Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly strapped a camera to his helmet and took off down the Circuit de Monaco to give even the most pedestrian of fans an exhilarating experience.
Though it was not Gasly’s fastest lap by any means, it does give viewers a strong appreciation for just how difficult it must be to navigate an F1 track.
If you have watched a wide variety of sports this year, you have also been privy to a wide variety of camera angles. For fans, this introduces a thrilling in-car angle that is rarely seen. It certainly begs the question as to why Formula 1 does not invest in helmet cams for all drivers. A first hand view of the track, coupled with a feed that’s stabilized enough for television could draw in new fans.
If F1 were to begin experimenting with the camera angles, they would be following in the steps of many sports leagues around the world. From the NFL’s experimentation with the sky cam, which provided an overhead view of the way players operate on the field, to the clever panning of the NCAA broadcasts that took tracking shots from hardwood level, it’s been an innovative year.
In the same way that sports develop and change, so to do the ways that they are covered. The same P.O.V. that could be applied inside the cars appeared during the IIHF World Hockey championship. In that tournament gave fans a perspective that they could never attain themselves.
While there are no current plans for F1 to expand into helmet cams in any way, it could be a great move going forward.
