F1 editor, the best job in the world
| 11:50 UK time, Friday, 6 March 2009
OK, so I have the best job in the world... travelling the world, going to every Formula One race and telling the story for the millions of people tuning in to the BBC.
The good news is that you will be able to see every wheel turn, from practice on Friday right through to the race on Sunday and even a red button special after the race for all the analysis, stories and views from the whole paddock.
As you have already seen, we have put together what I think is a fantastic line-up to deliver the coverage.
Jake Humphrey will present the programmes from each of the races. There won't be a studio (we are not allowed to put one anywhere decent, or with a view of the track, for example) so we will present from the paddock, the pit lane or anywhere that is interesting and makes sense.
We will try to avoid competing with the engines, but we do need to be in the heart of the action, so occasionally you will have to bear with us as the teams try to drown out what we are saying.
Friday practice will be on the red button with Radio 5 Live Sports Extra commentary. The commentary team will be answering texts and e-mails during the quieter parts of these sessions, so this is a good time to get those questions in to the team. Saturday practice will be on the red button too.
We will be on BBC One for all the qualifying sessions (except Brazil on BBC Two) and all the races. And this is where the BBC has shown how excited it is at getting F1 back, because we will be on-air for an hour before qualifying starts.
In this hour we have time to look back at the previous race, take on any stories that have emerged in the last couple of weeks and we will also give the drivers a chance to tell us who they are. We will obviously be following Lewis Hamilton, and you will be getting plenty of stories about him, but we will also bring you all the other personalities in the paddock.
We have lots of other feature ideas - from explanations of general F1 terms to examining the rule changes, the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, the efforts at making overtaking easier and what the drivers think of going back to slicks.
The teams have all told us that they are keen to work with us to de-mystify the sport and we are looking forward to their cooperation with the filming of these pieces.
Race day, too, will see one hour's build up on BBC One. The first part of this will be a chance to see more feature material; team profiles; what the drivers get up to away from the track; a track guide from Martin Brundle and/or David Coulthard; the story of qualifying and who to watch in the race.
Once we get to 30 minutes prior to the race, we will stay live in the pit lane as the cars go out to the grid and then on the grid as they sort out the last minute changes or problems.
Martin will do his grid walks (not necessarily every race - it will depend who is around) and we will hear from all the main players in these crucial last few minutes before the race is off.
During the race we have a number of analysis tools to enable us to work out race strategy for each of the cars. This will include the changing strategies if unexpected events occur.
All the teams prepare a number of scenarios and switch to these in the event of an early pit stop for a new nose, for example. We will need to be across what is going on and what the teams are planning.
Also new this year are the open team radios, which will mean that we will hear from the Ferrari and McLaren teams and drivers. This has always been encrypted in the past and we have never heard from either Lewis or Felipe Massa.
After the race we will gather the presentation team around a big monitor and discuss the race.
From the start to all the moves, overtakes, spins, crashes and pit stops, we will look at the replays, point out where drivers have gone wrong or done well and go through the race strategies of the teams.
Lee McKenzie and Ted Kravitz will be running around the paddock getting interviews with the drivers who finished outside the top three (we will already have heard from them in the post race press conference) so we should be able to bring you a comprehensive review of what went on. Once again, we will be inviting your comments through e-mail and texts, so we want to hear what you think.
On the red button during the race you will have a wide choice.
There will be a composite stream with the main race picture and an on-board camera (that we will switch to keep it relevant to the race action) together with a leaderboard and some other statistical information. We are not allowed to give you the timing pages incidentally, but you can see these on www.formula1.com.
For the first few races, where the time difference means that we can have more red button streams, there will also be the chance to have the on-board camera feed full screen and a choice of television commentary, Radio 5 Live commentary or even a new CBBC commentary that is especially aimed at our younger audience. Details of this new commentary are not yet finalised, but we'll be able to tell you the details soon.
The website, as you will already have gathered, has undergone a complete make-over. I think it looks great and there is lots of fantastic content already.
During the races, we will be streaming live video as well as the red button streams and I reckon quite a few of you will watch the TV with a laptop or computer open as well. We have tried to design it all so you can tailor your choices to show exactly what you want.
We will be feeding back lots of content for the website before it is transmitted on TV. So, an interview recorded on Thursday afternoon, for example, may well provide a short clip for a feature that you will see before the race on Sunday. We know that the rest of the interview is of interest as well, though, so we will put that up on the web for you to look at when you want.
So this is just a brief overview of how we are all planning to work together across all the BBC media platforms to bring the most comprehensive, in-depth, informative and entertaining coverage of F1 ever seen. We are excited by the prospect of the new season here in the F1 office and we are looking forward to hearing what you think of it all.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~48~RS~)
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"We will obviously be following Lewis Hamilton..." - good, but please, please remember there are 19 other guys out there. Please don't turn it into the Hamilton love-fest we got the last 2 years from 'the other side'.
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Hi Mark,
Great post thanks, i was just wondering if you could confirm when the interactive options would be available - will we be able to select the multi-screen & on-board during practice and qualifying?
Good on you for trying new things but i can't see much of an audience for the CBBC commentary - surely most youngsters will be watching with adults (dads etc) who would not want to listen to a more basic commentary?
I've also not seen anywhere confirmation of what exactly we will be able to see on the iplayer/red button after live programming. Will all on-track sessions be available in full on the iplayer? or looped on the red button (like was announced for motogp). Either of these would be very useful to viewers who can't watch certain races/qualifying/practices live.
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Would it be possible for someone to blog us on how we will get to see the pictures.
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Mark,
Good to hear you 'will try to avoid competing with the engines' a pet hate of mine from ITV.
Looking forward to three weeks time for the best coverage we will have had (hopefully) since the demise of F1Digital+.
PS Try and persuade Bernie to release/sort out and HD feed (by 2010!) and also let you guys have the full data channel like he seems to for SKY Italia.
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The formula 1 link to see the timing is wrong.
www.formula1.com
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BBC, motoring, hmm...
there must be some way you could squeeze Clarkson and Hammond into the mix, surely? A bit of humour always goes down well, the other lot's F1 coverage (Brundle aside) was always a bit po-faced for my liking.
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Is there really a need for two hours of the weekend schedule to be devoted to the "build up". I know ITV had an hour build up on race day, but that was with ads - and frankly sometimes less is more.
It's a bit of an insult really when the schedulers couldn't spare 30 seconds to build up to the France v Wales Six Nations game.
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Your main presenter is bland and wooden, so i'm not thrilled by that, but the rest of the line up is great. But lets face it, the only important question is "Will the chain return in it's original format?" Please say it will!!!! we don't need any stupid modern twists or completely new tunes. Give us the music!!!!
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Is the TV show going to use the Chain as the title music???
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I think Brundle the other day on the Simon Mayo show confirmed the Chain would be on.
Martins grid walks are always good (even if he can't find anyone decent to talk to, the fact that he's down there in the first place is good enough)
Just need this HD business sorted out and Hamilton mania toned down a bit (although judging by the practice sessions so far, McLaren might be doing that job for us by giving him a dog of a car :P)
Great work BBC!!! Sounds all promising so far.
