Q & A with Peter Windsor

Peter Windsor is an experienced Formula 1 Journalist with a large following around the world. He has worked for renowned magazines such as Autocar and F1 Racing and now continues to write on his blog, Named "The Racing Driver."

He now presents an online web show called "The Flying Lap" with Smibs.tv which is broadcast every Wednesday. The show has had numerous drivers and writers on the show and has been building in popularity since it began. Peter took some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few Questions. We talk about the 2011 season, his Web show and DRS.

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Here is the in depth Interview with Peter Windsor, a very influential F1 journalist.

1)The 2011 F1 season has seen a clear front runner, what race do you think was Sebastian Vettel's best? 

 I don’t really think in terms of superlatives, so I’d prefer to say that he improved dramatically in 2011 – particularly in the areas of one-lap qualifying laps and the opening laps of the race.  His performance in Korea was stunning.

2) There has been alot of rumours in the paddock surrounding the 2012 driver line up, what are your views on these? Should Raikkonen come back? Who will be the one to go at Torro Rosso or Renault with so many young drivers waiting in the wings? 

(c) Octane Photographic

I tend not to get involved with rumours about the future.  I was very surprised that Kimi turned down the number one – and very highly-paid – drive at Toyota at the end of 09 but figured he’d had enough of F1 and would instead shine in rallies.  That hasn’t really happened, so returning to F1 because he’s bored – and with a team that at present is considerably further down the grid than Toyota were – seems illogical.

3) The recent young driver test saw many talented racers take to the track, could you see any of them in a future F1 seat? 

Yes – at least 75 per cent of them would be capable of doing a very good job in a quick F1 car.  There are too many good drivers around and not enough seats.  F1 owes it to the younger drivers to put more back into the sport – into GP3/GP2 budgets, into better promotion and into media exposure down the ranks.

4) I just published an Article by Daniel Daykin, in which he debated who the best driver is on the current grid, who would you pick and why? 

As I say, I’m not into superlatives like this.  Right now, Sebastian Vettel is making the best use of the best car.  Fernando Alonso is about two per cent away from that (in a more difficult car, it should be noted) – as are Jenson and Lewis.  

5) The drivers have raised concern on the DRS being used all the time in Practice and Qualifying, what are your views on DRS in this situation and as a whole?

I don’t like DRS and I don’t think I ever will.  In my view it is an artificial band-aid for a wound that never existed in the first place.  I’ve never had a problem with the amount of – or lack of -overtaking in F1 and in 2011 there have been more than enough variables with KERS and the Pirelli compounds to keep the “racing” interesting.  We’ve had too much banal overtaking in some races this year and  I’d like to see less of that in 2012.  For me, a race doesn’t live or die based on the number of passing moves.  It’s a race from the grid to the chequered flag, and if the best car/driver leads that race from start to finish – as a sprinter can dominate the 100m - then so be it.  I love watching the craft.     

6) The US GP is set to be re-appearing on the calendar next year, but now is in jeopardy, what is your view on this? 

As I’ve said several times on my show, The Flying Lap, the USA is a difficult country for an F1 economy that is exclusively based on governments of countries (or governments of states of countries) writing-off a fiscal loss against  tourism or land development budgets.  For most F1 race promoters, there is no revenue stream other than from spectators on the day.   That approach is foreign to the US sports promotion methodology, where such commodities as TV rights, signage and hospitality are typically co-owned by the event organizer.  In my view, a state or federal government is never going to underwrite an F1 race in the States – not unless F1 massively improves its PR and promotion.  That isn’t going to happen in a hurry, which leaves the private sector.  And I find it hard to understand how private enterprise can sustain huge losses around an F1 race – particularly in this economy.  The kudos of merely staging the race will not be enough.

For all that – and looking at the problem from the other side of the fence - I think F1 owes the US at least one race per year – even if it means compromising the money for one weekend out of 19 or 20.   The US is part of F1’s heritage and in the long-term a US Grand Prix will be good for the F1 industry – particularly in the area of new markets.  I think France should also have a permanent place on the F1 calendar, by the way:  not having a French GP is a bit like the golf world not having an Open Championship. 
     

7) Now I am a frequent viewer of your successful web-show 'TheFlyingLap', first of all congratulations and secondly how did the idea for the show come about?  

Thanks – and thanks for your support.  I have felt for years that there’s a lot of TV to be done away from the track, between races and over the winter.  Prior to the arrival of the internet, I spent a lot of time trying to persuade various TV networks, and TV production companies, that there was a market for an F1 chat show.  Mostly they agreed but the talks always came to naught because of the cost of producing TV studio shows and the lack of budget (once the huge at-race rights fees had been paid). 

The internet has changed all of that with a triple whammy:  it is cheap;  it is global;  and it is timeless (in the sense that downloads are far more user-friendly than CDs, video cassettes or recording on Sky Digital Plus or Tivo).  I was then fortunate to meet the folks at smibs.tv;  they think/thought exactly the same way.   

8) I am sure there is a bright future for the show, have you got any idea's or guests lined up for next year? And are you going to be broadcasting over the winter? 

We’ll take a brief break over Christmas and the New Year; and, yes, we’ve got lots of great plans for The Flying Lap in 2012, including taking the show going on the road to various locations around the world.  

(c) The Flying Lap

9) With 2012 looking like another impressive year for the sport, but will be broad casted on the Sky-BBC partnership what is your opinion on the mater? 

I think Sky have done a great job with cricket, tennis and golf so it’s difficult to imagine that they won’t do likewise with F1.  Having said that, a broadcaster doesn’t have to do much in terms of the live F1 feed as virtually all of them, from virtually all the circuits, are originated by FOM.  (In other sports, Sky or the BBC would also produce the show.)  I think any F1 TV rights holder should also be obliged to show all the GP2 and GP3 races live, so in this respect I hope that F1 as an industry will not let this new opportunity (with Sky) slip away.   In general, I’d like to see more inter-active TV coverage, more access to drivers’ briefings and team meetings and more on-board action (particularly from the footwell area).  None of this is up to the BBC or Sky, however:  this is an F1 industry matter.  

10) You have been a big help to my blog and tweeted links which really helped my exposure, I remember asking you in July if a blog would be a good idea and you said it would be a good start, do you have any advice to give me on my blog and ambition to be an F1 journalist?

I think any aspiring journalist must be ready for the long-haul.  Writing is work;  it’s never easy.  My golden rules would include:  be meticulous about grammar.  (Never divide independent clauses with a comma, for example, or split an infinitive.  Learn your plural rules and be consistent with the use of numbers and proper names.)  Read, read and read some more:  it is the only way a journalist or writer can progress.  Be self-critical.  Very self-critical.  And be creative.  Watch F1 live feeds with the volume turned down.  Form your own ideas.  Don’t go with the flow. And know your history.  Without the knowledge of what has passed you cannot form an opinion about what lies ahead – or what is happening today. 

I would like to thank Peter for the time taken to answer the questions, some interesting points made such as DRS being too "artificial" and the plans for his web show.

See Peter's web show "The Flying Lap" here every Wednesday at 19:00 UK time: http://smibs.tv/the-flying-lap