Oliver WhiteA little while ago, Sidepodcast wrote a series a of posts that looked at the way Formula One is presented online, specifically the teams’ and drivers’ official websites. Co-authors Christine and “me” looked at the sites from both a technical and fan perspective, and the series was an enjoyable read. But a recent conversation on Sidepodcast got me thinking; what about the general way Formula One is presented online? Is it enough? Does it even work? Is it worth the trouble?
There is no better way to start than at the top. Surely the official Formula One website is going to be the most visited, the most visible and the most informative offering to those of us who seek their F1-fix via the Internet. Therefore, Bernie-web needs to be top-notch. It needs to lead the way for all other sites to follow, to set the example and to offer more and better information than any other piece of cobbled-together F1-related code on the Internet. Quite simply, F1.com has to be the best. If it isn’t, we’re in trouble.
Alas, I feel we’re in trouble.
Bernie’s Offerings
Now please do not get me wrong. F1.com has improved dramatically over the years, more so recently with a redesign and improved navigation. But it doesn’t go anywhere as near as far enough to keep Formula One hungry fans full. Being the official site for the sport, I’d expect a continuous flow of news items, which to be fair, happens for the most. I would also expect a number of features exclusively available via the site, which also happens to a degree. F1.com offers live timing during race weekends, but perhaps due to it’s popularity, or perhaps because of the way it is presented, it doesn’t always work as well as hoped.
In truth, the only reason I ever visit F1.com is for the live timing. I have little-to-no reason to visit Bernie’s online home during the week. So what could entice me to swing by more often? The key is what a flurry of other sites achieve, although mostly separately from each other.
Bernie’s Interview Technique
F1.com obviously has great access to Formula One, and often the exclusive interviews posted are worth a read. But being the official site, it lacks a certain edginess to it. The questions asked in interviews tend to be the same old, mundane and already talked-about-to-death topics. But what the smaller independent sites (and some of the larger ones as well) achieve is much more readable.
Without getting into the realms of tabloid journalism, because that is not what anyone wants from the official source, sites like Pitpass can approach an area of contention with a slightly different take. They offer the reader with something more than the standard. In short, Pitpass’s articles tend to actually discuss the interview as well as post the original Qs and As. Obviously F1.com cannot go as far as some of the independents, but they could put the comments into context. Or to go one better, F1.com could allow readers to put the article into context through a comment system. A key word to remember here is ‘discussion’.
So aside from adding more to their articles, F1.com doesn’t do too badly in this area. Well done Bernie, have a gold star.
Bernie’s Music Videos
Other media though, is lacking somewhat. F1.com have recently added a video section to their portal to F1 online. Although it is certainly a step in the right direction and massively long overdue, it isn’t exactly thorough. A few moments ago I loaded the European Grand Prix video and was presented with lots of sweeping artsy shots of Valencia, accompanied with some music. Then I got to see some of the highlights from race itself – all the major talking points – but that was really about it. And what made me most confused was the lack of any commentary. There wasn’t even a narration of what was happening. Just music. So really, Bernie-web have just produced a series of music videos themed around each race.
Not so good Mr. Ecclestone. Stay behind after class so you can think about what you’ve done. And I’m taking that gold star away from you as well.
Bernie’s Less Than 20:20 Vision
So what should F1.com have in terms of video content? Well, to be perfectly blunt, the owner of the television rights to Formula One (this is Bernie, by the way) should have the footage of each and every session available on the website, archived for the current season at minimum, and accessible for free to anyone who wishes to watch.
Now I understand that Bernie has struck a deal with ITV, and will likely strike deals with other broadcasters in the future regarding online viewing of races, but really, it should be available on the official site as well. If this conflicts with ITV, then delay the video by 24 hours. Let ITV show the event live, and then put up the footage on F1.com a day later. With the live timing set up and in place, it can’t be too hard to add pre-recorded video that actually means something as well.
