(Motorsport-Total.com) – In ancient times, a popular cat food brand was advertised with the slogan: “Nine out of ten cats would buy Whiskas.” But: how do you know that? Did they personally interview the cats at the supermarket checkout?
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And what about the sample size of this supposed survey? Has anyone ever knocked on your door or stopped you on the street to ask about Miezi’s exact dinner preferences?
Advertising regulations are stricter nowadays, so you can both smile and do mental math when, for example, cosmetics companies boast enormous approval rates for their latest anti-wrinkle cream but have to admit in the fine print on the screen that they only surveyed 117 people.
All this and more went through this author’s mind last week during a media round with Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali when a colleague asked a completely legitimate question about the disappearance of speed and battery charge state graphics from the broadcast.
Given Formula 1’s desire for further expansion in the USA, where there is a well-documented hunger for data in sports broadcasts, isn’t it counterproductive to actively remove exactly those data that are crucial for understanding the race?
“The truth is exactly the opposite because no one cares how the car is driven,” said Domenicali.
Wait, what? If you really don’t care how the cars are driven, feel free to express that feeling in our related forum.
Now, the comment section of a motorsport website naturally serves a niche and a self-selecting minority. But since we’re playing the small sample game anyway – why not?
What Domenicali says
“People are interested in whether overtaking happens or not. That’s the vast majority of people,” Domenicali continued.
“I agree with you that certain people are focused on this matter, which is very important. It’s like when DRS was introduced: people didn’t care about the exact trigger for the overtaking maneuver.”
“On Saturday, I had an incredible and interesting discussion with [Star Wars author/director] George Lucas. He was in Hungary and gave me an incredible insight into how new fans follow Formula 1, and he opened up an incredible perspective on how we can really simplify things because new fans don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes. They are fascinated by the fact that there is a lot of action.”
“So I think, in this regard, there is definitely a need for those who are so focused on it to have the right information. But as far as the vast majority of people are concerned, believe me: they just want to see what happens on the track.”
“They are not interested in the angle of the throttle or the brake pressure during overtaking. If you think, for example, of an incredible overtaking maneuver by Max and Lewis in turn 1 in Hungary: that is a work of art, if I may say so, that these people just want to see. And simply linked to the quality of the drivers.”
“Ultimately, that is a pattern the driver can have on how to maximize the performance of his car – whether braking, accelerating, or the performance delivered through electrification.”
“That is what I think is happening. Of course, this data is relevant for a niche of our fans, and of course, it is available.”
Who is Formula 1 actually asking?
All year round, when Motorsport Network reported negative sentiments towards the new regulations, Formula 1 responded with statistics claiming that fans actually like the new format very much.
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However, since these come from surveys among subscribers of the “F1 Unlocked” service, the respondents are naturally just as niche and self-selecting as, for example, those inclined to comment under articles on a motorsport website.
This is a classic example of selection bias, where an argument about the preferences of an entire population is made based on a sample that excludes part of that population. In this case, it is just as ridiculous to claim that “no one cares how you drive your car” as it is to say that everyone hates the new regulations.
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Obviously, there is a part of the fan base that holds exactly the views Domenicali emphasizes. However, that does not invalidate the concerns of those who see it differently – and equally, it cannot be said based on the available statistical evidence what the majority opinion is.
Equally clear is this: invoking George Lucas to justify Formula 1’s visual storytelling decisions in sports broadcasts (decisions, mind you, that were made months ago) is an example of a common logical fallacy: the appeal to authority (argumentum ad verecundiam).
In this fallacy, the claim relies on the opinion of an expert figure – usually a famous one – instead of facts or data.
What Formula 1 authority does George Lucas have?
It is a popular form of “mic drop” on social media to share a meme with the image of a long-deceased public figure and an alleged quote from them that supports one’s own argument. But even Abraham Lincoln once said: half of the quotes on the internet are made up anyway.
And anyway: what qualifies George Lucas to decide whether we see a battery symbol or not? I certainly wouldn’t take storytelling tips from the clown who re-edited Star Wars just so Greedo shoots first.
And that’s before we even get to the prequels, about which one can at best say that they gradually became less terrible over time.
In the film world where Lucas was at home, it was (at least until the streaming age) popular to create “making-of” features with behind-the-scenes looks shown separately. There were those who really enjoyed this insight into the filmmaking process – but there was also a part of the population that did not want to see how the magic was made because they felt it would spoil the enjoyment of the film.
Easy to solve: if you belong to the latter category, just don’t watch the “making-of.”
It doesn’t hurt anyone …
Now, applied to Formula 1: did the speed and charge state graphics diminish the spectacle for those only interested in whether “overtaking happens or not”? I simply cannot imagine that they did.
So why remove them if they were so useful for those who actually wanted to understand the mechanics behind driving a 2026 Formula 1 car through traffic and overtaking? Especially considering that Formula 1 has actually ramped up its data offering in recent years – albeit as product placement for Amazon Web Services.
If someone knocked on my door and asked about my cats’ culinary preferences, I would probably tell them to mind their own business.
Meanwhile, one of the said cats would have disappeared under the sofa, while the other would have retreated to a safe spot on the stairs and fixed the questioner with a look that expresses that she has looked deep into his soul and is deeply disappointed by what she found there.
And that is basically the tone of the answer you get from the holder of the commercial rights when you ask a completely legitimate question about the otherwise inexplicable disappearance of some important data graphics.
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