BBC Coverage

[Knock-on]

Sounds great news

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73405

[Dave B]

Same details, but straight from the horse's mouth so to speak:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7755219.stm

I'm very pleased I've run extra cables for a 2nd Sky box :D

[BTCC Fan#1]

Sounds excellent! :D Really looking forward to seeing these things implemented.

[Tazio]

Chuffin' Nora, are you thikin' they will 'ave a global block on the 'nt'net lads?
Aye, if they do then Pirates we be! :p :

[Mark]

Excellent. I like the idea of split screen, that way you can see the onboards without having to move away from the main feed, and end up missing something!

I expect I may well spend my time flicking between the main feed and the split screen. I don't have two seperate TV's set up, unlike some :p

It's a pity they couldn't use BBCHD for this, fair enough the main feed is in SD, but you could use the resolution provided by HD to have a 4-way split screen without losing too much detail.

[Dave B]

BBC HD have a policy of not showing non-HD content, something to do with preserving the brand. Compare and contrast with the amount of upscaled stuff on Channel4HD and the various Sky HD channels and I can sort of see their point.

The release from the BBC press office is making me drool with anticipation...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/02_february/24/formulaone.shtml

[Mark]

This sounds good there will be an additional one-hour post-race analysis programme, immediately after the network programme goes off-air, on the Red Button.

That sounds like it might be good



This will gives viewers the opportunity to share their views on the race's main talking points and to ask questions of the presentation team, Humphrey, Coulthard and Jordan.

That has the potential to be excellent, or cringworthingly bad!

[Dave B]

That has the potential to be excellent, or cringworthingly bad!
Remember the Motors TV post-BTCC coverage, which was basically Diana Binks and two patio chairs? They can't do worse than that!

[Dave B]

Martin Brundle on Five Live right now (15:05)

[Sonic]

LUSH! Welcome back auntie beeb!

[christophulus]

They also suggest that they won't be falling over themselves to interview "Lewis" the whole time too:

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/73410

I'm ridiculously excited about this year, any chance of moving the Aus GP forward a couple of weeks? :)

[jonny hurlock]

will the beeb do the same thing with the iplacer they have done with motogp with the reaped of the races online out of asking?

[truefan72]

too bad we will have none of that state side :down:

[wedge]

Absolutely fantastic! Who said the Beeb wouldn't be able to provide value for for money? Auntie has raised the bar even further and possibly bettering Sky/soccer.

Can't wait for the new season to start

Only bad point is that I see no mention of Maurice Hamilton so hopefully he'll be still featuring in the podcasts.


Martin Brundle on Five Live right now (15:05)

Great interview - as always on Mayo's show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive_aod.shtml?fivelive/mayo_tue

Starts at about 2hr 04min

[berniefails]

:angryfire Can't believe we arent going to get Formula one in HD in the states, so dissapointing. Nascar fails, www.seef1live.com (http://www.seef1live.com) fails and speed fails.

[AndyRAC]

Good news, but was there any mention of the MotoGP coverage as well? Or is that getting the second class treatment?

[Dave B]

will the beeb do the same thing with the iplacer they have done with motogp with the reaped of the races online out of asking?
According to the press release, all races will be available on the iPlayer for 7 days, or 30 days if you download them - which I recommend for higher quality and no buffering issues.


Good news, but was there any mention of the MotoGP coverage as well? Or is that getting the second class treatment?
Have a read of the BBC Sports Editors' blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2009/01/it_always_feels_like_a.html), it should answer all your questions but if it doesn't there's the opportunity of asking the team directly.

[SOD]

Attention non sky customers.

you can get the digital screens if you have a free to air satellite can get them at maplins etc for about £60, just point it at 28.8 east. The BBC red button screens are on there.

[Mark]

Attention non sky customers.

you can get the digital screens if you have a free to air satellite can get them at maplins etc for about £60, just point it at 28.8 east. The BBC red button screens are on there.

Are the extra feeds not available on freeview?

[555-04Q2]

Split screen? So now you can watch two different advert brreaks on the same screen! Brilliant! :p :

[SOD]

Are the extra feeds not available on freeview?

I have no idea. there's only 6 six screens set aisde for extra Beeb programming on the Astra satellite, not sure if they can use all 6 on a sSunday afternoon when they have many events to cover with the red button.

[Dave B]

There's some clarification to come. Freeview, Satellite and Cable will all have the interactive streams; but there's more capacity on satellite so there's the possibility of extra streams over and above what we've been informed about.

It's down to demand, rights (the BBC don't have the rights to a full data channel, for example), and clashes with other events.

[Mark]

I suspect they've get kept the number of streams down so that if there is another event going on then they can cover that too without having to interfere with the GP coverage.

[SGWilko]

Split screen? So now you can watch two different advert brreaks on the same screen! Brilliant! :p :

Advertisements, on Auntie Beeb? Are you sure? ;)

[Dave B]

Lee McKenzie and others from the BBC team have been filming laps in the reasonably priced car. If that doesn't say "Top Gear F1 Special" I don't know what does!

http://www.leemckenzie.tv/full_story.asp?pageref=19

[Dave B]

PS: all-new BBC F1 website coming very soon :D

Not before time, in fairness. ITV's F1 website was actually surprisingly good (once you'd blocked all the flash :rolleyes: ) and the Beeb's was sorely lacking.

[Dave B]

PPS:

BBC's "World's Greatest Car Chase" F1 trailer. It's brilliant! :s hock:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7911126.stm

[wedge]

PS: all-new BBC F1 website coming very soon :D

Not before time, in fairness. ITV's F1 website was actually surprisingly good (once you'd blocked all the flash :rolleyes: ) and the Beeb's was sorely lacking.

Only good BBC journalist is Andrew Benson who's ex-Autosport. Don't remember reading anything by Legard in the Motorsport section he knows his stuff. Beeb really need someone like Mark Hughes for the technical stuff. Whether they commission him or not I do not know but there must be someone out there who can do Peter Windsor/Hughes job without being condescending!

[wedge]

Nice to see the Beeb has its priorities sorted, noticed its below football and not near the bottom of the sports list.

Just gone on it and for some reason the site has black background. Wonder where they got their inspiration from?

[Dave B]

Beeb really need someone like Mark Hughes for the technical stuff. Whether they commission him or not I do not know ...
He's the BBC commentary box producer, continuing his ITV role of providing information and background for the commentators.

Whether this will mean contributions to the website or broadcasts, I don't know.

[ArrowsFA1]

Was a bit worried last night watching some of the F1 clips made available via the red button...There seemed to be an updated version of 'The Chain' playing in the background :(

I really hope they stick to the Fleetwood Mac original :dozey:

[wedge]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2009/03/f1_editor_the_best_job_in_the.html

After reading this its making me feel a bit sick already. Seems like its not all that different to ITV, never liked the 1hr pre-qualy coverage anyway since they repeated most of the stuff on the pre-race show.

[Dave B]

Was a bit worried last night watching some of the F1 clips made available via the red button...There seemed to be an updated version of 'The Chain' playing in the background :(

I really hope they stick to the Fleetwood Mac original :dozey:

Direct from Andrew Benson, he of BBC sport:


1) The Chain - yes, the TV theme tune will be the iconic original version of this track, as used by the BBC previously. We feel it is inextricably linked with the BBC and F1, and still the perfect soundtrack for the sport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2009/03/f1_editor_the_best_job_in_the.html

(Comment #15)

:D

[ArrowsFA1]

Direct from Andrew Benson, he of BBC sport...
Ahhhhhh, that's a relief :s mokin: :up:

[Dave B]

Here's the best hint yet at what we can expect from the interactive coverage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2009/wk13/images/446_featuref1.jpg

It looks as if there'll be two PIP streams: the onboard with the world feed in a smaller window and vice-versa.



F1 fans will be able to customise their viewing experience via the BBC Red Button, with access to all on-track sessions, including Friday and Saturday practice and qualifying.


On race day itself, a choice of three streams will be available featuring split-screen in-car camera feeds, leaderboards and rolling highlights, with the option to listen to either network or BBC Radio 5 Live commentary. After the end of each race on BBC One there will be an additional interactive programme analysing the weekend's events and picking up views from the paddock.

More details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2009/wk13/redbutton_feature.shtml

:D

[ArrowsFA1]

Looking good :s mokin:

[Mark]

It says it's available on Sky and Freesat (thankfully I have both!!) but there is no mention of freeview or Virgin, unlike for the other sports mentioned on that page.

[Dave B]

It will be on both Virgin Media and Freeview. The only loss is that Freeview can support 2 interactive streams, so viewers will probably only get one onboard channel and the highlights on 301/302.

I'm ready to go now, having installed a spare Sky box and made room for another TV :D

[Mark]

It will be on both Virgin Media and Freeview. The only loss is that Freeview can support 2 interactive streams, so viewers will probably only get one onboard channel and the highlights on 301/302.

I'm ready to go now, having installed a spare Sky box and made room for another TV :D

I really need to get another TV in. After all I could run the main TV off our Freesat feed and use the Sky box to feed TV no. 2 :p . I somehow doubt it would go down well, mind :cool:

[V12]

Does anyone know if the BBC are planning to do an "F1 Night" on Saturday night/Sunday morning for Melbourne similar to what ITV did when they first got the coverage in 1997? (the only good point of their F1 coverage!)

Since the race has been inexplicably moved even later (better for the Australian fans I guess?), they'll have an extra couple of hours of Sunday morning to play with, and I think it would be great.

IIRC the ITV one had the Grand Prix movie, a review of the 1958 F1 season, and loads of other excellent and interesting programmes too

[DazzlaF1]

Does anyone know if the BBC are planning to do an "F1 Night" on Saturday night/Sunday morning for Melbourne similar to what ITV did when they first got the coverage in 1997? (the only good point of their F1 coverage!)

