F1's plans to improve the TV show in 2019

In an increasingly busy TV marketplace, and with so many platforms competing for people's attention, Formula 1 has to stay ahead of the game. It has to retain its appeal to dedicated fans who want to watch every session and - in those markets where it is still accessible free of charge - attract the casual viewer on Sunday afternoons.

The local commentary teams employed by each broadcaster play a large role in explaining the narrative. But they have to work with the world feed, including graphics, which is provided by the F1 organisation.

Bernie Ecclestone always believed that TV was king, and over the decades he put together a top-class team of technical and creative people at Biggin Hill, where the operation is based. And that focus has continued under Liberty Media's stewardship, which is no surprise given that key players Chase Carey and Sean Bratches both have extensive broadcasting backgrounds.

So what sort of challenges does F1's TV production team face, and what innovations will we see in 2019?

Sometimes rule changes throw a curve ball that has to be dealt with, and last year's introduction of the halo was a classic example. Decades of work honing onboard camera positions was compromised by an object sitting in the middle of the screen. It became a major talking point over the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

"That was an interesting winter!" says Dean Locke, F1's director of TV and media. "We saw from Barcelona testing what we were going to be looking at, and already from testing of the halo in 2017 we knew we had a bit of an issue and were trying to think around that."

The clever solution was to make use of that 'negative' screen space for some new graphics. "It's the architecture thing," says Locke. "If you can't hide the air conditioning, highlight it. It was a bit like that.

"We were really pleased with it. It took a lot to get it in because each halo viewpoint is different, there's a little bit of tolerance in the camera, and the teams have tolerance as well - when you're that close to it, 5% here and 5% there makes a huge difference. It took us until Azerbaijan to get at least half the field."

The big problem was that TV camera positions are prescribed in great detail in the FIA technical regulations, and it was not possible to adjust their locations within the season.

"We were trying to devise a way to change the onboards, but that takes time," says Locke. "You saw different angles already last year and there'll be more of that in 2019 - you saw the [Fernando] Alonso face shot, for instance, in Abu Dhabi.

"Audio has changed quite dramatically. It is successful, but at some tracks it's better than others. The Honda engines sounded really good last year" F1 TV chief Dan Locke

"We ran a couple on the Renaults last year, a couple on the Toro Rossos, just slightly better angles, so you're looking at it more in line with the driver. There's been lots of development. The boys were busy over the winter.

"The halo is still there, but you'll be looking through it a lot more. We're just trying to show how those drivers are wrestling those cars around. There's still a limited field. Inside a rally car you can see a great deal of the effort and what the driver's doing. It's a little bit more restricted for us, because they're in a small cockpit. They're driving their socks off in these cars and it's hard to get that across."

Since the hybrid power units arrived in 2014, sound has presented another ongoing challenge, especially as locating microphones in the hostile environment around the engine is not easy.

"Audio has changed quite dramatically," says Locke. "We've done a lot more around the car. If you look at the pictures, they tend to be at the front, and the audio out the back. A lot of thought went into that in 2018, and a lot more for '19. It is successful, but at some tracks it's better than others. The Honda engines sounded really good last year."

Much like the teams, the TV people pursue a continuous course of development - which for the first time is being shaped by market research. Fans have never been slow to make their feelings known on forums and social media, but now there's a formal process of data gathering.

"I've had results from some research, which we never did before 2018, as we now have a research division working for us," says Locke. "That's been really good - what people like, and what they don't like.

"F1 has a very subjective audience, across the world. They know what they want to see, and it's about meeting those requirements. Again, the research department has helped us understand what the viewers are interested in seeing. Is it more or less onboard, more pit stories, better graphics?

"The sport is very complex. We have some viewers who understand it really effectively, and then we also have some who are quite confused by it at times, because it's quite a dynamic sport."

Graphics is a key area, and last year there was a switch to what Locke describes as a more "gamey" look.

"There have been a lot more descriptions in the graphics, not just the style change, whether it's about the event, or a certain corner, or stats based. And we're also trying to demystify a little some of the strategy, the virtual safety car, things like that.

"We've got a lot more to do on graphics in 2019, again demystifying the sport a little, so it's a freshen-up. We're interested in more augmented reality, but there's only so much real estate on the screen. The viewer wants to see the actual pictures as well!

"It's about being a bit clever with the information. We don't have tyre information up enough, so that's something we need to do. It's very difficult to get a tyre icon that looks like a tyre, rather than just have an 'S' or an 'H'. I think the move to the new standard tyres - soft, medium and hard - will help the more casual viewer."

An intriguing development for 2019 reflects a new partnership between F1 and Amazon Web Services - one considered so important that Ross Brawn unveiled it at major event in Las Vegas late last year. In essence, F1 will use strategy technology similar to that employed by the teams to predict how strategy will unfold.

