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F1 is reportedly planning to use drone cameras during the “official” pre-season test in Bahrain this weekend on an experimental basis to improve broadcasting quality. Drones will be used to capture side shots of the new ground-effect cars at high speeds to give the viewers a sense of speed, something that FOM has been unable to do with wide shots.
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As reported by Motorsport Italia, FOM will reportedly consider whether to continue using the drones for the rest of the season after assessing their impact in Bahrain.
Unlike the Barcelona test two weeks ago, the second pre-season test in Bahrain will be broadcast live across the world. The decision to not broadcast the first test was deliberately made to ensure that the new cars “debut” at the Bahrain International Circuit. For the privilege of hosting the 2022 cars that herald a new era of F1, Bahrain has reportedly paid a hefty sum to FOM.
F1’s improved broadcasting quality had an unexpected consequence
Over the last decade, as broadcasting quality continued to improve, FOM had a new problem. The sheer sense of speed and danger that made the sport exciting to watch on TV was suddenly lost as broadcasters moved from a 1:1 aspect ratio to wider, high-definition formats.
Watching onboard footage from a modern F1 car lapping the streets of Monte Carlo doesn’t evoke the same sense of speed that cars from the early nineties or even the early noughties did, even though the new cars are some of the fastest machines to have ever raced in the sport.
A close capture shot of cars as they enter the Eau Rouge-Radillon complex at Spa-Francorchamps is probably one of the only places left that allow viewers to truly experience the speed of the new cars.
In the last few years, FOM has been trying to address this issue by experimenting with different camera angles, as well as clever camera placements across venues. So far, it has struggled to recapture the sense of speed and danger that made watching the sport on live TV exciting.
