A new look for F1
Post categories: Motorsport
| 10:39 UK time, Thursday, 5 March 2009
You may have noticed we've made some changes to the BBC Sport website. We're going through a bit of an early spring clean to get things in shape for what promises to be an exciting few months of sport.
The reason for these changes is that in three weeks time Formula One returns to BBC screens for the first time in 12 years.
It's a fantastic opportunity to do something different and take our coverage to new heights. There will be more to say on this in the coming days when we'll return to this blog to run through our editorial plans for the up-coming F1 season on TV, radio and online.
But before then I thought it was worth outlining a couple of the more structural changes we have already made to the website.
The main thing to point out is that we have created a new F1 section.
It fits within the overall BBC Sport website - although you may have spotted that it now has a new slot on the navigation on the left-hand side of the front page, where it sits below Football to reflect how much of a priority sport it has become for the BBC.
And if you click on the Formula One link you will see that the F1 homepage looks different. In short, it's black.
Apart from the black background, there's the countdown clock at the top of the page, the stripes of colour behind our headings, and the F1 logo at the bottom of the page: all of these are new to the BBC Sport site.
Our web designers have been working to a brief to create a new look-and-feel for F1 which would both reflect our TV coverage, while also remaining a core component of the wider website.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions
I think they've done a great job and have come up with an approach that takes on this key sport while at the same time keeping it rooted within the rest of our web offering. So the homepage and other elements of the F1 output will have this trademark black look, but the main content will have the normal white background.
It's worth a short word on why we've chosen to do it this way.
Our approach to the development of BBC Sport online has always been one of evolution.
The feedback we get is that the website generally works and that people can find their way around it - so we try not to suddenly switch everything around for the sake of it. But at the same time we have to avoid complacency.
The whole point about 'new media' is that it changes all the time, so we need to keep pushing the boundaries we what we do.
In essence we need to find the balance between retaining the best of the old while responding to new challenges as they come along.
The last time we did this was around a year ago when we widened the pages of the BBC Sport website and gave more prominence to our audio-video content.
It's fair to say there was a fair amount of feedback at the time on this blog. Hopefully, 12 months on, the dust has settled from that particular transformation and I am convinced the site is in a much better state than it was then.
As you'll see our new F1 website will house a number of new content features, including a blog providing an in-depth look at the sport and regular video updates from the great Murray Walker.
We'll be back here to explain more about what's on offer in due course...
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~49~RS~)
Comments
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What a bland and unimaginative site. I hope it gets better!
Try and take a leaf out of ITV's book.
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Looks good, shame about the colour scheme.
White would have been much better and keep the micro-site in keeping with the rest of the site.
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Awesome...love it
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i think the new F1 Site looks beautfiul great job BBC
hopefully your coverage will be as good
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Liking the new look so far but will reserve full judgement of the new look until I've seen how well, if at all, the BBC has brought back The Chain...
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I think it looks great overall. The only problem is on a widescreen display at high resolution, there are big blocks of white either side of the page - on most BBC Sport pages these blend in with the look, but with the black background they stick out. Any way they can be coloured black to fit in?
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I think the new look is great!
Cant wait for the new season!
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Smart looking site.
I'm just a bit puzzled about what exactly is happening on March 30th at 4.00 am, or indeed, where I'd have to be located in order to watch the Grand Prix at 4.00 am on March 30th.
Are we to accept such inept coverage throughout the year just because there are no adverts?
Why didn't you buy James Allen and Steve Ryder? At least they managed to tell us when to watch the race.
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I think this new face-lift on the website is absolutely amazing, which is a change from my normal comments regarding redesigns of the website.
Great job!
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Hi Ben. One thing I'm wondering is will the video and audio content be grouped together on one singular page? It'd be nice to find things easily, for example the Donington track simulation is no longer linked on the BBC F1 page.
The site looks stunning though, thank you.
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It's awful. Please change it back.
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This new F1 site is absolutely FAAANTASTIC (as good ol' murray would say). What with this site and the proposed coverage, this season will be one to remember!
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Hi Ben,
I think the web designers have done a great job, looks awesome. It's all about the content though and I'm sure you guys will deliver.
To the guy in comment #1, have you forgotten that the ITV F1 website was full of invasive ads (you had to watch a 30 second clip of adverts every time you wanted to watch some video content), the ITV streaming flash video player barely worked as well.
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@SanMiguelStuntman in #8, they would never in a million years get Allen seeing as he is "not liked" by F1 fans to say the least.
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I like the content on the new site and the colour scheme isn't that bad either. I'm more looking forward to the coverage, the BBC sounds like it has some really good ideas for F1 particuarly with the split-screen option on BBCi and the ability to follow any car you like.
I think that F1 on the BBC will be a success overall but I'm going to hold back judgement on the commentary team because, let's face it, no-one can beat Murray!
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Sorry but the ront page is awful.
Black backgrounds on news sites just look wrong, especialy when the content pages themselves are white background. The contrast between the two is not professional in my opinion.
Also the new colour for the links, as a peson with difficulties differentiating colours I can not tell the difference between the pale blue (so my colleage tells me) links and grey text.
I don't see the need for these changes in the first place.
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The problem with this is the same problem as with all of the shiny new sports sites and the rest of the news stuff - where is the simple list of headlines in descending chronological order?
If I visit a couple of times a week how do I see what the new articles are so I can see which I've read and which I haven't. This (or at least a link to it) should be front and centre. (Yes, I know about RSS feeds and readers.)
This is my only serious gripe - though I could live without the excessive focus on video, colour me strange but I actually want to *read* web pages - especially as I can do so in circumstances where either can't watch (listen to) or don't wish to focus my attention on a video.
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Yeah sorry D M N, I forgot that sarcasm doesn't come across on-screen.
My point was that there's no point having a countdown clock if it's
a) not counting down or
b) a clock set for a time sometime after the race has finished.
Countdown clock-up more like.
I feel like I should be on points of view with an inappropriately high-pitched voice reading my comments to ridicule my pedantic, but valid, point of view.
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Do not like the black background.
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content good and looking forward to the extra online video etc bbc online adds over competitors for this space..
quite like the new headings.. they give a new innovative look that fits with F1 while still retaining good overall bbc online brand adherence...
... until the black background.
too much of a departure from brand, borders on making it seem like moving to another site rather than in the core off bbc online..
.. the background is the only negative
.. im surprised the bbc brand team have even approved such a departure to the black background..
(when yahoo started breaking up their scheme designs across sections and regions they began to lose their continuity, their brand identity.. and huge swathes of their business... they arent the golden child anymore .. please dont lose your place to)
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Site's ok - but content more important than whizzy looks.
By the way - didn't see ANY mention of F1 being on BBC HD channel
Ist it? if not - why not?
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Disagree with most of the comments.
The site is the same as it was but with a black background.
Disappointing effort BBC. ITV's was so much better.
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The front page is a big improvement, however it's not perfect... yet.
Make it full width, or at least make the padding black instead of white.
Make sure that any pages linked are the same style, it's very unprofessional to be switching between white and black pages, not to mention hard on the eyes.
Have some more fixed links at the top-left such as Calendar, Blogs, Audio Video, Comment.
ITV's broadcast coverage had many faults, but its website was one of the things it did do well. The BBC's effort is a great start, but has a little way to go before it can be considered as good.
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Not really sure what to say, the new colour scheme is nice and...well, that's all that has been done so far, isn't it? There always was a specific F1 section, it was just a sub-set in Motor sport. Oh, and lets not forget the Javascript timer, the code for the likes of which is freely available all over the internet.
Other than that, the layout is exactly the same, the functionality is exactly the same and the overall format is exactly the same.
Nice colours, but apart from that, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about.
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I think it looks brilliant. The black looks good, and the layout is nice and clear. The best bit is that there are no pop-up adverts, and no childish distractions like "pit babes"!
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I love it, the front page looks great and the new features are gonna be something to watch out for over the course of the year...
I do think perhaps that one thing the ITV site did very well was the left-hand side bar. Being able to get to the audio/video content quickly from any of the F1 pages would be a great help, especially when the live action is on!
Not looked forward to the start of a season this much for a long time!
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I love the look of the new F1 site...but then I think black is generally a good colour for websites.
I'm also pleased that you've kept with the usual style of page layout...means its still easy to find your way around.
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Are you serious? A different background colour and a countdown timer. Hardly a redesign. Not one single change in the usability aspect. As a professional web designer I'm far from impressed. Sorry.
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GET RID OF THE BLACK BACKGROUND.
it makes reading somewhat difficult.
that is al.
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No offence...but in this instance, ITV has done it better.
Nice first attempt though.
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Great site but the graphics are too dark.
You may need to revisit this issue.
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Absolutely love it!
It is unique and exciting and I cannot wait for all the blogs :)
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Great Site Slightly better than the ITV Website Brilliant news about the ex Honda team as well
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Not too sure about the black background ; it may grow on me.
What I think is laughable is the video clip of two ex-A1GP cars made up to look like what the producer thinks F1 cars look like. Unfortunately, they look nothing like 2009-spec F1 cars. Why not use footage from pre-season testing, or even CGI? Apart from the fact that you got a holiday in South Africa from it?
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Blue print on a black background?
What ARE you thinking! Sorry guys, but I can't read this combination - didn't ANYONE test this with people before releasing it?
If the BBC don't change this, then it will loose a lot of readers who, like me, make out the colour differences.
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I don't care what the F1 BBC Website looks like. All I care about is the fact F1 is finally back where it belongs!
Bring on the new season!
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Looks great. Has the definite feel of a dedicated mini-site rather than just a sub-section of a news page. Much better than the ITV F1 site, which was too bogged down with adverts, competitions and pit babes to be worth visiting.
Looking forward to seeing the new sections appear over the next few weeks, and of course of the video highlights/live video. This is something ITV never managed to successfully achieve. A live-timing option would be a great addition.
My only negative comments are that there a few typos and errors in some of the new articles, but I'm sure those will be ironed out with time.
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Too much like my own formula1 blog: formula1predictions.blogspot.com - I guess I will have to redesign mine again (good job I was planning to this weekend!!)
Seriously though - Love it!
and welcome back to F1 on the BBC - About Time!!
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All we need is the return of the old Five Live motorsport message board. (Please)!!!
606 is pretty dire in comparison.
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How can it be called a Honda team if the car is fitted with a Merc engine.
I know other teams have Ferrari engines, but are not named after a car brand name.
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Not keen on the black background - hard work on the eyes.
Please put somewhere on the site a proper explanation of the reasons why the BBC decided not to broadcast F1 in High Definition.
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site looks good, I'm sure they will improve the site as time goes on, but it's how good the race coverages are going to be that I'm concerns' me.
will have to wait and see what the BBC can come up with.
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@dickinshorts #21, There won't be HD because FOM (who produce the coverage of the races) will not be supplying a HD feed to local broadcasters (i.e. the BBC, TF1, RTL).
I personally really like the look of the site, but I don't use the rest of the BBC Sport site so wouldn't know (or care) about the contrast between the two.
I'm just wondering whether it would be possible for you to have a page with a list of all the video content, with newest uploads being added to the top? The main thing I will be using your site for is the video archive's and Murray's bit's and pieces, so a separate page with these would be useful to check so not to miss anything.