Bernie’s New Splinting Technique
Another area that Formula One are failing to latch onto at the moment is the rise in popularity of podcasts. Some F1 teams have noted this and Renault produce (arguably) the most famous one among the squads themselves. BBC Radio 5 Live also have a ‘cast which is worth a listen, and there are a few small independents producing top-notch quality shows for their avid listeners. How is it possible for a small independent fan to produce a high-quality and well-written podcast with a budget of next-to-nothing? Yet FOM, with a budget of I hate to think, cannot even have a go.
Bernie Ecclestone, I fear, probably believes a podcast is a new-fangled way of splinting a broken limb. But with access to all of Formula One’s most notable people, along with the recording facilities and staff under control, the media output from FOM could be spectacular. Unfortunately, it isn’t, and Bernie now owes me a gold star.
Chitter Chatter
I mentioned earlier in the article a key word, and I would like to talk about this if I may, for I believe it is a very important aspect of online activities, and another area that Bernie falls over on. However, for once it isn’t just Ecclestone who tumbles, it is a lot of F1-related areas on the Internet that hit the deck when it comes to this…
…discussion.
You’ll note at the bottom of this article are four labelled boxes. If you quickly fill in the first three with some basic details, you can fill in the fourth with your opinion on what I’ve written here. Click the button beneath and after a short whirring of Internet-magic, your thoughts and comments are shown to the world, organised with others and open to further conversation. It’s almost like us blog owners actually want to talk about something, isn’t it?
While the previous paragraph was a little sarcastic, I hope the point was clear. It seems as though Formula One Management and the teams don’t really want to interact with the very people who keep them in business. From memory, I can only think of two teams that have attempted to blog their experiences to the wider world, and even then, one of them was just annoyingly impossible to use. The first one, although perhaps a little annoying to use, has achieved a fair amount of success though.
Renault started a blog in 2006 and since then it has garnered a lot of fans. But Renault didn’t just get their PR-people to copy+paste the press releases over to the site and leave it. No, they have put someone in charge of the blog, and this person is regularly seen in the comments, responding to questions put forward by the fans. And you know what means, don’t you? Renault are interacting with their customers.
Now I admit that Renault fell over themselves this year, but they crashed to the ground trying to further their already admirable attempts at interaction. Renault, along with Force India, have tried to create a community around their sites, a place where experiences can be shared and opinions can be voiced, all the while meeting others and uploading content for all to see. For Renault, it didn’t work too well, but at least they’re trying.
Do BMW interact with their fans in such a direct way? Probably not. Does Rubens Barrichello? Again, probably not. And although these two institutions (along with everyone else) of the Formula One paddock are likely to be incredibly busy throughout the year, Renault have proved that direct interaction is perfectly possible to achieve. Alas, it seems as though F1 would prefer closed doors for the time being though, and we fans are left with reading the same old press releases race after race, sans-personality. Even Red Bull have apparently lost their playful attitude to press releases recently.
But should I expect conversation at Formula One’s official site? Well, I think it is perfectly possible, and just because the site has to be professional and informative, interaction with fans shouldn’t detract from this. The sport is often criticised for not listening enough to the very people who keep it ticking over, and a little two-way conversation could go a long way to ending this poor reputation. If carefully managed, a blog can be both insightful and professional. And in this day and age of the social-web, it really isn’t hard to do.
I’m Not Done Yet, There’s More To Come…
Some of you will know what sparked this post, others will be scratching their temples, wondering why I’m even attempting to talk to the very people who close doors and refuse to embrace the massively-potential marketing tool that is called ‘The Internet’. However, this article has gone on for far too long already. Instead, I will post an explanation tomorrow, along with the second part of this article where I look at two other institutions of Formula One media – the printed publication and their online presence. I will name some names, offer praise to those who get it right, and criticism to those who get it wrong. Until then, feel free to voice your opinion – the comments are always open…
It really is amazing how thin and shallow the content is at Formula1.com. I find myself reviewing probably 10 -12 sites each week…including this one…to get enough info to feel up to date. I’m very much looking forward to part 2.