Since the race has been inexplicably moved even later (better for the Australian fans I guess?), they'll have an extra couple of hours of Sunday morning to play with, and I think it would be great.

IIRC the ITV one had the Grand Prix movie, a review of the 1958 F1 season, and loads of other excellent and interesting programmes too

I remember ITV did a week long preview of the 1999 season with an excellent series of programmes, i still have them on video

On the Tuesday night before Australia, they showed a one hour documentary which was basically a video diary of Jordan's 1998 season. Then on Wednesday, Murray Walkers Top 10 Drivers, that i thought was excellent. Then On thursday night they had their official season preview show from Barcelona.

I dont think the BBC will do anything similar but i have noticed a few pieces of achive footage on the BBC Sport website including Murray Walkers Great GP's.

One thing though im happy about that will return, Martin Brundle's grid walks

[Dave B]

If there was still any lingering doubt about The Chain, this snippet from Jake Humphrey's latest blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2009/03/excitement_builds_as_season_ap.html)should dispel it:


We shouldn't underestimate how much people are keen to have The Chain kicking off every Grand Prix. I watched the new opening titles resplendent with that tune this week - I wish I could reveal what they're like but if I did there may be someone else introducing the first race. They're great, though - fast-paced, slick and certainly very different to what's gone before.

[LiamM]

If there was still any lingering doubt about The Chain, this snippet from Jake Humphrey's latest blog (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2009/03/excitement_builds_as_season_ap.html)should dispel it:

I've seen BBC advertising for the new season with The Chain in the background too

[wedge]

That advert is absolutely terrible. I'd go far as to say its an insult. Whoever came up with that silly concept deserves to have a shoe thrown at them at the very least.

[UltimateDanGTR]

At least they had the chain at the end! I would say thats garunteement of the chain in the opening titles, especially coinciding with that snippet by Jake humphreys from Dave.

[tsarcasm]

Bring Forth "The Chain" makes me remember the good ol' days.

[raikk]

Any Canadians know if TSN will be using BBC feed?

[wedge]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2009/03/classic_australian_gp_the_winn.html

Can't wait to watch the 86 race!

[wedge]

OMG!

How great is it now that we no longer have to put up with Mark 'points to the obvious' Blundell anymore.

[DazzlaF1]

OMG!

How great is it now that we no longer have to put up with Mark 'points to the obvious' Blundell anymore.

I agree, it was really a breath of fresh air.

At first glance, i found their coverage to be quite impressive, right from the classic base solo from "The Chain" (excellent intro by the way as well) to their pre-race/qualifying build up devoting more attention to the rest of the grid.

[Tazio]

I tried watching Speed TV for FP2, but had to switch to a BBC feed.
Peter Windsor wouldn't shut up about USGPE.
Then Steve Varsha assured me that they will be talking about it incessantly throughout the season
(not his exact words) F1 on Speed TV......"muerto"

[VkmSpouge]

I enjoyed the BBC's coverage of qualifying. They kept with a very similar format to that of ITV (pretty good in my opinion) but simply changed the presenters and pundits. It was so good to watch Formula 1 without commercial breaks!

Good fun to have red button coverage of the practice sessions too. It was great to wake up a little early on Friday and watch the last forty minutes of the the second practice before getting ready to go to work.

Lovely to have The Chain back.

[christophulus]

I enjoyed the BBC's coverage of qualifying. They kept with a very similar format to that of ITV (pretty good in my opinion) but simply changed the presenters and pundits. Good fun to have red button coverage of the practice sessions too. It was great to wake up a little early on Friday and watch the last forty minutes of the the second practice before getting ready to go to work.
Lovely to have The Chain back.

Agree with every word!

It was a bit rough around the edges this morning but in time that should subside. I was pleasantly surprised at how DC & EJ weren't as annoying as I thought they would be, Jake Wotsit was alright and Martin Brundle/Ted Kravitz were easily the best of the ITV bunch to bring over.

The only question mark for me is Legard but I'm sure once he switches out of radio-mode he'll grow on me.

[Dave B]

I'll cut'n'paste my post from a broadcasting forum :p


Real shame about the lack of onboards or interactive coverage when, on Sky at least, one screen was being wasted showing a replay of practice.

Legard was impressive, sounding calm and authoritative. He didn't really gel with Brundle, but it's early days.

Great idea having DC and EJ bantering, but someone really needs to tell EJ not to hold his microphone like he's at a bad karaoke!

Lee McKenzie seemed unsure whether Hamilton had scraped through to Q2, and completely missed her chance at a follow-up question. But again, early days.

Real shame that the last few minutes, including the press conference, seemed rushed. Hopefully the press conference will appear as a separate link on the website, or at least included in its entirety on the repeat.

Graphics are still annoying in the safe zone, but I appreciate that's down to FOM and not the BBC.

Overall I'd give the qualifying coverage 8/10. Far better than most of what ITV ever achieved, but definitely room for a little improvement.

[donKey jote]

BBC were definitely the better of the three coverages I watched, and better than ITV :up:

German RTL was boring and they sounded bored as usual.
Spanish La Sexta was nowhere near last year's Telecinco, but I guess they still have time to learn - maybe their football comentators could give them a hand :p :

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_3_166.gif

[AndyL]

My favourite bit of the BBC coverage so far: at the end of Q1, I found myself waiting for the ad break to start, and of course it didn't!

One unpleasant ITV habit that they seem to have picked up is the dismissive treatment of press conferences. On the live coverage we only got to hear Jenson's comments then they cut away to interview Richard Branson (who is undoubtedly newsworthy, bit we *do* want to hear the rest of the press conference!). Even in the replay this afternoon they only showed Jenson and Rubens, still omitting Vettel's interview.

[wedge]

On different forums Legard is now the new Cock.

There's something not quite right with Legard. With the likes of David Croft on 5live (who also commentates for Setanta with boxing), John Hindenhaugh or whatever it is on Radio Le Mans and domestic racing, Ben Edwards, you know you're hearing a commentary for motor racing, but with Legard it felt like the Grand National. Probably still stuck in radio mode.

EJ was great. Really need a range of opinions not sycophants, just like this forum needs the Tamburellos and Garry Walkers.

[DazzlaF1]

The intro, after 12 years, what a joy it is to finally hear The Chain again, makes me want to listen to some Fleetwood Mac now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7969481.stm

This i think is brilliant, they've gone away from ITV's treand of simply pasting a million images of Lewis Hamilton over Lift Me Up

[grantb4]

I didn't like EJ. He just sounds like he wants to argue for the sake of it.

[Bruce D]

Well from our side in SA it was much better. I thought the main commentary was miles better than James Allan and his total focus on firstly MS and then lately Hamilton. And it was so nice not to have breaks cos that meant they kept the commentary going, rather than cutting but to the three morons in our local studio who, to quote Maurice Hamilton, wouldn't know a camshaft if they fell down one.

[Daniel]

Well it seems really good so far :) Will have to get another box to plug my pc monitor into.

[Sonic]

Red button takes too long - given up and gone to the PC

[christophulus]

Press red now, there's an F1 Forum with plenty of highlights and punditry :)

[AndyL]

I didn't like EJ. He just sounds like he wants to argue for the sake of it.

He should join this forum.

[Dave B]

I loved my setup: big widescreen with the main feed, and a smaller 4:3 with the onboard, plus laptop for live timing!

There were a few rookie errors; EJ needs to calm down and Lee McKenzie needs watch some VTs of Louise Goodman; but overall it was a mighty fine effort for their first GP in 12 years, and wonderful to see how they took advantage of the technology available to them.

And NO AD BREAKS! :D

[christophulus]

I loved my setup: big widescreen with the main feed, and a smaller 4:3 with the onboard, plus laptop for live timing!

There were a few rookie errors; EJ needs to calm down and Lee McKenzie needs watch some VTs of Louise Goodman; but overall it was a mighty fine effort for their first GP in 12 years, and wonderful to see how they took advantage of the technology available to them.

And NO AD BREAKS! :D

I need another TV for the onboard :(

Fantastic job though. Forum on the red button and I'd imagine highlights throughout the day. Along with the practice coverage, classic GPs... if they doubled the licence fee next year it'd still be worth paying :D

[Daniel]

Forum is great :) I'm certainly thinking of getting a freesat box and hooking my nice big 24" monitor up to that so we can have incar and the main feed all at the same time. One question. Will the F1 ever be streamed?

[71minus2]

During quali i was all set to get up and make a brew in the ads before i remembered there would be no ads! EJ is a little bit too kiss arse for me, i reckon he and DC will have a right barney before much longer. DC has looked at him in a "WTF are you on about" manner a couple of times.

Other than that Brundles grid walk was great, commentary was good and thankfully no more James "stop the cock" Allen.

[Dave B]

In the post-race discussion on the red button, EJ needs a sock in his mouth. He's spoiling what was in every other respect a brilliant bit of television. :s

[Daniel]

In the post-race discussion on the red button, EJ needs a sock in his mouth. He's spoiling what was in every other respect a brilliant bit of television. :s
Just a bit. But that said it did make for interesting TV imo. I thought Coulthard was right in backing Vettel's apology :up: Vettel lost nothing through it and probably only gained respect.....

[christophulus]

One question. Will the F1 ever be streamed?

Might have misunderstood what you're asking but it's streamed on the BBC F1 page for UK viewers.

[AndyL]

I actually enjoyed the arguments between DC and EJ, I thought they were fun! Especially the debate about Vettel's apparent apology to Mario Thiessen... DC saying it was a smart bit of diplomacy, then EJ coming straight back with "no, it's a sign of weakness" :)

[TMorel]

Damn it's gonna cost me a fortune getting a couple of extra TV's, but it'll be worth it!
Good coverage, really enjoyed the forum afterwards, still not changed my opinion of EJ but I was pleasently surprised with DC.

