Why a Formula 1 fan revolution is coming

Mention a certain name in the Formula 1 paddock, and invariably the response is "buzz", or "Seanspeak". That is the reputation Formula 1's top salesman has garnered for himself for using corporate jargon after just nine months in grand prix racing.

When I explain my role in F1, namely to analyse the championship's political and commercial trends, I point out I do not report on precisely what tyre compounds were used at what stage in a given race by, say, Max Verstappen.

Sean Bratches' reply, delivered with an immediacy that implies pure instinct, takes me by total surprise given that F1's managing director on the commercial side is a self-confessed F1 virgin:

"It fascinates me, this data, and I've become very interested in it from a business perspective: how many laps does Verstappen have on his left front tyre, what is the energy recovery from the braking?

"So the data components like that, from a fandom standpoint they don't strike me as I'm on this massive learning curve, but, from a business standpoint I am intrigued, fascinated and passionate about the opportunity, the leverage of those to better serve the Formula 1 fans."

Yes, there are buzzwords in this reply, but they serve to enhance the content, rather than simply embellish. Then the next bit: "We start taking this trove of data and analytics that's currently lying fallow and integrating them into this new digital landscape that we're building from the ground up to better serve Formula 1 fans."

Twice already Bratches has referred to F1 fans, and that alone indicates a sea change from what came before. More saliently, his plan suggests a scientific approach, rather than simply gut-feeling one's way into an activity that is about as far removed from corporate America as NASCAR is from F1.

"There's an element of instinct that goes into everything," continues Bratches, "but at the same time what I would like to do is have the data and the analytics to look at to gut-check my instincts. Research will not make decisions, but [the data] will inform decisions that we make, and I think that they'll make us better.

"If you look at the horizon of successful 21st century companies - not media companies, not motorsport companies, but companies - people are vested in data, in research, in analytics, to inform decisions, not make decisions. There's a big distinction about that."

"Sometimes a discussion has been Ross's initial point, or mine, and likely we come to meet in the middle to make one plus one equal eight" F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches

F1's new commercial owner Liberty Media completed its purchase in January, in the process bringing 57-year-old Bratches on board. He constitutes one-third of the team charged with moving F1 from the Bernie Ecclestone era into the digital age, the other members being CEO/chairman Chase Carey and Ross Brawn, F1's managing director of sport. A formidable combination.

Given the need for seamless synergies between Bratches and Brawn - put succinctly, the former is charged with bringing in the money the latter spends - how do the two vastly different characters gel after less than a year?

"One of the true joys of my tenure here in Formula 1 is spending time with Ross Brawn. I've met few gentlemen in my career that I respect as much as Ross. I think that we are complementary, not competitive," says Bratches, who was born in Berlin but schooled in New York, where he played major league lacrosse.

"There are points of conflict where we sit and we debate and we make adult, mature decisions in terms of which path we're going. Regardless which way it goes, we both buy in, we dig our cleats in and we charge towards that objective."

What areas of 'debate" have there been so far, then?

"We debate the calendar, we debate everything. It's healthy debate that we have across the board. There's myriad points of view on every topic, and we discuss them, and we end up coalescing around what we collectively think is the right thing for the sport, and we move forward with that hand-in-glove.

"There's never been a time where we've walked away from a discussion where we weren't in agreement over the best thing to do for the sport. Sometimes that's been Ross's initial point, or mine, and likely we come to meet in the middle to make one plus one equal eight."

An awful lot of buzzwords in there, yes, but, equally, an awful lot of sense. And there are many more to come, believe me. We return to the question of Sean's data-driven plans. He points to F1's Trafalgar Square street party held in the run up to the British Grand Prix to illustrate his approach.

"One of the things that was very interesting to me is that the vast preponderance of people that attended enjoyed the event and think we should do it again," he said.

"Women and people under 35 actually over-indexed in that, and those are two target areas that we're trying to market to. I'm not suggesting that because of those two data points we would do it again, but it's interesting to inform a much broader decision. It makes you smarter."

Significantly, he says, it was the first time in the history of F1 that all teams bought into a marketing event without hesitation - the much-vaunted 2004 Regent Street edition featured just car/driver combinations - despite the disruption to their home grand prix preparations, indicating that team bosses are squarely behind Liberty's plans.

Does Bratches, though, foresee street parades becoming integral parts of all grands prix weekends, or is it a matter of horses-for-courses, with pre-event activities being tailored to suit individual markets and cultures?

"The type of event that we did in London I would see as a once-a-year type event. Our vision is to have that take place on an annual basis, before the season starts. I got here [to F1] five weeks before the season started, and when I got to Melbourne it was kind of just like there wasn't any energy in the air. There wasn't a lead-up; we needed something to kick the season off.

