How McLaren-Honda chaos reveals F1's TV future

Think of your favourite Fernando Alonso radio quote during the McLaren-Honda era and there's a fair chance you'll end up settling on his repeated cries of "GP2 engine!" during the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.

But if you watch the new 'Grand Prix Driver' series about McLaren's 2017 travails on Amazon Prime, you'll be able to upgrade that quote to a version that requires censoring of a four-letter word (instead of 'GP2'), from pre-season testing last year.

That's just one example of the level of access the creators of the programme were given during one of the most difficult times in McLaren's history, and it's set a bar that Formula 1 should be looking to reach as soon as possible.

McLaren chief Zak Brown proudly declares "we were absolutely committed to opening every door for Amazon's film crew", and while it's impossible to know if there was anything that was considered off-limits - up-close details of the Honda engine and some data is blurred out - the nature of a lot of the scenes in the four episodes make it clear Amazon's claim that the series offers "unprecedented access" is valid.

This is the type of programme that is rarely attempted in F1, with a similar fly on the wall documentary charting McLaren's 1993 season the most memorable previous example. That included several behind the scenes gems from Ayrton Senna's final year with the team, and in 2017 the cameras picked up a real, raw look at the collapse of the once iconic McLaren-Honda partnership.

There's far more to it than expletives from Alonso on the radio during testing - and subsequent eavesdropping on a conversation among team members at lunchtime that starts with "Did you hear what Fernando said?" - the film crew are in the thick of it during crunch meetings between the team's biggest bosses as the build of the new MCL32 falls behind schedule before the launch, leading to the cancellation of a planned shakedown at Silverstone.

But it's not all about Honda - although the first attempt at firing up the 2017 car and the way the faces of the team are captured when it doesn't work are unforgettable. This moment comes after the first attempt to attach the engine to the car also fails, requiring a hurried redesign of the pins that bolt everything together. But the series focuses on so many other elements, and perhaps crucially a lot of the usually-unseen people, involved in running even a struggling Formula 1 team.

You learn more about the hard work, and long hours, that are put in by vital team members who are never usually seen on camera, but all keep going in the eternal hope that McLaren can turn its fortunes around. "Even just a podium..." is uttered at one point, as the team's unsung heroes look for any slither of progress as a reward for years of hard work.

You get a different perspective on a car launch as well, including realising how those crucial few hours delay the progress of building the car, and seeing Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne preparing backstage for the big reveal. Vandoorne is briefed extensively on the types of questions he could be asked, and how to answer the more difficult ones. Alonso admits privately that he expects the racing to get worse in 2017 with the new breed of cars, but when asked what he will tell the media if they ask, he grins before saying: "We will see." No briefing required.

When it's time for Lewis Hamilton to get into a serious meeting with his engineering team in one episode, all we get to do is look on from a distance through the glass walls

Other teams have had a go at lightweight attempts of behind the scenes access, usually for short YouTube clips, but it's usually a fleeting glimpse at what's going on, and the cameras are ushered out of the way if anything gets serious.

Mercedes, for example, has produced some nice clips at the team's Brackley base between grands prix, but when it's time for Lewis Hamilton to get into a serious meeting with his engineering team in one episode, all we get to do is look on from a distance through the glass walls of the meeting room, with no microphones in range of the conversation.

It's little secret that F1's digital media-savvy owners are determined to create some form of online video service for fans, and if they want that to take off whenever it launches, they need to convince the key stakeholders in F1 that the time has come to offer access like never before.

Television coverage in the 21st century has become so extensive that it's led to saturation, so it's incredibly challenging for broadcast companies to present new features or insight, particularly given the relatively controlling environment that comes with media access being controlled at all times.

But if F1 can work with the teams in a less restricted way compared to the environment TV companies have to operate within, given that it's not acting as an external broadcaster, everybody can win.

There's no question that the McLaren series, even though it focuses on the terrible weeks of 2017 that ultimately led to the decision to split with Honda, ultimately paints the team in a positive light. Viewers get a much better understanding of the challenges everyone in the team is facing, from those in the boardroom to those on what you could call the 'shop floor'. Even for an underachieving behemoth of an F1 team like McLaren, it's impossible not to come away from this peek behind the curtain with a greater appreciation, and even some sympathy, for those involved.

A TV company looking for a short segment to feature during one of its grand prix weekend broadcasts is never going to get the access, or have the time, to focus on one story in such depth. But if F1 wants its own streaming service to shine, then it needs to find a way to produce more of this sort of thing.

McLaren isn't the only team with fascinating stories to tell. Imagine if camera crews had been properly behind the scenes of the Hamilton/Nico Rosberg rivalry at Mercedes, either over a prolonged period of time, or just for a weekend - perhaps the 2016 title decider in Abu Dhabi. That's material worth paying for, which ultimately is what any F1 online offering is going to be about.

Teams would understandably be cautious about up to date material being released into the world - you can bet McLaren would not have wanted any of the details of its struggles to be out in the open this time a year ago, and you wonder how much it would have wanted the series to reveal if its relationship with Honda had continued. But if done right, the storytelling doesn't have to focus on the here and now. The McLaren series is unmissable viewing for an F1 fan because so much of it is usually unseen, and the same would apply to a wide variety of recent stories.

Filmed briefings have supposedly led to drivers staying quiet until the cameras are off. F1's fear of honesty is holding it back

The success of the incredible '30 for 30' ESPN series in America shows that in-depth documentaries don't need to be about the here and now. Some of its most celebrated episodes are revisiting, or uncovering, stories from decades ago. F1 has a rich history, and as the 'Senna' film proved, when the archive assembled under Bernie Ecclestone's watch is mined correctly, the results can be phenomenal. Imagine if cameras had captured everything going on in private around the controversial six-car US Grand Prix in 2005. Even in 2018, a programme about that would be must-see.

The sports streaming service that offers the closest thing to a blueprint for F1 - wrestling's 'WWE Network' - has already built up years of experience of how to create valuable original programming alongside the regular exclusive live events that anchor the package. Attempts to copy reality TV-style shows or create other forms of entertainment have floundered, but serious programmes about major stories in the sport's history have proved popular alongside access to an extensive archive.

But it's also mastered the serious one-off documentary approach, and just this week it released the latest in its '24' series that picks a major personality, story or event and provides unprecedented access behind the scenes. Similar to the timing of McLaren's series, the episodes are released almost a year after the events in question, with this week's focusing on the real stories behind WWE's 'WrestleMania' showpiece from April 2017, and nowhere off limits for the cameras.

F1 could follow this template, but it would need its major players to cooperate, or be obliged to contractually in future. If everyone is working for the same overall entity, then when you're told there's nothing to hide, there is nothing to hide. It's never going to be that straightforward in F1 under its current structure where the teams have their own interests to protect.

The popularity of the short drivers' briefing clips on the F1 YouTube channel in 2017 - averaging around half a million views each - proved there is an appetite for previously unseen elements of a grand prix weekend. But those filmed sections have supposedly led to drivers staying quiet until the cameras are off, which yet again shows how F1's fear of honesty is holding it back.

Fans see drivers and team personnel with their guard up enough already. If F1 wants to make an impact with behind the scenes material for its own streaming service, then it needs to find a way to coax the same levels of openness McLaren has showed from the rest of the paddock.