Show the ACTION: Fans and Drivers alike outraged at the focus of WAGS over the racing at the Singapore Grand Prix

Many F1 fans are outraged after many crucial moments of the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend were not shown on live tv, instead focusing on showing the wives, girlfriends and family members of drivers that were in the garage.

Image Credits To: The Daily Mail - Getty Images

Many major racing moments were not televised, instead showing Carlos Sainz’s girlfriend Rebecca Donaldson, and Lando Norris’s girlfriend, Magui Corceiro in the Paddock. This crucially meant moments such as Alonso gaining on Lewis Hamilton after his brake failure, and Carlos Sainz’s overtakes to bring him up to P10 was not shown at all.

This was much to the displeasure of fans, many taking to X to complain about the F1 TV direction. The belief is that F1 TV is used for showcasing the highs and lows, the drama and the thrill of racing, and this new direction they have taken on recently takes away from the events on tracked, leaving many fans lost and angry, not being shown the race action to its full potential.

Drivers also expressed their frustration with the F1 Production crew, Carlos Sainz being one of the more outspoken ones, expressing his concern and his feelings over his girlfriend’s reactions being favoured instead of his impressive driving and result for himself and Williams. Sainz told Spanish radio station El Partidazo de COPE:

“It’s becoming a bit of a trend, which must have worked for them once upon a time when people found it interesting to see our girlfriends, to see famous people on TV, the reactions.

“I understand that if there is an overtake, a very tense moment in the race, it is understandable that the production team might want to show a reaction shot if they have seen that it has worked in the past … but [they only should] if the competition is respected and you are always showing the important moments of the race.

“Last weekend they didn’t show any of the four of five overtakes I did at the end. Nor did they show Fernando’s pursuit of Lewis … they missed a lot of things.

“The other [thing] is fine but don’t lose sight of the main thing. For me, they go overboard a little showing the celebrities and girlfriends.

“Sometimes there are so many VIPs in the paddock you can’t even walk. We move by bike or scooter [in the paddock] because if you don’t, you just can’t get around.”

Fernando Alonso, after having plenty to say about Lewis Hamilton’s risky and unsafe driving techniques over the weekend, also had a lot to say about this situation, his own racing hidden behind the faces of celebrities while he powered through to a P7 finish after Hamilton’s penalty. He took to X, light-heartedly posting the following:

“With pole position secured for the private radio broadcast, time to fine-tune the main coverage and bring all the on-track excitement to the fans! Vamos!”

Image Credits To: X.com

It causes a lot of different concerns to be raised in general. Formula 1 is a sport where most fans rely on the broadcasts to identify what is going on, whether the audience is watching on from at home, or even at the tracks. Many fans attending the Grand Prix's rely on updates via the streaming services where they are unable to see the action for themselves. People are there to watch the races, see the action, feel the emotions, the highs and lows that is high-speed racing.

The best comparison can be found in football. During football games, all action is shown on tv, showing the pitch, hardly ever is the crowd shown, possibly for a few seconds while players are collecting the ball for a throw in, or build up to a corner kick. If they were to show members of other teams on the bench, retired legends for the clubs and the owners as much as F1 Production showed the family’s and partners of F1 Drivers, many would complain, if not even more complaints would come their way.

If a race is found to be particularly disinteresting nearer the front of the grid, racing action from the tail-end of the grid should be highlighted. Just because certain individuals are at the front of the grid does not mean broadcasting should solely focus on them, especially in periods of quiet, slow-building catch-up to the car ahead. A F1 race is much more than just the top ten drivers on the grid.

The broadcasting has spiralled plenty of controversial conversations about bias on multiple different occasions this year, this being one of many times Sky Sports has been criticised over supposed blatant favouritism of British drivers. This raises the possibly resetting the broadcasting system, taking it back to the drawing board and reassessing what it is the audience wants. Fans have made it abundantly clear what they would like to see from F1 Production, and now it is up to them what is put in place to bring back more action to the dedicated F1 fanbase.