the sport. We had no research, we had no marketing, we had no digital organisation and realistically if you don't have capabilities like that, you are going to fall behind.

“When you're building a digital organisation, usually you have costs before you get returns. It's the reality of building capabilities that haven't existed. To do things like the Trafalgar Square demo, to do things at broader fan fests, requires investment.”

While Liberty’s early proposal of the new engine regulations for 2021 were met with a mixed reception from teams, Carey says responses have been largely positive to other changes its looking into to ensure the future of the sport.

“From the teams' perspective everybody would like to have free lunches and get the growth without the investment,” he said. “The world doesn't work that way.

“There is an understanding of and an appreciation for what we're doing and in many ways we're very much agreed on what needs to be done.”