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Rubbish should of done something with The Stig.
Please try again before to late..
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It looks fantastic
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I think it is brilliant.
Maybe a "soundtrack" section would be nice - sounds from the programmes (The Chain and various others), engines, commentary etc.
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I’m not one to normally praise the BBC and I was more than a little apprehensive when I learnt you were taking over the coverage but I must say I think you are doing Formula 1 proud at the moment and the season not even begun.
The new website looks great, a little cluttered maybe but I for one like the black background and I’m sure things will only get better as the season progresses.
I’m also loving the calendar download feature and I hope it will continue.
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I think the site looks excellent and at my advanced age have no problem reading any of it. So far the content seems comprehensive with a welcome absence of competitions and babes - apart from Keira and Angelina who I could do without but that's a small negative.
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It looks like a nice uncluttered site as opposed to ITV's!
I look forward to seeing how it develops over the coming months.
Keep up the good work!
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Bland !!!!, This site knocks the socks off of the ITV one....
Well done the BBC, Now lets hope the coverage betters ITV aswell.
Cant wait till the season starts now.
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Site looks good - no problems there.
Ben - you're spot on about the revisions last year that caused much twisting of knickers, and now I reckon most people probably can't remember what the old one looked like.
What concerns me slightly is your comment about "how much of a priority sport [Formula 1] has become for the BBC."
I like F1, and I will definitely tune in (hopefully to the sound of the screaming guitars of Fleetwood Mac) to watch, but this seems to me to be a knee jerk reaction and a fairly clear PR/promotional stunt which I think is inappropriate.
At present (1640) four of the top six stories on the homepage are about F1, plus the Comment and analysis box, plus Martin Brundle's blog. On the same day as the new website is launched. Coincidence??!
This is very clearly compromising the editorial impartiality of the BBC to reflect the fact that it has spent a fortune on the TV rights, and therefore there are lots of heads on the chopping block waiting for massive audiences.
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I must say the new F1 page looks attractive and I love the evolution approach the BBC is taking.
I remember the fuss that was kicked up a year ago and how silly those people look now! Fantastic website keep up the good work.
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P.S
Could perhaps extend colour themes to other sports? I know the BBC is keen to promote their latest offering which is fair enough but just a thought!
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This is still not nearly as good as the ITV-F1 site. The one-size-fits-all nature of BBC Sport doesn't lend itself as well to F1 as the ITV site which is designed for purpose.
The less said about the promotional ad the better. The makers are aware F1 takes place on a racetrack and not in traffic? And that those are not F1 cars?
ITV and the sponsors features HUGELY raised the quality of F1 coverage. I am not optimistic about it approaching the quality of the past decade. To not offer to hire most of the ITV time is a poor move.
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Don't listen to the ITV naysayers. ITV has built up a decent amount of content over time, unsurprisingly. This will improve over time with the BBC I'm sure. I have no qualms about the looks either. Top marks in that department. Although, as someone else mentioned, ITV did navigation quite well and the BBC could probably learn some lessons in that department. However, I know I'm not the only one who suffered streaming problems at ITV and I think that this problem is only getting worse whereas BBC's online media seems to be getting better and better. There's also the advert problem with the ITV website. To do anything you need to see an advert. I'm confident that the BBC online coverage will be better than ITV's.
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I do not like it at all, looks almost the same as ITV F1 web site last year same colours, be a bit more imaginitive
Has the Chain been confirmed for the front end tune again?
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Great improvement to the page layouts.
This is a good first step to the BBC producing a worthwhile F! dedicated website BUT...
The content and news now need to expand and get up to date if there is any hope of matching a number of established Motorsport websites. Autosport.com has released about 15 news items and articles today including the results from today's testing while the BBC have managed just a couple and have no infromation on the testing. ITV.com will have pictures from today's test online in a few minutes!
Now that the basis for the website is out of te way maybe more effort can now be directed at reporting the news as it happens.
If the website isn't up to date there's no point in having it as we'll all just go to Autosport.com or ITV.com rather than sit and wait in the hope that something might appear eventually.
Come on BBC go for it - you can get football results in seconds so why delay for hours with F1 news?
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A bit off topic, but can suggest to Skashion (and others) that blocking pop-ups in your browser controls makes the ITV site much more user friendly. I agree that the BBC site is great for avoiding all those annoying adverts though.
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I hope you do cover all teams and drivers, but not just McLaren and Hamilton as you usually do and the site presently is.
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The website look is great, but I very much strongly agree with poster #58.... now that BBC have the rights to F1 a lot of people will come to the site to find news.... so it really needs to be updated constantly with news stories such as testing today.
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Ooh, I like that.
I guess the BBC will take the standard F1 graphics for their TV coverage (complete with DOG!), but it's about time really that BBC Sport's graphics across it's TV coverage were overhauled. They've evolved nicely enough over the years, but frankly I'm bored of them now.
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Barmy_EggsAreStone
I don't have any problem with pop-up adverts. They are all embedded in the content itself. For instance, if you want to watch one of their video clips there is a sponsor's advert but the actual video you want starts to play. You cannot avoid that except by not watching the video itself.
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Black! OK, it's not white but what else marks the difference from any other anonymous BBC website page?
Basically I think you should be looking more to your presentation of F1 on the BBC.
A couple of pre-season specials wouldn't go amiss, explaining the new season's regulations, team structure, driver standings, etc.
Regarding "the Chain" theme tune. Brilliant -- but of another era.
PLEASE though, come up with something better that ITVs rubbish intro sequence.
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Two things: First point is what comment No.6 says - looks too unhealthy on a widescreen. I believe this could be solved by ovelaying the template on a blank screen? Not sure - not a techie myself.
Second - comment no. 20 talks about Yahoo. I worked on content for Yahoo for over a year and what the commenter says is true. IMO, Yahoo's sports content has gone to the dogs, along with the page designs - no uniformity, no appeal. Unfortunately, even though I was involved during the Cricket page design, I had no call on the design elements! :-(
And one more thing, could you tone down the black to some thing muter, if you can't do anything about the widescreen problem? It's harsh on the eye against the white bg...
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Something I should have added above, but have only just thought of it.
Can we have two extra links added down the left hand side: "Videos" and "Blogs" so we can easily navigate to the different videos [there will be a LOT on there by the time Melbourne arrives] and a blog link so we are not left hunting round for a link to F1 Mole, Jake and Andrew's blog. Thanks.
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Forget the website...
There's only ONE thing about the BBC coverage that REALLY matters. And we all know what that is.
Two words: "THE CHAIN" !!!
Please..don't even think about putting some trendy drum and bass loop on the intro credits. In three weeks time, I hope to be hearing those familar Fleetwood Mac base notes ringing out of my TV set ;)
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Simple touches but I think the effect is nice! The overall end result is a success!
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+ points
-Darren heath (picture is too small for my liking though)
-The highlights video (no comment on how the commentary switches from itv around about the time of walker's retirement)
-the trailer (although I would have had more.... flamboyant driving)
-lots of blogs and commentry
-The header bar
Overall at the moment I get the sense that people are really trying to make the coverage really good. Which is really appreciated.
- points
-blog layout is slightly too wide to read easily, also not enough white space, too busy imo
-the f1 logo at the bottom, I'dve thought the official one might be able to be used
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Not sure I agree with having a separate section for F1 - just proves what you think of other non-F1 Motorsport. It was a perfect opportunity to ramp up coverage of other Motorsports, sadly not done, and will only annoy followers of MotoGP especially.
The new WTCC season starts this weekend in Brazil, haven't seen any features on it, why not? Also the second round of the IRC, also in Brazil, again nothing.
You've fallen into the trap of a lot of media over here in treating F1 seperately from Motorsport.
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I'm loving it. Great videos and with no annoying adverts before the clips and much quicker streaming. Brilliant. Can't wait for your TV coverage to start.
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i like it think it looks good. perhaps could see changes made to other sites on the bbc such as football or cricket. it has a bit of character about it and it would be nice if it wasnt just formula 1 that had it! good job bbc.
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Same color scheme as ITV, nothing special otherwise
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When it is possible to read it I might let you know, the colours are not a help to people who have eyes getting a bit on the old side.
Black is not the new anything.
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The new page looks as though it is not finished. it looks bland and not dynamic. i think i will have to wait untill the site has opened properly and has had a race weekend. I hope the coverage is as good as we had from ITV. Praying that the site is impartial and not a BBC hamilton production,
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Looks like a good site, which can only improve over the season. How about some gallery photos and team photos.Also competions.
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Too much Hamilton.
I'm already sick of seeing him and the season hasn't started yet.
I hope the TV coverage doesn't descend into the Lewis Hamilton show like ITVs did!
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I like the overall 'feel' of the sub-site (I'm talking specifically of the F1 section) and it is a good starting point from which to evolve, as it will naturally over time, but it falls over when it comes to navigation.
To my mind all the news should be in the front under the main story, and the a/v to the side.. so switch places. Many of the videos are excellent but this should mainly be a website for *reading* with the videos as added content!
Ideally there needs to be a central place for all F1 blogs to hang off. Finding Benson's blog is a bit of a mission at the moment unless you know 'our blogger' means him and not the others.. Maybe have a little thing on the side by the a/v so we always know where to hit the link - I'm subscribing via RSS but it's nice to be able to find things when I'm casually browsing (i..e. when I'm meant to be working).
The same needs to be done for videos.
The vids are excellent - hell of a remix of The Chain on the Greatest Hits! You could use 'it on qualifying reports, etc... Remixes are fine as long as the main intro is untouched.
Darren Heath is a great addition!
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Well, it's a nice site, and I like the new videos and features on it.
But, what's the point in keeping a motorsports page as well, if nearly all the content on it is the same as that which is on the F1 page? Ok, there are some stories from other motorsports [Priaulx], but why aren't they given priority on the motorsports page rather than headlining with the F1 story [in this case Honda]?
Motorsports page = non F1 motorsports with no F1 content
F1 page = F1 only
That way motorsport fans like me know which page to avoid. And have a guess which one that is.
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This is god awful
This is terrible, you promise a new website...yet its the same boring old layout...same boring old content, only a change of colour and you cant get that right.
ITVF1 website kicks this one into touch, ITVF1 updates every day, Im sure the BBC's will be the same come tomorrow.
Why cant the BBC for once scrap the generic Look for F1 and do a website that F1 fans can like.
Looks like pitpass and ITVF1 will be my ports of calling for F1 News...a poor way to start things off for F1 eh BBC!
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Yes I think the site is very good, as I'm sure will be F1, just as it has been in the past.
But surely if the BBC was using its sports website to deliver news and features fairly across all sports then there would be no need for a new website. The old formula 1 website should have been kept up to date, which it wasn't because ITV were showing it.
I ask: Should the website put priority into sports that the BBC shows already, or should it also prioritise sports that it doesn't show. I can think of many sports which don't recieve half the coverage they should, simply because the BBC don't show it on television. If you can't get video etc. then you should at least have up to date news as a public service broadcaster.
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I think Black is a really bad idea. Websites are supposed to be illuminating, not dark and murky. Black is never good for any website, makes me want to get off of it asap. Sorry! when you click to the F1 site's main story about Honda, it takes you to the dark site, and you read the story with a frown. But if you try to click the back button, you return to the sport site with the same photo of an F1 car right there, but with whit background, it makes me physically relax and stop frowning, dark site = bad. dark side.