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I will be quite happy if you make the coverage a Lewis-fest. Lewis is why ITV's F1 veiwership went though the roof.
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great blog - great news, cant wait to see & hear more.
Really exicted about the start of the season what with all the new rule changes.
It's also fantastic news about BrawnGP, not only for F1 as a sport but for all those jobs that have been saved. Well done to Ross Brawn and all his team!
Keep up the good work.
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Mark, can you say whether the different streams (onboard etc) will be available on Friday and Saturday? Thanks.
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Hi all,
I'm responsible for the F1 coverage on the BBC Sport website, and I can address a couple of the points that you have raised here in response to Mark's blog.
1) The Chain - yes, the TV theme tune will be the iconic original version of this track, as used by the BBC previously. We feel it is inextricably linked with the BBC and F1, and still the perfect soundtrack for the sport.
2) The multi-screen option on the red button will only be available during the race.
3) Lewis Hamilton versus the rest - we will obviously be devoting significant coverage to Hamilton as he is a) the world champion and b) the leading British driver. But we feel it is extremely important that we enable you to get to know the rest of the drivers as well. So we will be devoting a lot of time to introducing them and revealing them as people. This applies to the teams as well. We want to give as broad and rounded coverage of F1 as we can. As our F1 presenter Jake Humphrey put it on his blog on Thursday: "I, and I know the team too, are firm believers that Lewis will be well covered by us as a defending British Champion...but it's so important for all the drivers to be in the public conscience...if you don't know who Lewis is battling against then the sport, for me, loses a huge part of it's drama...and many drivers have great stories to tell...we'll tell them all don't you worry."
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1) The Chain - yes, the TV theme tune will be the iconic original version of this track, as used by the BBC previously. We feel it is inextricably linked with the BBC and F1, and still the perfect soundtrack for the sport.
Woo Hoo! Great News! Can't wait now!!!!!!!! Hairs standing on the back of the kneck time when that kicks in! :-)
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Very, very unhappy that the multi-screen option is available only for the race considering when broadcasters like Premiere in Germany offer it for ALL sessions. Not a step up from ITV if you ask me.
I really hope they put the FULL practice on a rolling-loop after on Red Button.
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@Nessy76, no thanks, keep the clowns in the circus. ;)
@biglewisfan, hello again, I wouldn't. :P
@Mark Wilkin, Firstly, well done and thanks for everything you've done so far. I just have a few questions for you to clear up some confusion.
1) Will the interactive option's be available during Free Practice? These sessions are when the onboard channel will probably get the most use.
2) Any chance that the chosen race from Andrew Benson's blog could be shown in full on the Red Button or at least online? Initially there was a lot of excitement about being able to choose a classic race to be rebroadcast, but this has turned to disappointment for many after finding out that the highlights will only be 5 or 6 minutes long. A replay of the original 35 minute highlights show would be a good compromise.
3) Any idea when you'll be able to update us on where the F1 support races are going, seeing as (disappointingly) the BBC won't be showing them?
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I also feel that the Beeb are offering less than they could:
- Have the rights to screen old races; but choose short highlights despite most wanting extended highlights
- Have rights for full onboard during practice; but instead ONLY choose full screen
- Could have chosen to screen GP2 - but chose not to.
- Could have had a studio, but instead we get a loud pitlane where we can hardly hear the presenter speak.
=[
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how long until the coverage will be in HD ??
lookin forward to the BBC coverage but HD will be the icing on the cake.
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Hi, Mark, hi all,
Yes, I do think you have one of the best jobs in sport in general. And especially if you love F1. Then even it is not a “job”, it is more of a hobby and just life. Doing something you love equals the best job…
“So this is just a brief overview of how we are all planning to work together across all the BBC media platforms to bring the most comprehensive, in-depth, informative and entertaining coverage of F1 ever seen. We are excited by the prospect of the new season here in the F1 office and we are looking forward to hearing what you think of it all.”
Ok, that’s fine and you definitely SET THE BAR HIGHER with this “we are all planning to work together across all the BBC media platforms to bring the most comprehensive, in-depth, informative and entertaining coverage of F1 ever seen”. That’s a huge task! It won’t come over night and as you plan to listen and look for some of our views IT MAY JUST GET BETTER. Like I always say recently – there are a lot of quality “writers” and posts/ comments on the F1 606 Forum and on your and your colleagues blogs. Watch out for them / us…Definitely you may GAIN more ideas and information and enhance your team’s overall performance.
Hope you have already built a great team “in the office” as you say!! Otherwise may struggle a bit or a lot. : )
Good luck with everything and best wishes with presenting F1 season this year! Hope we will all enjoy it!
I will tell you more after I see some coverage at the end of the month and / or after some races. Right now – just the usual “we’ll see” : )
Hope you all do a great job though!
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This is looking great. Thanks for the onboard channel changes that we requested.
However, following up #18. A plea for you Mark!
If you look at Andrew Benson's blog you will see that a great many of us want to see full length highlights (~30 minutes) rather than summaries to see classic races in their proper glory.
Now I appreciate doing this for 1997-2008 would require enormous amounts of work. But would you not be able to show us the highlights shows from 1979-1996?
You worked on many of these shows back in the day, and many of us would love to see them once again in their full glory!
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Excellent.
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Ok, I have the same problem when posting on blogs before. Again!
Do apologize for the PUNCTUALITY and how you see it! On my MS Word draft everything is fine …
Will have to learn the “ Blog “ writing tricks. Especially the punctuality … Otherwise what you see and read is NOT CORRECT and may cause misunderstanding.
Just a little example: “Doing something you love equals the best job …” – there is no question mark; because simple this is a fact …
Apologize again and regards …
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I don't understand the attraction some people have to an onboard camera only channel. Would it not mean that you miss most of the race?
I'd also agree with someone before me in that I think a whole hour of coverage before qualifying is far too long. If there was 30mins then I might watch it all, but with an hour I'll probably watch the last 5 mins.
I noticed you pointed out the killer line on the grid walk:
"not necessarily every race - it will depend who is around"
This tells me that he will just be doing normal prepared interviews rather than his old brilliant grid walk. The good thing about was that he didn't know who was around until he bumped into them. There was rumours that he was going to stop this before.
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2) The multi-screen option on the red button will only be available during the race.
Im a bit confused now, so what interactive options will be available during FP and Qualifying?
Surely it cant be none?? Onboards during qualifying are essential.
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Sounds excellent. If the BBC pull off all of that, especially the interactive stuff and the on-board streams, effectively, I think it could make for fantastic coverage, and a real improvement.
My only disappointment is that, as a Spanish student I'm living out here in Catalunya for the first part of the season, and the broadcasting and rights restrictions mean I won't be able to sample any of it even using the internet.
Obviously, I suppose there's no way of me proving that I'd paid for a TV licence, but, given that each grand prix is a global event broadcast around the world anyway, surely rights aren't a particular issue, as I could watch the race here on Spanish or Catalan TV...It's a shame that I'm unable to enjoy the BBC coverage of it, when the technology clearly permits it.
