Pay-per-view F1 will be bad, says Blundell

Mark Blundell is adamant that pay-per-view F1 television coverage would prove highly unpopular. Talk of such a happening was generated last week as reports circulated that BSkyB owner Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation could soon buy into the sport.

“Pay-per-view is nothing new for Formula 1 in the UK," Blundell told GPUpdate.net via telephone, referring to Sky's F1 Digital+ package of 2002.

“We’ve seen it before and it didn’t work, basically. I think it would be a crying shame if it went to that – I think it should be free-to-air access and I think that’s probably what appeals to most of the sponsors and manufacturers.

“To say what’s going to go on with Formula 1…what a question; I think you could have several answers but, ultimately, we have to understand what’s going on with the new Concorde Agreement, which is to be put together very soon (with the current document expiring at the end of 2012).

“There’s a situation in which an investment company owns a product and maybe wants to exit, to get a return on its investment. We’ve got somebody (Bernie Ecclestone) who’s been in Formula 1 for 30-odd years and in some way doesn’t own what he used to but still has the ultimate control, by the looks of it from the outside world.

“There are so many ingredients. Then throw in (governing body) the FIA at the same time and we’ve really got some interesting times ahead of us. So it’s coming to come to a stage when we will get a new owner of Formula 1, that’s for sure, but whether it’s in the short or long-term we’ll have to wait and see."