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New look's good, but text colour makes links hard to read. Perhaps changing them to a yellowy colour would make reading easier.
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Evening - Had a look at the new site today and I must say . . . . at last. The motorsport side of the BBC Sport website has ALWAYS been sadly neglected. It is good to see that there has finally been some attention paid to it.
Having said that you need to pay attention to the content and tempo of the ITV-F1 website - a lot of people speak very positively about the level of content (several articles a day) and the spread of that content (technical to sunday race fan) - they have done a very good job over the last few years. I would hate to have F1 broadcast on the BBC and yet have the majority of the coverage - which to be honest encompasses the 2 or 3 weeks between races provided by ITV.
BBC need to replace not just the television coverage, but the journalistic coverage that ITV provided to be taken seriously as a true F1 broadcast resource.
Oh - and don't forget the Pit babes!!
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The trail is juvenile, silly, and non-representative. I suspect it the work of ill-educated [wrt F1] creatives who think they are being clever.
A long way from BBCs best work
A crying shame as it miss-represents what it is all about, suggest you read today's Q&A with Luca di Montezemolo, and the presentation he gave at the FOTA meeting. You need to understand F1's DNA, he does.
at this rate speed-vision will be better that the BBC, and they are awful
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Think the colour scheme is pretty nice, very different, somthing cool about it. I feel it lacks a little bit of structure though, maybe some more lines to give it a more structured feel and provide clear cut sections. Specially vertical lines!
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It's a start .... but a disappointing site for a start. As an example, your latest test results are from a few days ago. The ITV F1 site is showing todays results and news. Don't you have anybody over at Jerez?
It's a concern that the company who have the TV rights aren't as up to date as the company who lost the rights!
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ITV's intro was a bit naff.
I heard 'The Chain' will be returning, good to know.
I really like the site, I immediately thought...'what the...bloody hell' but then realised how sharp it looked, and you know where you are!
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So you've discovered the colour black?
Well done, now change it back.
No F1 link on Motorsport page?
F1 IS a motorsport isn't it?
Otherwise not bad.
But please don't try to make it 'special'.
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Good start, Ben... just want to echo the points of a couple of people above.
Can you make the "Other Formula One news" and "More video & audio" headers link to pages with a full list of news/video content in decending date order? At the moment, to find some video content you have to navigate through other videos. Would be very easy to miss content if you're not an everyday visitor.
And certainly news and video links should be added to the left-hand sidebar. Have a gander at how http://www.autosport.com lay out their news.
I like the multicoloured F1 logo - ties in with the FOM pre-race clip nicely.
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Oh another thing, it's difficult to find all the blogs on the main page, a quick link box to all of them might help.
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I think, as others are suggesting, the new layout is much better – great work.
One question - you have autosport.com, planetf1.com, f1-live.com as links why have you not added one of the best sites out there crash.net...?
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The black background is terrible, very 1995, especially with the light blue links. Apart from that, it's OK. Dark text on a light background is easier on the eyes.
The articles have a white background, so it's not so bad, but it just reinforces how out-of-place the F1 front page looks compared to the rest of the BBC News/Sports site.
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the colour scheme is great
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Needs a direct link back to 'motorsport' not just 'sports' as i also follow the far more interesting world of MotoGP and don't want to have to click twice.
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I really don't like the black background, Not only does it make the text harder to read (like the annoying arty-farty coloured pages in magazines) but the change of contrast when switching to the content on white backgroundis too great. I also agree with the comment about the white stripes (not the group) down the sides of the page.
Having had a moan about the appearance, the content and BBC coverage looks like it's going to be great.
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I love the site. But why has the grumpy (but lively) Kimi not answered his questions yet? We need to know; is he a briefs or a boxers guy?
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I don't care what the F1 BBC Website looks like. All I care about is the fact F1 is finally back where it belongs!
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Then don't be idiotic enough to comment on a thread about the website.
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Stop messing with the order of the tabs on the left of the main bbc sport page - just leave it alone!
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Now, THAT'S what you call an F1 site!!
(Can only assume 'turneroptics' is one of the former, very sad, ITV team that have made F1 unwatchable for more than a decade!)
Welcome back, Aunty!!
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Can the site have Fleetwood Macs 'The Chain' playing on a continuous loop please?
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It is excellent, fantastic content especially the videos and photos and is up to date with all the F1 news so can't have any complaints, well done Beeb!
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Site looks good! Not realy fussed though, just glad your covering it rather than the 'Break-happy' ITV. Fantastic to see F1 where it should be, and also jenson competing with the new Brawn Team. Great.
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The website is disappointing and poor. Weak in content, bland in presentation. Does not bode well for the resumption of your F1 coverage. Please look and learn from ITV. Their website was stylish and informative and their race day presentation was exciting, innovative and dynamic. The BBC has a big learning curve to climb. I know one thing - if on race day you open up with 'the Chain' as the intro theme then that will tell me everything I need to know and I shall hit the 'off' button and not watch F1 again until it returns to ITV.
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As usual, a triumph of style over substance, when are the real F1 followers going to a bare facts site, without having to search for the odd snippet of real journalistic scoop from the glitter and chaff Perhaps the BBC don't want (to attract) the real F1 enthusiast. Perhaps the BBC could offer two sites, one with all the hype and one with the bare facts, the tables of team and race states?..
Also, please, it's very hard on the eyes going to or from the main BBC news sites to the new F1 site (or indeed the blogs), switching from a white background to a black is not so bad but the switch back puts an awful strain on some peoples eyes. Again, rather than further integration, which was the stated aim of the last BBC news web site update (when it started to abandoned the universally accessible 800 pixel width), it looks like each department is doing their own thing and thus making the BBC site look more like a school site were each year does something completely different. 10/10 for effort, 2/10 for actual end result, pity - I thought the BBC were going to be so different from ITV but I guess from the looks of your alll new, all dancing, F1 site that you'll also be showing BBC trailers during the live races just to make the presentation look like the old ITV rubbish.
Just to add, now having looked at the new F1 web site without applying the BBC style sheet, all I can say is it actually looks better without the style formatting, at least it looks more a part of the integrated 'experience' it should be! Sorry to be so critical, just telling it as I see things.
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Unfortunate name!!
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New F1 site looks good, so far, but the main problem with the BBC site has always been getting up to date news. autosport.com and itvf1.com are must more on the ball with this but its early days so lets wait and see. Also it would be nice to have a dedicated link to the page as you have to go into the sports page to find the f1 site. Would would be nice is if you had a stand alone website for f1, just a thought.
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To be honest Formula 1 is not what the BBC should be spending their money on!
So, I cannot get enthusiastic about a sport with a "minority" participation.
Why didn't the BBC spend their millions on improving their live Football coverage? (of which there is none now).
The licence payers are like me getting angry about the direction of the BBC!
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Like the new site, approve of the white-on-black main page, like that it still maintains the BBC approach of function over style.
What I actually hate is the individual story pages - large blocks of black text on a white background are notoriously harsh on the eye. Please take note that the BBC blogs like this one and other news and sports pages feature a deliberate choice of a dark shade of grey for the text instead.
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I would say this is a poor site when compared to its ITV cousin. Whilst I hated many aspects of the ITV coverage, sadly the BBC has kept the likes of Brundle, and produced an inferior website.
As for the content, I think it is of a similar quality, but the website looks plain boring. Won't stop me watching or using the site, but it's as disappointing as the London 2012 logo - hopefully it didn't cost as much!
In time I don't think it will bother me - I don't follow cricket on TMS for the aesthetics of the website, and I suppose it is straighforward and to the point.
Given the understandable excitement the BBC suddenly finds in the sport, the website produced just doesn't reflect it.
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At 10:02am on 06 Mar 2009, sledger10 wrote:
To be honest Formula 1 is not what the BBC should be spending their money on!
So, I cannot get enthusiastic about a sport with a "minority" participation.
Why didn't the BBC spend their millions on improving their live Football coverage? (of which there is none now).
The licence payers are like me getting angry about the direction of the BBC!
hey, sledger 10 im in favour of any sport on the bbc that doesnt involve bowls or darts or snooker. Face facts, BBc will never again get coverage of Football.
Im just glad Murrays not doing commentary and that button will be racing, bring it on!
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I like the site and am very much looking forward to trying out the interactive features when first practice begins.
The only problem I have with the site right now is the news. I find it really difficult to be able to navigate between news items. Each time I click on an article I have to go back to the main page to get to the next item. Do you have any plans to improve this? A simple News menu would probalby be all that is required.
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NO dedicated page solely for F1 ???? -- Text too small and feint for easy reading (I am old, but not past it ???? ) --- Whole site is bland and unimaginative (See itv.com/F1) for vibrant site !!! --- Are you going to have live feeds of practice sessions as ITV had ??? --- Tell us what you have planned please !!!
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bazza001 (post 104) you must have been living under a rock recently,it was announced over a week ago that 'the chain' will be the intro used-if you're going to use that as an excuse to turn off because you think using that tune means the coverage will be poor,then you're extremely sad
sledger10 (post 108) sorry but F1 is the sort of thing the BBC should be spending their money on, more so than bowls, which i doubt anyone actually watches
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Yes like the new look. How about some info on the commentry team for the coming year? Also will there be an on going gallery ?
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hmmm
why have you changed it back BBC?
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Overall appearance is good and although content is a little limited at the moment, this will obviously improve as the season progresses.
One small observation and I hope that this isn't a sign of a conscious, or otherwise, bias on the part of the bbc. ITV admitted to having a bias towards McLaren and Lewis, but our country has a diverse population - and believe it or not, not all follow them!
Although something seemingly trivial, I hope it's not a sign of things to come. The team focus tab (Angelina or Keira?) lists each team in how they finished the season in the constructors (see table to the right), with one exception - McLaren are swapped with Ferrari and take therefore take top place. Well done to McLaren for winning the constructors over the winter!
Paranoid or anal? Perhaps...but all I want from coverage of F1 is for it to be balanced, im not asking for Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari (would be nice) but each team getting a fair crack of the whip and no favourites please.
And although the above might be a mistake or meaningless, however if its a conscious or unconscious bias please nip it in the bud now. Its great to have no adverts interferring with the races, but alot of us will be wanting them back if all we see is Lewis' smug face.
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Thanks for some fascinating and really useful feedback so far - it's encouraging to see how much interest there is in BBC Sport's coverage of Formula 1.
The key point I should reiterate is that the site you see today is just a start. There is more to come and clearly the season has not even begun yet. We'll be refining the output and adding new features in the coming weeks.
And to answer some specific questions:
#10, 26 - the point about hosting all relevant audio-video in one place is well made and is something we are looking at.
#57, 67 - yes, I can confirm that The Chain by Fleetwood Mac is returning as the BBC's Formula 1 theme tune.
#58 - I think our website offers a broad range of news stories, features, analysis and video - and that's before the action has even started. But I would never pretend our offering was exhaustive. Other websites offer some fantastic F1 content and I would hope that fans of the sport continue to use a whole range of different sites. As well as providing an in-depth service ourselves, I also want us to act as a trusted guide and point people to other sites that are out there.
