04/03/2012
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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Four recent things seem to me to have a certain synergy: the absence of an Italian driver in the World Championship in 2012; the launch of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27; James Singleton's excellent debut piece for Pitpass on conveyor belt drivers and a book. The book is Sports Sponsorship, A Professional's Guide by Brian Sims and the unifying factor is sponsorship.
I grew up believing that Italy was the promised land of motor racing. There was a tradition of great drivers, great marques and amazing road and street racing. (Our picture shows Giancarlo Fisichella after winning the 2006 Malayian Grand Prix - to date, the last Italian to win a round of the world championship - Ed)
The claim that Italy was not bringing on drivers was first voiced in the 1950s which is why Italy created Formula Junior in 1957. An Italian Championship was run in 1958 and was so successful that a European series followed the following year when Formula Junior replaced the 500cc Formula Three as the FIA's preferred entry-level single seater category.
The Brits joined in 1960 and, led by Lotus, Cooper. Elva and Lola, destroyed the opposition. Racing car makers all over Europe were wiped out because drivers are not sentimental, they will only buy cars that can win. Britain has dominated the production racing car market ever since.
So far as drivers are concerned, much has depended on individual schemes, a point made by James Singleton. For the first 22 years, no French driver won a World Championship race then came official schemes first by Matra, a French aerospace company, then by Renault combined with Elf and suddenly we were awash with French talent: Beltoise, Arnoux, Prost, Pironi, Tambay, Jabouille, Pescarolo, Servoz-Gavin, Jarier and Lafitte.
Giancarlo Baghetti won his first three F1 races in 1961 in a Ferrari 156 'sharknose'. He won the non-Championship races in Naples and Syracuse, both of which had strong fields, and then sensationally in his debut WC event, the French GP. Apart from the 1950 British GP, the first race in the Championship, he remains the only driver to win his debut World Championship race.
His car was not, however, entered by Scuderia Ferrari, but by the Federazione Italiana Scuderia Automobilistiche, a coalition of private team owners who arranged a loan with Ferrari.
It did not have the latest 120-degree V6, but the earlier 60-degree engine, but that still had more grunt then the Porsche and Coventry Climax 'fours'.
The car was prepared by Ferrari, but the choice of driver was down to the coalition. It remains a great example of a scheme to bring on driving talent. There was no follow through.
It is a fact that motor racing is expensive and few drivers rise to the top without assistance. If you have superb ball control at an early age, you can be picked up by a football club and there are kids who are still in primary school who have been so spotted. These days, the top clubs in Europe are awash with players from African countries because talent will out.
Juan-Manuel Fangio was one of two drivers sent to Europe by the Argentine national automobile club, the other was Benedicto Campos. Many thought one of the drives should have gone to Oscar Galvez, who was opposed to President Juan Peron, husband of Evita, while Fangio was apolitical.
Be that as it may, Fangio proved that he deserved his chance. When the Argentine GP returned to the World Championship in 1995, the circuit was named in honour of Oscar Galvez.
Trulli has been replaced by Petrov at Caterham, and he is sanguine about it, Petrov brings sponsorship. He has a Unique Selling Point, he is Russian and there are people in Russia who want a Russian presence in F1, just as there were once people in Argentina who wanted an Argentine.
There have always been pay drivers in Grand Prix racing. Once they were wealthy individuals who could ease their way into a works seat, or else they were known as privateers. In 1954, Stirling Moss bought a Maserati 250F (for five thousand pounds) and was soon absorbed into the works team.
Sponsorship brought other considerations. Thirty years ago, life was simple. In 1978, Nelson Piquet and Derek Warwick were evenly matched in Formula Three, and each won a British Championship. Piquet got the nod from Brabham because its principle sponsor, Parmalat, was trying to break into the Brazilian market.
When Honda supplied engines to Lotus, Satoru Nakajima secured a drive. He rarely shone at the top level, but had been the Japanese F2 Champion five times.
It is difficult to know why Italy has not had a World Champion since Ascari in 1953, or why Italian drivers have won only a few Grands Prix since, once Italy ruled the world and it has produced so many great motorcyclists.
