ss_collins wrote:borrowed the GP2 web design then...
That was my first impression, exactly! And looking at the proposals for "2011 and beyond", btw, there's a concerted effort to "borrow" something more substantial than mere website design ... a sign of things to come, perhaps?
This is pretty much window(s) decoration, though ... as long as the Formula 1 audience business strategy is mainly based on exclusive regional TV deals, or some idiotic offspring of mainly passive TV technology, there really isn't much they can do with their web presence. It's too full of possibilities and opportunities to comply with the kinds of deals that TV franchising requires. Leafing through the "new" site quickly, I didn't get the impression that they'd be gearing up for a change in that regard.
Which is a pity. For all the talk about "road going car relevance", people should be taking a long hard look at "technology relevance" and all its implications. I've almost given up watching TV already myself, the online environment beats the heck out of being a couch potato. If F1 fails (has failed) to recognize the profound differences between the two, someone most certainly will. Very exciting racecars can be designed and built for much less than what takes place in F1, even if it the concept isn't a single make series. There is an abundance of unused track capacity, and quality track capacity at that, thanks to Bernie's drive to get to new markets and the temporal limitations of an F1 calendar.
The first serious open wheel racing series streaming their races live over a service like Joost, with a well thought out and all-fan-participatory interactive web presence, with creative advertising will make a heck of an impact. If F1 thinks it can ever be safe from that, or coming in as the second or third player, it's just begging to be ignored.
There's just too much money to be made.