Thanks donwatters. I think F1.com produce a fair amount of content, and although I didn’t mention this in the article (for it was too long already) I like their separate pages. Anyone who has a go at simplifying the rule book into readable language deserves a gold star. 🙂 But for news, I guess I’m like you – I never go there as I’m satisfied with other, more open content from sites that are more friendly and better written.
Blogs: 1. Bernie: 0.
Over the weekend I watched an ALMS race on Speed TV’s site and I watched the IRL race on the series’s own site. I would not have watched either race otherwise. Both these championships and others have shown F1 how it should be done but Bernie doesn’t get the internet and he certainly doesn’t want the likes of us giving our views on his website. Some people may think streaming races on a website is pointless as people will watch it on TV. I spoke to someone recently who watched a race in a country where he didn’t speak the language. Had there been a stream with a language option as there should be he would have watched that.
We all know Bernie is always pulling F1 content from youtube which is then re-posted hours later. During the ALMS broadcast they asked fans to post their own videos of any ALMS races on the ALMS site for other fans to enjoy. What a different attitude? I am sure the people who advertise on that site are happy with all the traffic that brings in.
I was recently introduced to a spectacular online IRL magazine. I used to follow CART when it was at its height but I have never paid much attention to the IRL. This magazine as well as the usual glossy pics and articles has many embedded video clips of action and driver interviews and is totally free. In conversation with someone from Haymarket recently I asked why they could produce something like this free but could not do the same for F1 Racing for example. Easy I was told. The IRL paid for the magazine so it is free to anyone who wants it. A few days later I was given a link to a similar magazine for Moto GP. Needless to say I have subscribed to both and have watched my first IRL race. I always watch Moto GP anyway but I am better informed now.
Bear in mind all of the things I have discussed happened in the last two weeks. It makes Bernie’s efforts look pathetic. Which they are. It is no good telling us that F1 is the pinnacle of motor racing when it can’t keep up with Moto GP, the IRL or the ALMS when it comes to looking after its fans.
I had no idea this comment was as long until I posted it. APologies to anyone who fell asleep half way through it.
‘Nuff said, I think.
Regarding the online content for printed media, I’ll be discussing that tomorrow. I’ll be comparing two sites for the magazines and drawing attention to the way they both approach their online activities. But you have reminded me about Formula One’s official magazine. Anyone remember that little venture?
Too true. It seems fans are not looked after at all well. Bernie needs to check how many people visit his own site in one day, then realise that there is a market for people on the Internet that he should be better catering for. Of course, that is assuming Bernie even knows he has a website.
i have much to say on this subject, but i’ll gather me thoughts first.
in the meantime, i just wanted to add that not only did the two of us examine the various f1 related sites, but so did many others in the comments associated with each post.
as is often the case, those opinions offer just as much (if not more) insight and analysis and are well worth a read.
This is a *great* topic for discussion
I was disappointed when the old formula1.com got taken over by Bernie & co, mainly because I expected a useful news website to turn into a dull, virtually deserted feed of FIA press releases.
Luckily, things haven’t quite gone as far downhill as I feared. You missed the excellent aero artwork that we see throughout the season, and the news isn’t *quite* as stale and stuffy as it could be.
If a certain experienced, well known, figure from the F1 blogging community was recruited to add to the editorial output of the main f1.com site, I’d certainly be in favour, but the extent of my criticism extends to the news content.
Online video takes bandwidth, lots of bandwidth. Bandwidth (as I’m sure you’re aware) can cost quite a lot of money, and someone needs to pay. Even if sufficient advertising revenue could be raised on the site (even the low quality video at youtube runs at a loss) this would be a very different product to the one you’re imagining.
I’m going to argue against the idea of community involvement on the main f1.com site, – its essentially a corporate webpage for the sport’s governing body, much like thefa.com is to football. In fact, I’m not aware of any sport whose governing body who behave like this, and here’s my guess as to why.