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redtimbo wrote:
"I don't understand the attraction some people have to an onboard camera only channel. Would it not mean that you miss most of the race?"
I've found it actually add's to the race coverage. I've watched F1 on German Pay channel Premiere the past few years & they have an OnBoard channel, during practice it was a nice thing to switch to during some of the more boring parts & ride OnBoard for a lap or 2.
During qualifying & the race I always set the OnBoard channel up on a 2nd TV with the ITV Broadcast on the main TV so I could watch both, in this situation having the OnBoard channel actually added to the coverage because it often picked up things the world-feed missed altogether or didn't show straght away in replay. You would sometimes see a driver overtaking another from the Onboard channel or maybe have a big slide or a quick spin or whatever & some of them woudn;t always end up been replayed on the main feed.
Having had access an Onboard channel for 2 years I can say its a big addition to the coverage & something thats great to have which is why I happy the BBC pick it up. Just dissapointing they won't be showing it during Practice which is when FOM often used some of the more intresting OnBoard angle's.
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Hi everyone,
First of all, not a fan of Jake Humphrey presenting any sport at all, let alone something like F1, that I guess is more something that only I find irritating as no one else has raised the point. Happy with the rest of the team though, but it would be great to get the Top Gear team involved too, would make it a lot more appealing to an even wider audience.
Secondly, I was not at all happy with last year's Lewis fest that ITV managed to put on. Of course, that is to do with the fact that I am Finnish and that I wanted to hear from my country's defending world champ, but also as there were a whole load of other stars that began to shine in the course of last season. I would be particularly interested in the Williams, the two Red Bull teams, and in Alonso. And of course, I would love to hear from the other half of McLaren - Heikki Kovalainen, as well as my favourite for the season, Kimi Raikkonen.
Also, don't know about everyone else, but I love getting up at 4 in the morning or whatever crazy time it is and watching the buildup from the other side of the world. It's all part of the experience!
Thanks, and watch out for the Ice Man, he'll be back with a vengeance this season!!!!
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ABSOULTELY FANTASTIC NEWS ABOUT "THE CHAIN" !!!!!!!
ever since i heard that F1 was coming back to the BBC, this is the news i wanted to hear..well done BEEB..the countdown is on to Australia..and i cant wait!!
Go Lewis for back to back titles!
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I don't think ITV did a bad job at all in their 10 years of F1 coverage they introduced a lot of new things in their time some of which like Martin Brundle's grid walk seem to be staying. It'll be good to see what the BBC do with future coverage and I'm really REALLY looking forward to the new season. However, can we please have the Lewis Hamilton hysteria at a minimum, fair enough he is the world champion but not all British people support him just be fair to the other 21 drivers including Jenson Button (who would have surely won the championship before now in a regularly competitive car like Hamilton has had since he started!)
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what happened to the top gear theme to the coverage?
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Why cant people understand...Lewis is British...therefore he will get more coverage....its the same over in Brazil for Massa, I bet you dont hear a word of Hamilton over there.
Great to hear you Mr Benson but are your blogs going to be fair this year...I didnt like them last year, you seemed to attack Hamilton at every chance...thats not fair at all on the lad, yet if Massa mucked up, you didnt batter an eyelid!
Also I am glad that no silly Studio in London and on the track will be used...I think that the team should be in the pitlane but AWAY from the engines...ITV seemed to be obessed that we wanted to hear the engines....well yes but not when Steve Rider is talking!
Also could everyone stop moaning about the lack of HD, youve been told thousands of times, FOM wont allow it and it wont be for a while...so get over it!
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Having followed Formula One racing for more years than I care to remember (50+), my disenchantment with it finally came to a head with the inane blatherings and hyperbole of the "other lot".
I hope that the BBC will reawaken the interest I had in the sport, but it will never equal my interest in MotoGP which, thank heaven, is also on the BBC.
Good luck, boys and girls, but remember - I'll be watching you!
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nnnnnooooooooooo
why did i emigrate??? :(
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hi, lads and ladies great to hear that your goin back to the old title music, can u please try and show some of the gp2 races as the provide some of the best action over the weekend esp the sprit race on the sunday morning.
cheers and good luck
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Great news on the Chain, excellent, and loving the trailer too
The one thing I am looking forward to... no adverts!!!
Flashbacks of sitting in rapture as Damon Hill hunted down Schumacher's Ferrari in his Arrows at Hungary, going to ad breaks to find he'd passed Schumacher during the ads....grrr
So, as long as we aren't subjected to promos for Eastenders or anything else during coverage, I will be tuned in and turned up loud
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Nice to join you guys, the blog looks great and the site is very impressive. As a DC fan I am really looking forward to his insight on the racing. It looks like it is going to be a very good year for F1 and I am glad that the BBC has decided to get into the thick of it and not go for a studio. It makes the experience much more authentic and the engine interruptions are just part of the whole race weekend feel. It looks like we are going to be spoiled for choice with all of the streams available and no advertising to interrupt our enjoyment...
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I can’t wait for the uninterrupted coverage of Formula 1! I’d love to be able to choose different camera views during the race via red button interaction. Will there be more information released about this? I have hired Kangaroo TV the past 3 GP’s at Silverstone and it’s great so anything that get’s close to that will be fantastic!
I love Hamilton and have since seeing him in GP2 but I really hope it doesn’t become monopoly coverage like it did in the Schumacher days!
And yes, the Chain, unedited and in it’s original format would be the best way for the F1 coverage to return to the BBC. It brings back so many childhood memories of my Sunday afternoons!
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At last!. After all the years of cursing ITV for their adverts during the race , and their commentary competing with engines in the pit lane .We can settle down to watching the complete race and hearing everything said by commentators .
It cannot be any worse than throughout the ITV years .So thank you BBC .
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Firstly may I welcome Mark and his team back into the F1 saddle. I was a huge fan of your production "Grand Prix" back in the day and look forward to getting the odd occasion to watch the BBC's coverage when 'in country'. Second of all.. I would like to echo StefMeister, thesniper89, dansus and others in bemoaning the lack of on-boards during practice and qualifying.
This is indeed the time to watch an on-board feed, drivers pushing the limit, finding the edge and possibly overstepping it.
During the race the World Feed is really the only way to stay abreast of all the action going on. "Race only" seems a waste of the on-board option.
I am sure there are other issues surrounding this decision but I thank you for any consideration in this matter leading up to your exciting debut.
Jp
PS...Did I hear correctly that my favourite journalist, Mark Hughes, is to have his own page on the site?
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OK Mark, fundlemental qeustion here. I know F1 record the races in HD, but will it be broadcast on BBC HD. I've always thought it would be but there was no comfirmation here.
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The one hour build up to qualifying and the race is great for people with an interest in the technical side of F1 and for those who only watch the programme for the 'shunts' - well they can go and do something else for an hour!
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Guys
Looking forward to 'back to the BBC' for F1, not least of which because I travel around the world for work and am fed up of listing to F1 in a language that I only half understand.
Can you please though define what of the on-line interactive services wil be available internationally as one of the biggest frustration is about the 'Not allowed to be viewed outside the UK" messages that pop up against interesting videos..
