Social media is this great thing which allows people to have incredible access to all sorts of things. But despite the potential of social media to bridge the gap between the sport and its fans F1’s previous owners put heavy restrictions on how teams and drivers could utilise it – especially when it comes to video – because obviously if Bernie couldn’t make money from it, he wasn’t interested.
Thankfully new owners Liberty Media are keen for the sport to have a much bigger online and digital presence. It seems like we’re starting to see the effects of it already, because during this first test session the restrictions on sharing video content have been relaxed a bit.
Teams and drivers are already taking advantage of it, sharing all sorts of short video clips in an effort to connect with their fans.
Ok, so it’s not much so far, but it’s better than nothing, right? At the moment the easing of the restrictions only applies to the first week of testing but it could be expanded to the second test – or maybe even further – as there’s set to be a clarification of what teams can and can’t share online in the near future.
One person this is definitely good news for is Lewis Hamilton, who is one of the most active drivers on social media and has long been keen to use it to give fans a more in-depth experience. Judging by this tweet he’s already making good use of the relaxed restrictions as well.
Sounds intriguing! As long as he’s not using Snapchat while in a press conference I think he’ll be alright.
Allowing teams and drivers to share more on social media can only be a good thing; F1 is way behind some other championships in this area. So far, so good, Liberty Media!
Top photo: Red Bull Content Pool