Publishing user generated content on an official website lends said content a certain degree of credibility, despite the site owner not neccessarily having any editorial control over said content. Furthermore, when making potentially unpopular or controversial moves (the maclaren points ban, anyone?) the last thing the FIA would want is to have page after page of comments/forum threads on their own site bemoaning the decision and potentially making scathing criticism of not only the decision, but those who made it. Such a situation would appear farsical to the world at large, and cause much embarassment to the FIA.
Furthermore, I posit that as the size and global reach of a community of users increases, the quality of the discussion decreases (BBC news’ ‘have your say’ pages are infamous for this)
I honestly believe that the best sports communities are *always* run by the fans, for the fans, for the very reason that such communities are free from the corporate, commercial restraints that go hand in hand with a governing body’s website.
I can’t believe that in the time it took me to gather my thoughts on this, organise them into something resembling a coherent comment and to type everything up, five other people managed to jump in…. 🙂
Funny how a few comments can add more depth and opinion to an article. I love it, shame others don’t think the same, eh Bernie?
@Kris, there’s nothing I like more someone disagreeing with me, but using sound reasons to back up your point. As always, your contribution is well worth the wait.
I’m sure F1.com generate enough profit to cover the costs. And if they don’t, the company as a whole (everything Bernie owns or has a stake in) could offset the financial damage. But ultimately, it’s do-able. If YouTube can do it (before they were taken over), then I’m sure Ecclestone can.
I thought FIA.com was the corporate webpage for the sport’s governing body. Or are you suggesting that the FIA’s website is such a complete hash-job that FOM feel the need to provide what the FIA don’t? If that’s the case, I would quite agree. 😉
I disagree, but before I do I should just point out that I’m not having a pop at the FIA. I’m discussing FOM, specifically F1.com which is different to FIA.com. The article was long enough without getting into the FIA’s website. Now that is just farsical! 😀
I actually think it would do the sport some good to get opinions on certain decisions made more open. It would force FOM and FIA to listen, because it is on their website. By not allowing this kind of debate, they are essentially closing the doors. And counter-arguments referring the annual survey are null-and-void, because I don’t believe any human actually read the responses. 🙂 Having people honestly voice their opinion may cause the sport some short-term embarrassment, but by not listening to the fans as a whole, they’re embarrassing themselves on a whole different scale.
I whole-heartedly agree, Kris. And that is why sites such as BlogF1 continue to thrive and generate amazing discussion. I just wish the actual sport would be a little more open. Blogs and Forums can be managed and it isn’t that difficult. Autosport run/own the Atlas forums, and they manage okay. For sure they slip up at times, but because the Internet is such a fast-moving beast, people rarely even notice.
As ever Kris, I love it when you comment and I thank you for adding your thoughts.
There are lots of things we could talk about, but I need to say that I am very impressed with MotoGP in this area. Its attitude towards fans is much more healthy. I am not much of a fan of the website — it has far too much Flash junk on it, which at least F1.com avoids. And F1.com still does live timing much better than any other motor racing series does.
But MotoGP have at least two different video podcasts on the go that — shock horror — contain race footage! I would highly recommend ‘After the Flag’. It is very slick, a good length and clearly a lot of resources are expended in making sure that it’s a good product that keeps the fans happy.
Thanks for the info doctorvee, much appreciated.
MotoGP Link Love: MotoGP ‘After The Flag’ VidCast. Wow! It has hosts, footage, helicopters doing loop-the-loops. Man, F1’s videos really are utter crap.
Also, Steven Roy has just emailed me with a couple of links to free online magazines…
– IndyCar Series Online Magazine
– Red Bull Indianapolis Magazine
If you only get a blank page after following links, refresh your browser – it worked for me anyway.
Top stuff Steven, thanks for the email.
