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.