At least make it clear what we should be able to obtain when accessing internationally.
Thanks
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NO! No! No! Don't let that balloon Clarkson anywhere near F1 coverage.
BBC, motoring, hmm...
there must be some way you could squeeze Clarkson and Hammond into the mix, surely?
No! No! No!
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Sounds good but like alot of people I don't want it to be the Lewis Hamilton show. I quite like features on the smaller teams and drivers as they are more open.
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Can any of the BBC blog guys comment on whether there will be a preview show the week before the first GP?
ITV used to do this, and it was a good way to catch up with any new changes in the sport i.e. rules, drivers and teams.
-------------------------------------------------
Also, I 'd just like to add my support for onboard cameras during qualifying. IMO they would be much more useful than in the race as you are only interested in one particular lap at a time, whereas in the race you will be concentrating more on the whole coverage.
Shame you couldn't get the live timings for the composite feed either. They are a great way to keep on top of any battles going on throughout the field, and who is pushing and putting in fastest sectors/laps.
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Hello all,
Really looking forward to the new season and new coverage.
Also not having breaks, and been able to watch the qualifying and race live, and not missing any build up.
I had these problems with the other side as i only have "main" channels
Anyway good luck BBC, and the team. and look forward to "meeting" you on the 28th March for the first round of qualifying.
all the best
Darren
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seisteve,
I am afraid you in for a rather large disappointment. I too travel the world throughout the season and have been informed that ALL the F1 content whether live or on the i-Player is ONLY for UK viewers. I had petitioned the good folks at the BBC about being issued an access code which relates to my paid licence fee but...no luck.
The ITV live internet feed was successfully hacked last year. I seriously doubt that the BBC will allow this to happen in any way shape or form.
Enjoy the language lessons.
Jp
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Who ever is making the suggestion that it would be a good idea to let Clarkson and co on to the F1 coverage must be mad. It would be like having Graeme Norton or Julian Clary do the commentary for the six nations, good that they are all in their own programs, but not for this.
Brilliant .... No adverts, Great theme tune, half decent presenters, should be good, even better if Jenson manages to have some success.
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Some of the clips on the "F1's greatest hits" really are some of the greatest moments. In your build up to the races please can you show a similar clip history of each track? The history of each event really helps build up the anticipation of the upcoming race.
Please also avoid interviewing the slebs on the grid who care little for F1 but are just there to be seen!
Your plans for the coverage sound exciting and fresh, with plenty of motivation behind them. Above all I'm glad to see the back of adverts in a sport that cannot be interrupted!
All the best for 2009.
sdc
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does anyone know if the chain is coming back? Surely it must do and as an earlier comment stated it nust be in the original format. It will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on edge..... do the right thing bbc.
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For those all asking about The Chain; the Beeb have already confirmed it IS coming back. You can hear a teaser here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7911126.stm) last few seconds.
I second what sdc_uk says about the history of each track; that'd be a nice feature to have. ;)
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Well another season is due to begin. It's been a long winter without F1.
I'm not sorry to see it back on the BBC. However, I do feel that ITV did an excellent job of the coverage thoughout their spell. (with the exception of the horrid adverts)
Martin's grid walks were a scream, him constantly longing to meet someone on the grid who had a remote interest in F1, many people just there for the glamour of the day.
ITV also made great insights into F1 that the BBC never seemed to do (I hope the BBC can replicate this feature).
It's a shame James Allen couldn't join Martin commentating or even better Murray Walker!
As for the pit lane coverage that seems to be getting to everyone here, it's all part of the action, the noise, atmosphere. I never had a problem with it. Miles better than going back to a studio every 2 minutes.
Great to see that BBC has learned from ITV about the all important 1 hour build up. Great for those who like to know the in's and out's of everything F1.
My ONLY gripe with ITV was the fact that they sometimes used to cut the all important press conferance short, after just hearing from the race winner, just to go back to Steve Ryder and Mark Blundel to waffle on about irrelavent items wasting time when we all wanted to hear the comments from the 3 best drivers in the race!
Please please please BBC don't do that.
Roll on 27th March
and come on Lewis lets make it 2 in a row!
Anthony Barber
P.S. great news about Honda
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I hope
"We will obviously be following Lewis Hamilton"
Doesn't mean turning the F1 coverage into the 'Lewis Hamilton Show' like ITV did.
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I was really hoping that there would be a raw, commentary-less audio stream.
I think watching the race without anyone making any comment at all would be really nice. It would be akin to being at the circuit where there isn't normally a commentator.
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shame to see no female presenters on the team
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hi
well i am just happy that coverage is no longer on itv, the ads and (james allen) did my head in and was a real turn off, just switching to bbc is a step up for me, and the team looks really good, all the proposals for the new coverage interactive etc, looks cool and regardless of what other tv companies show, the beeb is showing more and giving us more than itv ever did.
Mark Meredith
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Really looking forward to the uninterupted coverage.
I'm not that fussed about most of the interactive plans but please please please sort out the HD feed, what is the problem? this is 2009!!
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I am sure the BBC will make sure F1 is un interrupted and will learn a few tricks from ITV having got Ted Kravitz and Martin Brundle on board
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You've got to laugh at the short memories that some posters here seem to have.... did we not put up with years and years of the media having their heads stuck so far up Schumi's rear hole that all we heard about was him??? We have a British World Champion - he's going to get coverage and frankly deserves it.
Next time I watch the cycling, I expect that the glorious Olympians will get loads of coverage, and rightly so. Why should it be different in Formula 1? We are a nation that longs for success in everything and then does it's best to knock the people who are successful.
@#59.. I think you'll find that there is indeed a female presenter in the team: Lee McKenzie!
I really can't wait for this season to start. New cars, new teams (great news about Honda/BrawnGP) and new coverage.
Don't be fooled by testing - we had Force India topping the time sheets last season!!
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It is great that the BBC have got F1 back especially so that the theme tune, Chain, is back. Will also look forward to hearing Murray's comments. Can't wait roll on the start
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It is great that F1 is back on the beeb.
However I am shocked that it will not be transmitted in HD!!
Or did I miss that announcement?
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February 2007
How strange. It seems that my comment regarding Lewis Hamilton’s dad was appropriate enough to pass moderation and in fact lasted two days before it was removed.
Anyway. I'll ask again.
Will you please not focus in on Lewis' dad as much as ITV did? No other manager or family member of another driver received so much unwarranted publicity as he did.
It would be nice if the BBC keep his appearances to a minimum (although preferably none at all)!
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Since this is essentially a very loud spectator sport, why not userp ITV's coverage by allowing us to maximise our TV speakers and boost the car sounds?
Would certainly add to the experience when watching on my 50" plasma :)
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Why isn't it in HD?
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BBC HD???? Please please can we take the high def feed!
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They can only provide what is provided by FOM.
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There is currently no HD feed for the BBC to take.
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Really REALLY looking forward to the new season, all this talk of the changes BBC are thinking of making is very exciting, I'm excited to see how it all pans out. Good luck to the new F1 team, not that you need it, I think you've got it pretty easy this year - an formula 1 show with no ad breaks and 'the chain' as the opening tune is already on to a winner as far as I'm concerned!...what you guys do ontop of that is just a bonus!
