FOTA & BlogF1 Are The Latest To Conduct Market Research

The Formula One Teams’ Association are set to unveil their vision of the sport’s future at a press conference scheduled for the beginning of March. The conference, which will be held in Geneva and hopefully attended by all team bosses, will outline where the association feel the sport should be heading, including regulations and ideas that could be adopted to encourage the growth of the series as well as maintain and improve it’s stability in the global arena.

FOTA are designed to be a unified voice for the teams who participate in Formula One, and in their short history so far they have discussed plans for the future with the FIA president Max Mosley and agreed many things ahead of the 2009 season. While some of the decisions no doubt came about because of the dramatic circumstances surrounding Honda’s departure and the general downturn in the global economy, the fact that the teams have a way of communicating as a whole with the FIA is good. It isn’t all sweet and perfect admittedly, and many argue that the teams will never truly agree on anything, but the mere act of discussing, deciding and implementing is encouraging to see and hear.

These plans are the result of a series of meetings held over the past few weeks and months, all of them with a common goal: to make Formula One commercially sustainable, environmentally friendly and compellingly attractive for spectators, TV viewers and Internet consumers alike for years to come. Formula One Teams’ Association.

Autosport are reporting that ahead of the meeting in March, FOTA will commission worldwide market research in order to assess better what the fans of the sport would like to see in the future. Like with Bernie Ecclestone’s market research, and the FIA’s as well, no information is forthcoming as to what this is exactly, what it entails or even how it can be integrated in shaping the sport for the better. While it is fairly obvious how research can be incorporated into the grand scheme of Formula One, this market research line has become a bit of a catchphrase for 2009. It seems to be a great phrase to spout out, but so far, we the fans have seen little in the way of results.

Last year the FIA promised a more transparent sport, and even took immediate steps to outline how the marshaling process will be improved upon for 2009. The FIA have said they will publish decisions on their website along with any information that will help fans understand why a decision has been made. It would be nice to think that while the FIA announced this some time ago, fans tend not to forget very easily. It should be appreciated that FOTA do not fall under the direct authority of the FIA, but a little transparency from all aspects of and organisations involved in the sport would go an awful long way.

I for one hope FOTA publish the results from their research into what fans would like to see in the future. It is always fascinating for me to read what others think, and often my own opinions have been altered not because of what the masses say, but because sometimes a differently presented argument can trigger light bulbs in one’s own mind.

Being a skeptical soul though, I fear any market research that has been promised will be kept behind closed doors. So with that in mind, I thought it was high-time I asked you guys and gals about the future of Formula One. It’s a very large, open and incredibly vague question, I know, but what would you like to see happen to Formula One in the future, and how do you envisage the sport reaching that goal?

You can discuss just about anything you like; spec. series, cost-cutting, long-life parts, new technology, old technology, calendars, circuits, rules, grand prix weekend structure…

It’s about time the fans were given the spotlight for a change. And I promise this market research will be published. Just as soon as you hit the Submit Comment button.