After last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, FOM’s Managing Director of Commercial Operations, Sean Bratches, was very enthusiastic after the event.
"It’s the first time I’ve attended the Italian Grand Prix and I was amazed by the incredible passion of the crowd, which had come to Monza from all corners of the globe,” he said. "The record numbers confirm just how much Formula 1 captures people’s imagination."
But later in the week Bratches made some comments that will not go down well in some quarters of the Formula 1 family, especially those all important race promoters who actually pay a large chunk of FOM’s annual income via the Bernie Ecclestone era type fees that enticed Liberty Media to buy into the series in the first place.
“I think there's some inherent wind behind our sails in Monza," said Bratches. "But our intention is to create an overlay for our promoters, to help them activate.
"By definition a promoter should be promoting, and I think we have to encourage more of that. We have 20 promoters, but only four or five are truly promoters – the rest are car enthusiast groups or governments. We're trying to bring everybody up to a standard, and Monza is something that should be looked at in a favourable light."
Despite the commercial boss’s apparent disdain in the level of promotion of some of the races, he was upbeat and positive with some of the aspects of the Monza weekend.
"I think the passion and emotion and energy and excitement amongst this fan base was captivating," he added. "It was very contagious, and I had a wonderful grand prix, not only on a business level, but on a personal level. Going into the fan zone and watching everyone excited was really, from my perspective, very gratifying."