A fairly balanced approach to the British drivers, was expecting more fake excuses for Lewis and fawning over Jenson, but they kept it to an acceptable level.

I actually jumped up a couple of times for toilet/coffee breaks expecting it to go to commercials - could get used to this :)

The only thing that spoilt the coverage was that I didn't have to get up at 4am to watch it!

[woody2goody]

I thought the whole coverage was great. Jake Humphrey was very capable, Coulthard was very good too. Eddie Jordan? Well, I'm not sure really. He needs to know when to be quiet but he has some interesting views.

The forum was excellent. A whole hour of interviews and analysis is fantastic. I enjoyed the interview with Vijay Mallya, they didn't go on about Hamilton, they rightly praised his performance today, which was great, and I agree with DC about Vettel.

Young Seb number one :) is friends with Mario Thiessen, probably Robert Kubica as well, and there's no point losing friendships over something like that. Webber and Vettel get on ok despite their coming together in Fuji 07.

To say that it's a weakness is stupid on Jordan's part. There is no way in hell that Vettel will not fight Robert next time they come across each other on the track.

[Triumph]

I think the new BBC F1 presentation line-up is good. I'm glad that they got Martin Brundle. Good to see that Ted Kravitz is still down in the pit lane too.

Jonathan Legard is good but I'm not sure that his style goes well with that of Martin Brundle.

Really glad that James Allen has disappeared though. That was my greatest wish for the BBC line-up.

[m.lowe]

The coverage was good, for some reason I kept expecting ad breaks lol.

I like the EJ DC debate as Eddie says it how it is where old square chin dances around it.
I just hope DC dosn't go on in every race about when he was a driver
Get over it now David your on the tele and not racing now

Well done to the BBC

[Ranger]

Really glad that James Allen has disappeared though. That was my greatest wish for the BBC line-up.

He should be back in the pitlane I think.

Not a great commentator but he was better than Kravitz in the roving pitlane reporter role and his blogs are excellent.

[gofasterstripes]

Overall very good. Also found myself waiting for ad breaks to make a cup of tea!
If i was going to be picky for me Legard just talked a bit too much. Maybe coming from radio gives a tendency to leave no dead air and try to describe absolutely everything that's happening but at least he is knowledgeable which is the most important thing.

[christophulus]

He should be back in the pitlane I think.

Not a great commentator but he was better than Kravitz in the roving pitlane reporter role and his blogs are excellent.

I've been really impressed with his blogs, he certainly knows his stuff but as a commentator he was really poor. Overall a great first attempt from the BBC

[BDunnell]

I was very impressed. A few more detailed comments:

Jake Humphrey did a very capable job, but I feel he is probably still over-compensating for maybe being seen in some quarters as a children's presenter. He seemed to be trying very hard to be serious and 'proper', and came over as a little stilted as a result. I'm sure he will become very good given a short time, though.

Lee McKenzie really didn't impress me at all, not that she had much chance to. Again, probably 'first time' nerves. Ted Kravitz is very good, though, I think.

Jonathan Legard seems like an excellent choice as main commentator, though he is maybe a little verbose. I'd probably put this down to his transfer straight from radio, as of course a radio commentator has to say more in order to 'paint the pictures' than a TV equivalent. Martin Brundle was really excellent as ever, and I reckon the pairing with Legard will gel pretty quickly.

I didn't watch the post-race discussion with EJ and DC; from what we saw pre-race, maybe Jordan is a bit 'excitable', shall we say, but this is surely why he's been employed. Coulthard is exactly as good as I thought he'd be — articulate and reasoned.

All in all, a great start by the BBC, and I'm impressed how quickly the coverage has hit the spot.

[71minus2]

I was very impressed. A few more detailed comments:

Jake Humphrey did a very capable job, but I feel he is probably still over-compensating for maybe being seen in some quarters as a children's presenter. He seemed to be trying very hard to be serious and 'proper', and came over as a little stilted as a result. I'm sure he will become very good given a short time, though.

Lee McKenzie really didn't impress me at all, not that she had much chance to. Again, probably 'first time' nerves. Ted Kravitz is very good, though, I think.

Jonathan Legard seems like an excellent choice as main commentator, though he is maybe a little verbose. I'd probably put this down to his transfer straight from radio, as of course a radio commentator has to say more in order to 'paint the pictures' than a TV equivalent. Martin Brundle was really excellent as ever, and I reckon the pairing with Legard will gel pretty quickly.

I didn't watch the post-race discussion with EJ and DC; from what we saw pre-race, maybe Jordan is a bit 'excitable', shall we say, but this is surely why he's been employed. Coulthard is exactly as good as I thought he'd be — articulate and reasoned.

All in all, a great start by the BBC, and I'm impressed how quickly the coverage has hit the spot.

I didn't know Jake Humphrey did kids TV! lol.

Lee Mckenzie has plenty of experience with Sky Sports as she was the pit reported for their A1GP coverage.

I agree totally with your comments regarding Legard. I liked the extra information he gave think that sometimes he went on a bit too much. Saying that, it must he difficult to adapt to TV when a majority of your experience is radio. I'm sure this will change through the year.

[BDunnell]

I agree totally with your comments regarding Legard. I liked the extra information he gave think that sometimes he went on a bit too much. Saying that, it must he difficult to adapt to TV when a majority of your experience is radio. I'm sure this will change through the year.

So am I, because he's a really professional sports broadcaster.

[Daniel]

Jonathan Legard seems like an excellent choice as main commentator, though he is maybe a little verbose. I'd probably put this down to his transfer straight from radio, as of course a radio commentator has to say more in order to 'paint the pictures' than a TV equivalent. Martin Brundle was really excellent as ever, and I reckon the pairing with Legard will gel pretty quickly.

I agreed. He was a bit radio like. As always Brundle was excellent :)

[Giuseppe F1]

Did anyone else watch the post-race BBC Highlights/Forum show when Mallya joing the panel?

....was it just me who thought he looked like some kind of Ghetto pimp chav in his tracksuit, shiny gold Force India cap and ear-ring? :)

[Dave B]

Did anyone else watch the post-race BBC Highlights/Forum show when Mallya joing the panel?

....was it just me who thought he looked like some kind of Ghetto pimp chav in his tracksuit, shiny gold Force India cap and ear-ring? :)
He's been taking lessons on bling from Colin Kolles.

[VkmSpouge]

Very good F1 coverage from the BBC. I enjoyed Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle's commentary. Clearly they need a bit of time to gel but pretty good. I had to go to sleep instead of watching the red button coverage post-race so I'll be interested in watching that for Malaysia.

No commercial breaks! :D

[Dave B]

I'm listening to the replay with different audio, just for a change. The CBBC commentary is actually pretty good, with the Old Stig explaining the technical aspects for kids (and beginners!).

There's even a choice of no commentary, just the track sound. I'd have given my right arm for that last year!

[SilverArrows]

I thought the BBC coverage was very good overall, more in depth than ITV. The JH/DC/EJ combo worked well and that forum show on BBCi after the race was great. Martin Brundle was as good as ever, so was Ted Kravitz.

Just two criticisms - Jonathan Legard's commentary. I don't know he just sounded dull and boring and he was hard to understand at the start of the race and when Piquet spun out. I also thought Lee McKenzie asked some really daft questions and sounded like she didn't want to be there.

They'll probably grow on me throughout the year, though.

[ArrowsFA1]

Good first race for the BBC I thought. 'The Chain' just seemed so right :cool:

A few comments. EJ didn't seem fully comfortable, but I guess he'll improve as time goes on. DC was excellent - knowledgeable and informative. Sometimes it seemed as if EJ was looking for points to disagree with DC on! Jake was much better than I thought he'd be when they announced him as the anchor man, and I'm sure he'll grow into the role even more.

Lee & Ted did well in the pits. They have little time to get info across and I think they did it perfectly well.

I'd still prefer Crofty as the main commentator, but JL did ok, and Martin was his usual assured self

The forum after the race was good too. A worthwhile addition, although they need to read out more emails to make it interactive!!

[Jake Stephens]

Is it just me or does Legard sound like the guy from Fonejacker? I dont like Legard's commentary style, kept pronouncing Barrichello's name different every few minutes too.

[Somebody]

I only watched the rerun, which was more-or-less just the race (there was a short summary of qualifying beforehand, then straight to the five-minute signal, and then a couple of talking heads and Jake Humphrey saying that Trulli had been de facto DQed). Mostly okay, but there seemed a few moments where Legard & Brundle missed something significant that was going on - Rosberg's pit stop being a notable one, where the fuel hose was off and they were still talking about how long they were spending fuelling the car!)

[And, while I know it wasn't in the BBC's gift, some of what the director missed was fairly shocking...]


There's even a choice of no commentary, just the track sound. I'd have given my right arm for that last year!

I've just stuck the replay on with no commentary to try it out (although you still get the "Team Radio", which is burned into the soundtrack). It's oddly soporific, actually.

[wedge]

Croftie and Ant was so much better. It's like listening to Radio Le Mans - banter mixed in with serious stuff. Maurice Hamilton needs to in there as well on race day. I'll be using them most of the season.

When I did catch moments on BBC1 Lee McKenzie came across as lost, jet-lagged and didn't know what planet she was in. Shame, she was excellent on Speed Sunday a few years ago.

[BTCC Fan#1]

Was it just me or do DC and Eddie Jordan really not seem to like each other..? :s

[Drew]

I only saw the highlights programme! But I have to say it was a great race to see and great not having to cringe at anything JA had to say about.. anything. I think Legard was good but I'm sure he'll definitely get better as the season goes on, shame i'm not in the country for most of the season :rotflmao:

[BDunnell]

Jonathan Legard's comment at the end about Brawn's job losses interested me — the team has just released further details of this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7970826.stm

[J4MIE]

Thought coverage was good but having one or more of them covered in one another's shadows wasn't great, they did go inside but came out again :s

Also seems like Richard B doesn't really have any experiance of F1 and seemed surprised at the noise :s

[SteveA]

I thought the Beeb coverage was great, however, I found EJ a little annoying. He didn't wait for his cues, and even carried on talking about subjects after the rest of the team had moved on to something else!