"We're doing lot of work with AWS and their machine learning capabilities to explain things like the undercut/overcut," says Locke. "We're using their platform to give us the data for some graphics. It's a pretty powerful tool and we're only just touching on what we can or can't achieve.

"For example, the pitstop strategy: why did they come in, why didn't they come in? We're relying on a very good commentary team to explain that, which in the UK we're very lucky to have. You can't take it for granted in the other 200 territories and over 90 broadcasters.

"We noticed that we get some lulls, after the start replays and before the first wave of pitstops. What can we do to fill that lull?" Dan Locke

"We have graphics that can actually explain, 'He started on those tyres, he's going to stop then', while actually making it more dynamic, because if the VSC comes out it can throw those kinds of things out.

"We're using all the data from Friday and Saturday to come up with the algorithm of what we think will happen. If we can explain that in a simple and easy to read manner, it will be a huge win."

Honing the F1 show for the modern era is not just about clever technology, but also the direction and choice of pictures. Locke says his organisation is now working closer than ever with its key customers - the 90-plus broadcasters - and their feedback has been invaluable.

"We're working with the broadcasters more effectively. We meet them every week now. It's been really effective, them coming back and saying, 'That allowed us to do this, or that allowed us to put that into our schedule'. It's been a positive step."

Last year viewers had replays popping up in a way that they had not been used before, such as highlights from early in the race shown much later on, or the Max Verstappen/Esteban Ocon clash in Brazil being slipped into the broadcast of the following race in Abu Dhabi. The key to making such things work is to let commentators know that they're coming.

"That's been quite an interesting change, again working with the broadcasters to make sure it fits. We noticed that we get some lulls, after the start replays and before the first wave of pitstops. What can we do to fill that lull?

"The start replays are not only the most stressful part of the broadcast, but quite often you want to have another look at them. We thought why not, if we have that lull, use angles that potentially weren't ready before, or slightly different views of an incident? Or we might know more about an incident from the start that we can re-do.

"The key was to put that into the lulls, so we're not cutting into the key live action. We're finding the lull points and filling them.

"Often there are interesting elements like one of the Red Bulls starting from the back and making up nine places by lap four," says Locke. "It's very difficult to put it into the start replays, because we'd be out of live for too long. But if we get to lap 10-11 and there's not much going on, we can just do that recap of, 'This is how Max is now up to this position'.

"Or if a car crashes out in FP3 and we think it's going to be a bit of a job to repair it for qualifying, when we get to qualifying and the mechanics are desperately trying to get the car out, it's nice to recap why that was.

"I think the broadcasters were nervous, and that's why we put facilities in to make sure they were able to work with it and knew what was coming up. Same with historical footage, like putting the Brazil crash into Abu Dhabi."

Locke admits that using such replays represents a significant change of philosophy. "I've been doing this quite a long time, and we were always reticent to put in footage from another session or another race.

"What happens now is on Saturday after qualifying we'll have a good look at what the stories are, and what footage there might be, and we'll sit round the table and someone will go, 'That reminds me of something'. When the Force Indias kept hitting each other that was easy!

"We'll get that historical footage ready and we'll let the broadcasters know what we've got so it isn't a big surprise. And we'll also announce through our communications to them, 'OK, we're doing a replay, this will be Max versus Ocon'.

"That was always quite tough when you've got 90 broadcasters, to let them know what's coming up, so that's why we did it pretty carefully."

F1 isn't afraid to go back to basics - for instance considering how to make the cars look more spectacular.

"There's a big push for 2019 to reflect the speed of the sport. There's a rethink on all camera positions. If you're in the grandstand the cars look incredible, don't they? Camera angles, or lenses, can make them look not so dramatic and not quite as quick.

"So we looked at different ways to do that, a few little tricks. We've always been good at doing whip-pans to show the high speed of the cars, making them look a little more edgy in places. There were some tracks last year - in Japan for instance - where we really highlighted where these cars are good."

This year for the first time F1 will provide proper coverage of Barcelona testing. It won't be easy to make four days of continuous running exciting, especially given that teams always want to hide their new kit. But the launches and first runs of the new cars early on the Monday morning will be quite a show.

"Yeah, we'll be all over that!" says Locke. "We're taking time to work out how we're going to do it. You don't know what set-up the cars are running, so you can't necessarily compare eggs with eggs. So we're looking at making it a bit more entertaining.

"The teams are there to test, they're not there to be filmed, but we hope we can work with them to try to get a bit more."

Barcelona will also allow Locke and his colleagues to trial some new ideas as the organisation continues to hone its skills.

"F1 is always a challenge, because it's not football, it's not a stadium sport with one ball and one pitch. We've got a five-and-a-half-kilometre pitch and 20 balls - and more in F2 - and all with their own story.

"They've got strategy for two teams in football - we've got strategy for 10 teams and they can all interact at some point. We've always been good at following a good narrative - if the leader is off on their own, then we tend to go after the battles.

"We're interested in showing the drama of the sport."