Formula 1's self styled supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the global sport he heads are being left behind by the digital generation which is largely switching off.
That is the view of Lars Stegelmann, an executive of the market intelligence experts Repucom, who were commissioned by the F1 drivers' union GPDA, to head-up the recent global fan survey.
Speaking to the German news agency DPA, Stegelmann said that in his view, one of the issues faced by F1 is that its image is "dominated" by "one man" -- its 84-year-old chief executive and so-called supremo.
"The negative headlines are heaping up around him," Stegelmann said, referring to Ecclestone.
He said the diminutive Briton's advancing age might be an issue, which is "reflected in the statements and actions of specific target groups. I am thinking in particular of the so-called digital generation."
Stegelmann said it is in this area that F1 is falling badly behind, "We all know the changes that have happened in the past decade with digital media. Formula 1 did not go along with it. On the contrary: according to Ecclestone he does not consider this target group because it is not a source of income."
"However, it is not just the 14 to 29-year-olds in the digital world, but increasingly the age groups above it. In this respect, these statements and actions by Ecclestone were certainly not productive," Stegelmann added.
Over the past decade, in particular, Ecclestone has courted high profile controversy, ranging from bribery charges, offending young generation of F1 fans, turning his own mugging into an advert, rubbishing the current F1 regulations, along with a myriad of politically incorrect statements aimed at grabbing headlines.
Paddock magazine reports: "Quotes attributed to the Formula 1 boss can be seen as either ridiculous politically incorrect gaffes or carefully crafted statements, designed to raise the commercial profile of the sport and strengthen his position as ultimate ringmaster of Formula 1."
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