Brown: The honeymoon period is over with Liberty

Brown wrote in a guest blog, "The start of a new year, the new season is always exciting and there’s a lot going in world motorsports at the moment – so here are five areas that I’m looking out for in 2018."

With reference to a 170-page document presented by Sean Bratches and in it the new F1 commercial strategy for the future, Brown said, "There is a huge emphasis on digital, as we know, but last year was about testing things out."

For this year there are products in place, like a new F1 App, OTT platforms and they have brought in David Hill, one of the great TV sports innovators, to oversee the graphics package and the way the race is televised. You’ll see significant changes there on the broadcast, on the graphics and the storytelling."

"Then on-event we’ll see more fan engagement, building on last year and there will be new media properties to help fans get closer to the teams. I think the big impacts of 2018 will be on the media side, showing F1 in a way that it’s never been shown before. It will give us a younger and bigger audience and they will be more engaged."

"I think we will see new race announcements for 2019 and beyond – one or two new hosting venues, which excites me. That said, the honeymoon period is over."

The contents of the document prompted quit threats from Ferrari, supported by Mercedes and Renault to a certain degree.

Brown revealed, "Some senior team executives have been openly critical of Liberty. I prefer we’re constructive. They’ve only really had their feet under the desk for the last six to 12 months having inherited a sport previously operated pretty uniquely."

"They’ve had to put an infrastructure in place, learn the environment and prioritise where to invest – all at the same time. I know from my McLaren experience, I’m on top of things now, but it takes you a year minimum to get on top of things and it’s the same for them."

"F1 is a fast-moving, impatient and unforgiving sport but the teams can’t rely solely on Liberty and F1 to solve all the problems. Yes, there are several challenges but the key is [to] turn these into opportunities.

There will be some big negotiations going on through 2018 with the teams on contract renewal and I predict that there will be public fireworks; we are already starting to see that. I do not think it’s going to be quiet."

"Will Ferrari really leave if they don’t like the new rules? I have my opinion but we’ll see how this plays out," concluded Brown.