Featured Image – “WilliamsF1 Factory, Grove, Oxfordshire” by Neil Thompson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The original article was written in late 2012.
It may come as a surprise to learn that eight of the twelve current F1 teams are virtually next-door neighbors. In fact most of the world’s motorsport industry, including Formula One, is dependent on approximately 4,000 businesses concentrated within southern England, inhabiting a region nicknamed the UK’s ‘Motorsport Valley.’
“The UK motorsport cluster (‘Motorsport Valley’), which is mainly concentrated in the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East and Eastern regions of England, can be unambiguously rated as world class and dominant. The strength, scale and diversity of the industry is not yet replicated elsewhere in the world.” This quote taken from a study produced by Motorsport Research Associates refers to the Motorsport Valley specifically as a geographically-centralized ‘cluster.’ MRA defines clusters as “networks of production of strongly interdependent firms (including specialised suppliers), knowledge producing agents (universities, research institutes, engineering companies), bridging institutions (brokers, consultants) and customers, linked to each other in a value adding production chain.” The advantages of being based in the Motorsport Valley are sefl-evident; to this day the only constructor to win an F1 World Championship not based in England is Ferrari.
Such global dominance and recognition took around half a century to build, with it’s roots mainly in small-displacement single-seater formulae. In the decades immediately following WW2, the UK began it’s journey to becoming the global leader in motorsport it is today. A new breed of constructor that would serve as a catalyst to the industry’s future success and growth was created when the 500cc formula racing series came to Britain, which we now call Formula 3. Small engineering firms such as Cooper, Lotus, Lola, Chevron and Mallock became well-versed in producing race cars for junior formulae. This would endow them with the knowledge and experience necessary to compete at the highest level of motorsport known as Grand Prix racing or Formula One. Up until that time the Italians had a stranglehold on F1, their infrastructure centralized in a small town called Modena. Vanwall, in 1958, would become the first British manufacturer to win a Formula 1 Constructor’s World Championship, made possible by the cooperation and subcontracting of other British firms. Business relationships like those used by Vanwall created an industrial ‘cluster’ ready to take advantage of grand prix racing’s increasing world-wide recognition.
With the advent of corporate sponsorship and global television coverage, Formula One became a lucrative business for Britain’s Motorsport Valley. To give some relevant figures, it was reported by the MRA that in 2002, $2 billion passed hands between teams and sponsors. According to BBC Sport, the cost to serve as a title sponsor for a front-running team such as McLaren or Ferrari is around $50 million dollars per year. The viewership numbers that demand such enormous financial obligations from sponsors are staggering. MRA, in their study of the UK motorsport industry found that approximately twelve years ago Formula One was estimated to produce an annual audience of 5.6 billion spread across 130 countries, trailing only the Summer Olympics and the World Cup.
With potential consumers around the world tuning in to every race weekend, car manufacturers and sponsors outside of the UK are keen to become involved in the highly visible world of motorsports. There are two primary reasons why an OEM might choose to spend valuable resources in the creation of a motorsports division. According to MRA’s report on motorsport and performance engineering in the UK, “motorsport can be a cost effective way of showcasing the technical superiority of an OEM’s products or developing technological prowess (‘technology spend’). This has always been a reason for the involvement of major OEM’s in motorsport.” From the same study a second alternative motive is given, stating that major OEMs such as Ford employ a motorsport division to “develop a broader performance engineering capacity.” These OEM’s already know who to turn to when they wish to invest valuable capital in a sport as financially burdensome as motor racing. According to Chris Aylett, chief executive of the Motorsport Industry Assocation, the Motorsport Valley’s total yearly sales are worth “around $13 billion – and about 70% of them are exported.”
Aylett believes they don’t have a choice if they wish to be competitive in the upper-tiers of motorsport proclaiming, “to win they need the expertise of those living in the UK’s Motorsport Valley.” Former Renault F1 president Patrick Faure seems to agree as he is on record stating “…when it comes to F1 cars, that expertise is undoubtedly in England’s motorsport valley.” The MV has also attracted big-names such as current F1 driver Fernando Alonso, former F1 great Rubens Barrichello, Williams F1 team principal Sir Frank Williams and former Renault F1 team principal Flavio Briatore who are all said to have homes close by. The area is not just for racing royalty as the Motorsport Industry Assocation’s website reports; administrative roles related to motorsport such as public relations, events management and marketing are estimated to be worth around ₤1.7 billion of the industry’s yearly total and account for a sizable portion of the estimated 38,500 jobs that the UK’s motorsport industry supports.
What began as little more than a test of bravado amongst society’s elite has now developed into a multi-billion dollar industry. Modern racing-cars hardly resemble their ancient ancestors but still serve the same purpose: to pit man and machine against each other in a test of wits and courage. The financial statistics prove that this type of competition is still something people want to see. Motorsport Valley is slowly being threatened by external forces but as yet another English-based team, Red Bull Racing of Milton Keynes, is poised to take both the Driver’s and Constructor’s World Championships this year, their position as the world leader in building winning racing cars appears to be safe.
About the Author: Daniel Kim is a graduate of Coventry University’s Automotive Journalism Master’s program. He has worked at Ferrari North Europe, Evo magazine, Autocar and Formula Drift.
