2009 World Champion Jenson Button has offered some advice to new owners Liberty Media on how to improve Formula One.
The Briton believes that the sport must become the new Pokemon Go of Motorsport. Released back in July earlier this year and with an estimated 100 million downloads, the video game has taken the world by storm.
Button showed journalists in the Singapore paddock footage he had filmed of a large crowd playing the Pokemon game on Wednesday evening.
"This was last night in the shopping mall, all these people all walking one way. Why? Pokemon,
There must've been 2000 people all walking to one spot, through the shopping mall and across the road, because there's a Pokemon there.
I don't even know what you do with them. I don't understand. Do you win money? Do you get presents or chocolate?"
Most importantly, the game has attracted and captured the imagination of 16-30 yearolds. F1 however, struggles to reach this demographic and according to Button this is something that the new owners must work towards in the future.
"I think the average age is 30s, maybe early 40s. So that needs to change, we need to target youngsters for regeneration.
The average [fan] age is much too high for where it should be considering we have an 18-year-old on the grid,"
Button who will not drive for Mclaren next year, reckons due to the technical nature of the sport, this would be something which would interest the younger viewer. And to some extent, it surprises him that more younger viewers do not tune in.
"It's a very technologically advanced sport so you'd think there'd be a lot of interest from youngsters but there isn't. They need to work out why that is and find a way of getting more involved.
As soon as youngsters sink their teeth into the sport, they're going to love it."
Written by Harry Shovelar
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