My interest in the multi-screens (via Sky) lasted about 10 mins. The fact that being in interactive mode means that I can't pause or wind back is actually a bit of a disadvantage, so I don't think I'll bother with it for the rest of the year.

But its a great start, and I'm sure the BBC will have it perfect within the next few GPs.

[jonny hurlock]

Did anyone else watch the post-race BBC Highlights/Forum show when Mallya joing the panel?

....was it just me who thought he looked like some kind of Ghetto pimp chav in his tracksuit, shiny gold Force India cap and ear-ring? :)

the team should be called by vjm looks in the bbc forum show: force pimp f1 team,

overall I felt the bbc done a brilliant job overall imo, the people who didn't really felt eddie done a bad job, imo he done a good job, he really spoke his mind quite well on an opinions such as on drivers and kers so forth,

only thing it was missing chain music for the end credits imo, overall an A plus.

[aryan]

I really only care about the main commentary, and I thought the Brundle and Leggard combination was awesome.

Yes, Leggard was verbose, but intelligible all the while. My patner who was watching the race with me commented at the start of the race that it takes great skill to talk that fast while still being understood. And, he knows the sport, he is knowledgable, he is good.

Brundle, as good as always.

The others, I don't care really!

[I am evil Homer]

I thought Legard was horrific...he's still in radio mode - I don't need to know everything I can see it for myself. I hope he gets better but on that showing I almost missed that chump from last year.

[Mark]

I thought Legard was horrific...he's still in radio mode - I don't need to know everything I can see it for myself. I hope he gets better but on that showing I almost missed that chump from last year.

He wasn't too bad, but you're right, he's still doing radio commentary, it'll take him a while to get out of that.

Other than that I thought the BBC coverage was outstanding :)

[PolePosition_1]

I was actually worried about the BBC taking over, because despite majority dislike for ITV coverage, I always found it to be very good, apart from the in race adverts obviously.

But BBC impressed me. The website is excellent albeit Autosport seem to provide more up to date news.

And the coverage was wide ranging, not focusing merely on Lewis. And then we also have the interactive service. In the run up to the race, we had highlights from previous races over the years. And also Inside F1, a topical show previewing the race. And post race analysis was greatly extended on interactive which was excellent.

It catered for the casual viewer, in providing basic coverage, and for the hardcore fan, through the interactive services.

All in all - well done.

Only let down was the new intro, I'd have much preferred real footage rather than what they used. There were better amatuer ones on youtube.

[Mark]

Only let down was the new intro, I'd have much preferred real footage rather than what they used. There were better amatuer ones on youtube.

I thought it was quite well done. Symbolising F1 as one car which then splits up to compete, whilst driving through each of the circuits en-route, quite clever.

Anyone notice they did re-cut the chain ever so slightly. In the title sequence it goes on for slightly longer than the version Fleetwood Mac recorded. On the old coverage it would get to "yeah..." and it would fade out, but they've cut the vocals completely now.

Karen, downloaded 'the chain' for me as a present at the weekend :) . Now if I could get it to play that theme every time I started my car ;)

[Dave B]

Download this as a present in return ;)
www.btccinfo.co.uk/forum/murray2.mp3 (http://www.btccinfo.co.uk/forum/murray2.mp3)

[acescribe]

He wasn't too bad, but you're right, he's still doing radio commentary, it'll take him a while to get out of that.

Other than that I thought the BBC coverage was outstanding :)

Yes, to my knowledge that was Jonathan Legard's first television broadcast, it is different to the radio where he has worked on both F1 and Football and so it is easy to stay in the same mode - its but he is a professional and will get over that I'm sure.

Otherwise I thought it was great coverage apart from that I do miss Steve Rider though, and Jake Humphrey could do with losing the clipboard.

[Mark]

Graphics are still annoying in the safe zone, but I appreciate that's down to FOM and not the BBC..

Well; I've read on digitalspy that Premier in Germany is getting a feed where the graphics are properly laid out for 16:9. So presumably the BBC could get this feed too if it so desired.

Of course once we go to HD it's not an issue as all HD TV's are 16:9.

[AndyRAC]

Legard is okay - he is used to working on Radio, and was the BBC's first and up until now - Motorsport correspondent.

A shame there is no 'Grand Prix' highlights show on at 9ish on BBC2.

[Dave B]

Well; I've read on digitalspy that Premier in Germany is getting a feed where the graphics are properly laid out for 16:9. So presumably the BBC could get this feed too if it so desired.

Of course once we go to HD it's not an issue as all HD TV's are 16:9.

The BBC did this last year with the clock on News 24 (as was) moving outside the safe zone, and the amount of complaints they got - from people who didn't know better - forced them to move it back.

Even when it's on HD, there'll still be a few morons watching a stretched 4:3 picture via a SCART cable or RF lead who will complain if the graphics are lopped off :\

[Dave B]

:rotflmao:

This James Allen petition is hilarious, some of the comments border on the libelous so read it before it gets taken down!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ja842563&1

[Mark]

Brilliant!

[AndyRAC]

I didn't rate James Allen as a commentator, however, he is extremely knowledgable about the sport - and was always good as a pit lane reporter. He does get a lot of flack - some of it undeserved.

[Dave B]

I didn't rate James Allen as a commentator, however, he is extremely knowledgable about the sport - and was always good as a pit lane reporter. He does get a lot of flack - some of it undeserved.
Absolutely, and in fact as I've mentioned several times his blog is excellent. Some people are unlucky that they don't have a good voice or intonation for public speaking, and unfortunately for James he's one of them. As a journalist he's right up with the best of them.

[wedge]

I didn't rate James Allen as a commentator, however, he is extremely knowledgable about the sport - and was always good as a pit lane reporter. He does get a lot of flack - some of it undeserved.

Not a great orator but certainly he was good technically. He had an instant rapport with Damon Hill and Ant at the Hungarian GPs, knew when to shut up and let the other talk and ably filled dead air. Saying that, in the early days there was a sense Brundle didn't feel comfortable being partnered with Allen.

[woody2goody]

I enjoyed the fact that they conducted group interviews, for example on the Forum and the one they did with Ross Brawn before qualifying.

On Legard, well I always think that great commentary is something you can choose to listen to if you want to. As in he's not all in your face like James Allen was, while remaining enthusiastic. I was impressed with him, and also I felt that his relationship with Martin Brundle improved a lot during the weekend.

Also he has a good speaking voice which IMO provides more authority than Allen did.

A lot of people have said he was still in Radio mode. This is true to an extent, but in a way it can be a good thing, because he does decribe a lot of things very well.

All in all a great start. The coverage really brought the atmosphere of F1 to the living room and I hope it continues on in the same vein.

[BDunnell]

Yes, to my knowledge that was Jonathan Legard's first television broadcast, it is different to the radio where he has worked on both F1 and Football and so it is easy to stay in the same mode - its but he is a professional and will get over that I'm sure.

I believe you are right about it being his first time on television.

Have always been intrigued as to why Jonathan Legard suddenly stopped being the radio commentator in (I think) 2005 with a couple of races to go, thus forcing 5 Live to use the woefully unsuitable Maurice Hamilton as main commentator — he's fine as an analyst, but no more, as that brief stint as the number one proved! But I digress.

At one point I actually wanted an advert break.....but only so I could go for a cigarette knowing I wasn't missing anything....then I remembered that I quit smoking the week before anyway.

[woody2goody]

At one point I actually wanted an advert break.....but only so I could go for a cigarette knowing I wasn't missing anything....then I remembered that I quit smoking the week before anyway.

You have to choose wisely when to go to the toilet now as well lol!

[BDunnell]

At one point I actually wanted an advert break.....but only so I could go for a cigarette knowing I wasn't missing anything....then I remembered that I quit smoking the week before anyway.

Likewise, every time the commentators went quiet, or ran through the race positions, I thought I was about to have time for a piss.

[wedge]

Also he has a good speaking voice which IMO provides more authority than Allen did.

I found him too authoritative and lacked enthusiasm.
It sounded more like reporting than commentary - which is where Legard's strengths lie because he was a brilliant reporter for 5live.

He sounded way too serious at the end of the qualy segments for my liking. I'm not saying he should be shouting and screaming with ecstacy but with the likes of Hindy, Murray, Ben Edwards, Martin Haven you know there's genuine and affectionate enthusiasm and I never quite got that feeling from Legard.

[Mark]

Likewise, every time the commentators went quiet, or ran through the race positions, I thought I was about to have time for a piss.

Quite difficult to get out of that mindset. For 12 years in F1 whenever the commentators ran through the positions it meant that they were going to adverts. But now they just keep going.

Must have been a bit of a shock for Brundle too, all his commentating career he's been able to have a 3 minute break every 15 minutes or so, not any more!

[BDunnell]

I found him too authoritative and lacked enthusiasm.
It sounded more like reporting than commentary - which is where Legard's strengths lie because he was a brilliant reporter for 5live.

He sounded way too serious at the end of the qualy segments for my liking. I'm not saying he should be shouting and screaming with ecstacy but with the likes of Hindy, Murray, Ben Edwards, Martin Haven you know there's genuine and affectionate enthusiasm and I never quite got that feeling from Legard.

I don't think it should be deemed possible for anybody to be 'too authoritative'.

[stevie_gerrard]

I honestly thought Jonathan and Martin did a great job for the first race, It was always gonna be difficult having a new partnership, but they seemed to get on quite well, and seemed to be very responsive to each other.

A big thumbs up for Jake as well, he got a lot of stick for doing this before he started, and i thought he was very assured and did a good job on his debut.

