Lopez slams the management of Formula One

(Lotus F1 Team)

Lotus F1 Team Principal Gerard Lopez has pointed the finger at the sports ‘archaic management’ and criticised them for not doing more to attract younger fans to the sport.

Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone said last year that the sport doesn’t need young fans as they don’t have the disposable income to enable them to avoid to attend Grand Prix however Lopez has stated that by attracting a younger audience to the sport this would enable teams to attract new sponsors to sport.

Lopez points to the fact that although the sport has seen a decline in its television audience recently the sport has a responsibility to reach to out to the younger fans and the best to do this in his opinion is through the internet and most of all social media.

All of the Formula One teams on the grid and indeed the new entrant the Haas F1 Team have a presence on social media and regularly engage with their fans with competitions, facts of the day features and Q and A sessions with drivers and this is something that the sport needs to focus on in the age of social media.

Lopez went on to say that the sport should be doing more to promote itself for example he said that the sport doesn’t have a genuine marketing department and he often meets investors from other sports who feel that Formula One is not tapping into its full potential as a global platform for new sponsors.

The Mexican Grand Prix returns this year for the first time over 20 years and one team who have taken advantage of this is the Sahara Force India Formula One Team as they have a Mexican driver in Sergio Perez, they have also brought in a number of new Mexican sponsors courtesy of businessman Carlos Slim and his American Movil Group. The team also held their livery launch for the VJM08 in Mexico City.

Lopez concluded by saying that by failing to attract new investors to the sport Formula One is tarnishing its reputation and he feels that although the situation could be rectified easily he feels that the bigger teams are unwilling to see change happen.

© Ben Johnston 2015