“We had a good relationship with them especially at the 35th Cup, which was good,” Ainslie told Telegraph Sport. “Adrian [Newey, Red Bull’s chief technical officer] is clearly passionate about the cup and it’s great to see how they get involved.
“Not only Red Bull, but also Alinghi back in the game. They are one of the great, great teams of the modern day of the Cup. Ernesto Bertarelli is someone I’ve got to know well over the years. He’s a very passionate sailor and supporter of the sport so it’s huge to have her back in this world.
“And then seeing Mercedes F1 and Red Bull compete against each other in two different sports will just add another dimension, especially given what happened on Sunday and the kind of resentment that has now developed between them.”
Ainslie, speaking from Sydney preparing for Round 7 of the SailGP global sailing series, said he stayed up until the wee hours to watch the F1 championship in Abu Dhabi, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen last an extremely controversial lap win to deny Lewis Hamilton an eighth record title.
The 44-year-old four-time Olympic champion said he was “gutted” for Hamilton and Ineos Britannia’s partner Mercedes. “As an external observer, I cannot really comment on the decisions made [at the end of the grand prix, under the safety car]”Said Ainslie. “I don’t know enough about it to say whether it was fair or not. But I have great empathy for Lewis and the Mercedes team.
“My respect for Lewis has actually increased immeasurably, and it was already very high. How he managed to deal with himself after this disappointment was just amazing. “
Ainslie said the other big thing that came out for him over the weekend was how much sailing could learn from Formula 1.
Ainslie said he is a huge fan of the Netflix series Drive to Survive and would like to see a similar fly-on-the-wall documentary on SailGP, the global series that takes place in one-design foiling catamarans.
“We already have a show called Racing On The Edge that is going out [on YouTube] pretty much monthly between events, ”said Ainslie. “It focuses on the different people.
“This month went out yesterday and is on [Australian helm] Tom Slingsby. So it tries to capture these personalities. It’s probably not enough to fly on the wall in my opinion. But it’s trying to capture that, and it’s still a work in progress. “
Ainslie also believed that the rivalry that erupted this season between Mercedes’ two team bosses Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner helps keep the sport going.
He added, “The Netflix stuff is so good because it really shows the intensity of Formula 1 and you can’t fake it.
“People accuse Formula 1 of being manipulated – I don’t know – but the intensity is absolutely not faked. Watching two great personalities like Toto and Christian how they really make up. It’s pretty rare in sports that you can see such unvarnished access and emotions in front of the camera for everyone. It is great.”
To really captivate this audience, you need continuity, Ainslie said. Formula 1 has over 20 races per season, which means the narrative builds continuously throughout the year. SailGP currently offers eight events from April to April.
Ainslie said that wasn’t enough, but it was growing.
“There will be eleven events next year, almost one a month,” he said. “And I know that the goal of the league is to get to the top in terms of competition and continuity in Formula 1. So 20+ events per season.
“Then you start to get that traction and people watch it week after week and they’re not really into the races and the personalities and then it all goes silent for a month or two. Or a year or two at the America’s Cup. “
Ideally, Ainslie said, there would be an annual SailGP championship with more than 20 events driven in boats of a single design, with the America’s Cup every four years on boats built and designed by private teams.
“The two should complement each other well,” he said. “You have your America’s Cup once every four years as your special World Cup-style event. And then SailGP is the kind of Champions League or Premier League that goes week after week and has that continuity. “
The British team enters the SailGP round this weekend in Sydney in fourth overall, four points behind Japan in third place, with just one more round in San Francisco next March.
“We have to be in the top three to make it to the grand finale of the season, so it’s going to be a big weekend for us,” said Ainslie.
Did you miss our previous article...
https://formulaone.news/mercedes/10-best-f1-drivers-of-2021-list