Am i the only one who thought that EJ was a brilliant idea to be part of the team? :p : he does have some controversial ideas but that surely spices up the debate. It certianly did on the forum after the race. Great viewing.

[Knock-on]

:rotflmao:

This James Allen petition is hilarious, some of the comments border on the libelous so read it before it gets taken down!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ja842563&1


I couldn't resist :D


Absolutely, and in fact as I've mentioned several times his blog is excellent. Some people are unlucky that they don't have a good voice or intonation for public speaking, and unfortunately for James he's one of them. As a journalist he's right up with the best of them.

He's got a good face for radio and a perfect voice for print.

However, saying that, when he does do what he does best, i.e. written articles, he is one of the best. I have always enjoyed reading his insightful and informed works.

It's just when I see his mug and hear his voice on the box my blood boils and insults get hurled at the TV :laugh:

I really enjoyed the weekends commentry and think the team is well balanced and will do very well.

[AndyRAC]

I honestly thought Jonathan and Martin did a great job for the first race, It was always gonna be difficult having a new partnership, but they seemed to get on quite well, and seemed to be very responsive to each other.

A big thumbs up for Jake as well, he got a lot of stick for doing this before he started, and i thought he was very assured and did a good job on his debut.

Am i the only one who thought that EJ was a brilliant idea to be part of the team? :p : he does have some controversial ideas but that surely spices up the debate. It certianly did on the forum after the race. Great viewing.

For it to be a true forum they need more e-mails read out -I think there was only 1 read out.

[wedge]

Must have been a bit of a shock for Brundle too, all his commentating career he's been able to have a 3 minute break every 15 minutes or so, not any more!

No it wasn't. ITV carried on commentating when the Brits went to break because the ITV commentary was syndicated around the world.

[AndyL]

No it wasn't. ITV carried on commentating when the Brits went to break because the ITV commentary was syndicated around the world.

I wish Speed TV in the US did the same thing... when Motors TV in the UK used the Speed TV coverage of AMA Superbikes, the Speed TV commentators would go quiet every few minutes leaving the Motors TV continuity announcer to attempt to fill the gap... very weird.

[Simmi]

Eddie Jordan is slowly but surely starting to get on my nerves...

[Powered by Cosworth]

I can just see DC and Eddie getting into a brawl at some point during the season!

I think the radio commentry is brilliant, and superior to Brundle and Legard.
Ant really has a knack for it.

I haven't heard about the CBBC feed until today, what's all that about

[Triumph]

No it wasn't. ITV carried on commentating when the Brits went to break because the ITV commentary was syndicated around the world.

I didn't realize that. They used to announce the impending advert break each time on ITV though didn't they? I don't think I'm imaginging things!

That means they must have been switched out of the syndicated broadcast each time to inform the ITV-only audience that there was advert break, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to everyone else!

[Dave B]

I didn't realize that. They used to announce the impending advert break each time on ITV though didn't they? I don't think I'm imaginging things!

That means they must have been switched out of the syndicated broadcast each time to inform the ITV-only audience that there was advert break, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to everyone else!
If you listen back to their commentaries - painful I know - they were actually quite clever with leading up to the breaks. The usual tactic was to run through the top 8 and then come to a natural halt, then after the break quickly recap the lap number and the story of the race. Rarely if ever did they specifically mention there would be (or was) a break.

[Triumph]

I was imagining things! Yes, thinking back now I remember them running through details leading up to the break.

That's the annoying thing with the BBC coverage - having to wear nappies on Sunday mornings due to the lack of suitable toilet breaks. :-)

[Simmi]

I can just see DC and Eddie getting into a brawl at some point during the season!

I think the radio commentry is brilliant, and superior to Brundle and Legard.
Ant really has a knack for it.

I haven't heard about the CBBC feed until today, what's all that about

Exactly my thoughts about DC and EJ. DC seems to be the voice of reason to me where as Eddie is just the voice of Eddie. He seems a bit out for himself I dont know why. It's like he still thinks he's a team principal sometimes.

And yeah Ant is awesome on 5Live - his technical feedback is brilliant, he speaks eloquently. I am really enjoying the red button sessions.

[AndyL]

That's the annoying thing with the BBC coverage - having to wear nappies on Sunday mornings due to the lack of suitable toilet breaks. :-)

Get a radio in the bathroom :)

[Dave B]

Or better yet a telly!

Last week the safety car was my saviour. Races later in the day pose no problem because by then I'll have an empty wine bottle or been can :p

[Dave B]

Some very impressive coverage today. The shortened race meant that the team had to hurriedly hash together some interviews and comment, so to move the presentation team into Brawn's garage and present from there was a good move. It's a shame they didn't have the post-race forum this week, but I guess there wasn't a huge amount more to say that wasn't already covered while the rain lashed down.

[superocean]

Was able to watch BBC coverage while recording the speed coverage.
BBC is by far much better in terms of providing me with good info. The gal on there got a good bunch of interviews during the rain delay and speed got 0 of that from windsor.
I can't believe I was missing out of so much watching speed all this time. EJ was interesting and DC is probably more informative about what the current cars are capable of.

Really enjoyed Button's dad's commentary. JB's Dad = 1 DC = 0. hahaa

[DonnieDarco]

Speaking of Jenson's dad, can anyone remember what that was about? I know Jenson commentated that year at Monaco, as BAR were serving out their punishment. Did DC announce that Jenson shouldn't even be commentating as he was banned, or something? He does have a habit of pontificating about everything, which is now coming back to haunt him ;)

[52Paddy]

I'm really impressed with BBC's coverage so far. The crew have great stamina to keep going without adverts and 'fill in the blanks' so to speak (e.g. today during the red flag period, they kept going with discussion and interviews.) I like most of the crew too. I'll give a quick rundown on what I think of the TV crew -

J Humphries: Good, solid. Doesn't appear to be biased towards any team/driver, which I believe was Steve Ryder's main fall-back.

DC and EJ: I love this pair. DC seems to know more what he's talking about, but EJ has come out with some gems to be honest. His does seem a little nervous under the mic, but I think as they become more comfortable working with each other, they'll be more willing to put together some serious debates. I do expect to see a brawl of sorts eventually but they add a bit of character to the crew. :laugh:

Brundle and Legard: I've liked Brundle's commentary since I've been watching F1. I missed his grid walk in Australia and today's one wasn't very impressive. Not sure if its just one of those 'down days.' Legard isn't too bad but there were so many better choices out there. Any of Ben Edwards, Mark Cole or Martin Haven (particularly) would have done the job better. Legard also seems to be the prime commentator, if I'm not mistaken. He does all the intros and does a long speech before 'handing over' to Martin for further comment. As well as that, he needs to learn to quiet down when the pit radio comes on and focus on the race if there is important action out on track. Still, for his first season, he ain't all that bad.

Ted Kravitz: Suppose they needed somebody from ITV

It beats ITV hands down anyway

[UltimateDanGTR]

whos the guy who does all the five live commentary? I think hes done F1 and football etc I really like his voice he would've been better than Legard.

[inimitablestoo]

David Croft on 5 Live. He did the GP2 commentary for ITV4 last year and will presumably carry on when the BBC pick it up later this year, as I am led to believe they will.

It's been good stuff from the Beeb so far, although they have benefited from having plenty to talk about! I was interested to see how Jake Humphrey would do, as he's the only real unknown among the group, and if he didn't gel it would really stand out, but he's done a great job so far of anchoring the whole thing (no pun intended, given the weather today). If he wasn't a big F1 fan before landing the job, he's done a masterful job of disguising it...

[yodasarmpit]

Legard is awful, he has absolutely no clue of what he's talking about.
Martin is still great, DC's better than I expected and Eddie is just annoying.

[Caroline]

Legard is awful, he has absolutely no clue of what he's talking about.


I don't know how you can say that?? He has a lot of background knowledge. He certainly has a different style to Brundle but I feel he complements him well.

[Daniel]

I agree with what that Caroline woman said. She's dreamy

[Sonic]

Who else finds the countdown to the race clock irritating? I KNOW WHEN THE RACE STARTS BBC!!!!!!

[52Paddy]

Who else finds the countdown to the race clock irritating? I KNOW WHEN THE RACE STARTS BBC!!!!!!

Sorry, I really don't want to sound offensive here. But why do you complain about something so trivial? I may be wrong in my assumption; don't take this personally sonic. But I feel that when a new crowd take over (and not just in TV, in many things in all spectrums of life) there is a select few who just root for some flaw intending to downgrade the efforts of the party.

Sonic, I'm not aiming that directly at you. But, man...is that all you find irritating? If so, then they're doing a good job :up:

[Caroline]

Sorry, I really don't want to sound offensive here. But why do you complain about something so trivial? I may be wrong in my assumption; don't take this personally sonic. But I feel that when a new crowd take over (and not just in TV, in many things in all spectrums of life) there is a select few who just root for some flaw intending to downgrade the efforts of the party.

Sonic, I'm not aiming that directly at you. But, man...is that all you find irritating? If so, then they're doing a good job :up:

I was just thinking the very same thing. Life is too short to complain about stuff that really doesn't affect you all that much. You still get to see the race and enjoy it.

[Daniel]

I agree with Paddy. He's dreamy.

[52Paddy]

And I agree with Daniel. He likes getting stoned. :p :

[Daniel]

I'm not stoned. Just very bored and having a play on my new phone. I don't see why people are so annoyed! Have they forgotten the shockingly bad ITV coverage already. Wibblio wibblio yai yai yai yai yai indeed! (Private joke)

[52Paddy]

I'm not stoned. Just very bored

Me too. :mark:

Care to enlighten about your private joke? :erm:

[Daniel]

Wouldn't be private then would it? :p

[52Paddy]

Wouldn't be private then would it? :p

Suppose not. But where's the fun, you used to be fun man! You've changed buddy, you've changed!! :down:

:p :

Sorry, I better not hijack this thread.

