Interview: Julien Fébreau tells you about the backstage of F1 on Canal +

One week after the first part dedicated to Pierre Gasly’s victory at Monza on September 6th (part to read here), here is the continuation and conclusion of our interview with Julien Fébreau, journalist and Formula 1 commentator on Canal + since March 2013.

« On Canal+, each person has a well-defined role in the team and we appreciate each other’s qualities. »

The current health crisis prevents you from being able to travel on the circuits. Only Franck Montagny, Laurent Dupin, and Margot Laffite can go there. Isn’t that too frustrating?

Yes of course, it’s frustrating, because my job is to comment on the Grand Prix, but for that, I need to spend time with the people who make Formula 1!

I need to be close to mechanics, pilots, engineers, and team bosses because we learn a lot from being in contact with them. So yes, it’s frustrating because I first have a hands-on job, but now the situation is what it is, and we are already lucky that F1 has been able to resume.

We are all the more fortunate that Canal+ is one of the few television channels in the world to be able to be physically on site, with Margot Laffite, Laurent Dupin, and Franck Montagny. Thanks to them, we offer our subscribers the opportunity to be there at the 17 Grand Prix of the season.

By the way, are they work colleagues or a group of friends? Because today, that’s pretty much our feeling about the team commenting and analyzing F1 on Canal+!

« We are a close-knit team and have been since our beginnings in 2013, when F1 arrived on Canal+. It’s true that some of us were already friends before and we all became friends! We spend a lot of time together, but most importantly, we appreciate and respect each other a lot.

Each person has a well-defined role in the team and we appreciate everyone’s qualities. Our trips also create closeness because we spend a lot of time together, even more than with our families. We all complement each other and there are no ego problems.

We are above all lovers of motor sports and Formula 1. We love sharing this passion, we are all on the same wavelength. This is what makes this agreement go beyond work. We are on the air as we are among ourselves when the cameras turn off.

« F1 is for everyone, and increasingly for women. I’m happy about that! »

Do you think today that Canal+ has succeeded in reaching a diversified audience?

The F1 is for everyone, including more and more women. I am delighted about this! Many people around me tell me today: “my wife, my girlfriend, my friend follows Formula 1 with me. She is sometimes even more eager than me for the Grand Prix to start!”.

I think it’s great because it shows that F1 reaches a wide audience. I also receive messages from viewers who watch F1 with their father. He himself watched Senna, Mansell, or Prost race! I think it’s cool that there is a transmission of this passion from one generation to another.

From the moment you tell intense human stories, and this is the case in F1 which is a story of fascinating men and women, you can then reach all audiences.

Canal+’s audiences have been increasing for several years, not bad for a sport known to be boring! Don’t you also think that you have succeeded with Canal+ in finding the recipe for success to make Formula 1 even more exciting?

For what the boring aspect is, I totally disagree because Formula 1 has not been boring for years. One should not confuse boredom with team domination. Today, the French football championship is dominated by PSG, which does not make Ligue 1 a boring league. This is the case in many disciplines.

Today, our role is to make all aspects of Formula 1 accessible to subscribers. Even the technical aspect, we have never hesitated to address it on Canal+ and Franck Montagny is the best possible ambassador for it. He is able to make very complex things accessible. This is one of the things that subscribers love and indeed on Canal+, immersion is our watchword!

Formula 1 had started very well on Canal+ and has continued to evolve over the years. We are happy to see that subscribers are loyal to the Grand Prix events. But I also think that it is because we have managed to offer them a solid and complete program.

???? Victoire INCROYABLE de @pierregasly à Monza #GPItalia
????« ACCELERE ACCELERE ! » le dernier tour suivi par 1,24M tlsp sur @canalplus
????Moyenne du GP à 841k tlsp
????1ère victoire d’un Français en #F1 depuis 24 ans #RDVaupremiervirage pic.twitter.com/kNtwV98wsI

— CANAL+ Group (@canalplusgroupe) September 7, 2020

« I think we should focus more on the 2022 rules today »

Formula 1 is trying to modernize its image and format, what is your opinion on the suggested changes (editor’s note: reverse grids), what are your expectations for the 2022 season and its new regulations?

