Abu Dhabi: Barring the antics to lure fans to Formula One by getting boxing announcer Michael Buffer to the track at the Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, the Liberty Media’s effort to popularise and promote the sport was pretty decent in their debut season, felt drivers.
The role of Buffer standing atop a podium and introducing each driver with boxing-inspired nicknames like Kevin ‘K-Mag’ Magnussen, and Nico ‘The Hulk’ Hulkenberg was worthless and a waste of time ahead of the race, felt most.
Fernando Alonso, 36, believes in the old traditions and was very critical about Buffer & Co. saying, “It was a bad joke. A bad imitation of Indy. It makes no sense to have only two drivers in the middle and the other 18 as a bodyguard next to it,” said Alonso ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Spaniard, however, welcomed the new Formula 1 owners’ move to get the fans more closer to the sport again. “That’s what counts,” said Alonso adding, “I think the fans get a little bit closer to the sport and to the teams, can touch the cars and do the F1 Experience. There are a couple of things that are quite cool so I think it’s going in the right direction.”
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas too felt the biggest plus was ensuring more fan involvement but asserted that persisting on the change will be a challenge for Liberty.
“Fans, I think that’s always positive and for sure, time will still show what kind of direction the sport is actually taking. From what I’ve seen, the best thing, for me, has been seeing so many grandstands full this year, especially the European Grands Prix. They were pretty well all sold out and that’s a good sign,” said Bottas, who will be battling for the second place with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel on Sunday.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen shared the same sentiments as Alonso and Bottas, “I think it’s always good to get the fans closer to the paddock area instead of just in the grandstand because then they don’t really know what’s going on or they don’t really get the feeling of Formula One in general. I think they are going in a good direction and they keep thinking about new things so let’s see what happens in the next few years.”