[yodasarmpit]

I don't know how you can say that?? He has a lot of background knowledge. He certainly has a different style to Brundle but I feel he complements him well.
He may well have background knowledge, unfortunately he doesn't share in when commentating.
He constantly fluffs his lines, gets confused between drivers, doesn't realise when it's a replay or live, the list goes on.
At least when Murray did it, it was funny.

[SGWilko]

Wibblio wibblio yai yai yai yai yai indeed! (Private joke)

I can visualise the title sequence now!!! ;)

[Daniel]

I think you need to give him a chance to get used to what he's doing. Sure he seems a little awkward but he's not THAT bad.

[Daniel]

SGWilko, I'm amazed. My private joke is no more :(

[SGWilko]

SGWilko, I'm amazed. My private joke is no more :(

At last, I am finally good at something. Now, where's my Mothers' phone number......... :laugh:

[CNR]

why is Martin Brundle talking more about mark webber then he did on itv

[Caroline]

why is Martin Brundle talking more about mark webber then he did on itv

Not sure...maybe less fawning, sorry talking, about Lewis Hamilton equals more time to talk about those other drivers?? (Actually, I always felt Martin Brundle didn't focus on any one driver excessively.)

I feel the BBC coverage has much more balance. I hope that doesn't change.

[wedge]

He may well have background knowledge, unfortunately he doesn't share in when commentating.
He constantly fluffs his lines, gets confused between drivers, doesn't realise when it's a replay or live, the list goes on.
At least when Murray did it, it was funny.

He's awful in qualifying. He has a horrible habit of saying wow! every so so often followed by a pause as if expecting some round of applause.

[UltimateDanGTR]

Legard isnt the best but does make some amusing mistakes. Loved it in malaysia (race or quali cant remember) when he said:

'and here comes Jenson Button. You can tell its Jenson Button because of the yellow top of his hat'

:rotflmao: when he fluffs he isnt as funny as Murray, but I think with Murrray we laughed with him but when Legard fluffs we laugh at him. Legard is alright, but hell never be as good as Murray.

[wedge]

Mike Gascoyne subbing for Eddie Jordan this weekend. Good timing as well!

[AndyL]

Mike Gascoyne subbing for Eddie Jordan this weekend. Good timing as well!

What's happened to Eddie? Decked by DC?

[SGWilko]

What's happened to Eddie? Decked by DC?

Dissapeared up his own back door?

[wedge]

What's happened to Eddie? Decked by DC?

Has other commitments according to Jake Humphrey's BBC blog.

[AndyL]

Perhaps he's off to fetch another load of concrete blocks to deliver to Force India.

[V12]

To be honest, while Murray's gaffs have gone down into legend, in reality they were actually very few and far between. I watched a re-run of the 1987 British GP recently, and Murray was on top of his game throughout, with the cameras mostly trained on the dominant Williamses he was giving accurate, frequent, run-downs of the order, interesting soundbites and background information, as well as the gap between Mansell and Piquet in the closing stages of the race (the TV timing and scoring, while better than it is today, was still not up to the standard of say the live formula1.com timing & scoring).

Murray's mistakes, when they came, were usually due to fits of excitement and passion rather than actual bumbling incompetence.

[Caroline]

Mike Gascoyne subbing for Eddie Jordan this weekend. Good timing as well!

Just been listening to Eddie Jordan's musical offerings on BBC Radio 2 (thanks, Chris Evans) and can understand why he might be shying away from the public's gaze right now. I was distinctly underwhelmed.

[grantb4]

I think the whole coverage has been disappointing. Sorry, I tried, but have not come to like The Chain. Too old school sonically.

BBC's pre-race is fair (I'm not impressed with EJ so far), the race coverage is fine, but the reduced after-race is a big loss.

I don't understand why, in this digital age, that TSN can't PAUSE the BBC feed during commercials and pick it up where we left off??!!

[Alfa Fan]

Reduced after race? The post-race show is as long as the race now (90 minutes).

[Mark]

Reduced after race? The post-race show is as long as the race now (90 minutes).

Not in the last race it wasn't, quick round up and away. That's it.

[Mark]

I don't understand why, in this digital age, that TSN can't PAUSE the BBC feed during commercials and pick it up where we left off??!!

They could. But then the race wouldn't be live, and they'd get howls of protest from people using live timing etc.

[Charlie]

I think Gascoyne is a terrific choice. Clearly the idea was that Coulthard would give the perspective of a driver and would be quite straight and give nifty sound bites. Eddie Jordan was supposed to give the perspective of a team (but he's not exactly what you'd call a normal team boss) and probaly a technical perspective aswell, aswell as being a little bit edgey and a bit of a character.

Gascoyne though will be far more knowledgble especially on the technical side considoring he held high positions at Renault, Toyota and Force India, he only left formula 1 last year and he's still a character but he'll be a lot more reigned in that E Jordan was.

[Dave B]

Not in the last race it wasn't, quick round up and away. That's it.

JH has explained that was partly due to most things being covered during the red-flag period, and partly due to them being forced to take shelter in Brawn's hospitality area without their usual equipment. We've been promised an hour-long post-race red button fest this week, so let's see what we get.

[Mark]

Ah so that means I can't Sky+ the race this week either? Damn :p

[52Paddy]

We've been promised an hour-long post-race red button fest this week, so let's see what we get.

Is the hour-long post-race only available to Sky digital users?

[Dave B]

Is the hour-long post-race only available to Sky digital users?

It's on Virgin cable and probably BT Vision, but I don't think it's on Freeview. Should be on the website though.

[wedge]

I think Gascoyne is a terrific choice. Clearly the idea was that Coulthard would give the perspective of a driver and would be quite straight and give nifty sound bites. Eddie Jordan was supposed to give the perspective of a team (but he's not exactly what you'd call a normal team boss) and probaly a technical perspective aswell, aswell as being a little bit edgey and a bit of a character.

Gascoyne though will be far more knowledgble especially on the technical side considoring he held high positions at Renault, Toyota and Force India, he only left formula 1 last year and he's still a character but he'll be a lot more reigned in that E Jordan was.

Agreed. He did a terrific job working with ITV explaining his strategy calls mid-race.

Sack EJ and bring back Pitbull.

[Dave B]

:up: +1 for Gascoyne. He's far more useful and restrained in his style than EJ. The pitlane walk was very well put together, and let us hear from people we don't usually see during a GP weekend.

[UltimateDanGTR]

I think Gacoyne id a good job and im was impressed by him.

although Eddie has already won me over, i dont know what it is, his edge, humour, the banter he has with DC or whatever, I really like him and so will miss him a bit this weekend.

But Gascoyne is a brilliant temporary replacement none the less as he provided great knowledge etc.



had to laugh today when DC entioned his own pink shirt, to which Humphreys replied 'who would wear a pink shirt on the telly 'ay?'

and David tried to hide his embarrasment, but his face after that was hilarious. Thank you JH and DC, another funny moment from the Beeb-team

[wedge]

although Eddie has already won me over, i dont know what it is, his edge, humour, the banter he has with DC or whatever, I really like him and so will miss him a bit this weekend.

I do like him, admittedly he is OTT at times but he/BBC producer clearly has an agenda which is to have arguments for the sake of it just to keep things interesting.

[Charlie]

I do like him, admittedly he is OTT at times but he/BBC producer clearly has an agenda which is to have arguments for the sake of it just to keep things interesting.


If you want a character Gascoyne is a lot better becausce he's not OTT and he's a hell of alot more knowledgble than Jordan.

[UltimateDanGTR]

yeah but jordan has got an irish accent (mainly because hes irish) that makes things more interesting for some wierd reason.

[christophulus]

had to laugh today when DC entioned his own pink shirt, to which Humphreys replied 'who would wear a pink shirt on the telly 'ay?'

and David tried to hide his embarrasment, but his face after that was hilarious. Thank you JH and DC, another funny moment from the Beeb-team

Looked more like DC was going to punch him :p I was impressed with Gascoyne but the three of them (with or without EJ) haven't won me over completely.

And I hope they actually present from out the back of the pits tomorrow, I couldn't hear a bloody thing over the PA! Presenting from the pit lane is a great idea but it's just too much noise with the music blaring out too.

[wedge]

If you want a character Gascoyne is a lot better becausce he's not OTT and he's a hell of alot more knowledgble than Jordan.

I suspect Gazza's Pitbull moniker is evident behind closed doors working on getting the best out of the cars and regulations. Best asset is explaining the technical side without appearing to be condescending to the media and general public.

EJ speaks his mind. Knows about running drivers and teams at a macro level and the politics that go with it.

[52Paddy]

Should be on the website though.

Ok, I shall check it out tomorrow. Cheers :up:

[52Paddy]

Eddie has already won me over, i dont know what it is, his edge, humour, the banter he has with DC or whatever, I really like him and so will miss him a bit this weekend.


I'm not being biased just because Eddie is Irish, but I like his character too. There's something that shines between the DC and EJ relationship already. Its a bit like Father Ted and Dougal Maguire or Del Boy and Rodney. Not that they carry on like those people, but that one can't do without the other (a moment of "Can't live with it, can't live without it.")

I haven't watched any of the coverage so far this weekend so I will be interested to see Gascoyne's approach. But I hope EJ isn't sacked from the crew.

[Triumph]

I was impressed with Mike Gascoyne as well. A good choice.

[Powered by Cosworth]

I thought MG was kneeling down when him, Humphreys and DC first came on the tv!

[Dave B]

As near to perfect in China as it's possible to get. Legard still sounded a little unsure of himself at times, but everything else was brilliant.

Brundle took DC with him on the pit walk which was a masterstroke, giving him somewhere to go when he couldn't find drivers and also lending a useful second line of questioning.

