F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Horner urges broadcasters to support social media push

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says he hopes TV broadcasters won't try and clamp down on teams and drivers producing content for social media.

Previously, Formula One under Bernie Ecclestone banned teams from posting videos filmed in the pit lane on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

That was because broadcasters had paid hundreds of millions of dollars for exclusive coverage of the sport and didn't want their investment undermined. However new owners Liberty eased the social media ban this week for pre-season testing in Spain.

Horner pointed out that teams are able to produce unique content that would never be available to mainstream media. He added that the social media content would also benefit the broadcasters.

"It's that behind the scenes stuff that the fans crave, and it's been great to get that content out there," Horner told Motorsport.com this week.

"At the end of the day, it's an advertisement for Formula One," he said. "We've certainly put out a lot of content [this week].

"The way people watch content these days is very, very different. You've only got to go on a train and see how everybody is looking at their phone.

"The television broadcaster would never get that access to what we're showing," he added. "They need to ultimately complement each other

"We're not going to film anything on track – that's not within our remit," he said, insisting that his aim was "to personalise the drivers, give an insight into some of the bits behind the scenes."

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

5 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

7 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

8 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

9 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

10 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

11 hours ago