In a first instalment of a new feature, RaceFans’ regular contributors have their say on the world of motorsport.
From the political to the personal, from Formula 1 to junior series, this regular feature will see RaceFans writers say how they passionately feel about the world of motorsport. First up, a look ahead to the exciting new season of F1 that awaits us all in 2023.
We all know about the drivers, the teams and the circuits they will be racing on this season, but what are RaceFans’ writers hoping to see from the year ahead – both on and off the track?
More free-to-air races
As a Britain-based reporter, I rue the fact that we only get one F1 race per year on free-to-air television. But it’s the British Grand Prix, which tends to be one of the more exciting ones for race action.
However in 2021 we got to also see the farcical title decider in Abu Dhabi between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for free, so the potential is there for the live TV rights holder Sky Sports to agree a deal with free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4 to do something similar again.
F1 fans are probably not going to be treated to a season-long title fight in 2023, but the world championship is really pushing the idea that the penultimate races of the season – the new Las Vegas Grand Prix – is going to be the spectacle of a lifetime. It will have a 6am start time in the UK, meaning a live broadcast on C4 would only be pushing out repeats of old sitcoms, and judging whether the event can successfully capture the interest of casual viewers or non-F1 fans outside of the city will be far more useful for the promoter if it shown free-to-air rather than on specialist subscription channels aimed specifically at F1 fans.
Other candidates for a second free-to-air race would be the Bahrain season opener, because that is the best time of the season to remind people that F1 is happening, or the Australian Grand Prix because it is also has an early morning start time that would not disrupt any of C4’s original programming, and Albert Park is one of the most visually appealing grand prix venues to see on TV.
Ida Wood
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