F1 Connectivity? I'm the last person to be talking about this. I seem to spend just as much time shouting at my laptop as I do quietly clicking the keyboard; it's fine when it works but the slightest glitch and I go into meltdown, particularly if a deadline is looming. When I read about the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize currently being promoted by Martin Brundle on behalf of F1, I'm hardly likely to abandon F1 classics on YouTube to download an entry form.
That may be a bit of a giveaway concerning my priorities. Saying that, I'll be the first to see what the winner comes up with. Whether I'll understand it or not is irrelevant. This will be the product of a younger generation's thinking; the way forward for potential F1 fans who are not prepared on a race weekend to sit through several hours of intricate detail and cosy chats between mates on Sky F1.
It will also underscore the huge divergence of opinion between what F1 stands for now and where it should go in the future. Nowhere has this been made more starkly evident -- and confusing -- than in a recent interview with Sir Martin Sorrell. The CEO of WPP, a multinational advertising and public relations company, calls on experience gained during more than 40 years of association with F1, from looking after the commercial interests of Jackie Stewart in 1968 to his current role as an F1 board member.
His views are divisive. You will either see them as the way forward or a recipe for spinning into a world of hype and computer-simulated reality - with 'reality' not necessarily being the correct choice of word. The dialogue is peppered with terms and phrases such as 'branding', 'concepts', 'markets', 'delivering value' and 'go where the growth is'.
It is a marketing man's take on a business rather than a sport. Some will argue that F1 is indeed a business that desperately needs to be modelled accordingly; others will say that such a necessary progression has been at the expense of F1's core value; namely, the actual racing.
Sir Martin is a strong advocate of Virtual Reality. I'm sure VR has its place; anything that presents the fan with a better sense of what it's like on track has to be investigated. As things stand, television does F1 a disservice. The on-board shots may be crisp and technically brilliant, but they make driving an F1 car look easy. Only the ride with Daniel Ricciardo on that stunning pole lap at Monaco came close to causing a sharp intake of breath. And that had everything to do with the unique surroundings. Put him on Bahrain, Shanghai or any number of FIA cardboard cutouts and, no disrespect to Daniel, the image is boring.
Whirling panoramic images on VR may be a step in a new direction (how that will actually work for a live race audience is another question that we have to presume the wizards will miraculously answer). But, from all that I have read, there are doubts that the concept is no more a firm future than, say, the much-vaunted 3D ever was. Regardless of that, there is one vital sense associated with driving an F1 car that will be difficult to replicate.
I have been fortunate enough to have been aboard a two-seater F1 car (once with Martin Brundle and once with Jean Alesi - when we went off the road at Yas Marina, which is a story for another day!). While I was hugely impressed by the acceleration and the stunning chin-in-your-chest braking force, the thing I was not prepared for was the sheer violence of the cornering. The relentless pummelling is utterly debilitating. How, you ask, do they do this for an hour and a half? That's the sensation VR - or whatever method is chosen - somehow has to get across if the audience is to truly feel and understand what is going on inside what appears to be a fairly serene cockpit. It's the term of engagement for a future generation.
In the meantime, rather than discussing the bigger picture, might it not be worthwhile thinking of today's spectators, baffled by the complexity tyres, strategy and a shed-load of rules? Why not supply Wi-Fi to all parts of the track and provide access to race data? And while they're at it, why not work on reducing rather than raising admission costs?
Ah, that's a tricky one for Sorrell, behoved to CVC Capital Partners, a faceless entity that knows nothing other than pleasing shareholders rather than enthusiasts. Again, here we have the divide between business and sport. Or, if you like, investment and tradition. The message seems to be that if F1 is to attract capital investment and therefore growth potential, then it must be able to compete in a global entertainment market that feeds a younger generation that apparently is not necessarily interested (it says here) in tradition.
Controversial and questionable points aside, perhaps the more telling aspect of the Sorrell interview is that it is published on the official F1 website and presumably has the blessing of those currently running the sport. Sir Martin is 71. He has a good 14 years left in him to run F1 if the current grey-haired incumbent is anything to go by. Where that might take us is anyone's guess.