#60, 75 - it's vitally important that BBC Sport's coverage, on all our platforms, is not focused around one driver or one team. Of course Lewis Hamilton is big news - but there is much more to this sport that we need to shine a light on. There are some great characters and stories out there that we will be covering as time goes on.
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There is nothing wrong with this new site. I like it. And to those that do not like and compare to ITV - i say.....no adverts popping up all over the place - great !
And it does show what times TV coverage is if you look carefully.
And finally - i notice that they cover the practice sessions on interactive tv - never got that before !
I like it
Keep up the good work - thanks
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please, please, please don't take any leaves out of ITV's book! Leave them to their "pit babes" and "gravel trap" sections, and have this nice clean site.
The new design here trounces the ITV website hands down, most notably because there are no ads that we have to wait to load, and that flicker in the corner of your eye whilst you are trying to read or watch something. If that's what people refer to as "vibrant" then steer will clear!
Keep it simple, no animation or moving stuff (other than video) and it's going to be perfect. ITV's site is bloated with rubbish, leaving the content in a tiny thin column. What's more important, pictures of scantily clad women or the actual articles and analysis?
Colour choice is nice, like the fact that it's a textured background not solid colour, sections on homepage are distinct and show a lot of information at a glance. I'd replace the huge top image with one the size of the large head shot below and show the top 3 stories there, bit other than that, all seems well. Good work!
One tip: The "Formula 1" header to the right of the "SPORT" logo should link back to the F1 homepage from all sub-pages.
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Its a good first stab but I too would prefer it if you got rid of the black background. I like, hackerjack, also have trouble distinguishing between the different coloured text. I look forward to seeing how it develops over time.
I do have to disagree with those comments praising ITV's F1 web site and urging you to use it as a benchmark. Please, for goodness sake, don't try and emulate that 'dog's dinner' of a site!
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My, my, all of the World's miserablists seem to have congregated here. You people need to realize a few things.
From the sounds of it, the BBC are going to be delivering the type of F1 coverage we fans have been craving for more than twenty years. This, is going to set a new benchmark in sports coverage overall, let the coverage of Formula One in itself.
The website is fine and it has some interesting bits on there at the moment. I expect we'll see more from it as the season gets underway.
I urge the miserablists here present to halt their tirades, likely borne of boredom and resort to that most rare of traits, that of optimism.
We're INCREDIBLY lucky to be receiving this level of coverage for F1 and with a team of presenters as knowledgable as those the BBC have procured.
Bring it on. I await eagerly the first few bars of The Chain.
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Are we going to have a "Pit Babes" feature and, if so, can I have the photography contract please??
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The new BBC Formula 1 website looks not so bad : )
Actually I just cant explore it fully now, because I am busier writing stuff / articles / comments and still have some time left before Melbourne at the end of the month. When I think all of us will be in full “shape” for the opening and then for the entire F1 2009 season …
So we can tell and suggest more then.
A lot of people before me on this blog mentioned the colours of the website – the background and the “leading” black written material as we see it … Yes, definitely, it is very hard on the eyes. I don’t say everything to be in orange color : ) but the background would be better if it is grey as some suggested.
But I really don’t want to spend more time now – just talking about the initial look of the website. I can suggest some things and ideas later but that is not my strength …
Do you know what I really miss on all BBC sport pages? ARCHIVE! Better ARCHIVE system … If one day I am not able to read any news or written sports articles in one weeks time I cant find them (sometimes) anywhere on the BBC website. If I really want to keep a record of an excellent article either I have to keep emailing it to me or copy and paste constantly in my Word documents. Not bad solution, but it is very TIME AND EFFORT consuming. I / we can you that time and that extra effort either reading or writing more articles. If I / we know something would not be lost “forever”…
I hope you got my point. Yes, the colors and the main look of the website is important but I really wish to concentrate on the articles and the information that is written and available there.
A very GOOD ARCHIVE SYSTEM is desperately required on BBC Sport pages (and everywhere on the BBC pages actually … ). Easy to find sports articles ordered by posted date is the best option for me. Plus EVERYTHING has to be available, not only very few articles on a particular subject. And the simple reason is – some of the material you are posting is just a pure quality!!! That’s why it is good to have it all the time; like reference and to see how the things on a particular matter progress or not progress; what is the history behind a (new or old) story, etc.
I really do hope you all in BBC F1 sport team do consider that and make some changes and add a great archive system (finder, etc.).
Thanks, for considering this issue, in advance!
About the colors I know you will do it soon : ) And it is gonna look better. But that’s just the look : )
We need the inside story too : )
PS. So I do apologize (this time in advance, cos I know I will have the same old “problems” : ) ). The PUNCTUALITY what you see on my posts. Cant fix it now, don’t have the time to find out why, etc. And I know it looks not well and the most important thing is there MAY BE A LOT OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS of what you read. Question marks, some other strange stuff, absolutely doesn’t look and read well. And “unfortunately” that’s my style; cant change it : ) and if you want to get the “real picture” of what I am saying / writing PLEASE do refer to my USERNAME. There everything is correct and wont be any misunderstandings, caused just by the punctuality. THANKS (and welcome to my “world” of writing : ) )
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going to be in HD ???, plz tell me.
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Good site. Not so good journalism
Compare your coverage of the FOTA anouncement
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7925825.stm
with the ITV-F1 anouncement
http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=45210
I'm a fan of the bbc but the coverage of this anouncement on the bbc is mainly opinion and little substance whereas the ITV site lists the changes proposed by the FOTA in detail.
Come on guys you can do better than this
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I agree with a previous comment that on a higher resolution monitor the front page does not strech and you get two huge white borders either side which look ugly. Other than that I am quite impressed. I am very impressed with the video content. I enjoyed Murray Walkers top races.
Given that ITV's video hilights were both limited and strewn with adverts, the BBC's website is a welcome relief. The only video I didn't like was the F1 car chase with the black and yellow car that tries to fake the illusion of speed with camera shake ect. It looks totally fake and slightly immature and I hope this is no reflection on the quality of the F1 intro for 2009.
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Looks good all dressed in black when you first arrive. But after a while it just looks kind of cluttered, unorganised and over engineered.
I guess as more appropriate news and informative links comes along as the season progresses it will develop but at present nothing to make me want to browse and come back except for any headline news.
5/10 so far but promising and get rid of the black , or at least the option for user to change it.
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Great site, shame the audio and video does not work on the iPhone or iPod touch.
Good, but could get better.
Keep working, you know you can do it BBC!
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There is a usability flaw in the new F1 site. On the left on the page, under Site Version you have UK version and International Version.
By default, its set to the UK version but if you select the International version it takes you right back to the BBC Sports home page. So you then have to go back into the F1 page, not good at all!
Once you select the International Version it should simply refresh that page not take you out of the page to the Sports home page.
Thats needs to be fixed, otherwise you are going to hear more complaints about it once the season starts and many more people and visiting the site
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One of the things I used to like on the ITV site was the ever changing vote. It was good to place my own vote and also see what the majority of other fans felt.
Can we have something similar here instead of having to resort to star rating the message board posts?
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joshdafox (post 125) its been said on various blogs, on various websites, by various people, for over a week that it's not going to be in HD
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I was not a fan of the ITV site, loads of pop-ups, a real pain.
I quite like this one, ok, their is not much content, but we are at ground zero at the moment for the site, we have not had the first race yet. But ALL the pages need to be black with gray letters, Far easier on the eyes than the white pages with black letters.
I like the team, but could have done without David Coulthard, apart from his ego, I'm not sure what he will bring that Martin or the rest of the team can not.
That video trailer seemed a bit pointless, it just looks like a rather poor tv ad with not a thing that pointed to F1.
I would have gone for:
Some all action clips from the BBC's last few F1 races ending with Damion Hill winning at Japan, and an overcome Murray Walkers Joy, Freeze the pic, fade to black showing only the date. Zip the dates forward to March, 2009. Bang in the base guitar from 'The Chain' with the words on screen 'We're BACK, F1 starts on BBC1, 28 March'.
Ok, that's just my four pennys worth off the top of my head. But come on BBC, you can do better than that video.
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I cannot believe Jake Humphrey is the primary presenter for BBC's coverage of Formula 1.
It's enough to make we not want to watch.
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I thought the BBC were cutting fine to introduce this website so close to the start of the season as F1 fanatics are continuously scouting for info throughout the winter, I felt it should have been done midway through the out-of-season period. Although eagerly awaited, now it's here I love it, it's great and I'm delighted that F1 has returned to the BBC, I was exasperated with ITV just because of the commercial breaks 6 laps before the end of the race and I feel ITV was limited, although they're website was good it had sleazy elements to it, I know the BBC website will be much more professional.
Anyway, back to the website, overall it great but finding out when coverage starts on TV takes a long time, I finally found it but it took a fair while, there should be a link 'TV Schedule' or something. And news stories seem to be dotted around everywhere, having one link to give you all the headlines in a list would be good.
I'm very pleased the BBC supports Mac OS X software as it enables me to watch all the news clips and catch up on everything.
Apart from that well done BBC, I'm really looking forward to the season ahead, the tv coverage, the red button facility and website is going to feed my hunger F1 all year, so excited about the first GP!!!
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The site would be great if you weren't using some disgusting grey background with black content.
The middle of the page looks awesome, but I have no idea why you are trying to use light-grey on the background and strip at the bottom.
Change the background to black and you have a winner.
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The site looks great. I can't wait until Melbourne. Fantastic to have it back on BBC.
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I find that my eyes are strained jumping from a black title screen to white background news and articles, and then back again. Please can they be the same colour?
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Fantastic site and it's great to see F1 back where it belongs on the BBC with no irritating breaks to put a shilling in the slot!
Black is the perfect colour... and silver, but I'm just a tiny bit biased!
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The new site is an improvement over the old. However, it is very difficult to find content.
There needs to be menu lists for: F1 videos as the way you point video links to other sections of the BBC site is just atrociously badly organised; F1 news; F1 features; community (forums) to discuss race results etc.
Apart from these major discrepancies, the site is OK, keep working on it.
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I was hoping that you'd look at everything ITV did then improve it. This site looks like a half-hearted attempt to copy them. But that'll take more than a pot of black paint.
Why not go back to the old look, and concentrate on content rather than gewgaws?
Not good enough.
µ
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One of the best features on ITV-F1.com was Ted Kravitz's notebook feature he wrote after every race. It was always witty and always informative. In fact it was the only place on the ITV-F1 website to mention that the BBC had won back the rights to F1!
Will you be continuing this feature here, even if it's under a new name? Ted has many fans, myself included, and his appointment to the BBC made me very happy.
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The one thing I would really like to see is a news list in chronological order. During the season I checked the ITV site regularly and liked to be able to see what new items had been added. Please can you do this?
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I wholeheartedly agree with oliversauntie post 143. At 4:16pm on 08 Mar 2009
I also used the chronological news list on the ITV website a great deal to ensure I had not missed any news.
I stopped subscribing to their RSS feed as it had many irelevant posts.
With a chronological news list I can select what I want and always know where I am.
Could this be provided please?
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Well, the site looks fine.. unfortunatley I'm living in spain at the mo & if I click to watch any clips I get this message... Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory...
Is this going to be the case with race highlights this season too???
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As much as I love all things black, for a website it just doesn't work, especially as most pc's these days have widescreen displays leaving huge chunks of white either side.
