(((DOMINANCE))) <- Edit on title! We can only but hope that it happens next year and destroy all the ratings for Sky Sports. Hopefully in the end, forcing FOTA/FOM to put it back on freeview or risk losing sponsers with only 300-400,000 people watching it every weekend. Come on! You know it's the only way if this crap goes through after this season. We need a non Brit to dominate F1 and bore casual F1 fans to death until something else happens.
Changed the title for you. Even if Seb wins the next five races from pole, all it takes is McLaren to top a winter test session and all the casuals (assuming they can afford it) will sign up.
No because then the bbc would drop their half as well and it would end on eurosport or something stupid like that. What we need is abysmal sky ratings but the bbc staying strong.
I tend to agree, a period of foreign dominance combined with the transfer of the sport from free view could decimate viewing figures in the UK, one of the largest single F1 audiences. I also don't think it's particularly good for Red Bull as a parent company either. It was lap 29 before Vettel got any air time after the start and since Red Bull will write off the cost of running the teams as buying media exposure, having such little TV coverage greatly devalues the worth of that exposure. In short, from a financial point of view no one really wins.
Red Bull can be beaten if Ferrari & Mclaren stop scrapping their cars and building new ones. What they have now is a good baseline and they should do what Red Bull has done and develop it over a period of years.
Used to watch Eurosport in the early 90's as well when it still was freeview in Sweden. Walker and Watsson commenting I think, Senna winning WDC, was great! Miss those times..
I dont think any driver or team dominance will have much of an effect. This season has been great even with a boring fight for the drivers title - the races are so good.
I also think McLaren being rubbish would do more damage to Sky's F1 viewing figures than a non-Brit dominating (unless its Scumacher).
Surely the constant headlines of "Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took pole for tomorrow's grand prix" offset all this. They may not get the most TV exposure but they're always in the headlines and their brand is becoming synonymous with success.
I see where you're coming from with this Silver and I hope you're correct. It may make a smallish difference in fact. As I think you are aware, I want to see nothing less than a catastrophic failure for Sky next year because if Murdoch gains another foothold (he's already got his first), the long-term future for F1 - at least as far as the fan-base is concerned, is in very very serious trouble. I also hope it is obvious that this could be very very bad for F1 itself, as previously mentioned by Bernie Ecclestone's other face, as well as unanimously throughout the grid. Even the thought of what sweeteners they may have swallowed sickens me.
