Formula E learns how to go viral with #LeapOfFaith

There were two major social media highlights of the past few months for me, one of which showed how to go viral, whilst the other really showed the personality of two popular drivers away from the racing circuit.

#LeapOfFaith takes off…
To reach a new, diverse audience, you have to take creative risks. You have to be prepared to try out new things. If the audience is not receptive to said ‘new things’, you simply move in a different direction and add it to your ‘lessons learnt’ list. It gives you an idea of what works and what doesn’t. Formula E’s latest stunt was designed to go viral, and it did exactly that.

The stunt, filmed around the time of the Mexican ePrix in early March, saw Damien Walters backflip over a Formula E car travelling at speed. As of writing, the main video on Formula E’s YouTube channel has had over 5 million hits. When you combine that with Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, the combined reach of the video will be in excess of 10 million hits, an excellent achievement for Formula E’s digital media team. It shows that thinking outside of the box does work, and can bring attention to their channels, which I feel is a lesson that all in the world of motor sport can learn, including Formula 1.

However, here is the crux for why I don’t think you will see F1’s digital media team do videos like that, and it is not because they are not creative or anything of that sort. How many people will have watched the #LeapOfFaith and thought “I must check out some of Formula E’s other videos” or “I might watch Formula E next weekend”? I’d hazard a guess and say that it was less than 1 percent. Instead, for the vast majority of those that stumbled across the video, they probably thought it was “cool” and moved on.

I’m not trying to undermine the idea behind the video by saying that, because I thought it was awesome, but I do not see it significantly affecting Formula E’s growth. Mind you, every little helps and every opportunity to grab a new viewer is a good opportunity and I applaud Formula E for producing #LeapOfFath.

…Formula 1 drivers show off personality with fun and Q&A sessions…
There have been a few examples recently where personality has been on show in the world of Formula 1. Aside from Fernando Alonso’s live on-screen jibe at Johnny Herbert during Sky Sports F1’s Bahrain Grand Prix practice coverage, the Chinese Grand Prix saw a heated back and forth debate between Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat over the driving standard of the latter at the start of the race. The debates have been intertwined with fun and Q&A sessions along the way.

Probably the best show of personality this season away from the race track comes from Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo. Back at Massa’s home in Monte Carlo, his son and Ricciardo engaged in a go-karting race. In what was a close run contest from start to finish, with plenty of nail-biting moments, it was the youngster who won by the smallest of margins. The fun and games between Massa and Ricciardo was live streamed on Facebook. Like #LeapOfFaith above, this too went viral amassing nearly 5 million views. Of course, one was designed to go viral whereas the other was some fun between two mates. But we need videos like that, they are memorable and for good reason too.

On the more scripted side, Sky Sports F1 have been engaging in some fan question and answer sessions, so far with Lewis Hamilton and Rio Haryanto (the former also doing a Twitter Q&A in recent weeks). Including all play backs, these two have had 270,000 and 60,000 views respectively. This is a wider Sky Sports strategy to conduct question and answer sessions on social media as opposed, which is how these two have come about. You only need to look at the swathe of videos that Sky Sports upload to Facebook to realise that. I would be surprised if Formula One Management (FOM) have got involved in either of these Q&A sessions. Scripted or not, from a fan perspective, it has been great to see personalities on-show so far during 2016, something I hope continues throughout the year.

…but what hasn’t gone viral?
There have been many fantastic and dramatic moments so far in the 2016 Formula One season. Alongside the aforementioned Vettel vs Kvyat squabble in China, we had Fernando Alonso’s horrifying crash in Australia and the major turn one accident in Russia. There’s been a lot of pin-points so far this year that could have gone ‘viral’. You can produce the greatest videos in the world, but there is no substitute for current action as that inevitably drives traffic. Formula 1 has probably lost out in excess of 15 to 20 million views across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube so far in 2016, I daresay more than that.

Take a look at MotoGP’s social media video portfolio on Facebook and YouTube. We’re talking short-form bite-size content: around 20 seconds long on Facebook and one to two minutes on YouTube. The reason for the lack of 2016 Formula 1 video content on FOM’s social media channels is the current television broadcasting contracts as we all know, but it just illustrates the potential reach that Formula 1 is losing hand over fist on a now bi-weekly basis.

Elsewhere, the lack of an on-screen hashtag still confuses and bemuses me, both in equal measure. I’m surprised Formula E still hasn’t successfully embedded it into their graphics set. So simple, but proving to be a challenge at the same time. Formula E have also launched a new website, which is designed for best use on phone or tablet device. It feels slim line, and is extremely different to say the Formula 1 and MotoGP websites. As a desktop user, I personally prefer the F1 and MotoGP sites, both of which look more professional than the Formula E site. Round the edges, the Formula E website does not look as smooth either, but this should improve over time as bugs are ironed out.

Scheduling: The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Round five of the 2016 Formula One season marks a return to more familiar territory with the Spanish Grand Prix from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With it, the support races return during the weekend: GP2, GP3 and the Porsche Supercup.