Ben
p.s I for one use to like it when an engine was fired up in the background of the host talking, yes it made it hard to hear, and you had to strain just to lip read for a few seconds, but it makes you feel a little bit more like you're actually there, and lets face it there is no finer sound in sport then an F1 engine being kicked into life. People who don't like it should take the chance to go and put the kettle on - leave the noise for the true fans to enjoy!
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Can you start providing us with the testing times in a table at the end of your articles rather than having to read through the whole narrative to figure out the order?
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The BBC want's a great new start to it's F1....so why is it not on the best thing to happen to TV for years HD! or have i missed somthing.
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why do people keep asking about hd?
its been answered a billion times already,the people that provide the bbc with the f1 broadcast (fom) dont broadcast f1 in hd yet.
since the fom dont broadcast f1 in hd bbc cannot show it in hd!
read before posting people!
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Surely, the best news here is that The Chain is making its return!! One of the best pieces of theme music ever!
Well done BBC
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Delighted to hear about the return of the Chain - one of the most iconic sports themes, alongside Match of the Day and (sadly departed) Grandstand.
Not so delighted that Martin Brundle's grid walks will be "not necessarily every race - it will depend who is around". These were one of the better parts of ITV's coverage in my opinion - they were always fun and interesting, if only to see who he could manage to grab a word with and who snubbed him! Please reconsider, and make the grid walk a feature of every race!
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I think the decision to not have a studio is a bit strange and also, CBBC commentary? Who thought that one up then? Dont we dumb enough things down for kids as it is? I have to say, that idea sounds bizarre. Will be interesting to see how thats carried off.
Other than that, looking forward to the start of the season. To be honest, the fact that we will have unbroken coverage of the races means everything to me.......you could get kids themselves to commentate the race and I wouldnt care as long as the coverage stays unbroken. That always has been and always will be the whole point to watching F1. Adverts be damned....F1 has been freed!
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All I ask for is not to make it ''The Lewis Hamilton show'' like ITV did last year.
On-board cameras in qualifying via the red button woul be nice too though;-)
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Please don't go along with Nessy76. The last two people we need on F1 coverage is Clarkson and Hammond. We need people who know about F1 not a couple of presenters who would use it increase their already over inflated egos.
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good stuff - few comments
you must have a grid walk at ALL races - it really doesn't matter 'who's around' because when there is 'nobody around' it gives Martin Brundle a chance to do what he does best and ad-lib a bit more - so don't think we want 'celebs or nothing' for the grid walk.
will be interesting to see how EJ & DC react to being on the Beeb - both have been opinionated in the past - hopefully this will continue and develop - and you really do need to take advantage of their recent indepth knowledge of the 'behind the scenes' stuff - can be good - hope it is.
CBBC comentry - why!!! don't waste your time with that - kids will watch with their dads anyway so it's pointless.
as for the though of the top gear lot getting in on the F1 act - don't be rediculous - completely aweful idea - don't even consider it seriously will you - please !!!!!!
finally we get all the on track action - practice sessions as well - better than the ITV coverage, which is what you need to do to keep everyone on board. (remember eurosport did the practice sessions for years - fantastic)
as for the rest of the team - well time will tell - it's got potential - lets hope it all works well.
AND TELL US WHEN THE PREVIEW SHOW IS GOING TO BE ON - SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE A CREW OVER IN BARCELONA THIS WEEK !!!!
Good Luck !!!!
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I cannot wait until the season starts. It will be so much better this year. The BBC Website is already better than last years ITV site.
I will miss being reminded about the white stripes on the tyres, thank goodness.
I used to watch ITV pictures and listen Radio Five Live for the excellent commentry, sad thing was when I worked Sundays I watched later then I could not have the radio commentry.
The year ahead looks very open and we should have a great year.
One thing could you produce a wallpaper for the next race for my desktop after each race for the next one, so I can count down the days to the next race.
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What i really want to see is classic F1 races with Murray Walker and James Hunt re-broadcast on say BBC3 or BBC4. Fuji TV in Japan do it and i believe other chanels have as well.
The time has come to unlock these races from the archive and let everyone enjoy them, don't hide them from us forever. Unless you take the illegal route any F1 fan can only watch a quick highlights season available still only on VHS and not DVD (apart from the last few years)!
The time has come to dig these races out and re-broadcast them. How about a classic race each GP weekend before the race begins as an appetiser? Come on BBC we have paid our licence fee for these races we deserve to be able to see them again they are just gathering dust in the archives, what a waste!
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What I'd like to see is BBC Scotland actually reporting anything at all about Scottish motorsport !!!
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This will be the 1st time I will have watched F1 on BBC. It will be strange because I've only ever watched it on ITV since I've been following the sport. So I can't picture watching a race with commercial breaks can't wait.
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Hi Mark,
Could we please ignore comment number 1!! :-)
Yes, give us an objective view on all 20 drivers, but Lewis is actually GOD in a racing car - the more we see of him the better.
I can't wait to see F1 back on the BBC - all sounds great and long overdue...
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Hi Mark,
Very excited about the new season and very much looking forward to BBC's coverage.
On the HD point I am very suprised and disappointed that the video feed is still not available in HD (I appreciate this is not within the BBC's control).
To those that are fed up with reading comments about HD's availability (or lack thereof), what i think this demonstrates is how keen people are to see F1 in HD. But remember, if we say nothing, there's a good chance nothing will happen!
BBC F1 team - please do all you can to get the feed in HD asap!!!
Best of luck for the season.
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Hi, I'm looking forward to F1 without advertising breaks again and hope you can get your formula right first time - although I'm expecting some problems.
I would like your website to be better than this. At the moment under your menu on the left, you have an empty vertical column running all down the screen... poor design.
I would like more up to date news, and latest news top of the page-ish. At the moment Button is top of practice and I have to follow a link to f1.com to get a story on it.
It's great to have links to all these other f1 sources, but shouldn't you have upto date expert and celebrity comment on your own website? I certainly would.
Do you want to do this properly or not?
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I'd like to know if there will be any differences between the interactive feeds across the platforms - Sky, Virgin, Freesat and Freeview. My concern is that Freeview may lose out when there are other events which also merit interactive feeds.
Can you re assure us that Freeview will always get all the feeds ?
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I agree with arbymore we do not need Clarkson or Hamond anywhere near F1,
I could think of a dozen people whithin my friends and family who would not watch F1 if they appeared, and I am sure there would be a lot more fans
feel the same way,
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will the BBC be showing any races in HD?
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comment 91 is ace!!
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Some people just don't read other people's comments.
They can only provide what is provided by FOM. There is currently no HD feed for the BBC to take.
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hi mark,ive got a question for you.:
i have sky+ & i have recorded every race and qualifying over the past years & i was woundering if i will be able to record all the practice that will be on via the red button?so i can put to disc & add to my collction.
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hi mark,i have sky+ so will i be able to record all the formula one thats on via the red button?so that i can watch when i get home fron work.
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so happy your back. itv got better with age, but the beeb will be on pole first race,great to bring brundle along.he had to come, team braun and jenson, i hope will bring results, they deserve it and the red button coverage cant wait.
