Why MotoGP beat F1's start to 2016

I generally find comparing two sports a bit unnecessary. Especially when it involves fans of one sport picking holes in, or belittling, another. But in a PR and therefore commercial sense, MotoGP scored a major early win over Formula 1 on Monday.

It can thank the factory Yamaha team, fittingly the reigning triple champion, which launched its 2016 bike two weeks before the year's first pre-season test and two months before the season opener in Qatar.

The event, held in the Barcelona headquarters of major sponsor Movistar, ran for about 90 minutes, and was streamed live on the team and MotoGP's websites.

The team's managing director Lin Jarvis and manager Massimo Meregalli, plus Yamaha's motorsport general manager Kouichi Tsuji were all interviewed separately and properly, along with, of course, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, before the covers came off the 2016 YZR-M1.

Then the floor was opened to attending journalists, with questions encouraged during that 20-odd minute press conference, which seemed to end when the questions were finished rather than based on a time limit.

F1 teams are set to unveil in quick succession at the first test © LAT

Everyone spoke honestly and with insight, rather than any level of 'I hope the bike goes as fast as it looks', addressing 2016's big talking points, how '15 finished and where Yamaha and the riders are at on the eve of the new season. Lorenzo even admitted to being at about half fitness, based on his hectic schedule after wrapping up the title last November.

The riders were also available for separate media briefings afterwards, and that level of media access has generated a ton of coverage, including on Autosport.

Every sport - motored or otherwise - and every sporting team - from football's Aston Villa to the Dakar X-raid squad - are competing for media exposure on some level. Exposure equals eyeballs, which is vital in securing funding, whether it is direct sponsorship or a slice of the ever-increasing TV-revenue pie your series attracts.

So Yamaha, and therefore MotoGP, won Monday.

During that event, Ferrari announced a social media competition around its launch and McLaren its launch date, both of which generated interest. Later, there was a Twitter mini-frenzy around a mock Renault livery - clearly identified as such - in F1 Racing magazine.

Imagine the coverage and interest that would have accompanied the launch of a 2016 car or livery on January 18, like the olden days. Or if a team unveiled its car at Autosport International last weekend, taking it to the fans of the sport, as Williams did so successfully with its involvement.

For the avoidance of doubt, this isn't just a journalist lamenting a lack of content. I have also spent time on the PR side of the divide, so there is genuine frustration at seeing assets go to waste.

Williams drew crowds to Autosport International even without a new car © LAT

As it stands, we ostensibly have a host of teams selecting the shade of navy car cover to use in a cold Barcelona pitlane, before the drivers pose for corporate selfies. Oh, and all within about one hour of each other, quashing the PR value of each 'launch'.

Unless you are winning races, launching your new car is one of the biggest, most newsworthy things a team can actually 'do' during a calendar year, and so much more could be made of it. The pitlane strategy is basically the equivalent of holding your birthday party at 11am on a Tuesday.

Why not get something out now, and hog the limelight? To put it in racing terms, undercut your rivals and capitalise on the clean air. If you are holding an event, do it - like Yamaha and Movistar - at the HQ of a major sponsor as part of that brand's activation of its Formula 1 involvement.

But, you know what? It doesn't even need to be an event. Organise some representative imagery and get it out there. It can be a digital render. It can be from one angle, but people will lap it up.

The word 'representative' in that last paragraph is important. Aerodynamicists and engineers will obviously want to keep their precious aero solutions under wraps. But if that is the only reason launches happen the way they do now, it is a damming example of the technological side of F1 overtaking the spectacle and bigger picture.

To get around that, release something that might be several generations old, compared with what is currently in your windtunnel. People will forget exactly what you released if you do it early enough, especially since what you launch will look nothing like the detailed touches on the car in Australia, let alone by the time it returns to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix in the middle of May.

If you have a trick new solution, obviously just hide or don't include that at all. Especially if you have stumbled on that clause about six-wheeled-cars being allowed.

Force India did a proper livery launch in Mexico last January © XPB

You might remember the Lotus and Williams examples of recent years, getting on the front foot to release imagery early, in conjunction with F1 Racing. Neither was a photo, but it got the job done, and generated plenty of coverage. Just as any 2016 MotoGP stories in the coming days will be illustrated with a picture of the new Yamaha, an F1 team would potentially have the lion's share of that exposure for a whole month.

Since it won't be bringing its 2016 car to the first test, I would suggest Sauber is the perfect candidate for this approach. As a midfield team, it will be tough to escape the shadow of the big outfits during the expected flurry of Barcelona pitlane launches.

No one at the first test is really going to care about Sauber and its 2015 car, but if you get the livery out now, there will be way more interest. Then the team gets the second hit during the second test when the actual 2016 car rolls out.

Beyond those initial rollouts, the focus quickly turns to what happens on track in this modern age of live coverage and social media. Someone's new car invariably breaks down in the first hour, or a driver trips over something and breaks a team's only front wing.

By lunchtime, all talk has moved to how the cars are going, and not how what they look like and which companies have their logos where.

The talk actually turns to who is doing what. Doing things, like Yamaha's MotoGP team did in Barcelona on Monday.