To keep things simple and easy to navigate I think a website needds to be predominately white but also with a good share of colour and attractive graphics.
having said this I am so excited about the massive F1 cover from the BBC I can't tell you, other than it would result in a damp chair. Come on!!!!!
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White text on a black background is tiring to read after a while and adds an gloomy air to the site. Please don't copy the ITV site, it is even darker.Like the classic F1 clips, an excellent feature please keep that going for the season.
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very nice site ,but where is the fantasy f1 game that itv did last year?it involved thousands of players and and made you feel part of the races.come on bbc dont let the other side out do you already.
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Love the new site and the black background in particular. It could still be a lot more interesting though and it's a shame that it seems to have to follow the same basic layout as the rest of the BBC Sport site. More creativity please!
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I have one question... why does the F1 mirage on the top of the page look like a pre-ING Renault? that livery hasn't existed for a few seasons now...
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Very nice
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When can I put F1 healines on my customised bbc.co.uk homepage??
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IlCucchiaio (post 134) thats a desperately dangerously poor excuse not to watch the coverage (it's also incredibly sad,given that you dont have to watch pre race,and you wont see him too much post race either)
biscuitboy2008 (post 145) correct, any F1 action on the web will only be available to people in the UK
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Nice.
Shame the MotoGP (and 125cc & 250cc) section doesn't get the same attention.
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I'm just going to pop across to the ITV-F1 website to get more up todate information...
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Is anyone actually updating the site or is the latest news hidden somewhere. Brawn GP topped the times this morning in Barcelona on its first outing, and nothing! In fact it's hard to find anything that's changed in the past 3 days! The ITV site is up to date with all the latest news and test times.
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The team page for Brawn GP and profiles for Jenson and Rubens are still not up. I'd like to see them up.
#156 - look at the headline article. It's about testing day one and even though it doesn't list the times it mentions Brawn GP is fastest.
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Interesting that quite a few links lead to formula1.com !
Come on BBC. Let's have it all on one site without external links.
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The more you use it, the more you realise that its just like the rest of the bbc sport pages, just with a black background.
Would be helpful to have video content located under a separate page so that it is all easily accessible. Sometimes you realise a video is hidden in a feature that you don't really want to read, but find the video is interesting. Also will you be including the video of any of the press conferences from the race weekend on the site?
The mole is ok, but not very interesting in what it informs us of. Especially compared to Ted's notebook that he used to do on the itv site. These were an enjoyable read and offered an interesting as well as informative insight into the race weekend Will he still be doing these for the beeb?
Oh, and up-to-date news stories would be helpful otherwise there's no point in using the site in the first place. I'm sure I read the JYS story a fair few days before it appeared on this site.
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Post #157 modtl1 - that news appeared after I wrote my comment - maybe someone is listening! Button was fastest up to the lunchtime break in Barca, and I read that at lunchtime (not on the BBC).
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I like it. Seems to have a lot more features than before.
Living in China, is there anyway I can see the BBC's coverage here on line or otherwise?
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The website is far too cluttered and there is no easy guide to 'named' sections of information being provided. The background could be more imaginative rather than a dismal black. Hope some of the comments submitted so far is constructive and we will see an improved version before the F1 season is here
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Good morning,
Does it really matter what the site looks like, just as long as it is informative.
I would also like to remind the media, there is more going on in the motorsport world than F1.
Endurance racing, Le Mans, Indy.
Of late F1 has been boring, the races are too short, the tracks micky-mouse with the exception of Spa and Monza, although both of those tracks have been degraded by chicanes.
Commentators raising their voices during a GP does not increase interest.
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Hopefully you are getting the message from the responses so far but do you have the ability to do anything about it?
Why trumpet a re-design when the site content still as superficial as it has been for years?
On a technical note - why is the countdown clock always wrong? There are plenty of other web sites that manage to get it right to within a second.
At the moment, I am still bookmarking the ITV site in spite of the over-intrusive advertising.
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Its not that disimilar to the old site, a few more features, but could still be improved. The site does nto really have a news feature. All other leading F1 websites have news headlines, current news headlines updated several times a day. This is what is really needed to make the F1 site stand out.
The features are great, very informative.
Sort out the news features and I think you will have it nailed!!
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For a first effort you get 5 out of 10. I hope as the season goes on it will improve as there will be more contents for the site.
I just hope that the BBC didn't spend any money hiring people to come up with this effort. I could have done the same thing for free in a couple of hours.
Great use of the Licence fee again.
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yeeeuuurk!!!!
I'm afraid the colours (to me) are horrible... the layout is, at best, amateur, unless it is because I am using Firefox, and, if that is the case, this would seem to be appalling lapse of W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines . Not all of us subscribe to the Microsoft way of life... (and that number is growing)
Where is the obvious link to the TV coverage?... there isn't one, unless you happen to click onto the 2009 calendar link....
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SO YOU HAVE MADE A WEB SITE!!!!!
just when are you going to start reporting the news in REAL or NEAR REAL time!!!!
team profiles no Brawn GP
testing... no data ....
come pull your corporate finger OUT
otherwise why bother when we can get the info we need from other much better F1 sites
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Where is the darned RSS feed that we USED to have on the OLD F1 site??? I miss it!
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Hey, Julietalz (#124), I have no problem with your PUNCTUALITY - you don't seem particularly late or not on time to me...
there may be a problem with the rendering of your PUNCTUATION, which you rightly claim to be beyond your control, but then - what's a few question marks amongst friends...?
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well I can see your problems with the F1 section of the web site - and trying to fit it in with the existing BBC web site - but we are all hoping for a step up from the ITV coverage - this web site is a step backwards - disappointing really - let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come with the TV coverage.
Maybe you need to re-think the web site for F1 - remember - F1 is cutting edge, best in their field working in a high tech, fast moving field - your web site needs to reflect this - otherwise I guess we'll just have to keep using the ITV/F1 web site, which even today, is far superior to the F1 section of the BBc web site - unfortunately.
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nice looking site. just one comment though. Where is the fantasy F1 game? It was the only good thing the ITV lot produced during its time as f1 broadcaster.
i have looked at others but they all look naff.
Come on bbc the clock is ticking...
andy
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Where are the TV schedules? Will you have a pre-season program to get everyone up to speed on the teams/circuits/new regs, etc. Thanks
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The new website looks great.
But where is the Fantasy F1 Game.
Come on BBC there is still time to set this up.
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New site looks very good indeed.
But on the old site, I liked the detailed circuit diagrams and track info I hope that you intend to bring them back.
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Overall I like the new site, but was a bit surprised at the relative lack of new "News" on the site. I have to say I ended up going back to the ITV F1 site to get the updates I was looking for. The "Other Formula One news" panel on the right has a very limited set of news items, many quite old. Also, it would be nice to have a date/time of each news event to be able to see what is "new" for me. This I think ITV do very well, just the Ads on their site bug the hell out of me! It is very easy to click on the "News" section and get a complete rundown on the latest news events, and if I have not visited in a while, I can also see any older news in their "More News" column. I can see that the current layout fits with other BBC sports pages, but just saying that your main competition will be the ITV site, and I think they do "News" better.
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The website looks great, fast loading and no adds or annoying pop ups.
A suggestion to the BBC (if not already planned), Live online coverage of qualifying and the races would be good when the season starts. This would be a good move especially as we’re entering the digital change over period, as some people still may not be able tune in, being able to watch it online would be very useful.
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Is there a way to look at all the F1 news history as a simple list? Its a bit annoying only seeing most recent news when I know past articles are on the database, as when I go to an article it shows related news dating back years. If there is a way then its not obvious.
Aside from that looks nice.
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Can we have one for MotoGP as well?
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Site is definitely an improvement on the previous formula 1 coverage. However, it is still a bit minimal in terms of content and coverage. News stories should be added more frequently even in the off season, particularly at the moment with the teams gearing up for Melbourne. There should also be more content available - what about circuit guides, with stats about last years race, fastest ever lap, who holds the records, changes to the circuit, etc. What about driver stats in terms of wins, where they were, fastest laps, etc? Rather than just an interview with the driver. Image gallery would be useful once the season starts, with pictures from the races (you could be doing this now with pictures from testing). A blog could be set up specificaly for the site and linked to through the main page. The main page is a bit messy, so having everything from there with its own page that you can link to at the side would be good (i.e. news; video and audio coverage; features and comments) - at the moment it is the easiest to navigate. With all of the changes to the regulations this year, a rules and regs section could be useful. Also with the introduction of things like KERS a technology section with explanations of how things work would be helpful.
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Hi the site is OK, but just OK. I'm finding that there are stories that are on the ITV-F1 site that are missing from the BBC.
Also where are the testing times from the Barcelona tests? F1 is about stats, lets have a dedicated stats area.
Like I say it's good, but it needs to be better to stop me typing ITV-F1 when I want F1 news.
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The site looks great, i really like the cool black look.
For goodness sake, dont ever do anything like ITV.
As for stats, i dont think you can ever have too many ... Would be nice to see the positions on every lap through every race. But hey, the season hasnt even started yet.
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The site looks good - feels nice - and you have Murray on board which is positive.
As others have pointed out though - we will only use it if you get the news up there at least as quick as ITV and the other F1 sites. Brawn & Jenson fastest is pretty big news and you have missed it...
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What is going on with the quality control on this site - 'Button Pleased With Early Testing' is on the front page 3 times, have the bbc not employed anyone to check these things.
The look is very messy. Less is more!!.
Can't wait for the season to start though. Good luck Ross with your team, will have a little flutter for a race win during the season, obviously will need to be a wet race.
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Site looks ok but will reserve judgement until i see the live feed running over race weekends.
Also - how about keeping it up to date!! Just been on there and no news of Button being a second clear of everyone else on Day 3 of the Jerez test - and that was yesterday!
And how about some good inside info from your people on the ground? We all know teams run light to attract sponsors at the beginning of the season but The Brawn GP car does seem to be very quick - what is the inside line??
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The link to the story "Button pleased with early testing" is shown THREE times! Don't you have any more stories!
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Please put the latest news at the top of the page! That's what I want to read each day.
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I'm sorry, but I just don't like it. It feels decididly low-rent, doesn't have the clean efficient feel of the rest of the BBC. Just hope that we at least get Fleetwood Mac back!
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Look is OK but the content is totally inadequate!!
There is NO new news.
You should look at your rival site which offers a simple list of stories, the list being kept up to date.
2 out of 10 - must try harder!!
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It's rubbish.
As of right now 13:12 on 12/3/2009 the headline "Button pleased with early testing" appears three times.
The headline "'Lucky' Barrichello soothes Senna" appears twice.
Definitely a case of more is less!
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I have already commented in Mark Wilkins blog on a few things - but as you ask, I think the itv site is better at the moment.
A few things need to change;
Empty column all down the left under your menu.
Text size needs to come down slightly everywhere.
It is too cluttered because you have used slightly too much vertical space (leading) between lines of text, and not a large enough gap between articles - more white (black) space needed to give a bit of definition.
I think the blue, yellow and red lines by your sub headings just confuse the eye - make it a single colour graduated tint. Deep red or maybe yellow, but not blue as you already use enough blue.
I'd put a single pixel line around all pictures. I'd use red. But you could use blue to tie it in with the rest of the page if red doesn't work.