Although the FIA’s website is diabolical, I did allow myself to run away there, perhaps my examples would be more suitable if I separated thefa.com as an fia.com equivalent, and premierleague.co.uk as f1.com
Without being sure how to quote, I’ll address a few of your points in turn:
Youtube didn’t “manage to do it” per-se, they burned through a great deal of venture capital money without ever turning a profit and lasted long enough for a big buyout. I read once that just before the buyout, even with advertising revenue that youtube was losing $500,000 a month. The good news, is that FOM certainly does have enough clout to be able to afford to run the website at a loss (as it may well already be doing), and if enough fans make enough noise, FOM could feasibly write enough room into their contracts to provide some sort of video service. My point originally was that with some serious business pressure (FOM wouldn’t want f1.com to be a financial black hole, existing purely to entice a few hundred thousand extra viewers) we wouldn’t be seeing a hi-def archive of race footage, more likely a youtube-quality stream of the equivalent of a chapter from the season DVD.
Ignoring my FIA-FOM transgression, I still don’t think we’ll ever see an “official” f1 site supporting any ‘real’ user interaction, – they really don’t want to hear from us! I’d be amazed if when I load my bank’s website I find a customer forum that allows us to berate them for not passing on a recent customer-favouring base rate change on to us, and Newcastle United (picked purely because of news presence) don’t have a forum that allows fans to scream at the board & chairman for sacking Kevin Keegan earlier (I’m aware that they’ve denied it now…). If your a large organisation, allowing users to post freely is always going to be potentially embarassing and is rarely attempted without heavy, heavy moderation: another reason for BlogF1 to live long & strong!
As you can see from the length of my comments, I rather enjoyed this article, and am looking forward to seeing whats in store tomorrow
I should do something about that. My apologies.
Holy mother of all that is holy! Must be nice to be in a position where you can lose £0.5m/month! ‘Can’ obviously not being the right word, but still.
I agree. If it’s not worth doing properly, that you probably shouldn’t bother. Not at the moment at least. But having said that, the attitude has to be in place (ie. to try), and I fear FOM’s attitude is not there yet. I see your point though, totally.
Just out of interest, Vodafone have an active forum with participation from employees. They regularly get beatings from customers and I myself have had positive action taken because I had a good old British rant on there. So it can work, maybe.
I’ve already decided that one of the last lines in tomorrow’s post reflects this exactly. Their loss is my (and other bloggers) gain.
Good to hear! 🙂 I’ll add some kind of quick-quoting thing to my list of features to add in the future. For now though, I’ll add in a “what HTML is allowed” list to the comment form. Gimme 5 minutes…
Edit: …As a temporary measure, I’ve listed some basic HTML just above the comment box as a guide. Just copy+paste the relevant code and replace the text in the middle with whatever. I’ll add a better solution to it in the future – it’s on the list, I promise. 🙂
F1.com ? I do not rememeber when I went there last time to look for something other than the live timing … the video I watched only twice (the first 2 edits) then I gave up …
Talking about video feed from race weekends. The 24 hrs delay would not even be necessary … At the moment as far as I know ITV is the the only broadcaster that has some deal with Bernie. If that deal covers UK, then all the visitors from UK could be automatically redirected to ITV website, unless it is Sat morning practice that ITV does not show … If Bernie covers more countries the same can be done …
I would not even mind if that live video is not totally free as long as the price is reasonable.
A good point Milos, thanks for stopping by. I think you’re right that only (UK) ITV have an online viewing deal at the moment, which I’m fairly certain has been passed onto the BBC for next year, and I do envisage more deals being made around the world from next year onwards – I get the impression ITV were the guinnea pig. But as you say, not all broadcasters will cover all sessions, and that is where FOM could step in.
This is the thing, a lot of F1 fans don’t mind compromising – we’re a relatively clever bunch – and paying a small fee tends not to bother us too much as long as we can see that we’re getting what we pay for. It’s not like we’re unreasonable. But Bernie cannot even see that, I don’t think.
I work in Marketing (on the IT side), and there is research that indicates that a forum run by a company can help increase loyalty among your customers. The forum should be very loosely moderated (only removing posts of an offensive nature), but should have an official voice to respond to discussion. It has been found that those who criticize unfairly will be rebutted by loyal customers, and those that criticize fairly (i.e. pointing out those areas that do need help) will be agreed with, giving the company a guide to what areas really need to be addressed.