"So I envision a season kick-off event. And then I envision in the off-season a number of events that will necessitate participation of some of the teams. In different ways, but very creative [events] that engage fans, keep the Formula 1 brand in the minds-eye of sports fans 12 months of the year, which is not happening right now."

The next sentence perfectly illustrates the difference between the new era and what went before: "My view is I'm not going to sit here and lead from a bully pulpit, I want to lead this aspect of the business through smart decisions, creative ideas and impeccable execution on those ideas, and have people follow."

Take that, Bernie...

"One of the things I'm trying to do," continues Bratches, "I'm trying to create more content that lives outside the grand prix weekends that Formula 1 fans can engage with. There are some really, really interesting physical executions that the teams can participate in. We don't have to have unanimity among teams to have something to be successful."

The word in the paddock is that F1 is close to a unique, ground-breaking deal, but all Bratches will admit to is that, "We're creating content from an intellectual standpoint that lives in addition to a physical standpoint. So it's a very exciting time here, and there are manifold opportunities to engage with fans, using the intellectual property across the Formula 1 community for the benefit of the Formula 1 community."

Singapore, Austin and Abu Dhabi have integrated concerts into their race weekend programmes; does Bratches see that trend continuing?

"In my mind we have a concert on Wednesday, techno on Thursday, fashion show Friday, concert Saturday - and in the day interactive games, merchandise, food courts, show cars" Bratches on future inner-city F1 events

"I have a tender out to a number of companies to help me execute fan festivals in city centres in proximity to grands prix, starting in the 2018 season," he discloses.

"We will do a small number of them in '18 to understand and test [the market], but in a theoretical world, in my mind, and this will change, but you'd have a concert, I don't say a rock concert, but you'll have a music concert on a Wednesday night, techno on Thursday, concert fashion show Friday night, concert Saturday night, during the day you have sponsor activation, you have interactive games.

"This is in city centres, where you're activating casual fans moving around. You'd have merchandise tents, you'd have pouring rights, you'd have food courts, you'd have show cars, you'd have the Pirelli tyre reveal, you'd have a stage where we could do Formula 1 in Schools, Formula Student, Susie Wolff's Dare to be Different, you'd have team engineers coming in and talking to school kids, you'd have other types of activations.

"Then at night you could have a series of clubs that were partner-branded where people could come in and engage. And really shine a light on this sport and create some energy, not only at the circuit - I think you know what we're doing here - but from a city centre standpoint as well."

That all sounds, to borrow a buzzword, 'mega', but does that mean that the future of F1 consists of street races given that fashion show would hardly find traction at muddy Spa, if he'll excuse the poor pun?

"No. The answer to that is we'd like to have more of those than we have today in the future, but this model I'm talking about is something we could have [in cities such as] Budapest, where we could have an activation starting Wednesday night and ending Sunday midday."

A lot of venues are not, though, necessarily close to major cities.

"But you could pick them: London and Silverstone; Hockenheim and Berlin."

Is Bratches concerned that premium automotive brands are shunning F1 in favour of Formula E? Manufacturer participation is, after all, where the big money lies.

"The day is young on that question," he says after a moment's reflection. "I wouldn't suggest the final script has been written on the number of brands coming into the sport. But Formula E is a circumstance where we're just putting more water in the motorsport ocean, and all boats are rising with the tide.

"We feel confident with our brand, with our product, with our unique proposition in the world of motorsport that we can actually leverage that to grow. We're fully supportive of other motorsport categories. We feel confident in our ability to compete in a competitive environment, and I don't think you see too many sports around the world that don't have competition."

How does the dyed-in-the-wool media marketing executive intend taking F1 into the digital age?

"We want to underpin the heritage media platforms. We want to make sure that television becomes stronger than it's ever been, and we want to make sure that the print media becomes stronger than it ever has. On the television side we're in the process of reinventing the experience, not only for fans, but for sponsors."

Next year should see digitisation at circuits, he says, meaning "LEDs as opposed to paint, more 3D, more virtual [signage], much better ways for our sponsors to tell their stories and activate their brands."

Finally, where does a man who 10 months ago had not even see an F1 car run in anger believe things will be 10 years from now?

"Our objective is to serve Formula 1 fans better tomorrow than we serve them today. So much technological advancement and disruption is going to take place between now and we are going to follow the curve, whether it's on traditional platforms like websites, like magazines, newspapers, television, or it's on social media sites or other types of consumer engagement.

"We're going to try to be leaders or at minimum fast followers in terms of how we interact with our consumer and our fanbase. We have to be competitive in a global marketplace with other franchises that are being extremely aggressive. We want to tend to reach fans in unique and distinct ways."

A lot of buzzwords, yes, but also extremely brave words from a marketing professional who sees Verstappen's tyres not as round black things that keep his car both on the track and off the ground, but as data-generating platforms that serve F1 fans better than ever before. Forget lateral forces, Sean Bratches is a lateral thinker.