And maybe a few pictures of me would be good:-) Just kidding (honestly)
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A vast impprovement on your previous site but needs more news. The black background is the best for me and a lot of other people with poor eyesight (I'm registered blind but have a little sight) it would be nice to see this background used on the whole site.
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Homepage is too busy to the, not enough contrast for visitors to easily distinguish where sections/topic start or end. Why not employ more of the BBC hompage colour scheme and theme?
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So who decided every other BBC news page looked wrong and needed a redesign? Pointless. Apart from that it seems to have been decided to make it content-lite, there's just not much to read is there? And this 'mole' character is pathetic, did they even attend the tests? They clearly have as much inside knowledge as I have.
4/10 Must try harder.
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Are there any RSS Feeds?
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I hope you are not going to be last with the latest news when the season starts in 2 weeks time -- I have just had to click the link to www.F1live.com to find out what happened today in testing -- NOTHING ABOUT IT AT ALL HERE ?????? -- Typical BBC apathy ??? and do something more imaginative with your web-site ---- soooo bland !!!!!!!
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Personally I think t looks messy and cluttered, and whilst it has lots of links many of them are duplicates (some even appearing 3 times such as "Button pleased with early testing"... I don't know if thats just because its pre-season and you haven't got anything else to put up, although the F1 site at ITV seems to have plenty of stories to fill its page.
Must try harder....
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You need to keep right up to date with the latest test times and news if you are going to come anywhere close to other well laid out and informative sites. I understand it's a new site, but look at planet F1 or the other TV channel for guidance if you need to.
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Hey, the site looks pretty bland but most do, problem is the content is no where near the standard set by others. The complete lack of up to date testing results/pictures/performance must be improved for the race weekends. I expect the coverage to be great especially now its without adverts, but il stick to the other F1 sites for everything else.
I hope it improves.
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New site is ok to look at.
Need to keep an eye on the amount of the same headlines on the main page e.g. there are 3 'Button pleased with early testing' and 2 'Lucky' Barrichello soothes Senna' links on the main page. I really think 1 of each would do.
And if you have a section that says 'Angelina or Keira?' go straight to the poll not to a page with drivers, click on each one then a lot of scrolling to find the answer.
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let's hope the pit-babes section is up to scratch. or is it too politically incorrect for Auntie??
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Not bad, loving the dark background but change the main headline every couple of hours or every day because sometimes i see the same headline for 2-3days in a row other than that its good. And that little vid up there? get rid of it lol i think it just looks cheap lol, ask vodafone to make you a formula 1 vid ;)
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Too busy, too confusing. Reversed out type is always harder to read. Why this dismal gray background
Score: beta minus minus
Needs a big re-think
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Due to the credit crunch the Beeb must have asked the local junior school to come up with this new design.
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The site generally looks fine but needs to be updated very regularly especially once the season starts. Please no pibabes and why do we need to know what drivers think of filmstars? It's patronising and near-offensive.
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very sexy!! Looks great.
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How do you find past stories and articles? Very confusing however I do like the black.
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The news seems a bit late compared to othe F1 sites - especially with so much happening pre-season. It's about 2 days late?
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After a brief look I could not find any complete testing times. This sort of info is essential for the season build up.
Also how hard can it be to keep all the video in one place and all the news in one place.
The site is a real mish mash of information divided into seemingly random and incredibly hard to work out sections.
The only redeeming features are the lack of ads and the "More internet links" section, so you can go somewhere with some real F1 news!
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Totally agree with comment #210. I tried to find testing times...not a clue where they are, after a while I gave up and went back to ITV.
There's not enough information...well there might be but it's too hard to find. It should be easy to navigate and easy to see what's available and it isn't.
I think you need to go to the ITV website and get some ideas...looking at the colour scheme it seems you already have!
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Sorry, I don't like this site - too complicated. I just want to look around the site with as little effort as possible. I would hope the BBC would take a leaf out of ITV's site and I am afraid that I will be staying there
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I don't like to visit ITV-F1 anymore. I prefer to go to Autosport.com for stuff that isn't available on BBC.co.uk/F1
I'm just hoping for the video/audio/news/blogs etc to be grouped together in links on the left from the homepage and the old features of the BBC F1 site like the pitstop guide are updated and returned.
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I have always liked the BBC website and I read the football news on here daily, I often use the f1 link to see if you have any different news to other sites but the bottom line is that you dont report enough on what is actually happening, I like the new blogs, history and other videos that seem to have taken a step forward but compared to the likes of f1live.com(now owned by the American ESPN) and ITV there just isnt as much news. Comon BBC, put the other sites to shame!
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Please change the textured background, for some reason it flickers horribly on my brand new monitor
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Love it, brilliant!
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Cool Site. Check out the official formula 1 website. Could change colour of the sides. http://www.formula1.com/
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When are you going to action the comments on this site?
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website looks ok but needs a little tweak here and there.suppose a lot of us are used to the itv site.but hey on the good side, no more stupid, anoying bloody adverts during the race. at last we can watch the race in full with no interuptions,thank god.
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As I feared, I open the site for the first time and I see a giant image of Lewis Hamilton. I take it this will be the format for the rest of the season.
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These comments have been building up for ten days now and the overall response seems to be "nice site but so what .........". It's new but it isn't different. Nothing makes it stand out from any of the alternative F1 web sites.
There's a lot of good, positive feedback in the comments. If the BBC takes it on board then there is the potential for a stunning web site. Unfortunately, the fact this comments section is still open after this length of time, and there is silence from "Auntie" doesn't give much hope.
Did anyone out there look at the "Official Formula One" site when Bernie asked for feedback on his proposed Medals system? We never did see the results - my personal suspicion is that he didn't like the answer but wasn't prepared to accommodate it.
I sincerely hope we are not seeing the same attitude here.
So.... come on Beeb - close this discussion now, get your nose to the F1 grindstone, and make the maximum use of the technology at your disposal.
Time will tell whether you've got the message or whether the 200 or so people who have made the effort to respond have simply wasted their time.
PS - at the very least, fix that ruddy countdown clock!
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Nice looking site, considering i had to come here for up-to-date live results rather than ITV's site last year, i'm sure it will be fine. It's all up hill from ITV coverage/adverts, and website maintenance.
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Have a look at ITV F1's site - it is newsy and bang up to date - I know it's early days but your site is creaking with OLD NEWS
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The design is OK - except there is only one headline linking to a story on the homepage today ("Brawn GP Maintain Impressive Form"). Is this the only F1 story on the BBC? As a contrast, ITV/F1 have links to 8 stories on their homepage and at least 20 more under the News link.
Blogs/Video may all be fine, but not all that great for a quick read during my lunch hour.
In short - Looks 6/10, Content 2/10.
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Re the new look F1 site: It's not a bad look but it does seem to be a bit all over the place in terms of layout. Also, three separate links all with the same content on the same page on the Brawn GP team doesn't come across as providing good value
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Ben,
Seeing as the television BBC Trail is on the website, could you add the radio Trail as well?
Many thanks.
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Good work guys, The new look site works flawlessly and is much quicker than the old ITV edition.
My issue, unless Im going blind is that there is no direct link to the F1 forum from the BBC F1 landing page and more importantly, I can't find a dedicated video area!? Is there one ?
You should have the title of each section on the main landing page clickable e.g Video and Audio coverage [click] (da-da) all Video and Audio coverage, Features and comment [click] (bugles ring) all Features and comments.
*Main landing page = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/default.stm
Regards
Callidus
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I would have liked to see the microsite have more of a browser type summary page including a list of dates, next race, testing dates etc. ie a summary of main information rather than big splash stories. I do like the countdown clock - similar to F1/ITV etc. Something I would like to see within a Feature section would be a behind the scenes of how the new BBC F1 Sports team is preparing for 2009 - ie facilites, transportation, logistics, setting up etc. The BBC may be reporting on F1 but they are also helping to make it too! A bit of in-depth on and of the track please!
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I'm pleased that F1 is back on the BBC and the F1 web pages look OK to me, no real complaints on that front. Where complaints are due have to do with the BBC's lacklustre approcach to MotoGP this year.
The BBC have the exclusive live UK TV rights to all the GPs this season and what happens? The BBC can't be bothered to promote them: 2008's BBC Sport TV trailer at the beginning of the year includeded MotoGP, this year's did not. F1 returns and gets BBC1 coverage of races and qualifying, BBC's exclusive coverage of MotoGP races remains on BBC2 and qualifying is stuck on red button. F1 gets a web page revamp, MotoGP is still lumped under a "Motorbikes" web page which is poorly maintained.
I understand the arguments about the BBC's license and the restrictions it places on sport coverage, but it seems these don't apply too much to anything involving a ball or four wheels.
MotoGP is suffering from the global downturn and a diminished grid, it needs a bit more support from those broadcasting it don't you think?
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I like the overall new look - it's very smart. But I agree with some of the comments about news - well, lack of it actually.
And are you setting yourselves up to be the Brawn GP homepage - FIVE mentions in the top half of the page.. That's pushing it isn't it?
Where are the timings from practice? Where is the up-to-the-minute news. How about a ticker at the top of the page, like on the main news site?
It's early days, but the action kicks off in 10 days, so it would be good to see changes before then.
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Site looks ok, and I like the videos but as far as the content goes its not very up to date. Looking on ITVs website the content is updated very quickly the BBCs content doesnt seam to change hardly at all. Where is all the latest news? Needs a lot more frequent news stories.
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I think the new site is brill. the site is a tad slow and hard to get around.
I also find that the news is a little out dated by the time it reaches BBC. i scoure through website like planet f1 to get my info. Perhaps getting more insider news would be good.
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I think the look and feel is great. My only issue is that you seem to be a little tardy in getting the stories posted. News often appears on f1-live.com (or even itv-f1.com) before it does on the Beeb's site, and I certainly wouldn't expect the channel that lost the TV coverage to be a step ahead of the channel that won it back.
You also seem to be falling into the same trap that ITV did with things like the driver profiles, in that once they are posted they are there for the rest of the season. Martin Brundle's synopses of Jenson and Rubens are full of doom and gloom in relation to the performance of the Brawn team; they do not reflect the way in which they have exceeded expectations during testing straight out of the box.
Such things should be addressed as soon as possible, otherwise it gives the impression of being out of touch. I can understand that this close to the start of the season MB may not have much time to spare, but surely there's SOMEONE available who can give a more up-to-date summary? If not, I'd be pleased to offer my own services for a small fee...
Overall, though, it's good to see advert-free coverage - no intrusive pop-ups or having to scroll past an ad to read the rest of a story.
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Very disappointed that the site is essentially your old motorsport page in a different colour. No genuine new articles and still a much quicker and more up to the minute service offered by ITV. Where is the technical insight? Where are the stories of the winter and why oh why do I still have to check other sites for news to then read them on the Beeb the following day? It is a work in progress I understand but I feel the Beeb has not done as a good as job as we all hoped. I am delighted that F1 is back with BBC but please do it justice.
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Hi, I think the site is great although it would be great to have a live coverage link on the main screen, some video of the teams testing sessions would be good....
Thanks for updating the site for all us F1 fans..
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Very much like the new look F1 site. Simple and fresh, can't wait to watch your coverage this year!!!!!
