“Though obviously of great importance to the few directly involved, these esoteric aspects of TV ‘big business’ are of no interest whatever to the public, for whom and through whom, solely and exclusively, the TV service exists. Now, all TV broadcasts of motor races are to be suspended until the position has been resolved – showing a total disregard by the TV authorities for their prime responsibility.
“Those of our readers who cannot get to races have left us in no doubt that they resent this whole squabble, and we support their feelings.”
Thankfully, the issue was settled with the BBC that August, meaning Hill’s second title victory at the end of the season wouldn’t be missed.
By then, the floodgates had been opened already: oil companies STP and Elf backed March and Matra, before a wider variety of sponsors came in through the early 1970s.
That wasn’t totally the end of the issue, however: in 1976, British fans missed one of F1’s finest title fights – Niki Lauda versus James Hunt – because Surtees was advertising condoms.
