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martyb writes:

Formula 1 auto racing became a force to be reckoned with thanks in large part to Bernie Ecclestone. Through a series of cunning acquisitions and negotiations he gradually gathered more control over F1 and created a racing empire that made him one of the richest men in the UK. His actions brought the racing series to a position of eminence, and some would argue led to decisions that in recent years have adversely affected the actual enjoyment of watching a race.

Now 86 years old, it's time to say "Bye Bye, Bernie." Ars Technica reports Here's how Formula 1 will change, now that Bernie Ecclestone is out the door:

In September 2016, news emerged that Formula 1 was changing hands, with a proposed sale from CVC Capital Partners to Liberty Media. Despite a couple of hurdles—including the sport's regulator standing to make a hefty profit from the sale—everything looks to have sailed through without a hitch. On Monday we learned that the sale was final and that the new owners have made an immediate change, for Bernie Ecclestone will no longer run the show.

We've known since last year that Chase Carey would be Chairman, with Ecclestone staying on as CEO for the near term. Evidently near-term meant four months, because as of Monday, Carey is the CEO. Ecclestone has been made Chairman Emeritus, and according to a press statement will "be available as a source of advice for the board of F1."

That advice comes from decades of experience, because Ecclestone is the man behind F1's commercial success. He consolidated the broadcast rights from individual races, negotiating on behalf of the other teams. Bit by bit, he took charge of everything, turning the F1 Grand Prix into the well-oiled machine it is today. The FIA was still the sport's organizing body and would still set the rules, but it gave Ecclestone the commercial rights. Tracks would pay to host a race and could keep any profits from ticket sales. But the rest—all that trackside advertising included—would go through his companies.

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Local broadcasters, which it must be said were not all equally good, were gradually replaced with a traveling TV production facility. Luxurious VIP facilities rode in on the same 747 cargo planes, coupled with layers of security that kept the average fan well away from the cars and drivers, giving the sport an air of exclusivity. By 2005 the show was owned by a private equity group called CVC Capital Partners. Intricate—some might say murky—finances prevented CVC from its intended plan of floating F1 on a stock exchange, so instead it just sat there, reaping immense profits while doing little to invest in the business.

That period of chronic underinvestment is why so many have cheered the sale to Liberty. The sport might be in rude financial health, but many of the tracks and some of the teams are far from it. Huge sanctioning fees mean it's impossible to host an F1 race without state support (Monaco being the exception). Petrostates like Azerbaijan and Russia will pay $50 million a year to bring the circus to town. Meanwhile it falters in its traditional heartland of western Europe where the British Grand Prix loses money paying less than half that amount. There is no German race on the calendar for 2017, ludicrous considering the success of Mercedes and the concentration of German drivers in the sport. …

[...] Carey told the BBC that "the foundation of the sport is western Europe. We want to grow it. There's a negotiating dynamic that exists, but we want a healthy relationship with our promoters."

[...] Carey is appointing a former ESPN man to take control of the sport's marketing, something that it has lacked until now.

[...] Ross Brawn will be the sport's new technical director. He is the engineer who brought success to Ferrari, winning championships in a team bearing his own name above the door (Honda having quit right on the eve of success), and then with Mercedes, so he knows a thing or two about F1 cars.

[...] This year's F1 season is going to look quite different on track. The cars are wider, as are tires and wings. They'll have a lot more downforce and mechanical grip, so cornering speeds should be much greater.

Everyone expects faster lap times, but it's far less clear the changes will result in better racing. More grip means shorter braking distances, and most overtaking moves are made during braking. And higher cornering speeds are all well and good, but wakes play havoc with front wings, so there's little reason to believe that the cars will be exiting onto the straights any closer than before.

Some personal perspective: In 1997 I had the good fortune to work for a startup company which worked directly with F1 as they were developing their digital broadcast channel. To give this some perspective, I bought a mid-upper range 200MHz Pentium Pro laptop specifically for working on this project. We were using Silicon Graphics workstations for the video processing as this was well before even AGP existed.

I was on site for six races and had a press pass which basically gave me full access to all of a racing venue, including pit row. Even more amazing to me was working within their inner sanctum — their portable digital broadcast facility. There were on the order of 100 racks of top-end electronics. (A single digital video recorder cost about $50,000 and only took up about 4U — You do the math!) The whole broadcast facility would be packed up, delivered to the race course, a temporary building constructed, racks installed, miles of coax laid down to link cameras to the facility, A/C and generators installed, and the whole works wired up and working in the matter of just a few days. Everyone knew when the first qualifying race was, that we needed to be up and running when that happened, that there millions of viewers watching, and there was no slipping that deadline! The pressures were enormous (both before and during the race) but so were the joys of working with some of the most amazing tech folks on the planet. Oh, and I got to meet with and talk to Bernie Ecclestone a few times, too. And stand less than 25 feet from the Chancellor of Germany and the King of Spain when they toured the facility. But I digress.

In my opinion, over the years the races and broadcasts have lost some of their excitement. Just watching the lead car or two drive on and on. Maybe an overtake here or there. I understand the motivations to make changes in the permitted engine, aerodynamics, etc. so as to make things more similar and bring out the best in the drivers, but the effect seemed to lose something in its execution. Maybe this is a needed change which will bring back some of the excitement that made F1 great?

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