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The site is a disaster! I used to love the old BBC F1 site because it had the freshest story in the prominent position plus older stories on the right hand side. And the site was super fast, and always up to date. It was my prime source of F1 information.
It is now slow as hell, full of confusing pictures and it is very hard to find the current and historical stories and information.
It is also full of video links, which is an absolute pain if you accidently click on them, making a slow site grind to a halt.
I am so peeved with your new site that I am looking for another F1 site that will give me the news and vital information without all the crap that you now fill your page with.
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Well it seems that in your rush to look too fancy you have forgotten the basics....where has the RSS feed icon gone?
I am not going to scroll through all that nonsense and silly graphics just to see the main headlines
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Ahh well, nowhere else to ask... Why are the races not being shown in HD instead of 'blando-vision'? OK, so there is a vast improvement over ITV's offerings but with all BBC's hype over their HD channel surely this would have been a great platform to demonstrate the quality of HD.
Site stays true to format of other BBC sites.
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rather poor effort , what about high res wide screen ? , race calendar a total mess ( see motogp site for easy , attractive at a glance calendar ) .
all in all a very boring site .
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I quite like to be honest. It's a good colour background as all colours match well with black, especially the writing and pictures.
One critism is people with wide screens, becasue there are white stripes on both sides. Would look better with the black extending to those white stripes, otherwise I can't see nothing wrong.
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The new BBC website is impressive and works well.
On the plus side it is fast and isn't cluttered by the host of adverts that blighted the ITV website. The colour scheme is modern and meets the needs of a news service.
On the negative side it is not the easiest to find one's way around. As already stated, it would eb good to have a simple list of chronological articles that enabled one to keep up to date with latest developments. This should be on all pages so that you can work down the lsit without having to keep going back to the home page.
On the whole, a good job. 8 out of 10.
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can't we have a better web site link... something like bbc.f1.co.uk ratehr than the lengthy one...
this site is a bit dull too... needs sprucing up cos it looks like the BBC don't care about f1... the ITV site is great
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Its pleasing to see black site (I love them when they're done properly; easy on the eyes, easy on your monitor etc), although there will be a number of 'accessibility' and 'colour contrast' concerns made, all valid.
Designing on black is not easy to get right but if tweaks are made in the right areas, there is no reason why this site cannot become a great black site. Appreciated that it's early days but .... hang on a minute, you've had time to get this right. Perhaps it's a lack of resources but schoolboy errors are rampant. Here are just a few.
Black is Back - Good, but it wouldn't take two mins to swop out that body background of #464646 (in the auto margin flanks) for good old #000/#111/#222 - it would certainly open the page up and likely reduce the amount of pain people feel while looking at a black site on white!
Consistency - I'm not keen on some stories ('BBC coverage of F1') suddenly going to a white background - those light blue links almost disappear - despite being within the Formula 1 directory.
Value of Information - Not keen on how the Calendar is displayed, lacking creativity methinks - and not a Circuit outline to be found. The Teams/Drivers layout is truly awful - a temp job literally. Not much to be gathered visiting the site.
Load times - And I wonder about the load times and bandwidth - I've seen very few sites with as many as 30 javascript and 8 style sheet references - are all these absolutely necessary? No, it's bloated.
Layout - Pity tables are used for layout, it's 2009!
Access - Pity too that the accessibility considerations (numerous) and colour contrasting tests (considerable on a K Site) hasn't been customarily brushed aside as a 'costly' nuisance, rather this time you've mown it down using Top Gear's HiLux!
Adverts - I see just above closing head tag this comment:
Now you're not seriously thinking of placing ads in there are you??
Even for other Beeb stuff, no thanks. Please.
Like I said, Black is good (and it's not for everyone, but nor is toast) but being black, it's deep, rich and requires a careful selection of tone, balance and the right colours to work well. It needs to be flawlessly thought out and implemented. I don't think it has.
And I don't see any passion for the sport here!
Yet thanks to the unique way that the BBC is funded, I cannot help but wonder that the site had to be designed in a straight jacket by people about as enthusiastic towards Formula1 as they are a Root Canal procedure. And therein lies the reason why the site needs a lot of work.
An OK take off (well, you're off the line anyway) but many improvements are needed for a podium.
3/10
(for the black and the slick countdown)
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Do not give up the site is getting better. It is just a shame that the TV ad is so naff. But good news you kept the intro music well done.
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Just being able to view the 2009 season on BBC has got to be a massive bonus, ITV taking breaks just when its getting interesting & having to wait 5-8 minutes for the program to come back on...
The site looks great, cannot wait for the coverage to start....
Happy New Year !!!!
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The Black background may look at first glance to be "sexier" and more modern looking, but it makes viewing the page far less clear and with the white side strips it also looks unfinished. I think it has been clearly proven over a long time and on a lot of sites including the bbc one that a white background is far easier on the eye, and information and links can be found far better. Change for change's sake, or to somehow underline the "difference" happening to F1 coverage on BBC is not a valid reason for the change. Instead you should be concentrating on performance of the site, such as how accessible video and stats are. For example there is no link for the laptimes from the winter tests. A full table of available recorded times over the entire Winter would have been interesting to a lot of fans. Also why not provide some actual video coverage of the cars practicing and the teams working on the cars over in Spain and Portugal. If you are aiming for truly comprehensive coverage these things would be worthwhile. Overall though good luck, we are well rid of the advertising on ITV.
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I'm so happy to have F1 back where it belongs!!!!!!!!
But F1 is a global sport and should be treated that way. There for I feel all of your media content should be avaliable globally!!! If you preceed it with a small ad thats cool. But as an Ex-Pat who has loved F1 since the age of five years old, this would increase the interest in your site. As far as the look of the site I feel it should been web 2.0, there is no other way. It looks very 20th Century and needs a lot of work done.
But at least it will have content.
Best of luck
Paul
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I think it's pretty good but compared to the ITV one it's kinda basic.
As the F1 season progresses it would be a good idea to organise things a bit better so all the types of media have there own seperate page, for example all the news headlines on one page so you can view the most recent ones and the older news too.
I would love to see a lot more older footage of highlights from the 80s and early 90s, I need to see more of Ayrton Senna, Mansell and Prost cause I missed those years.
I think an F1 shop would be pretty cool, I have a lot of recent season reviews on DVD but I can't find any 80's or 90's sets available but I've only ever seen the 70's set.
I enjoyed watching the murray walker top 5 grand prix video, I would love to see more vids from him.
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Nice simple and clean!
My only suggestion would be to have more of the look and feel of the main bbc site (www.bbc.co.uk)
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The site is good but there is always room for improvement.
What it does need is reference to TV & Radio (FIVE LIVE) F1 schedule times at least a week before the event as ITV.com/f1 had.
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Site looks great, am looking forward to the new season....new rules ar i feel not gonna make that much difference.
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Site is ok, better in white I think, but articles are all over the place, not very easy to work out whats a new article and whats old, many articles appear twice in different sections of the homepage also. Don't seem to be keeping up with ITV/F1 on the news front either, they are still first with stories, all be it, cut and pastes from interviews already posted on the official F1 website. Links to transcripts of video interviews would be handy for those of us at work who can't view video at our desks, presumably for the deaf also??. Like the link to the official F1 website, easy to see their headlines without having to surf, very comendable linking ITV's F1 website also. In general then, I quite like it, I hope it will get better with age, F1 seems to be using feedback from fans more these days, I hope BBC F1 will do the same.
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what would be a real good idea would be a link saying when to watgh
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@ Shaunmocco
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7755219.stm
I like the look of the new site. But navigation leaves much to be desired. Like accessing the blogs of the people relevant to the BBC F1 team.
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The article headers on the right hand side of the first page are in a terrible colour, they are virtually unreadable. Please can you change it to something darker?
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Ignore my last comment....I blame my lap top, hmmm, could also be user error.
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Yeah - the site is a bit bland compared to others - and why do we need 5 photos of LH on the homepage? I hope this is not a taste of what the tv coverage is going to be like !!!! or I'll not be watching
The ITV site is good, as you can see all the news items at first glance rather than the BBC 'more stories' button, and you have to search around the page for links to other things, rather than the simple news, tv coverage, points, teams, drivers type side menu on other sites.
So overall I think the site layout and navigation is quite poor, and displaying the bias to one particular driver already.
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A week before the first race I am surprised not to see a prominent link to the coverage times - I followed 3 links down and got a preliminary timetable with various parts labelled TBC - how about something on the main page?
[Link from the calendar to "Full details of the BBC's coverage on TV, radio, red button and online" says "Practice (Times TBC)"]
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Dear BBC - where is the TV schedule for your F1 coverage? Preview programs, qualitying and race schedules, post-race analysis, etc.?????
Thanks.
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I like the new look keep up the good work cant wait to see your coverage.
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All very well, but where are the circuit maps?
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What a bland and confusing site, its great that the BBC will be having more coverage this year but the ITV site is still one of the best.
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I still maintain it's better than ITV's site. I am loving thw video content the Beeb is giving us.
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Absolutely awful
The colours are ok-ish but it's a nightmare trying to find what you want and spot new articles
I'll be sticking to itv-f1.com and f1-live.com for the time being and just popping in now and again on the off chance it's been radically re-designed
I was hoping for far better having got F1 back after such a long time.
I daren't even start on dire amount of up to date news so far in comparison to the ITV and F1 Live sites . . . .
Sorry, but that's the way it is for me
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Any plans to simucast F1 in HD ????
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Graphics to dark,black background awful,wastes a lot of ink when copying page. Why no Fantasy F1 Competition?
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Rubbish. Where is the content? If you take out the external links, we are left with only a handful of articles in total and a few videos. Plus there are only 3 sub pages.
Am I right in saying as of right now (17h17 on Sunday) the site hasn't been updated since Friday? This is 4days (according to your countdown clock) before the start of the season. Is everyone off sick?
The ITV site is unfortunately a Las Vegas version of a website but at least it is kept up to date + lot of features.
..You'll still have to win me over I'm afraid BBC.
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It's all over the place and extremely boring. ITV has a much better site, earlier and more interesting news. Come on BBC, get your act together and please have someone decent doing the commentaries this year. Murray will always be a hard act to follow but his quirkiness made it.
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It's still not better than ITV's website. I came online to read about the diffuser issue and can't see anything here about it at all.
Keep working on it!
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No Season Preview show then?
If there is, I can't find it.
If there isn't, why?
Come on the Beeb, we've awaited (and celebrated) the return of F1 to the BBC but so far the build-up has yet to be pulled out of the hat and we have more ambition than adhesion, a boxful of neutrals with all the ingredients of tears and flying carbon fibre, all understeering like a supermarket trolley on the way in and oversteering like an airport trolley on the way out.
Please up the pace.
I really do wish the Beeb better.
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Having now used your new-look site for a while, here's a little more feedback for you. Generally, the site is fantastic, but two little things niggle:
1. Your RSS feeds don't contain everything I want. I skim the RSS feeds in Google Reader, and only visit the website when there's something new. When I get here, I realise that there has been loads of new stuff (interviews, videos, etc) that were not included in the RSS feed - this is annoying.
