Ron Dennis: F1 Must Reinvent Itself
Losing momentum particularly in terms of audiences, Formula 1 needs to change to reinvent itself and become attractive again according to Ron Dennis, the CEO of McLaren Group. He believes that the current model needs to be revised to better align with public expectations.
Ron Dennis, who resumed his role as CEO of the McLaren Group at the beginning of the year, believes that F1 teams must work together to improve the show offered to spectators and viewers – especially following recent declines in viewership.
For the Briton, quoted by Autosport, a change is necessary to revitalize the pinnacle of motorsport for the years to come: « I think that Formula 1 teams need to reinvent themselves. You can’t wait for others to do it, so we must do it our way – and hopefully, we can contribute constructively to the future of Formula 1 because we need change. The model we have is simply the model we have evolved over the years, and evolution is not always a good way to move forward. We can either accept change and use it, or ignore it at our peril. »
Ron Dennis believes that the various stakeholders need to understand why the public has been losing interest in Formula 1 over the past few years in order to make the right decisions to make it more attractive: « If you analyze television, there’s a drop of between 40 and 45%. Formula 1 has fared much better than some other sports, but at present, the numbers are declining. So we need to analyze why and then do something based on the facts. »
How can we go to Silverstone and Austria and see full stands, and then go to Germany and see half-empty stands? There must be a reason. We can all speculate, but that’s not very scientific. We really need to understand why these things happen. Is it the ticket prices? Is it [a lack of] national heroes, etc.? Whatever it is, we need to address it.
The CEO of the McLaren Group believes that F1 should take inspiration from certain sports that have successfully reinvented and revitalized their audiences: « Look at how they have reinvented cricket, look at the America’s Cup – it was really boring before. We can’t just be selfish and think that all we have to do is televise the race. We need more data on the screen and we need to engage more with younger audiences. F1 should not just be about racing itself: we have to do everything. Racing is a bit like a trapeze act at the circus. Everyone anticipates that it will go crescendo. We are not doing a good enough job on the other acts and the process by which we set up the Grand Prix. »
Even if F1 is a behemoth that is not always easy to move, the Briton remains confident about the future: Can we make the Grand Prix better? Yes.
