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Originally Posted by chillibowl
Increasing their advertising reach without making any significant material contributions to the sport doesn’t add that much value for us fans does it?
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I am commenting on this first, as IMHO, this is the core of your comment and also in my opinion answers your own question. Outside of maybe Ferrari in which F1 competition is deeply in it's DNA, frankly F1 is a marketing exercise for all manufactures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chillibowl
Willing to be convinced otherwise, but what is the value of a manu coming in if they plan on just using re badged engines and probably gonna buy whatever else they can as well?
For example, don’t get the sense that Alfa or AM are particularly loved teams so why would a caddy backed team get the love?
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So the teams and even the racing departments in each manufacture really care about racing. But otherwise it is about marketing. And frankly "value for fans" is of little concern, or only from the perspective of keeping F1 "health" and "valuable" from a marketing perspective. And if you ARE a fan of the Alfa or AM marque, you probably will care for the F1 teams even if some fans might look down their noses at "rebadged teams"
Quote:
Originally Posted by P38 in workshop
On a slightly different note,I can't help thinking that the American influence is at risk of misfiring.I have read reports of the Las Vegas event and the resort/hotels offering obscenely expensive packages for those with vast amounts of money and not too much sense.
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Did anyone expect Vegas F1 to be cheap? I fully expected it to target high rollers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by P38 in workshop
Also the parterning of Adretti and Cadillac seems odd.Viewed from a point between Canada and Mexico and bordered by two oceans,this might all seem like a logical progression.From where I sit,I wonder why they are focusing on the world's second largest market and not going for more Chinese engagement.I fully expect six of the largest ten car companies globally to be Chinese within ten years and the Americans have been on the slide for decades.GM abandoned Europe and Australia so what are they seeking to promote in these places?
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Who is "they" in this? From an Andretti/US market perspective, this makes a bunch of sense (as you say). If "they" is broadly "F1" (FIA and Liberty). I understand your points about China. I truly don't know the answer to this question as I don't follow the this space, but have Chinese auto manufactures penetrated much outside of the Asian market? I don't see or hear about it. I can imagine a Chinese manufacture using F1 as marketing exercise (like GM is probably doing). But I just don't see one jumping in as full manufacture like Mercedes, Ferrari, etc. Lastly, while the Chinese market might be huge, does it even really care or want F1 right now? Does F1 association help any of those manufactures in the markets they are targeting today? I tend to think at this moment "no". If motorsports takes off in China then maybe. OR if a Chinese manufacture makes a BIG push in other large markets (America or European) where being associated with F1 can add some polish to their name, then "yes". I know there is a chicken and the egg situation. No doubt Zhou is helping increase popularity, but IMHO, China doesn't need or want F1 right now.
Richard