Bring on digital dimension into racing, says Tata F1 boss Kapadia

LIBERTY MEDIA, WHICH OWNS F1 IDENTIFIED DIGITAL AS AN AREA FOR DEVELOPMENT AS IT SEEKS TO TAP LUCRATIVE NEW REVENUE STREAMS

The day when Formula One fans can race virtually with real drivers in live grands prix may not be so far off as the sport looks to develop the digital dimension. Mehul Kapadia, one of those who helps make things happen as head of Formula One business at official “connectivity partner” Tata Communications, is eager to step on the accelerator.

“While F1 gets criticized for being late on the digital journey, a lot has been happening,” he said.

“The conversations which are now happening are far more ‘Let’s get it done’.”

Liberty Media, the US firm that completed a takeover of the sport in January, immediately identified digital as an area for development as it seeks to tap lucrative new revenue streams and give fans more of an experience.

Its chief executive Greg Maffei said last September that less than one percent of revenues were from digital and that there was a huge amount of video feed and data about the races that were being captured but not processed incrementally for the dedicated fan.

Formula One’s chief technical officer John Morrison said that the sport was about two years away from fans being able to race virtually in a real race.