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Really interesting info Mark, thanks. Can you please try to do all you can to stop the really annoying blood boiling practice of the camera cutting to the pits to see the faces of a wife/father/mother or some other face,whenever there is some action on the track. I think this was outside the control of the ITV crew as the local producer controlled the cameras, but it ruined so many great moments in the 2008 season.
Thanks very much
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Good to get some information on the BBC coverage- I just wanted to add support to a few issues that have been raised in previous comments-
1. Would it be possible to treat Hamilton as one of the top drivers on the grid, rather than the only driver that anyone British is interested in hearing about? There are too many great stories in F1 to spend half the coverage talking about one driver / team.
2. An hour build up to qualifying and race sound great, but what about post race coverage? I am hoping that if BBC want to pull the plug on the coverage 5 minutes after the end of the race to make sure last of the summer wine starts on time, there will be full coverage of the press conference and analysis of the race available via the red button?
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Will there be a fantasy league on the site?
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So this is how to do it then!
Main TV feed on 46" LCD TV in the centre of the room, a second 22" LCD TV with the 'red button' on-board feed on the right and a 22" monitor with the 'live timing' feed off the internet from F1.com on the left hand side
'F1 Techie heaven' !!!
So all we need now is the feed that the F1 teams get on their pit-lane monitors showing where each car is on the circuit and life would be near perfect LOL
Cheers AF
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Excellent, the second best sports theme of all time is coming back . Now BBC get your act together get some cricket rights and you can bring back the best of them all - Booker T and the MGs' Soul Limbo.
Ever better no ad breaks.
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O.k to summarize..
Everyone is excited about the new season. Personally i hope Giancarlo Fisichella has a good year as he possess a personality. Bit of a long shot but hey, the British love an underdog. Rubens i like too. He seems very nice.
Great that the footage is back at the BBC. No-one likes adverts. Except for the Old Spice advert in the 70s. That was iconic. Why are there so many ads for car insurance? I can't even drive, except for a fork lift, so they're just wasting their money.
We should replace interviews with Lewis Hamilton's dad with pictures of Flavio's chihuahua. He's very cute and would boost viewing figures in Japan.
People obsessing over HD coverage should probably get out more. And learn to read.
The team: I'm just happy Martin Brundle (love that guy) has been included and the Top Gear monkeys not. This could be explained better if i was able to use abusive language.
Everyone loves Fleetwood Mac. Very disturbing. Has no-one heard Michel Legrand's soundtrack to Le Mans?
People who don't like the sound of an F1 car firing up whilst trying to listen to pointless commentary should probably stick with Fleetwood Mac. Down the middle of the road.
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Agree totally with "duckpool", please BBC don't turn what looks like being excellent and thorough coverage of the forthcoming season into, "The Lewis Hamilton Show", we can all be patriotic and appreciate the great level of skill and achievement he's brought to F1, but this BBC coverage will be watched all over the world by British viewers who want to see all the teams / drivers treated equally.
I'm sure you'll find a good balance.
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Hi mark
Can I firstly start off by saying how fab it is to have F1 back on the BBC where it should be! No more adverts YAY :)
It sounds like your coverage is going to be top class, I'm especially looking forward to the Friday practice being on the red button, it was ok watching it on the web from (excuse my language)ITV but it was very bitty the stream was never that brilliant so one up in my eyes already, now i'm with Duckpool on this one, yes great that you'll be following Lewis as he's a British driver but, don't forget about Jenson and all the others, I've been a Mclaren fan ever since I started watching F1 in the 80's but didn't like the fact that ITV had a tendency to turn it into the Lewis Hamilton show, don't get me wrong he's a fabulous driver and deserved to be world champion but I do like to know what's happening in the rest of the field.
I think this years championship is going to be a very exciting one and also think we're going to see lots of different names at the top of the championship throughout the year BRING ON AUSTRALIA :))
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Post 98, spot on with your first question. womble wrote:
"Would it be possible to treat Hamilton as one of the top drivers on the grid, rather than the only driver that anyone British is interested in hearing about? There are too many great stories in F1 to spend half the coverage talking about one driver / team."
I second that sentiment. Lewis Hamilton is a great driver and it was good to watch his success last season, but although the ITV coverage of F1 improved and was pretty good by the end of their tenure, the big turn off was just how much they focused on the one driver.
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I like the new updated BBC F1 website very much, but why is it so far down the Google search engine.
Good luck to the BBC commentary team I'm really looking forward to a much needed change of scenery. Roll on the 29th!!!!!!!!
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has anyone mentioned HD?
*mutley snigger*
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The tiresome trailer advert (that is repeated endlessly now) is ridiculous. Firstly, the cars don't look anything like F1 cars, but more like A1 spec cars. Does the BBC know the difference? Secondly, the concept is ridiculous. What has a car chase through city streets dodging HGV trucks and other road traffic got to do with F1? I don't recall ever seeing a bus on the streets of the Monaco Grand Prix that Schumcaher had to swerve to miss.
I hope the BBC's commentator improves on the performance of the BBC R5 live commentator at Brazil last year. He was so busy waffling away and making love to Massa that he missed Hamilton overtaking Glock, and he therefore incorrectly declared Massa to be the new World Champion at the end of the race. Lewis Hamilton had just become the first British WC since Damon Hill and he missed it! Pillock!
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May we when you show a replay have some indication that this is so, unlike the Six Nations rugby, when there is no sign of live or replay. Thank you and good luck with the series. jaycee9.
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Great news that F1 is returning to the BBC ! the new line-up looks spot on and can't wait for the new season to start. Not sure about Jonathon Ledgard (apologies if I've spelt it wrong) because I've not him much however anything is better than James 'Boring' Allen . Good luck BBc and all the best for the up coming season
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I am in Melbourne for the GP. I see that thier TV station "One HD"
is transmitting the Race, qualifying and all F1 practice sessions in HD.
Are the BBC not allowed to use this feed.?
I also thought that James Allen and Martin Blundle gave an excellent commentary, and it is to good to that Martin is still doing his walk on the grid.
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i am glad to hear that james allen wont be on
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Nice to see F1 back on the BBC, but please could your commentators not go on about a certain German ex-driver as soon as he shows his face anywhere near a race track. ITV spent that much time talking about him they semed to forget that he had retired. To talk about him as a sportsman is another joke. Thats all for now. Thank you.
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Is the coverage going to be in HD?
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Any news on a season's preview programme??
Pity no women on the team - Holly Samos from 5 Live would have been good news
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Good to see drivers outside the first three will be interviewed.
Will i-player have the same feeds live as the TV as this will be useful?
When will HDD F1 be available on BBC? Will the race commentary be Brundle? Brundle and Coulthard? Or a variation?
I'm really looking forward to your start and glad about the music.
Please no Top Gear presenters-they're everywhere and wearing thin.
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why oh why no hd coverage,surely f1 is the sport to be shown in hd
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#108 I'm just glad it's back on BBC so it can be enjoyed properly! I actually like the trailer, most casual viewers wouldn't appreciate the difference between an F1 car and another formula and that's who it's aimed at as opposed to hard core fans. It looks great too and pays homage to Bullitt, The Italian Job and The Driver. I just hope the rest of the coverage measures up!
