Pierre Gasly is the latest driver to weigh in on the controversial topic of the balance between sport and entertainment in Formula 1, with the Frenchman sharing he is happy with the current set up.
Photo Credit: BWT Alpine F1 Team
The debate around the balance of sport and entertainment has been a recurring topic in Formula 1 in recent years, with Liberty Media, the sports commercial rights holder focussing on growing the popularity of Formula 1 through social media and projects such as Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series.
While some believe the focus on entertainment value has led to a fall in the sporting quality, others believe events such as this season’s Las Vegas Grand Prix have had a positive influence on the sport. Many drivers however, have expressed their distaste at the amount of media appearances they are required to partake in.
“I think it’s very personal…”
The latest to weigh in on the topic is Apine’s Pierre Gasly, who claims he is unfazed by the additional media commitments and is quite happy with the current balance of the sport in terms of entertainment value.
“I love the sport and I think personally I’m quite fine with the entertainment side of things,” Gasly said. “I think it’s very personal and depends on how you can cope with it. I know I’m not someone who is really disturbed with that side of the sport.
“Obviously the priority needs to always remain on the actual sport. What I would like is almost to have more priority on the drivers side of things. I feel at the minute it’s too much driven by the car performance. So that’s more something I’d be focussing on more as a sport, rather than saying entertainment, sport, blah blah.
“At the end of the day we survive and everyone is paid here because people are watching us. It’s a balance you need to find.”
“At the minute there is clearly a sort of imbalance…”
Elaborating on his call for more emphasis to be placed on the drivers, Gasly explained he feels every driver should have the opportunity to compete for the top spots during a Grand Prix and not be limited by car performance.
He also admitted he understands that the current imbalance between teams has always been a feature in Formula 1, and somewhat defeatedly seemed to accept the fact.
“What I care the most about is that all drivers be given fair chances to fight for the best positions.” he said. “Whereas at the minute there is clearly a sort of imbalance in the performance of all ten teams, but it’s always been the case in F1, I’m fine with it.
“I do see a lot of talks about this entertainment, sport balance type of thing and I think it’s really personal how you cope with it.”
