Formula One Racing’s transition from being a pure sport to a form of entertainment for large crowds of people (if, indeed, the transition is not complete already) is part of a larger phenomenon that neither soccer nor the Olympics has been able to avoid. Added to this is the fact that F1 drivers are now in the top salary bracket for all professional athletes, with a truly staggering amount of money also changing hands over television broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals. An army of public relations specialists, publishers and members of the mass media has sprung up in the wake of F1’s success, and now that the sport is catching on in the US, there are undoubtedly a great many people who are laughing all the way to the bank.

But is F1 really a form of “entertainment”, similar to the motion picture industry? Admittedly, F1 drivers have a movie star presence about them, with their team managers playing the part of their directors. And because it is just another event that audiences pay money to see, it is probably no overstatement to say that F1 is entertainment, is show business. While Hollywood’s influence on the movie industry is enormous and cannot be ignored, the flip side of the coin is that European filmmakers (which is to say, perhaps, everyone outside of Hollywood) lament the lack of talent among Hollywood actors, and decry the fact that Hollywood has taken commercialism to a pitch of excess. But just as the world of European film makes clever use of Hollywood, European-born F1 makes clever use of America, which keeps the proud Europeans in business even as they look on stubbornly from the sidelines.

This European pride of being in a different league, and of coming from a different background, than America and Japan, which are the world’s two biggest automobile manufacturers, springs from the fact that when it comes to making a Formula One race car, Japan and America simply cannot keep up. When you look as a casual observer upon all of the hoopla surrounding F1—which seems to get flashier and glitzier with each passing year—you will see that for engineers who push the envelope of the cutting edge of technology in order to shave one more hundredth of a second off of a lap time, F1 is nothing more than an arena in which they compete to hone their technological skills. For those who live for the pure, childlike joy of running a car they’ve built faster than any other kid on the playground, exorbitant salaries and broadcasting rights don’t mean a thing. This is yet another area in which the difference between countries that build to make money, and countries that build to make the best, becomes all too clear.

That F1 is changing (or perhaps has already changed) from a pure sporting event into a form of entertainment is an unavoidable phenomenon that has also been observed with the Olympics, soccer and other sporting events. This has enabled F1 to become home to drivers who command the highest annual salaries in the world of professional sports. At the same time, the amount of money paid for television broadcasting rights and offered by large sponsors is enough to boggle the mind. Peripheral businesses like public relations, reporting and publishing have also been established. There is no doubt a significant number of people in the business who have been happily benefitting since the sport caught the attention of the American public.

Still, is F1 really to be considered “entertainment” in the same sense as the movie industry? To be sure, F1 drivers are like actors, and team managers are like movie directors. People also buy tickets to go see it, so it’s probably no exaggeration to call it entertainment or even show business. Looking at the movie industry, Hollywood has come to wield tremendous influence and is a force to be reckoned with even to this day. On the other hand, there is also the European movie industry (or should I say the industry outside of Hollywood), which ridicules the extreme commercialism of Hollywood and criticizes the artistic quality of its movies. Just as Europeans in the movie industry take advantage of Hollywood, it is likely that the European F1 will stubbornly maintain its own position one step away from its American counterpart while at the same time playing on its success.

There are two underlying reasons for this. First, Europeans are proud that their sport is different in both history and class from the motor sports of major automobile producers like the United States and Japan. Second, those countries have, at least up until now, been unable to imitate production of F1 cars. Despite the fanfare, which gets more extravagant with each passing year, European engineers see F1 as but a venue to pit their skills against those of their peers. Their focus is on shaving that extra hundredth of a second off the time using the latest technology. They have a purely child-like desire to compete and make cars that run faster than anyone else’s, so to them, box office proceeds and broadcast rights have no meaning at all. This is another example of the difference between countries that make things to sell and those that focus on quality.

It is an inevitable phenomenon that a sport called "Formula One" is emerging (or has already emerged?) from a pure sport convention to entertainment, just like any other sport events such as the Olympics and soccer. In fact, F1 sport has produced racers whose annual incomes rank at the top of many world professional sports persons. Unimaginably large sums of money are transacted for the TV broadcasting rights between major sponsors. Supporting network businesses such as PR, broadcasting and publishing have also been established. Ever since the US took an interest in the sport, I am convinced that a great number of people in related businesses are delighted to receive the benefit from this involvement.

Is F1, however, truly recognized as entertainment like the film industry? Certainly F1 racers are idolized like movie stars and actors, and their team managers play roles similar to that of movie directors. Since both events make profits from the audience who pay for the entry tickets, it may be no exaggeration to say that F1 is an entertainment or show business. As a matter of fact Hollywood is now established as an entity with an enormous influence on the film industry that cannot be ignored. In Europe (or should I say anywhere other than Hollywood), on the other hand, there exist film industries who dismiss the over-the-top commercialization and criticize the lack of art in Hollywood films. Just as European film stake holders take advantage of Hollywood, so will the European-born F1 continue to use the American superpower... with determination to maintain its status one step away from its influence.

The Formula One has pride in its history and status that rank in a different league from motor sports in Japan or USA, which have become giant nations of motor vehicle mass production, also supported by the fact that the F1 technology in machinery production is too advanced for the American or the Japanese to copy at the moment. Beside the fact of the F1's ever increasing flurry of festivity each year, the devoted technicians regard the F1 no more than a field for their technology competition as they chase the one-hundredth second faster speed. For their pure child-like enthusiasm to compete in producing a car that can run faster than any others, the box-office proceeds or broadcast rights has no significance. This is another point which shows the difference between a country that produces things that can sell and one that creates things that are good.

The continuing transformation (if it has not happened already) of F1 from being purely a sports contest into an entertainment event in its own right, is the same inevitable phenomenon we see occurring in other sports tournaments, such as the Olympics and soccer. Thanks to this trend, in recent years F1 racing drivers have taken the number one spot in the rankings of annual income for professional sports players. Staggering figures are being bandied about for television broadcasting rights and astonishing sums of money are thrown around by big name sponsors. F1 related businesses in public relations, press coverage and publishing have taken hold. Ever since the US turned its attention to this sport, it has proved an enormous, benevolent boom for many of those involved.

However, can we describe F1 as “entertainment” in same way we associate this term with the movie industry? Well, actually F1 racing does conform somewhat to the acting world of movies with team managers taking on the role of movie directors. It is no different to any event where spectators buy tickets to go watch some action. In this sense it is no exaggeration to call it entertainment, or rather, show business. In the movie world, the influence of Hollywood has become absolute—even now its presence cannot be ignored. However, there is also undeniably the European film world (which maybe we should term the non-Hollywood world) that ridicules Hollywood’s excessive commercialism and criticizes its lack of artistry. Just as those working in European film can use Hollywood well, the F1, born in Europe, uses the existence of the US, as it continues to stubbornly maintain its own position one step removed.

For motorsports in the US and Japan, two automobile superpowers, there is pride in their differences in history and character, and there is no end in sight to the production of F1 machines in either country. The F1 is for the engineer s, harnessing to the full the latest technology to achieve speed differences of up to one hundredth of a second, nothing more than a place for their technology to compete, and the annual ostentatious extravaganza involved is disregarded by them. For these people, competing like children making sure their car is faster than anyone else’s, turnstile income and broadcasting rights are meaningless. It is here we can see the difference between those countries that make things to be sold and those countries that make things to be good.