Nico Rosberg’s victory continues a period of Mercedes dominance they have displayed for the past two years. But the Formula One Group’s new chairman, Chase Carey, attending the race in his new role after Liberty Media’s takeover, has suggested the direction the sport takes off-track will most definitely change, specifically referencing the control Bernie Ecclestone has exercised over almost 40 years in control of F1.
Anticipation about the new direction Carey would take has been high and his appearance in the paddock this weekend sparked huge interest which he finally appeased by speaking to the F1 website. “You cannot make everybody happy all the time, but you’ve got to understand what everybody wants and then find a path,” he said. “That is not a task for a committee, as committees tend to become bureaucratic – but there also can’t be a dictatorship – even if probably here they are used to it.
“They need leadership, and leadership means that you create a vision to achieve the right goals for the future. Successful businesses are built on successful leadership that understands what every party wants. There have to be compromises.”
The company has already made clear it wants to create a new future for F1 in social media, attracting a new audience, marketing and promotion and Carey has met several of the major teams already to discuss future plans. Ecclestone has agreed a deal to stay on as F1’s CEO for three more years but it seems increasingly unlikely he will do so, with Carey suggesting he was already thinking of a future beyond Ecclestone. “With all credit to Bernie, he’s had enormous success,” he said. “But I still think there is another level that we can take Formula One to.”
Rosberg praised his Mercedes team after the win in Singapore following a race that proved difficult for them in 2015, when he had been their best finisher in fourth. “Last year we were absolutely nowhere here,” he said. “We got destroyed by Red Bull and Ferrari and we understood what we did wrong, came back and beat them. That’s awesome to see that.”
His team-mate Lewis Hamilton acknowledged he had been outperformed. “Nico just did an exceptional job this weekend and we didn’t,” he said.
The team’s executive director, Toto Wolff, sympathised with the British driver, who had lost time during Friday’s practice due to a hydraulic problem. “It just started on the wrong foot for Lewis and he couldn’t recover,” he said. “In Singapore, if you are lacking laps in free practice and lacking direction where to take the set-up it is a vicious circle. Confidence is key around Singapore. If your team-mate gets out of the blocks in the way Nico did it becomes very difficult.”
The next three races may be crucial for the British driver’s championship hopes and it is a sequence where he has been very strong in the past two years. Japan and the USA follow the next race in Malaysia. Hamilton has won in five of the six meetings at those tracks during the past two years of hybrid era and he remained optimistic. “All in all, with everything that’s gone on this year, I’m still in the fight,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”