The red button post-race show is such a simple but effective idea. Don't care about the race? Fine, watch Andrew Marr's ears. Want to see everything? 90% of the UK has digital and can press red for an extra hour.

I don't know what Eddie Jordan's "other committments" were, but please let them continue. Mike Gascoyne was such a great addition to the team.

The weak link is definately Lee McKenzie. Where were the interviews with retirees today? What did she contribute?

9.5 out of 10 and getting better every race. :up:

[ArrowsFA1]

9.5 out of 10 and getting better every race. :up:
I agree. Excellent coverage and I'm now watching the forum which is a great addition :up:

[Triumph]

I thought it was amusing when David Coulthard got his pass out of his pocket and showed it to security as they walked out onto the track!

[superocean]

Was a good show today. I enjoyed Gascoyne and Lee didn't have many to interview with 18 cars running late into the race.

[christophulus]

9.5 out of 10 and getting better every race. :up:

Absolutely. I still can't believe what a great job they're doing, a solid four hour programme all in all. And no early breaks for Coronation Street when the race overruns :)

[wedge]

As near to perfect in China as it's possible to get. Legard still sounded a little unsure of himself at times, but everything else was brilliant.

Dave, you don't know what you're missing of 5Live

on the Kubica-Trulli clash

Croftie: Trulli's sharkfin looks like it was bitten by a killer whale.....

Ant: Looked more like they both cars attempts at mating! :D

[gloomyDAY]

Dave, you don't know what you're missing of 5Live

on the Kubica-Trulli clash

Croftie: Trulli's sharkfin looks like it was bitten by a killer whale.....

Ant: Looked more like they both cars attempts at mating! :D Can you get 5-live commentary online?

[Dave B]

I love 5L during the practice sessions, and might seriously consider using them for the race next time. It's fantastic just to be able to have the choice!

[aryan]

I Love Ant and Croft for pratice as well.

But then again, I think the main team also did a superb job this race. Well done.

How awesome is it, that we now have 2 good commentary teams to choose from? Doesn't get much better than this, does it?

[woody2goody]

As near to perfect in China as it's possible to get. Legard still sounded a little unsure of himself at times, but everything else was brilliant.

Brundle took DC with him on the pit walk which was a masterstroke, giving him somewhere to go when he couldn't find drivers and also lending a useful second line of questioning.

The red button post-race show is such a simple but effective idea. Don't care about the race? Fine, watch Andrew Marr's ears. Want to see everything? 90% of the UK has digital and can press red for an extra hour.

I don't know what Eddie Jordan's "other committments" were, but please let them continue. Mike Gascoyne was such a great addition to the team.

The weak link is definately Lee McKenzie. Where were the interviews with retirees today? What did she contribute?

9.5 out of 10 and getting better every race. :up:

Good post there. I think Jonny Legard needs to slow his words down a little bit, because it sounds like his brain is ahead of his mouth at times.

I didn't see quali or race build-up, but Mike Gascoyne was great. Eddie wasn't missed AT ALL for me, but if they decided to have a four-man team for the rest of the year, it would still be very good. Even with Eddie there the coverage was still good but I hope they can bring Mike in permanently.

I know he may have post-race radio commitments, but it would be good if they could bring in Anthony Davidson to the Forum, to give his insight into the race.

[SteveA]

I didn't miss EJ, but I think he just needs a bit of training!

I value his insight, but he needs some lessons in TV presentation.

[stevie_gerrard]

Just a mention for Gascoyne, who i thought did a great job and its good to see him around the paddock again. I think it would be quite useful to have someone like him who is knowledgeable about F1 and the setup behind it and so on, partenring DC and Jake. I personally like Eddie, but it would be good to maybe have a Ron Dennis or a Jean Todt (not necessarily them two but someone with similar expertise) as someone who will have a good insight that can be provided for the fans back home.

[curry]

Give me Mike any day over EJ, the commentary was significantly better and more on the money.

I hope the BBC realise how better there show is with Mike.

[I am evil Homer]

Oh god Eddie's back and being annoying. Give us Mike Gascoigne!!

[Triumph]

I was listening to Anthony Davidson on the BBC's channel 301 yesterday and I thought we was really good.

Shame he's not driving, but I liked his style of commentary, which I thought was quite similar to that of Martin Brundle.

[Ranger]

I missed the verbal punch-up between Eddie Jordan and DC after Q1... was it good? :D

[ArrowsFA1]

Oh god Eddie's back and being annoying. Give us Mike Gascoigne!!
+1 :up:

[52Paddy]

I missed the verbal punch-up between Eddie Jordan and DC after Q1... was it good? :D

Just friggin' hilarious man! :D

I know that most of you are fed up with this behaviour and style from EJ, but I thoroughly enjoy EJ making an arse of himself. He actually apologised to DC for trying to defend Sutil's move on Webber in Q1 :rotflmao:

[BDunnell]

I worry a bit about Jonathan Legard. As I have said before on here, I think he's a really professional sports broadcaster, but the BBC could have saved itself this very awkward period in which Legard is trying — often unsuccessfully — to stop himself being an unnecessarily verbose radio commentator on TV by just hiring Ben Edwards.

[aryan]

Oh god Eddie's back and being annoying. Give us Mike Gascoigne!!

:up:

[Dave B]

I worry a bit about Jonathan Legard. As I have said before on here, I think he's a really professional sports broadcaster, but the BBC could have saved itself this very awkward period in which Legard is trying — often unsuccessfully — to stop himself being an unnecessarily verbose radio commentator on TV by just hiring Ben Edwards.
I think that Legard is slowly improving session by session, but for today I'll be trying the Five Live coverage - worth it for Ant alone - and recording the BBC One audio for later.

Incidentally, I've currently got the Sports Multiscreen up in addition to a 2nd TV for onboards and am enjoying two screens of the London Marathon, a replay of Qualifying and classic snooker frames - as well as typing this. I may need more eyes... :dozey:

I think that Legard is slowly improving session by session, but for today I'll be trying the Five Live coverage - worth it for Ant alone - and recording the BBC One audio for later.

But then you'll have to listen to David Croft, who is so up the arse of a certain team that I'm sure he's been rimmed by Whitmarsh.

Legard is far more objective.

[wedge]

EJ is better this week, not so argumentative. If he forgot his line of coke or whatever he prepares himself with previously then all the better for it. :up:

[BDunnell]

But then you'll have to listen to David Croft, who is so up the arse of a certain team that I'm sure he's been rimmed by Whitmarsh.

Bias on the part of sports commentators is so often in the eye/ear of the beholder, I find.

[christophulus]

I thought Legard has improved a lot recently, I can't think of a point where I got particularly annoyed with him.

The thing that gets me is that him, Brundle, the pit guys always refer to the wrong car! I have a TV feed in front of me and I assume they do too, so why the mistake? They often seem to miss things that the viewers pick up on.

[Dave B]

We were sitting here with three screens and managed to pick up on a lot of stuff that the commentators missed. I ended up with TV audio and was quite surprised how often they didn't seem to know what was going on.

Everything else was - as usual - excellent.

[gloomyDAY]

No complaints here!

I think some of you are too picky. DC and EJ are great, Martin and John get on quite well, and the services rendered by the BBC are phenomenal. Can only get better by every race.

[UltimateDanGTR]

another good coverage by the beeb.

Interesting though on what coulthard said, I dont seem to remember his brakes failing in Bahrain in 2003. (It was 2004)

apart from that very good, except from the pink shirt clash betwenn DC and JH!

[52Paddy]

No complaints here!

I think some of you are too picky.

Agree completely. After putting up with the ITV shambles for so long, we ought to be grateful that this standard of coverage is available to us, never mind asking for more.

[Knock-on]

I like the BBC coverage and have no complaints.

Sometimes the commentators don't seem to have a clue what's happening but much better than ITV.

It would be good to have Ant and big Ben on the team but no worries from me :)

[Somebody]

I was embarrassed listening when Brundle and Legard didn't know the difference between the Prime and Option tyres (the harder compound is always the "Prime", FTR - the McLaren team radio told Hamilton the Prime was a second-a-lap slower than the Option, twice, slowly and clearly, and asked him if he wanted the Option... and Brundle took it that the Prime was the super-soft, and went on to a long discussion based on the medium being faster. It wasn't until after Hamilton had actually made his stop, 15 minutes+ later, and come out with the green-striped tyres that they realised the mistake). I can understand them perhaps missing a detail on-track, or some of the more esoteric terminology, but that's pretty basic...

[After that, I tried to change to the 5L commentary, but it wasn't available with the main picture feed on Freeview because the snooker was on...]

[aryan]

I was embarrassed listening when Brundle and Legard didn't know the difference between the Prime and Option tyres (the harder compound is always the "Prime", FTR - the McLaren team radio told Hamilton the Prime was a second-a-lap slower than the Option, twice, slowly and clearly, and asked him if he wanted the Option... and Brundle took it that the Prime was the super-soft, and went on to a long discussion based on the medium being faster. It wasn't until after Hamilton had actually made his stop, 15 minutes+ later, and come out with the green-striped tyres that they realised the mistake). I can understand them perhaps missing a detail on-track, or some of the more esoteric terminology, but that's pretty basic...


Yes, that was pretty bad. I know.

I was so confused, but I couldn't believe Brundle was making such a basic elementary mistake. I mean, it's pretty standard and widely used.

[PolePosition_1]

I thought Legard has improved a lot recently, I can't think of a point where I got particularly annoyed with him.

The thing that gets me is that him, Brundle, the pit guys always refer to the wrong car! I have a TV feed in front of me and I assume they do too, so why the mistake? They often seem to miss things that the viewers pick up on.


To be fair they do have the live feed, but they also have 4 or 5 other screens, and have to talk throughout it as well.

I also often see them missing obvious points, and in particularly I find Martin seems to make a lot more mistakes than previously, but I think thats partly down to the fact he has now become more of a lead commentator whereas before he was the second commentator.