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Formula 1 back on the BBC is great news. At last! Coverage on belgian (flemish) TV has never been good (we don't have ITV).
Good luck to the entire team
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Again to those asking about HD.
The BBC CANNOT Broadcast F1 in HD because there is No HD Broadcast avaliable. FOM provide the BBC with the World-Feed broadcast & FOM do not broadcast f1 in HD yet.
The Australian 'One-HD' channel won't be true HD just upscaled SD, there are a few other broadcasters around the world that show an Upscaled SD feed. Even that F1-In-Cinema thing that was advertised as HD wasn't actually HD, it was just upscaled SD.
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Thank you "StefMeister2009", That explains the problem to me.
Lets hope the FOM start broadcasting in HD sometime during the season.
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#115 I think you will find Lee is female!!
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It really is one of the best jobs in the world, lucky sods. The lineup looks great for presenting, glad brundell is staying. Although please don't bias towards Hamilton as ITV did so blatently, an impartial take on racing is more entertaining rather than listening to dribbles about hamilton. Equal time focused on drivers would be preferred in my opinion, yes Hamilton deserves more attention than most others due to being champion, but there needs to be a continual coverage of drivers which weren't showed as much as they should have been last season, such as kubica, vettel and other upcoming drivers which aren't neccasarily at the front of the pack. I don't think an emphasis on British drivers is needed, F1 is such a global sport which transcends across nationalities that increased coverage on someone due to their nationality seems pointless. For example i foresee Button receiving alot of coverage in his new role in Brawn GP, which would be nice to have an initial insight into, but not an unjustified following of. Good luck anyway, i'm hoping for greater things from the BBC, as it tends to be the only channel i watch these days besides sky sports.
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hmmm...Might we have hit pay-dirt on the on-boards during qualifying issue?
What's that listed on 302 at the same time as BBC1 is covering the Saturday qualy session?
Also...I look forward to seeing which, if any, of the "new" graphic layouts are to be incorporated into the BBC's broadcast as described in the unsupported links below.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73763
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73568
Jp
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The plans for the BBC's coverage sound very exciting. I find the extensive use of Red Button channels 301 and 302 very impressive. I am hoping for good quality race analysis and conversation on the red button after each race and hope that time can be allocated for this to a more detailed level than may be possible on standard terrestrial services.
I agree with previous posts in hoping that the coverage isn't too "Lewis" orientatated and I hope that time will be taken to focus on all other drivers and F1 personnel. I too do not care too much for celeb interviews on the grid before the race and would rather hear longer comments from knowledgeable insiders such as Ross Brawn, Pat Symonds, Mike Gasgoyne etc.
Good luck with the coverage. You have made a great start with the website and these blogs. Hope that these inititives continue throughout the season.
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I'll reserve judgement until two hours' time when practice begins, but I'm hoping there will be an option to turn commentary off during practice sessions.
From what I've heard in the past, 5 Live's coverage hasn't been too great.
Either way, you've had some great ideas. The focussing on Lewis part worries me - I just find it hard to believe what benefits come from putting more focus on the Brit, no matter where we are. If there is a British driver being successful, it will do the talking for itself, you're not going to lose viewers for being neutral, but you will for being biased.
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I am a big F1 fan and have been watching for years. Having had a trawl round the revamped site there are some good changes and the multi platform attack is to be applauded... coverage across all mediums. The question is will it be good?? Most people posting appear to just be excited by the return of 'the chain'... if anyone remembers correctly it was actually the theme to the highlights show put out fairly late at night!... the reason being that F1's live slot used to run into Grandstand. I was a kid but people have such short memories! My only real criticism is the rather self congratulatory nature of these blogs... Personally I don't feel that the BBC, or its websites, should really be a platform for behind the scenes self aggrandisement. It happens on other BBC sport zones... editors justifying NFL matches etc? but really Jakes Pasta, Eddie Jordans band, pictures of hotels and luggage... The guys are their on our behalf to make a show. To me the less distractions they have the better. Time will tell... at Round 17 will the photos of food be so enthralling?... or does the banality of some of the subject matter hide a lack of knowledge on the sport?... I'll be watching and thanks for listening.
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One last thing...Why not focus on Lewis Hamilton? He's British, a world champion and for most of last season led the title challenge. Who would you rather hear about... Force Indias front wing issues? or Nick Heidfeld visiting an art shop...those stories have weight but they are not equal. It's a global sport so reflect the characters... but the story is who is winning the championship and who are his rivals? last year that was Lewis Hamilton and not DC, or Jenson... common sense.
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I was generally impressed with the coverage of qualifying by the BBC. Just one criticism. Can you tell Jonathan Legard to stop treating it like a horse race and to remember that Martin Brundle is also in the commentary box and has far more interesting things to say than just repeating the driver's positions, which we can all see on the screen anyway. ITV's one big asset was the informed comment of Martin Brundle. Don't waste it. I thought DC and Eddie Jordan got off to a good start and should spar well together when they get into the swing of it.
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A good start but two things need altering.
1. Tell Jonathan Legard to calm down a bit, shut up, and let Brundle speak more. It's Brundle's technical insight and information we really need not Legrand waffling on incessantly with info we can see on the screen.
2. Why, why, why do your editors insist on spoiling many of the additional pieces (interview with Button, Meet the Drivers, interview with Mark Webber etc etc) with overloud and completely unnecessary background music/noise. It spoils the content of the piece, often drowns out the message and adds nothing other than annoyance. Can I suggest you tell these editors that "less is more" and just because you can do something doesn't mean it's better.
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May i just ask why do we have to listen to awful presenters. Why do we have to have a kid's presenter fronting the wonderful sport of F1. He isn't very good at any other sports presenting so what makes you think he is any good at this? Also who is the main commentator of the actual races? Please let it be Martin Brundle. Listening to them in the qualifying stages was awful. Johnathan did nothing but interupt Martin who in my opinion is the real expert and all he did was shout! Tell him that he isn't on the radio now so doesn't have to be so excitable, we can see it! On ITV we knew that Martin was the lead commentator let it be so this time. He knows his stuff and is much more pleasurable on the ears.
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Congratulations on your superb coverage of the first F1 race. For what it's worth, here are my thoughts and I hope you find the feedback useful.
Free practice:
Fantastic to finally have this on the TV rather than just on a poor-quality website, and to have Saturday morning’s session is a bonus. The informal nature of Five Live’s commentary works well, a few extra guests wouldn’t go amiss though. Would it be possible, when bandwidth allows, to make an onboard feed available either through the red button or online? Oh and one tiny criticism: after the session could you please keep the stream open for a few minutes to broadcast the FOM highlights loop?
Title Sequence:
Obviously no complaints about bringing back The Chain, but the CGI car chase is just cheesy, it doesn’t really fit with the high-tech nature of the sport and the excellent “science bit” which preceeded the main credits. It would be much better to have some actual footage of cars, the highly popular fan version which has been circulating on YouTube is far better.