« We are all waiting for this new regulation because promises have been made on paper. But on one hand, there are simulations, and then there will be above all what reality brings us. We cannot anticipate the moment when the 2022 cars will take to the track, because it is only then that we will truly realize how they work. The goal is for them to be able to follow each other much more closely and to be able to attack more easily. That is what we are eagerly awaiting!

A change as radical in the regulations will hopefully allow a team like Ferrari to make up ground and other teams to fully exploit the new technical rules to get back closer to the front.

Now as for the reversed grids, they are just hypotheses put on the table, they don’t seem to be appealing. I think we should focus more on the 2022 rules and see how the cars perform. If the show and overtaking are there, then the question of reversed grids will no longer have a reason to exist!

Where did this desire to comment on motor sports come from? Your birth region (Brittany) is not necessarily known as a land of motor sports!

« It is however a great land for motor sports, where we find Rallycross, which is a discipline of the great West! Moreover, the biggest Rallycross event on the planet is organized in Brittany, near Rennes, in Lohéac. Nearly 90,000 spectators go there every year. Now, it is true that Brittany is less of a land for asphalt circuits.

My passion came from my father, who was a Rallycross driver. I spent my childhood on Rallycross paddocks around racing cars, either running or biking with other drivers’ children.

It was later that I discovered Formula 1. I must have started watching it around 1992. I went to see my first Grand Prix, in real life, in 1999 at Magny-Cours and that evening, I realized that I wanted more than anything in the world to work in this environment. It became my goal and I am more than happy to have been able to achieve it!

We often see you exchange the microphone for a steering wheel, can you tell us more about your projects?

I have been racing in motorsports since 2008, mainly in Rallycross. I race for a team called DA Racing, based near Bordeaux. I was supposed to drive one of their cars in the French championship, but unfortunately this year there is no championship! Every year, I try to do as many Rallycross races as possible behind the wheel of this 600-horsepower Peugeot 208 Supercar. It’s an extraordinary car to drive.

I also try, when I have the opportunity, to participate in other races like the weekend of October 3rd when I raced in the Alpine Cup at the Castellet circuit. The Alpine is a truly amazing car because of its looks, but also and above all because of its performance, it’s a very interesting car to drive in competition.

And then, in mid-October, I am going to participate in an endurance race at Magny-Cours. This is great, I will have the opportunity to race on the two major French circuits that recently hosted the F1! I will be driving a Vortex in this competition. I have already had the chance to try out this car a few weeks ago with my friend Arnaud Tsamère. I am really looking forward to racing with this car.

Dernier jour de l’année (et de la décennie !)… ????????

Après les rencontres sur deux jambes hier, voici celles à quatre roues, à quille pendulaire et autres foils que j’ai eu la chance de pouvoir piloter (voir même barrer ! ⛵) en 2019 !! pic.twitter.com/Jj5H3wzwuF

— Julien FEBREAU (@Julien_FEBREAU) December 31, 2019

« We can always improve. Even my comment on the Italian Grand Prix could have been better! »

This year, you are commentating on Canal+ your 8th season in F1, your 16th in total. Many drivers have not had this longevity. You are also featured in the official Formula 1 game. Do you think you have achieved the pinnacle as a sports commentator?

« No consecration, it’s about commenting on a good Grand Prix every Sunday, whether a Frenchman wins it or not. There is no notion of consecration, we have never reached the end, we can always improve. Even my commentary on the Italian Grand Prix could have been better!

I personally listened to it again both for pleasure, but also to improve certain things. I just want to keep working well and mastering this complex sport better. Indeed, we do not know the rules and statistics inside out. There are always things to learn. There is always room for improvement!

Like pilots, you are always looking for that last tenth and improvement!

(Laughter) « Yes, but one must remain humble. This job, this sport, is what I love more than anything, but we must not forget that we are not saving the world. There are nurses and people from the medical field who are currently doing that. So we must stay in our place and just focus on giving pleasure to the people who follow us on Canal+. I am simply trying to do my best! »

A big thank you to Julien Fébreau for this fascinating interview! You can find the voice of F1 on Canal+ for the next Grand Prix weekend, on 23-24 and 25 October at the Portuguese circuit of Portimao.