Formula One Gets New Logo for Next Season
With the conclusion of the 2017 season, Formula One decided it was time to unveil its new logo at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The change underlines a “new era” for the sport under Liberty Media and, admittedly, does seem to be a bit more with the times.
While it was a fine race, Valtteri Bottas beat both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, there was no upset in the final standings. Hamilton had secured ultimate victory for himself and Mercedes earlier in the season, while Vettel and the Ferrari team held onto second place. Bottas took third overall, leaving the new logo as the only genuine surprise of the day.
Liberty Media completed its $8.8 billion takeover of F1 in January of this year. Since then, it has made sweeping changes to the sport — hoping to bolster global viewership numbers. The introduction of a new logo for the 2018 season is another attempt to distance itself from the sport’s past and make it appeal to a wider audience.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the new F1 logo is somewhat reminiscent of the marquee used by total sports purveyor ESPN. Formula One has already confirmed that race coverage will move from NBC to ESPN for the 2018 season. Maybe Liberty wanted to impose some solidarity between itself and the broadcasting outlet.
The new logo was unveiled on the podium after the race in Abu Dhabi, with F1’s various social channels publishing a glitch-loaded video immediately afterward.
FIA president Jean Todt told Motorsport, that he was aware the new logo is irksome to some fans. But he has faith that Liberty has done it for the right reasons, and he doesn’t believe it will be as polarizing in the months to come.
“It is an evolution,” Todt said. “And incidentally the commercial rights holder can change the logo with the agreement of the FIA – and they are very professional people. If the result of the studies demonstrate that it is going in the interest of the development of F1, I think we should encourage that. These people, they are very talented, business people, and that is demonstrated by Chase Carey having previously been chairman of Fox.”
After an amazing season – a new era awaits
Our greatest races are ahead of us
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 26, 2017
[Image: Federation Internationale de l’Automobile]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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The pinnacle of racing. Look how the podium finishers now hug each other. This is a trend I see that started with FIA Rallly drivers and copilots embracing for camaras like newlyweds. I know teammates will embrace each other with a NASCAR win, however the Europeans have taken this to new level. Not sure if it’s anything per se, but it strikes me as a bit odd.
From the Telegraph UK: "Lewis Hamilton did not disguise his displeasure at Formula One’s redesigned logo, unveiled amid great fanfare by owners Liberty Media but drawing a muted response from drivers. “The one we had was an iconic logo,” the world champion said. “Just imagine if Mercedes or Ferrari changed their logo. I don’t think the new one is as iconic, but maybe it will grow on us.” Such reservations were echoed by his rival Sebastian Vettel, who admitted: “I liked the old one better.” The move was part of an expensive rebranding exercise by Liberty, but the indifferent reaction encouraged further criticisms that the media conglomerate’s changes to the sport have been cosmetic rather than substantial. “What was wrong with the old one?” asked Valtteri Bottas, the winner here in Abu Dhabi. Complaints were harsher among many fans, who claimed that the new logo – with ‘F1’ picked out in curved, tilting red letters – resembled anything from a headless bull to a kitchen tap. Sean Bratches, F1’s commercial chief and a former ESPN executive, was defensive about the revamp, which disposes of a globally-recognised logo in use since 1993. “We are trying to reposition F1 from a purely motorsport company to a media and entertainment brand with the heart and soul of a race car driver in the middle of it,” he said." A media and entertainment brand with a race car driver's heart and soul in the middle of it? That there's a heaping load of the best kind of bovine manure, but hell, they gotta convince themselves too. Yes indeed, yet more proof that people with scads of money are by their very nature far brainier than the average prole uselessly cluttering up the landscape. And they can afford talent like Murdoch's relative Carey who ran Fox so well. Now, who was that guy GM hired from Colgate Palmolive to run Pontiac? You know, before GM canned the brand? Or the genius Cerberus hired from Home Depot to run Chrysler? No sir, you couldn't tell these folks anything. Selling cornflakes, shampoo, two by fours or cars, no knowledge of the product is required. Far from it, all management is just the same. Everyone knows that and the US is being run on its principles as we speak. So people from a country where the vast majority of the population wouldn't know F1 if it ran over them are now in control. Showing their deep business backgrounds in advanced management, Liberty Media F1 has reduced the prize purses as a first step so as to make more money, and hired PR people of the first doublespeak order to dream up unintelligible reasons why the logo should be changed: "Ellie Norman, the sport’s marketing director, sought to flesh out the creative thinking behind the design. “It takes its inspiration from the low-profile shape of the car, two cars crossing a finish line,” she explained. “It’s incredibly bold and simple.”" By golly, yes, now I see it! I expect great things. Nay, amazing things. Liberty Media for the win! If nothing else, if F1 survives the new lamebrain order, then it could legitimately be said to be bigger than the twits who think they're running it. So far so good, it survived Ecclestone and he actually had a clue what was going on. The FIA competition rules setters, on the other hand, are a bit like the IOC and FIFA, so their lukewarm response to the logo change can be quickly changed to wholehearted approval by the liberal application of money. Since it's none of their business how F1 is run commercially, who bothered to ask the FIA's Todt his opinion of the logo in the first place?