Spain marks Channel 4’s second live Grand Prix and as part of their rotating punditry line-up, the weekend sees the debut of four-time world champion Alain Prost. Prost will be alongside Susie Wolff who makes her second appearance this season.

Elsewhere, I would expect Alex Jacques to return as GP2 and GP3 commentator for his second season. This has not yet been officially confirmed, but I have not seen any information to the contrary making the rounds. I will update this post if I hear anything (the same applies for co-commentator).

Outside of Formula 1, it is the Historic Grand Prix in Monaco, which is being covered live on Motors TV. The only two races that are not being covered are the post-1966 Formula 1 cars in action, because Motors TV is showing the Blancpain Endurance Series instead. In previous years, Sky Sports F1 has aired highlights from the historic weekend, but there is nothing currently in their schedules for the forthcoming weeks.

Also of interest is the World Superbikes from Sepang. The weekend is the first major event that is utilising the revised final corner, which will be used later this year in Formula 1. Below are all the scheduling details you need.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
13/05 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1
13/05 – 12:55 to 14:35 – Practice 2
14/05 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3
14/05 – 12:00 to 14:30 – Qualifying
15/05 – 12:00 to 15:35 – Race
15/05 – 23:00 to 00:10 – Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
13/05 – 08:45 to 11:00 – Practice 1
13/05 – 12:45 to 14:50 – Practice 2
14/05 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
14/05 – 12:00 to 14:35 – Qualifying
15/05 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
11/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
12/05 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Driver Press Conference
12/05 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
13/05 – 15:30 to 16:00 – Team Press Conference
13/05 – 16:00 to 16:30 – The F1 Show
18/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
13/05 – 08:55 to 10:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14/05 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
14/05 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
15/05 – 13:00 to 15:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Blancpain Endurance Series – Silverstone (Motors TV)
15/05 – 14:30 to 18:30 – Race

Formula 3 Europe – Pau (BT Sport Europe)
14/05 – 10:00 to 11:00 – Race 1
14/05 – 14:30 to 15:45 – Race 2
15/05 – 14:00 to 15:15 – Race 3

GP2 Series – Spain (Sky Sports F1)
13/05 – 11:00 to 11:50 – Practice
13/05 – 14:50 to 15:30 – Qualifying
14/05 – 14:35 to 16:05 – Race 1
15/05 – 09:30 to 10:45 – Race 2

GP3 Series – Spain (Sky Sports F1)
14/05 – 08:45 to 09:20 – Qualifying
14/05 – 16:15 to 17:15 – Race 1
15/05 – 08:20 to 09:20 – Race 2

Historic Grand Prix of Monaco (Motors TV)
14/05 – 07:25 to 10:35 – Qualifying
=> 07:25 – 1966 to 1972 Formula 1
=> 08:05 – 1973 to 1976 Formula 1
=> 08:55 – 1958 to 1960 Formula Junior
=> 09:45 – Parade for Pre-War
14/05 – 13:25 to 17:20 – Qualifying
=> 13:25 – Pre-1961 Formula 1 and Formula 2
=> 14:05 – 1961 to 1965 Formula 1 (1500cc)
=> 14:55 – 1952 to 1955 Sports Racing
=> 15:45 – 1966 to 1972 Formula 1
=> 16:35 – 1973 to 1976 Formula 1
15/05 – 07:50 to 12:05 – Races
=> 07:50 – 1958 to 1960 Formula Junior
=> 08:50 – Pre-1961 Formula 1 and Formula 2
=> 09:55 – 1961 to 1965 Formula 1 (1500cc)
=> 11:05 – Parade for Pre-War
15/05 – 12:50 to 13:50 – Race – 1952 to 1955 Sports Racing

IndyCar Series – Indianapolis (BT Sport//ESPN)
14/05 – 20:30 to 23:00 – Race

Porsche Supercup – Spain (British Eurosport 2)
15/05 – 10:30 to 11:30 – Race

Speedway Grand Prix – Poland (BT Sport 1)
14/05 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races

World Superbikes – Malaysia (British Eurosport 2)
14/05 – 06:15 to 10:15 – Qualifying and Race 1
15/05 – 07:00 to 10:30 – Support Races and Race 2

As always, if anything changes, I’ll update the schedule.

Updated on May 7th.

Brundle to miss European Grand Prix weekend

For the first time since they entered the sport in 2012, Sky Sports F1 will be without Martin Brundle for a race weekend.

Brundle has confirmed that he will be racing in the new LMP3 support race during the 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend. The race takes place on Saturday 18th June, the same day as qualifying for the 2016 European (Baku) Grand Prix. Sky have confirmed to this site that Brundle will be missing the whole weekend.

It is the first race he has missed since the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix when James Allen and Anthony Davidson voiced the race for ITV. Sky have also said to this site that their European Grand Prix co-commentator will come from their existing range of talent, meaning that it is likely to be one of either Damon Hill, Paul di Resta or Johnny Herbert alongside David Croft.

