CONGRATULATIONS TO CHASE CAREY ON YOUR APPOINTMENT AS THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX FROM THE HENDRIX BY HENDRIX RACING TEAM, THE FAMILY BLOOD RELATIVES OF JIMI HENDRIX AND THE JIMI HENDRIX FAMILY FOUNDATION.

The chief executive is presenting the motorsport to an audience savvy about social media

Source: Ian Parkes (ARTICLE WRITER)

Before becoming chief executive of the Formula One Group in 2017, Chase Carey’s interest in the motorsport series was casual.

He had been the vice chairman of 21st Century Fox when the Liberty Media Corporation bought Formula One from Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive who ruled the sport for 43 years. So when Liberty hired Carey, he had to learn fast.

He saw immediately that the sport needed to make changes, including taking better advantage of social media. And more changes are on the way.

The following conversation has been edited and condensed.

When Liberty took over, what did you think was wrong with Formula One that needed addressing?

Bernie deserves credit for a sport he built. But if I look at the 10 years preceding us, it’s an age where you need to engage with fans in ways that weren’t being done, starting with digital and social media.

It’s more than putting a race on a 60-inch TV screen and letting it take care of itself. People walk around today with television in their pockets, so you have to provide the material for them to engage with, be it the sport, the teams, drivers, the heroes. They want to be closer.

I don’t think we were energizing the events. They didn’t have a freshness to them. Too many felt like they were 10 years earlier. This incredible brand, that is truly unique, has a power to it we weren’t exploiting.

As a businessman, what did you make of the financial structure within Formula One, which you are addressing with the planned cost cap in 2021?

I was surprised at what the teams were spending to compete. At the end of the day, you need to make competition more about how well you spend your money, not how much you spend. That’s a more admirable, healthier way to win.

We’re setting the cap at a level [$175 million] where they’re still spending plenty a month. We’re not starving anybody of resources, but it provides a foundation for a healthier long-term competition, for the teams, the sport, the future.

Are you satisfied with how Liberty has performed during its time in charge?

The sport had been run too much for a short-term dollar and not long-term growth. We wanted to change that and put foundations in place.

We had a one-man sponsorship group, a one-man TV group. There was no organization beyond financial and legal staff. We didn’t have marketing, research, digital. We didn’t have the tools and resources to engage partners, to grow the sport. We wanted to try and change the culture.

We’ve had solid growth, in the business, not just financial. Our attendances and viewership are up. Our digital engagement is way up. We’ve had real success, but we’re not declaring victory. It’s early days, and we’re making progress, but our work is more in front of us than behind us.

New technical and sporting regulations are being introduced in 2021, but there remains pushback from the teams in some areas. Can they be resolved?

We’re not saying “job done.” We’ve got everything in place, and we feel good about them. Some, we probably will have to modify. There will continue to be issues we’ve got to address and figure out how we deal with them.

We previously had a very cumbersome governance structure that encumbered the sport’s ability to make decisions. We will have a structure where everybody has an input, with decisions made in a more streamlined, simplified manner.

Does Formula One have a long-term future given the manufacturer growth in Formula E and with the world turning to electric cars?

Formula One has a great future. It is a unique sport that captivates the world’s imagination, and it has incredible assets, like its history and half a billion fans. It really is a shock-and-awe experience. They are features we will continue to build on.

We are very different to, and we’re not competing with, Formula E, which is mostly a social cause and a street party.

Environmentally, we’ve put in place the initiative for carbon neutrality by 2030 and managing our entire sport in a way we think is important for today’s world, our fans and partners.

We’re a platform that has led the automotive world, and we now have an opportunity to play a leadership role in showing how the combustion engine and a hybrid engine can fit into, and be a real contributor to, a better environment for everybody.

And what of your own future?

It’s short term because I’m too old to have a long-term future. This has been a wonderful, fascinating adventure. I’m not building careers any more. If I were 50 years old, I guess, I’d have to worry about my future.

At some point, there will probably be somebody younger than me, and better positioned, to carry it forward. I’m really focused on trying to do what we can to make this sport everything it can and should be.