[SGWilko]

I have to say that, as every race passes, so the coverage improves.

They are clearly still finding their feet, but it is a different world to ITV, who, in turn, were in a leage of their own above the original BBC coverage.

I enjoy the very well informed commentary and insight from Ant on the practice sessions on line. He is a very talented guy, and personally, he ought to be in the box with Martin. I'm not dissing Leggard however.

Dc and Jake are very good, EJ is only average for me - but I don't like him full stop. I enjoyed Mike's knowledge and input last week - hint hint Beeb.....

The BBC certainly seem to have better access to team staff than ITV ever did, or is it just that the BBC anchor team are always in the thick of it.

Anyway, top marks for a good service that is clearly on the up. :up:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I have really enjoyed BBC's coverage. Jake has turned out to be a great presenter and very knowledgeable. I especially liked the grid walk in China. Is was very slick how all the presenters were stood on the grid and Brundle got DC to go with him. :up:

[AndyL]

The BBC certainly seem to have better access to team staff than ITV ever did, or is it just that the BBC anchor team are always in the thick of it.

Partly due to them still broadcasting more than 15 minutes after the end of the race perhaps, must be easier to get those interviews once everyone has finished their main jobs for the weekend. But I think you're right even earlier in the weekend. I couldn't believe they had managed to get Norbert Haug to do that interview with Martin showing the components of the Merc KERS system on camera.

[stevie_gerrard]

BBC did another great job, F1 forum afterwards was brilliant, good to see them grabbing the likes of Ross Brawn to come and talk to them about the race and teams and stuff.

For those of you who don't have freeview or access to the red button (like me when i'm down in the south of UK), They always put the red button coverage on the BBC sport website,. There you can watch the grand prix with either 5 live commentary or tv commentary, and access to the f1 forum afterwards too.

I tried 5 live commentary for the first time this weekend, and i have to admit i was impressed. Ant and David did a great job, and holly was very informative from the pits. I download their F1 podcasts, which are thoroughly recommended too :up: As for the TV commentary, i do feel that Jon and Martin get on better now and their commentary is better together, but they do make some glaring ommissions of things going on, and they need to improve that and pick up on the improtant things. At one point they had no idea where Kimi had come out after his pit stop, you could hear both of them debating where he had come out.

[AndyL]

They were also a few minutes late in realising that Button had effectively taken the lead of the race by passing the Toyotas in first round of pit stops.

[christophulus]

Despite all these minor flaws I'm still really happy with the BBC's coverage, thinking back to how bad ITV was puts it all in perspective :)

[Mark]

They were also a few minutes late in realising that Button had effectively taken the lead of the race by passing the Toyotas in first round of pit stops.

And completely failed to mention that Glock had taken the lead at the start!

[BeansBeansBeans]

I enjoy the very well informed commentary and insight from Ant on the practice sessions on line. He is a very talented guy, and personally, he ought to be in the box with Martin.

But Brundle & Davidson both do the same role. You need an expert summariser and a commentator.

[ShiftingGears]

Commentary wasn't great yesterday, it must be said.

[AndyL]

And completely failed to mention that Glock had taken the lead at the start!

I assumed they must have mentioned it but I'd failed to hear it when I was looking at the live timing or something... I guess not :D

I do generally agree with the positive impressions of the BBC's coverage though. While the race commentary wasn't the best this time round, I've found the BBC coverage very enjoyable overall and a definite step forward compared to what we've had before.

[Triumph]

I was under the impression that Trulli was in front near the start of the race, and was wondering what they were going on about when they later said it was Glock!

I must have missed them saying it too, unless they did actually get it wrong or not say it at all!

[Mark]

I was under the impression that Trulli was in front near the start of the race, and was wondering what they were going on about when they later said it was Glock!

I must have missed them saying it too, unless they did actually get it wrong or not say it at all!

No, I saw it on the TV coverage. Glock overtook Trulli off the start. It was as clear as day to see. I saw it, and the timing system saw it too as they had him in front. But it was a few laps later that Brundle mentioned 'syncronised swimming' between the Toyotas. That's as maybe but they should have seen the fact that the pole sitter wasn't leading away from the start!

[Triumph]

I don't doubt what actually happened, I was doubting what was or wasn't said by the commentators! :-)

I think I assumed it was Trulli because I didn't hear otherwise. I was concentrating on Button and Hamilton, so probably missed a load of other details too!

[philipbain]

Commentary wasn't great yesterday, it must be said.

The commentary I was listening to was fantastic, but then I was listening to the Radio 5 commentary which is leagues ahead of the standard TV feed, you have David Croft who also did ITV4's GP2 commentary last year & Anthony Davidson who is not only extremely insightful (to the point of making Martin Brundle sound out of touch) but is always prepared to explain technical jargon in easy to understand terms. God bless the red button!

In all seriousness though, I think a switcheroony needs to be done on the BBC commentary, stick Leggard on Radio 5 Live (a medium he always excelled through, I feel his style isnt that well suited to TV) & for sheer comedy give him Mark Blundell as a co-commentator and stick Croft, Davidson & Brundle on the TV, this dynamic worked well a while back when James Allen, Martin Brundle & Jenson Button commentated on the Monaco GP (because BAR had been banned for 2 races for trying to deceive scrutineers by using fuel as ballast).

Otherwise I think the BBC Coverage is fab because of:
i) no advert breaks
ii) Jake, David & Eddie are starting to work well together, though use Mike Gascoigne on a more permanent basis, I thought he was great in China.
iii) Have I mentioned the lack of advert breaks ruining the rhythm of the race?
iv) The Red Button giving a choice of commentary (TV, Radio 5 or the rather decent CBBC commentary which is a great idea to make it more accessible for youngsters), in car channel and extra info panels. ITV offered nothing even close to this, they just offered profit making phone in competitions where the prize was always a blatant product placement for some sponsor or other.
v) Live & Replayed Practice sessions with full commentary service on Friday & Saturday, accessed via the red button or indeed on the website if for some odd reason you dont have digital. This gives the practice in full, offering more insight into the teams preperations for the weekend and developments on the cars, highlighted this season by a lack of testing outside GP weekends. It has become a ritual for me when I get home from work on a Friday of a GP weekend to stick on the replayed coverage of these sessions.
vi) There are no adverts or interruptions of any other kind, including plugs for Coronation Street.
vii)The BBC have had the sense to retain Martin's gridwalk, one of the few innovations that ITV got right (others that werent quite as successful included Beverley Turner looking at the glam side of the sport which backfired massively with her getting immensely bitter about the workings of a sport she has no understanding of and writing a sodding book about it).
viii) No companies trying to sell you a razor, dog food or any other crap whilst your trying to watch the GP.

[Garry Walker]

Everyone knows my opinion about Davidson, but he is a pretty good commentator along the other guys on fridays, quite enjoyable to listen, even though the other guys (whatever their names are) sometimes show their lack of knowledge of F1.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Everyone knows my opinion about Davidson, but he is a pretty good commentator along the other guys on fridays, quite enjoyable to listen, even though the other guys (whatever their names are) sometimes show their lack of knowledge of F1.

Isn't it Ian Phillips and Maurice Hamilton on Fridays? I doubt they could be accused of lacking knowledge.

[Garry Walker]

Isn't it Ian Phillips and Maurice Hamilton on Fridays? I doubt they could be accused of lacking knowledge.

Why not?

[BeansBeansBeans]

Because both of them have worked in the sport for nigh on 40 years.

[Garry Walker]

Because both of them have worked in the sport for nigh on 40 years.

So did murray walker, but he was still a fcuking idiot and had no understanding of the sport.
Just because you are involved in something for a long time, does not mean you are suddenly some smart-guy about it.
I will bring you a short example - the worst accountant I ever had the "pleasure" of dealing with, was also the one who had been working as one for the longest time, but was still a complete fool and kept making mistake after mistake.

[Ranger]

Isn't it David Croft instead of Maurice Hamilton?

[BeansBeansBeans]

So did murray walker, but he was still a fcuking idiot and had no understanding of the sport.

Charming.

I understand what you're saying. Though in my personal opinion, Hamilton is a fine F1 writer, with a deep understanding of the sport.

[555-04Q2]

Charming.

I understand what you're saying. Though in my personal opinion, Hamilton is a fine F1 writer, with a deep understanding of the sport.

Agreed :up: I actually met Hamilton as a youngster in the early 90's at Kyalami. He is a monthly writer in our biggest motoring journal, CAR Magazine and is both informative, unbaised and smart. A lot more than can be said about most motoring/F1 scribes.

[curry]

Is it just me or Coulthard practicing to be a politian, he never seems to answer the question asked by Jake but rather just goes off on a tangent.

Eddie has to go; he is not improving at all.

[christophulus]

A couple more races have passed and I'm ever-more impressed with the BBC coverage. There was an excellent piece comparing Vettel and Button's qualifying laps and Legard finally seems to be on form. Good work!

[Powered by Cosworth]

That Jake guy was so close to getting hit by a Toyota in the pitlane that was coming the same direction that he was facing, what an idiot.

[wedge]

That Jake guy was so close to getting hit by a Toyota in the pitlane that was coming the same direction that he was facing, what an idiot.

Happens to the best of guys. I saw something similar happen at Silverstone Classic a couple of years ago where marshall was nearly run over buy a Nissan Group C car!

[Sonic]

Legard was pants today. We had Vettel closing in on Button who "had to pass" to stand a chance at winning. Yet Legard droned on in his monotone as if we were watching the empty stands rather than a tense on-track fight for position.

[woody2goody]

They're still doing an excellent job. Legard was on form today after a poor Monaco, and as for Jake nearly getting hit by a car, to be fair they do pull out of the pits quickly and at a strange angle. To add to that they are doing 50 miles an hour or whatever.