F1 needs to wake up to new media world

For a sport that's so full of people focusing on being the best, it's amazing that Formula 1 spends so much time talking itself down.

While the fascinating dynamic between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg looks set to produce what could be an all-time-classic season, it's been hard to escape from the clouds of negativity that have hung over the paddock since the start of the year.

Criticisms of the noise, slating of the new engines, unhappiness with so-called economy drives, and complaints about the lack of competition have all been shouted from the rooftops. Is it any wonder that F1 has faced a battle to keep fans tuning in?

Declining television audiences for F1 - not in all markets mind you - have caused alarm for some in the paddock. Pirelli's Paul Hembery said last week that finding out why fans were no longer tuning in was the single biggest issue that F1 faces right now.

The answer is not a straightforward one, but it almost certainly has nothing to do with what's happening on track.

Rosberg and Hamilton's rivalry should be good for audiences © XPB

F1 in 2014 is not disappointing now it has settled down from the uncertainty of the beginning of the new era of rules. The intense Mercedes battle, the narrative of the Hamilton/Rosberg team-mate feud, the Red Bull recovery and the ultra-tight fight behind all provide plenty to get excited about.

Instead, F1's biggest difficulties almost certainly relate to off-track issues, and may well actually be the result of factors outside of its direct control.

First of all, declining television audiences may not actually have any relation to the on-track product. Instead, it could simply be evidence that the way people consume sport and entertainment is now different.

Television viewing habits across the world are changing, and networks are finding that viewership is declining for all types of programmes - be it sport, light entertainment, soap operas or reality TV. It's not a problem unique to F1.

Look at BBC TV's 2014 figures and there is no cause for alarm. Its 4.4 million peak for the Spanish GP was just up on last year - and on other platforms there are some intriguing things going on. BBC iPlayer growth was 33 per cent up last year, live radio up 53 per cent.

The world is changing. The box in the corner of the front room no longer exclusively provides the window to the world that it once did.

The fans who F1's sponsors want to engage are 'third-screen' people - and delivering content across television, the internet and mobile devices is absolutely essential for any sport if it is going to tap in to a new generation and get them hooked in the future.

There are numerous sports and entertainment industries that do this brilliantly. Sadly for F1, and those who want to see it reach new markets and new generations, it wants to stick steadfastly to its old business model where television is king.

Ecclestone has strong views about F1's media priorities © LAT

I asked Bernie Ecclestone in Monaco if falling viewing figures were a worry, and his response was quite surprising.

"It matters, obviously," he said. "But when you say it is falling, it is changing.

"I think the change that is currently taking place is very shortlived, as these social media people are starting to think it is not as good as they thought."

So he sees no need for F1 to do a better job on social media channels, to embrace a younger audience, ramp up the interest and encourage them to start following the sport and build a bigger fanbase for the future?

"No. We're commercial," he smiled when I asked him. "If they find people to pay us [to do that] then I will be happy."

Could he be right? Could the boom in social media that's going on right now be a bubble that's about to burst? Could Bernie be wise to ignore the revolution that's going on in media?

Or could it be that F1 must wake up to the fact the way it is taken to the masses has to change? Has the time come for F1's commercial chiefs to embrace mobile, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to grab the huge audience that no longer sees TV as the way it wants to watch the sport?

The answer is obvious.