Don’t expect the co-commentator to be confirmed in the form of a press release before the race weekend. One thing is for certain: Sky’s team will be significantly weaker without Brundle during the Baku weekend.

2.4 million watch Russian Grand Prix in UK

An average audience of just over 2.4 million watched the Russian Grand Prix on television in the United Kingdom yesterday, overnight viewing figures show.

Before we go into the in-depth detail, it is worth pointing out two things that would have adversely affected viewing figures. The first is the change of slot in the calendar. In both 2014 and 2015, Russia was at the latter end of the calendar when there was a championship battle ongoing, which may have increased audiences.

Secondly, Bank Holiday weekend in the United Kingdom means slightly reduced audiences across the board as people head away for long weekend.

Race
Live coverage of the race, which aired live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 15:30, averaged 470k (4.9%). In comparison, last year’s programme on Sky, which was shared with BBC One, averaged 497k (5.1%). So, despite the added exclusivity aspect this year, Sky’s number was slightly down year-on-year.

Highlights of the race were broadcast on Channel 4 from 18:00 to 20:00 and averaged 1.94m (10.8%). The combined audience of 2.41 million viewers is down 26.7 percent on 2015’s average audience of 3.29 million viewers. Unfortunately, the Russian Grand Prix now holds the accolade of being the lowest rated ‘European time zone’ race since the mid 2000s, taking away the feat that the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix previously held. The audience yesterday of 2.41 million viewers is the lowest for a ‘European time zone’ race since the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.

Qualifying
Live coverage of qualifying, broadcast exclusively on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 14:45, averaged 275k (3.6%). Last year, Sky’s shared live coverage with the BBC averaged 351k (4.3%) over a shorter slot from 12:15 to 14:35. Nevertheless, for an exclusive live broadcast, that is a very poor number, especially considering the lack of Premier League competition from BT Sport.

Channel 4’s highlights programme, which aired from 17:30 to 19:00, averaged 1.16m (8.2%). Although it was Channel 4’s only programme over one million viewers on Saturday, the raw number and share is arguably lower than they would have expected. The combined audience of 1.44 million viewers is down 39.3 percent on 2015’s combined audience of 2.37 million viewers. It looks to be the lowest audience for a qualifying session since the 2008 European Grand Prix.

The 2015 Russian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

Scheduling: The 2016 Russian Grand Prix

The Bank Holiday weekend here in the United Kingdom means that there is not a lot of motor sport choice as May begins.

Round four of the 2016 Formula One season comes from Russia, which moves from its early October slot in the calendar. Russia is Sky Sports F1’s third exclusively live race of the season, with Channel 4 screening highlights of both qualifying and the race on the edge of primetime.

There is no further action of four wheels to be aware of this weekend looking at the schedule. Further afield on two wheels, the Speedway Grand Prix season gets underway live on BT Sport. British Eurosport meanwhile plays host to both the World and British Superbike Championships and as is tradition, the domestic super bike action takes place on Bank Holiday Monday.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
30/04 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying Highlights
01/05 – 18:00 to 20:00 – Race Highlights

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
29/04 – 07:45 to 09:50 – Practice 1
29/04 – 11:45 to 14:00 – Practice 2
30/04 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Practice 3
30/04 – 12:00 to 14:45 – Qualifying
01/05 – 11:30 to 16:15 – Race
=> 11:30 – Track Parade
=> 12:00 – Pit Lane Live
=> 12:30 – Race
=> 15:30 – Paddock Live

Supplementary Programming
27/04 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Preview
28/04 – 13:00 to 13:30 – Driver Press Conference
28/04 – 20:45 to 21:00 – Paddock Uncut
29/04 – 14:00 to 14:30 – Team Press Conference
29/04 – 14:30 to 15:00 – The F1 Show
04/05 – 20:30 to 21:00 – F1 Report: Review

BBC Radio F1
29/04 – 07:55 to 09:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
29/04 – 11:55 to 13:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
30/04 – 09:55 to 11:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
30/04 – 12:55 to 14:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
01/05 – 12:30 to 16:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)

British Superbikes – Oulton Park
01/05 – 14:00 to 16:00 – Qualifying (British Eurosport 2)
02/05 – 12:30 to 18:00 – Races (British Eurosport 2)
04/05 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

Speedway Grand Prix – Slovenia (BT Sport 1)
30/04 – 17:30 to 21:15 – Races

World Superbikes – Imola
30/04 – 12:00 to 13:15 – Superpole and Race 1 (British Eurosport 2)
01/05 – 10:00 to 14:00 – Race 2 (British Eurosport 2)
03/05 – 20:00 to 21:00 – Highlights (ITV4)

As always, if anything changes, I will update the schedule.

Last updated on May 1st at 11:00 to reflect the BBC Radio 5 Live schedule change. Race coverage will now be on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra so that the main station can cover updates in the Manchester United vs Leicester City football match.