2. Conversely, your homepage does not include everything in your RSS feeds! I am interested in the blogs (Jake's, for example). I read one of his posts in Google Reader, then visit the F1 page to re-read it, or add a comment and I can't find a link to it at all. There should be a prominent link to all the F1-related blogs on the main F1 homepage, please.
3. Your blogs' titles don't appear in Google Reader. They come through as "(Title unknown)" - is there a bug in your RSS feed generation software?
Apart from those three though, I think the site is a vast improvement on ITV's effort, well done.
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Less than 5 days to go before Australia and where is the TV schedule?
Come on you wanted the coverage now get it done.
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Black backround is rubbish and the site over complicated.
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The F1 site looks fine, and I'm delighted the coverage is back with the bbc, but can you put the transmission times up.
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Whilst initially looking promising, this site lacks functionality (and potentially an understanding of F1 fans!).
The left hand navigation menu could be a little more expansive. Headings like 'news', 'coverage' (and potentially 'fun' or 'pointless stuff') etc. would be useful, even if clicking just jumps you down the page. Potentially - drop-downs on the left hand side would resolve some of the complaints of too complicated or busy.
The blog mole needs moving down. Splitting up the 'news' section like this is initially confusing.
Links - actually make sure 'headlines' link to the correct article. Currently clicking on the utterly pointless 'Angelina/Keira' article takes you to the drivers/teams page, then you have to search through the profiles, either make an article of it in its own right or (as should have happened her) just don't bother. This is lazy editing and not what should be expected from the BBC.
At the risk of repeating myself, try asking drivers etc. interesting things. I seriously could not care if a driver fancied Angelina or Brad or his own right hand. I do care about the sport. If people want fluffy-edge stuff they'll go to the fansites or read one of the many publications that publish such tosh. Stupidity isn't what's needed. Or, maybe this is one for that 'pointless stuff' section I was talking about earlier.
A 'techy' section that's easily identified would be nice. I've seen the content I swear, can I find it again with ease? No. Another one for the left menu?
Somewhere on driver profiles it'd be nice to link the last 5 articles of 'news' actually on that driver, not just articles with their names in (poor Felipe is suffering badly from this at present). Same goes for the teams...
The site should be colour consistant. Either black on white, or white on black. Switching back and forth between 'front page' and articles is utterly boggling to the eyes and migraine enducing to the brain. If you'd like to be VIP friendly, too contasting colours are not ideal (black on white for example). I'm sure the DCMS/RNIB would be happy to give pointers!
However, what I do like is the audio/video coverage. Hopefully this will be of good quality throughout the season! I do also love the BBC team lineup and look forward to hearing more from everyone through the website. I also like the countdown.
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Its really SAD that after so long withouit f1 on the bbc they have not put it on HD I bougfht Sky HD on the assumption that they would show this premier sport on it.
At least theyve brought back the Chain as the theme
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"It fits within the overall BBC Sport website - although you may have spotted that it now has a new slot on the navigation on the left-hand side of the front page, where it sits below Football to reflect how much of a priority sport it has become for the BBC."
Early days Ben and as has been said there is alot to be learned from ITV's website. F1 should be a standalone site, as per ITV's website past and present, not stuck in the mire of the main sports site "below football to reflect how much of a priority sport it has become" If memory serves me well it was a priority sport back in the days of Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill et al, it's popularity is nothing new.
The website seems to be very video/audio orientated and this has it's place, however many employers, whilst allowing employees to have internet access for personal use during breaks, still have restrictions in place for vid/aud content, more text is required with such content.
I also feel, whilst not website related, the BBC have missed a trick by not broadcasting in HD, again this perhaps highlights just how high a priority F1 is for the BBC.
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On thew whole the new site is good, but the one big problem is the lack of TV and Red Button sheduling information. The ITV site had a sub menu on the left of the screen where you could always find the schedule info for the next race meeting. This is something that you should not be afraid to replicate!
ie What's the time of the Red Button practice sessions on Friday this week?
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there needs to be a link to show viewing times on TV and "red button content and times.
The problem with "red button" content is that it cannot be recorded so unless you can take every other Friday off this coverage will be for the retired or unemployed.
Probably not the page to complain but this big money sport should be shown in HD - bernie should stick his short arms into deep pockets to upgrade the feeds he provides to BBC abd other broadcasters.
Roll on FRiday - i'm off!!!!
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It would be good to have some feedback from "the powers that be" as scolling throughthe blogs the point is consistently made that transmission times are needed on the website.
I had assumed that last weekend would have seen a season preview programme as has been the norm over many years BUT no such luck
Great to have F1 back on BBC - no ads - but I think the planners need to get their act in gear
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The website is good, but just one criticism, it should have the dates and times of all the TV coverage on the first page (as F1 did on ITV page.
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Overall I like the new site, but there are a couple of very frustrating bugs, most notably the lack of link back to the F1 front page from certain subpages, like the F1 mole and Andrew Bensons blog. Having to go back to the sport front page every time is ridiculous
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I have used the ITV f1 site for years but this is as good if not better and such a relief that before each and every video there are no blooming adverts.You have made a good start BBC so keep up the good work,i feel im getting value for money from my tv licence
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For a well laid out site that tells you all you need to know, including the latest news, I always go to the itv-f1 site - it is so much easier on the eye, and the content is much slicker and ready to read than this site. I've just read James Allen's preview of Aus - the first link on the itv site - and then tried to find similar on the BBC and, oh dear, not much here is there?
Come on BBC - design and produce a world class website for F1, not a cobbled together mess of blogs and videos with 2nd hand news a day or two behind everyone else.
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if complaints & suggestions are listened to website can only get better-it's early days yet!
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I prefer the BBC site to the ITV because it is easier to control and does not have jumpy adverts that get in the way of what I want to read. The Beeb's content is mostly accessable from the home page and that's just fine.
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We need a simple, obvious menu button on the main F1 page that takes us direct to the BBC transmission schedule, including red button options. At present you have to delve and scroll eep to find this vital info.
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hey loving the new look f1 really good website cant wait till saturday so happy f1 is bck on the bbc last time it was on the bbc i was only 7 so now im 19
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Like it, nothing flashes at me, information is good. Background colour is dreadful, how about something a little lighter, not lime green obviously.
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Sites fine....somebody should correct your current Brawn Gp quiz...the American Honda drivers name was Richie Ginther, not Gintner as you state. Do try and get things right....
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The site is ok but can we get rid of the countdown clock please, cos its constant updating causes my computer to take forever to open the page and means chosing any of the items on it is too slow.
This may be ok with better connections, but that isn't an option I have available to me. It is ok having flashy websites, but not everybody has the best technology available and it needs to be accessible to all!
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Please add a link to the TV schedules on the home page.
I only found the schedules by accident.
Keep up the good work.
I’m really looking forward to season of uninterrupted GP's
Bring it on !!
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You need to be consistent in your homepage links... where's Jonathan Legard's blog gone since yesterday for example ?
Also... why are the newest (latest) blog comments at the bottom of the page and not the top ? On this page/blog the first comment is now 3 weeks old ?
Fresh content to the top please...
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It's very disappointing that directly above the video of the highlights of Qualifying is a story about who got Pole Position in Qualifying.
Is it just me, or am I correct in thinking it's stupid and irresponsible to be showing the results of something before that person has had the enjoyment of actually watching it.
If the same rule above applies on Race Day you can forget about me ever coming back here for my favourite fix of racing.
This is nearly as bad as ITN telling us the result of a race immediately prior to the replay being shown.
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Hello All,
Very refreshing with an interesting mix of characters with different perspectives. An awesome display from a British team with Jenson to
realize the talent he has always been. With the charming charisma of Sir
Richard behind them, this is truly a delight to behold as I well up
with pride. This team will inspire and delight with the hope of a
Nation behind them, to demonstrate all things virtuous in sport.
Regards,
Lordlardy
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Ben,
Any possibility of a dedicated page for the archives of the audio and video content? With so much fantastic video being added they are quickly disappearing meaning to find it one has to go through their browser history or use the BBC search.
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BBCs coverage is great.No adverts.
Please please though can the commentry be less radio style from Jonathan Legard. We can see the pictures. He does not have to speak ALL the time.
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Site's a bit dark overall, but not at all bad!
The main reason I'm writing is to draw your attention to a potential international incident. Looking through today's qualifying results table I noticed that all the German flags (Vettel, Glock, haidfeld, Rosberg - my there are a lot of them! And not a Schumacher in sight) are upside down. This is a traditional distress signal, but they seem to be doing OK.
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Sorry, me again.
Another international incident looming - I could not even type Heidfeld properly!
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looks good and promises alot but can i still actually have 1 link that tells me who qualified where please, oh and just to rite this message ive had to sign up and answer god knows how many questions. i never though id say this but please bring back ITV at least then every1 knew where they were.
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i cant get the F1 calendar to load what am i doing wrong
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Looking good again this week, with the German flags the right way up too!
Vielen Dank
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Sorry to be a pedant (geek, nerd etc.) but the German flags have changed again!
The order is, from the top, black, red, gold. Ask Mr Vettel. He could well be a frequent contributor to your otherwise fine site, and we don't want to provoke an incident or he might go to DTM.
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I love the idea of providing the dates and times of races as a downloadable calendar file but the timings are all based on the local times not GMT.
So my current calendar shows the race from the Spanish GP as being from 2-5pm; but that is Spanish time! It would show 1-4pm for GMT. And looking at your coverage details, your GP show starts at 12:10 GMT.
So if I tune in at 14:00 (as my calendar currently shows), I will have missed half the race!
Could you provide a calendar with the times of BBC coverage for all races (in GMT); otherwise I’ve got to go into each calendar entry and edit the information manually, which negates the usefulness of having a calendar file in the first place!
Other than that, I think the website looks fine, and it’s wonderful to hear from Murray Walker again!
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All I wanted to do was print out a list of the F1 dates and places - Not add to my calender - Another site here I come!
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There is a lot that is good, even great about the site, particularly the video clips and live features. My request for improvement is that you find a better way to upload new news content and position it for ease of access. Currently I navigate away from the site to get up to date news, and outside of a race weekend I go elsewhere altogether. This is a shame, I'd prefer one source.
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Is anyone bothering to update the F1 site these days? The next race is a over a week away but it should not have escaped notice that the political shenanigans are coming to a head and there may not be any F1 as we know it from tomorrow. And no comment at all from the BBC F1 team - wake up chaps!
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Following on from the comments about the coverage - it is excellent on BBC, however the lack of HD is very disappointing, especially when covering the British GP. There was a comment on this blog that FOM would not be feeding the broadcasters with HD pictures - I walked round Silverstone this weekend (more than once) and every camera covering the race was HD - any reason why then the BBC would not get a HD feed? As the race was recorded in HD is there any chance of a re-run on HD, or are there plans to tap the HD feeds next year?
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I am not sure the agreement between FOTA and FIA is good,we are still left with cars unable to pass and boring races.We might have high tech.cars but except for the first lap,where is the racing.One question,how could FOTA have run a seperate series.Where would the tracks come from,tv coverage come from,would FIA give the rebel drivers licences,I do not think it would have come about.By the way there was a good race on sunday-NASCAR.
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As a web designer and developer myself, I love the new-look Formula 1 section; I've been a fan of it since it was launched.
My only comments is I hope the BBC decides to further personalise each of the individual sports sections to give each one its own character.
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