Tottenham’s 15-year deal with Formula 1 has provoked a fever-dream style throwback to the last time the two sports combined.
The announcement, which will bring electric go-karting to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, comes with a car modelling their colours and cockerel logo, but not for the first time.
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F1 was in the midst of its last big era-defining change in 2008 with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari dominance finally over and thrilling young names Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen achieving world champion status.
Unlike today with Formula E and other single-seater series scooping up drivers no longer good enough for the F1 grid, back in the 00s, there wasn’t really a competitor.
That was until the idea of a ‘Superleague’ – no not that one – was born, although it took eight years to come to fruition.
Giants from across world football, including Liverpool, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, signed up to sponsor open-wheeled cars in a series that actually had a lot going for it.
Everything that F1 was criticised for was corrected in Superleague Formula, with screeching V12 engines, equal machinery and some classic old school tracks.
At the same time, F1 was getting quieter, less competitive, and opening its doors to snooze-fest street circuits.
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The sport had global appeal, with teams like Brazilian giants Flamengo and Chinese side Beijing Guoan agreeing to join, adding to some very recognisable liveries and colour schemes brought in by Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Galatasaray.
On top of that, there was also known talent, with seven ex-F1 drivers, headlined by products of Red Bull Racing, Sebastien Bourdais and Robert Doornbos.
Kicking off in 2008, Beijing Guoan took the first championship to be followed by Liverpool, Anderlecht, and finally ‘Team Australia’ in the series final 2011 season.
It started with a bang, attracting six million viewers worldwide, and even garnered an accompanying video game, while the football clubs involved seemed delighted with the exposure.
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So competitive was the series that Tottenham even won a trophy, collecting top honours in Silverstone in 2010 and their driver Craig Dolby contested a thrilling title race with Andelecht’s Davide Rigon that was decided by just three points.
Unfortunately, though, things ground to a halt a year later in 2011, just two races into the campaign as the money dried up.
That’s nothing out of the ordinary in motorsport, and director Robin Webb maintains all parties got paid, with cars later auctioned off to fans.
Spurs driver Dolby later explained: “Championships come and go and that was one heck of a championship to be in; it was a shame really.
“Superleague did everything right with the noise and the tyres – we could push as hard as we wanted to on the tyres and there was nothing left on the table.
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“We were the naughty boys of motorsport. We went out with a 4.2-litre V12, beautiful engine, noisy as hell.
“I think from a consumer point of view, everybody would’ve absolutely loved it to keep going – I have no doubt, in fact. But it was a very hungry beast. And you had to keep feeding the beast. Conceptually it was a dream for TV companies, and the crowds liked it.
“Could it happen again with football teams and no nations? Yes.
“I don’t know whether people would go for it now – they did then, they were gagging for it.”
With star drivers all over the place and Drive to Survive one of Netflix’s biggest successes, there’s no doubt people are again gagging for F1 content, and a new Spurs branded F1 car may not be a one-off.
Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport
