Motorsport Musings Ramblings of a racing enthusiast…

Survey Schmurvey

'Help to shape the future of F1?' Eh, if you say so...

When was the last time you filled in a survey in a completely voluntary context? Chances are that you’re probably one of the many who simply refuses to respond to the damn things, when they either drop through your letterbox or when you’re rudely interrupted by someone calling you from the other side of the world.

Yet I’m willing to bet that you have at least already seen by now this year’s F1 Racing Fan Survey (sponsored by everyone’s favourite electronic manufacturer: LG). Perhaps you have already spent the best part of ten minutes completing the thing and submitting your answers in the hope that you have the power to alter the future of Formula 1.

It’s all very clever really. Yes some people will complete a survey because they like to, or because they have nothing much else to do. But most of the time, people will only go to the trouble to fill in a survey because they feel a pressing need to respond, when they feel there is an exceptional, motivating, circumstance in which to do so.

Formula 1 commands possibly one of the most loyal, passionate followings of any sport in the world. It’s not without its faults however, and it is these annoyances that will undoubtedly see thousands of fans across the globe filling in this survey. Especially when, through the clever use of rather manipulative wording, they’re promised that they can help change the sport. Instant gratification!

Well I don’t buy it I’m afraid. Call me a miserygut, call me a cynical old git. I have filled in a couple of these surveys already in the past and they have appeared to be nothing more than a data mining exercise, masquerading as a jolly convenient way to get my views heard, apparently.

Do the powers that be really need to be told time and time again that we want to keep the historical circuits, have more overtaking, more access to the teams and drivers, cheaper race tickets, oh and high definition TV please?

No I don’t think they do. Cast your minds back to the period last summer when it looked like several of the teams were going to break away and form their own racing series to compete with Formula 1. FOTA seemed to know very well then what we wanted, so why must they insist on asking us all over again? Truth be told, FOTA is nothing more than a toothless tiger. They can ask us all the questions they like about interactive coverage, high definition and all that jazz, but at the end of the day it is Bernie who decides that stuff, not them.

But I believe my apparent pessimism for this survey is borne out of frustration. Frustration of the fact that for something that is supposedly ‘for the fans,’ it is us lot who probably won’t be privy to the majority of the responses made to it. If we take last year’s effort for an example, answers to just five measly categories were divulged in an issue of F1 Racing magazine, yet I can quite clearly remember answering more than five questions... Oh hold on, you want to charge us at least £1,500 for a USB memory stick full of graphs and statistics, which we weren’t made aware of upfront? Suits you Sir!

By all means, fill the thing in if you’ve got ten minutes to kill. I mean, you stand a chance of winning $1,000 worth of LG related items (or £1,000 depending on where you read), and I’m sure the sponsors will be dying to know the results of the brand awareness category this year. Me, I’m going to do something much more exciting with my time, like, erm, watching NASCAR.