I am not sure where we look for reasons. There have been many drivers who have shown immense promise, but they have not delivered that promise. I am not sure that it is all about money, sometimes it has not been being in the right team at the right time.
As I have said many times before, you can never tell how well a driver will do in Formula One until he is in Formula One. Jean-Pierre Jarier and Bruno Giacomelli were dominant in Formula Two while Nigel Mansell had won only a minor Formula Ford Championship before he won his 31 Grands Prix. Niki Lauda did even less on his way up.
James Singleton has pointed out that BMW and Red Bull are two companies which have sought talent to back, as has McLaren since 1996. BMW brought on Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, but did not really benefit, while McLaren has given us Lewis Hamilton.
The finest judge of potential talent has been Peter Sauber and I believe that his is the best ever, better even than the late Ken Tyrrell. The team which has given more opportunities than any other to F1 debutants is Williams, but the results have been mixed. Jacques Villeneuve won a World championship after Indycar, Alessandro Zanardi had an even more impressive CV, but disappointed in Formula One.
It was noticeable at the McLaren launch that Vodafone's contribution was emphasised. It was more than the fact that Vodafone is the title sponsor, it was not called a sponsor, but a partner. One gathers that it is instrumental in relaying confidential data, which probably involves the use of satellites. I have a pre-paid cell phone and it sits in my car in case of emergencies and it is switched on only by prior arrangement, as when I want to meet with someone at, say, a motor race.
I have only a vague idea what a smart phone is, but when I walk by the Vodafone shop in my town, I see photos of Lewis and Jenson in the Window, so I assume that Vodafone is pleased with the connection and that is good. My local branch of Santander also displays Jenson and Lewis and that pleases me as well. I can cite many, many, examples of sponsors being ripped off and an equal number of sponsors who have not delivered.
Vodafone and Santander are clearly very happy to be associated with motor racing. They are major companies and their experience must be an encouragement to others.
This brings me to Brian Sims's book, Sports Sponsorship, A Professional's Guide. Brian is a former driver and circuit manager (Kyalami). He has worked in F1 (Benetton) and founded the Motorsports Industry Association. What he does not know about the finances of sports sponsorship is really not worth knowing.
Sims is on the lecture circuit and his book crystalises his experience. He got backing for his foray into Formula Ford before he had even started a race, and that is impressive. He was engaged to raise money for the British team in A1 GP and his account of why the project failed is the best I have ever read.
He writes pithy prose and draws on a wealth of anecdotes having been involved in the financial side of the sport from just about every possible angle. What grabbed me is an early statement that sponsorship is now widespread. Who has not been asked to sponsor someone doing something for charity? From a kid swimming so many lengths of a pool to raise money for a school project to people seeking backing for something they want to do, like a parachute jump.
Brian gets to the nub of the matter and each one of the 28 short, easily digestible, chapters, asks pertinent questions and each chapter ends with bullet points.
It is essential reading for anyone who wants to seek sports sponsorship and also anyone who wants to know how it really works. Given that motor racing depends on sponsorship, it should be required reading for everyone who want to know how our sport operates. Motor racing is not fuelled by petrol, it is fuelled by money.
In my time I have seen some horrendous presentations, basically begging letters. Too many people seem to think that the world owes them a living. The essential point is that the sponsor must have benefit. Walking in my small city, I see that Vodafone and Santander believe that they have benefit.
In return, motor racing has benefit by being associated with successful multi-national companies. Hamilton and Button are familiar to the UK public.
We now have commercial sponsorship and a sub-industry to support it. At one time, great men, like Shakespeare and Leonardo da Vinci, had aristocratic patrons who wished their reputations to be enhanced by association with genius.
Brian's book gets to the heart of the matter. He writes well and has anecdotes to illustrate every point, I cannot recommend it too highly.
I still do not know why Italy has not produced a World Champion since 1953 and I am sad that there will be no Italian driver in Formula One in 2012, something that has not happened since 1969. I have just booked my first-ever holiday, without female coercion, and it is in Italy.
Maybe the dearth of drivers is something to do with Ferrari, which seems to hold the country in sway.
Mike Lawrence
mike.lawrence@pitpass.com
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