Can you ‘taste the oil’? F1’s master plan has buzz-worthy phrases

A couple of days ago I posted a piece about Force India’s Bob Fernley saying that the time for talking is over, Formula 1 needs to start sharing their plans for the future. The response from F1 was…well, more talking.

To be fair though, the head of marketing for Formula 1, Sean Bratches, did do more talking and apart from his penchant for using corporate-speak in practically every interview, there were some interesting things said according to a report over at Autosport.

“‘Revel in the Racing’ is all about creating a better competition on the grid,” he said.

“Right now there are no Leicester Cities in F1.

“The back of the grid is way too far behind the front of the grid. It’s not a meritocracy.

“Through costs caps, reapportionment of revenue, or governance, we’re actually going to create a better spectacle, a better racing environment, a competitive one, for fans.”

It’s entirely possible that I have completely been out to lunch these past few months and I missed some story where Bratches reveals these branded marketing terms such as “Revel in the Racing”. But wait there’s more:

“Telling the “extraordinary” story of F1’s technology is the motivation behind ‘Taste the oil’, while ‘Feel the blood boil’ focuses on putting the spotlight on its “gladiator” drivers.” quotes Autosport.

I apologize if I’ve missed these marketing activations and brand signage at races this year in the fanzone or if I completely missed some comprehensive story and white paper on the new marketing efforts of F1 but this is the first I’ve heard of any of these phrases.

So we have ‘Revel in the Racing’, ‘Taste the Oil’ and ‘Feel the blood boil’? Not sure what those are but they sound…well, all very American don’t they? Don’t judge! I’m an American. ;) but he doesn’t stop there:
“We went to four continents, we talked to 10 avid fans, in each continent, for seven hours over two days,” he said.

“Our mission statement as a company came out of this – to ‘unleash the greatest racing spectacle on the planet’.”

“I think I’ve credited an excellent edit of senior executives with a wealth of experience to take this commercial side of the business and allow F1 to punch where its weight class is,” said Bratches.

“I think it’s been under punching to date.”

Cost caps? Leveled competition? These are huge initiatives! Meritocracy not achieved? I could argue against that one if I’m honest. The reason I am suggesting that Sean isn’t just talking here is that he clearly has been working hard behind the scenes and even though Bob Fernley isn’t privy to the details, he has phrases for their efforts already and it sounds like, to Sean’s credit, he’s actually ‘Tasting the Oil” over there at F1. Good on him.

Hat Tip: Autosport