Formula One won’t really be back until the fans are too

If you thought motorsport relied little on fans, writes Jack de Menezes, then think again – without their passion, F1 loses its soul

(EPA)

It is inevitable that sport will return without fans. From the 92 outstanding Premier League matches, to boxing bouts in purpose-built studios, those who pay the most for the privilege to watch live sport will, for the foreseeable future, have to do so from their living rooms. It is a measure that will take away something that means a great deal to many, yet must be respected for the good of the global population.

Formula One is not exempt from this. On Monday, F1 chief executive Chase Carey confirmed that the plan is to finally start the 2020 season in July, at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, without fans.

Many will assume F1 is a sport unaffected by fans. After all, motorsport involves one of the largest gaps between the stands and the action (for obvious reasons), while home support factor is largely made redundant by the impact of power units, tyre management and aerodynamic performance.

Yet F1 is still powered by the same thing that all sport relies on: passion and spirit. Ask Lewis Hamilton why he has stood on the top of the Silverstone podium six times, or why winning at Monza meant so much to Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc while wearing the red of Ferrari, and there is only one answer: home support.

It’s because F1 offers something that few sports can. Many feel like they are part of the sport because of the time and effort needed to put into it. A race weekend is much more than 90 minutes every other Sunday, it’s pitching your tent on the Wednesday, absorbing every minute of Friday’s three hours of practice, spending February sitting through eight days of testing and, when your favoured driver takes the chequered flag, bursting onto the track to join the celebrations.

Without this, F1 will lose its soul over the coming months – not permanently, but long enough for the threat of a second Covid-19 peak to subside. The show needs to go on when it is safe to do so, because too many jobs depend on the sport – but F1 will only truly be back when the fans are too.

Yours,

Jack de Menezes

Sports news correspondent