On another point, I ordered tickets to the Belgium GP recently via the F1 site, and while I am not surprised by the fact that it is handled by a third party company (WWTE), the company that has been handling the transaction has seemed a little less than proficient, with incorrect links in emails and unclear directions on how to claim the tickets.
Greg
[…] I spoke about how I feel Bernie Ecclestone isn’t doing enough to promote Formula One online, highlighting what I feel are missed opportunities relating to the official Formula One website. […]
Apart from that a few sanitised reports and interviews F1.com exists as an e-store for tickets/travel and exclusive F1 merchandise (remember that Bernie needs the extra do$h!)
But for the live timing feeds no real fan would venture there…
Most certainly. Although who would pay big-bucks for a mousepad is just beyond me!
Why do you say that, casa de lana?
But you have reminded me about Formula One’s official magazine. Anyone remember that little venture? {Ollie – 13 comments ago}
I do – I have all the issues of F1 Magazine that Bernie published. I still haven’t forgiven him for running my favorite F1 magazine to the ground (sorry F1 Racing, but even the current iteration of the magazine isn’t as good as Rubython-era F1M yet).
Of course, that is assuming Bernie even knows he has a website. {Ollie – 13 comments ago}
I’m sure Bernie knows he has a website. He probably thinks it’s the best one on the internet purely because it’s his. The trouble is that he thinks hierarchically (because that’s the structure where getting a power and money focus is easiest – and that’s what he wants to have centred on himself). The internet, especially in the last four years, is very much a distributed network – nobody has more power than anyone else in the beginning and power (and money) can only be obtained through social interaction, not by force or “the hard sell”. That’s why F1.com has no Web 2.0 facilities that I know of, why everything that can be monetised is and why many people and most of the online money goes elsewhere.
And counter-arguments referring the annual survey are null-and-void, because I don’t believe any human actually read the responses. {Ollie – 11 comments ago}
I read them, and I’m a human (I think). That said, I have absolutely no direct influence on FIA policy, and Max did make the error of forcing F1 in his preferred direction while the fans’ survey results were being collated. Plus there was the small matter of the dodgy questions…
As for my own view of F1.com, I would say that before the latest re-design, it wouldn’t load. It now works 90% of the time, as long as I’m using my own computer. From anyone else’s computer, the live timing and statistics pages don’t load, which makes the site pointless for me. (Incidentally, the statistics page is pretty useful, giving standardised practise, qualifying and race data for every race from 1998 onwards. I use it to feed the comparitor every race weekend, so there are two bits of F1.com I use).
Live timing is fine when it works and frustrating when it doesn’t (someone please get Raikkonen’s transponder to talk to the timing system!). The statistics are useful but slow to navigate around. The rest is a waste of space in my view.
Like a few others the only reason i go near F1.com is live timing and that is flaky. Every session it freezes at least twice. I am almost always live commenting at sidepodcast during practise, qualifying and the race and every few minutes someone will ask if live timing has frozen. Then we had two races in a row where Kimi started to mysterious drop down the order in live timing but not in reality. If they gave other sites access to live timing I would never go to that site.
Apologies Ali, I meant a human at FOM/FIA – the people who make decisions and who the information was really meant for.
…
You weren’t employed as an official to read the survey responses, were you? (Genuinely asking, possibly feel bad now…)
Hehe, I think Raikkonen fiddles with it before each race just to be rebelious. 😛
You weren’t employed as an official to read the survey responses, were you? {Ollie – previous comment}
Good point. I can assure you I have never been an FIA employee – if that had happened I’d have told you 😉 You’re right in that we were all filling it in hoping the FIA would listen. Unfortunately they didn’t and still don’t.
Mind you, given how well the full results were hidden on the FIA site, I’m not sure any of us were meant to read more than the edited highlights either…