McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says Formula 1 is now standing at a crossroad and needs to take the opportunity to embrace the digital age the new generations are begging them to, reports Autosport.
Whitmarsh says the sport is now at the same place it was 30 years ago when Bernie Ecclestone moved forward with television rights and made of Formula 1 what it has now become.
"Formula 1 is a world sport and it is data-rich, and in this digital arena we can populate this digital environment with much more data and information than tennis, soccer or any other sport," said Whitmarsh.
"Sure there will still be people watching terrestrial television, but for the generation below us that's not good enough anymore. They want more information and they want to interact."
The team principal admits the problem is not in accepting that the digital age is important, but more that it is hard to 'monetize'.
"The power of these new media outlets is enormous, but the question is how are you going to control that and how are you going to monetize it?," he explained.
"Bernie's great trick has been monetizing the media exposure of Formula 1 and we all have to be grateful for how he commercially developed the sport, but today it's a much more complex media environment.
"You can't hold new developments back, so we need to bring in expertise that probably doesn't exist in Formula 1 today," he concluded.
Whitmarsh says the sport is now at the same place it was 30 years ago when Bernie Ecclestone moved forward with television rights and made of Formula 1 what it has now become.
"Formula 1 is a world sport and it is data-rich, and in this digital arena we can populate this digital environment with much more data and information than tennis, soccer or any other sport," said Whitmarsh.
"Sure there will still be people watching terrestrial television, but for the generation below us that's not good enough anymore. They want more information and they want to interact."
The team principal admits the problem is not in accepting that the digital age is important, but more that it is hard to 'monetize'.
"The power of these new media outlets is enormous, but the question is how are you going to control that and how are you going to monetize it?," he explained.
"Bernie's great trick has been monetizing the media exposure of Formula 1 and we all have to be grateful for how he commercially developed the sport, but today it's a much more complex media environment.
"You can't hold new developments back, so we need to bring in expertise that probably doesn't exist in Formula 1 today," he concluded.