Pre-qualifying/race show:
You seem to have hit the right balance between in-depth features for hardcore fans and introductory items for new or casual viewers. Plus you’ve not fallen into ITV’s trap of effectively repeating Saturday’s show before the race. My only real gripe is that you could have made more of the published car weights and had Martin or somebody analysing what this might mean for race strategy.
Commentators / contributors:
Legard did very well for his first televised F1 race. He’s got a wonderfully calm and authoritative voice and doesn’t get carried away in hyperbole. There were a few moments where he and Martin talked over each other, and occasionally there didn’t seem to be all that much rapport between them, but I’m sure that will come with time.
Brundle was his usual competent self, but having listened also to the Five Live commentary I can’t help but think you’ve missed a trick by not enlisting Anthony Davidson: he’s got far more recent F1 experience and seems unafraid to say exactly what he thinks.
Jake Humphrey far exceeded expectations. He was laid-back without being too casual, and did a pretty decent job of keeping Coulthard and Jordan in check – most of the time. DC was excellent, but EJ threatened to dominate proceedings several times. There’s a fine line between having the gift of the gab and full-blown verbal diarrhea, and he crossed that line several times. He brings valuable insight to the team, but somebody needs to tell him to reign it in a bit.
Ted Kravitz and Lee McKenzie were, in my opinion, massively under-used. Kravitz in particular adds a great story-telling dimension to the race as well as a huge technical understanding. McKenzie was perhaps unlucky that there weren’t many retirements, giving her little opportunity to talk to drivers, but perhaps she could have been seeking out opinion and insight from team technicians. She also seemed a little over-awed at times, in her post-qualifying interview with Hamilton for example she didn’t seem to realise he’d scraped through into Q2.
Interactive services:
This for me was the biggest let-down, having been excited for months about the facility. Aside from it not being available during practice or qualifying, there was so much wasted space that if one were relying on just one TV, as I suspect most viewers were, the service was all but useless.
I understand the reasons why the BBC has to keep everything in the 4:3 safe zone, but surely anybody watching an interactive service is by default using a digital receiver or some description, all of which can be put in 4:3L mode for those viewers not yet using a widescreen TV.
It’s my suspicion that the interactive service will be mainly used by hardcore fans, most of whom are likely to have a “proper” 16:9 setup, so it makes sense to keep the world feed 4:3 safe but use the entire picture area on the interactive services.
Fortunately for me, I was using a 16:9 screen for the BBC ONE feed together with a 4:3 for the onboard channel. For a while, the mosaic failed and we were left with a raw onboard feed, and for me that was the best bit.
That said, the ability to choose commentary streams was welcome, and the CBBC team in particular should be congratulated on their innovative and, shall we say “quirky” style!
Scheduling:
Impossible to fault: all three practice sessions live, and a decent amount of pre- and post-race analysis. The interactive forum is a masterstroke: casual viewers won’t care about all the interviews and analysis after the event, but for us real fans the extra hour of coverage is highly appreciated.
Overall:
If it sounds like I’ve been overly harsh then I make no apologies. My expectations of BBC Sports coverage are so high that maybe I’m expecting perfection, but thus far the team have been responsive to constructive criticism and have provided pretty much everything that has been requested.
You’ve already exceeded anything which ITV managed in the last 12 years, and that’s to the credit of everybody involved in the broadcast. If you can address the few minor gripes which remain outstanding then you’ll have produced some of the highest quality sports broadcasting in the world today.
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AAAAaaaahhhh
We're under way again . . . grand.
F1 is back on the Beeb - excellent !
THE CHAIN call us to attention !!! Well done you guys 100 out of 100 for that :-)
Now then - presenters - this Jonathan character - he appears to be unsure as to whether he's commenting on a royal occasion or a horse race . . .
Any chance you could ask him to shut up and let Martin get a word in ?
And the guy who was talking to David and Mr Jordan - he appears to be superfluous ?
Finally - the government wishes at least half of us to go to University to get a degree level education - and whilst not everyone will have studies aerodynamics or thermodynamics or...
actually we are NOT as STUPID as you think we are. Please ask commentators to stop saying we won't understand (especially when it's obvious THEY don't :-) )
BUT - the CHAIN !!!!
A whole race with NO ADVERTS !!!!!!
Oh WELCOME BACK Beeb !!!!!!!!!!!
Stuart
p.s. where can I blog about the lack of any MotoGP practice coverage as promised ? ? ?
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p.s. your clock is wrong
:-)
it's now . . . 09.44
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Mark,
2 things from the weekend.
1.) Sort out the on-board mosaic, just go full screen like the website the current version is unwatchable.
2.) PLEASE consider using the feed that Premiere and other broadcasters are that has graphics outside the 4:3 safe area, especially during practice/quali where we are constantly having to peer through the current positions list to see the action.
I appreciate that people without widescreen TV's need graphics and would probably complain, so how about this...
On BBC One use the normal FOM world feed with graphics in the 4:3 safe area.
On the Red Button use the alternate feed.
Simple solution...
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Keep up the good work everybody, aint it nice to see the racing with NO advertising. Looks like it's going to be an exiting F1 season. Colin Atkinson.
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I agree with hdsport82. I have a 4:3 TV on analogue so would be very happy to see the 16:9 feed on the red button so I could still see the graphics on my TV. I enjoyed the post race forum over the internet very much!
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Mark
I would like to ask a question about Free Practice "loops" on the Red Button. Although I try to watch qualifying and the race live, I can't always do the same for Free Practice. In Australia there was a loop for Free Practice on the Red Button after the live sessions. I tuned in this morning at 0900 BST for a loop from Malaysia but it's not there. Can you explain Mark?
Many thanks
P.S. Enjoying the return of F1 to the BBC so far! Great job.
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F1anatic
If you have access to Sky or Freesat the practice sessions from this morning are looping on BBCi 1 with last weeks race looping on BBCi 4
A question for the editor - I recorded the first qualifying session this morning (it was on far to early, not something you can do anything about I know) but the timings on the BBC F1 Website are wrong as the sessions last 90minutes, the first session was shown as starting at 2:55 and finishing at 4:05 (75 minutes), you might want to get someone to check the timings for future sessions.
Great coverage this morning though, great to see focus on events when they happen with the Kimi Fire Extinguisher incident being a great example (I`m sure if coverage was still on ITV they would have gone to a commercial break at that point).
Hopefully some of the feedback given after last weekend has been taken on board, and the race commentary will be more in line with an F1 Race rather than sounding like commentary from the Grand National, and more commentary from Martin (he knows what he`s talking about).
Looking forward to the Forum after the race on Sunday (which guests have you got lined up for us?).
Keep up the great work, and if anyone from ITV is checking this blog out - Read it & Weep!
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Thanks armsoft. Unfortunately, I only have Freeview (the loop was there a week ago). Over to Mark ......
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Just a quick one for you Mark, please can you change the voice over person on the Practice highlights, their 1 tone post commentry of the practice sessions is so dull I can't managed listening to the whole thing.
I don't mean anything against them directly but I do look forward to watching the highlights.
Not sure if this has been asked but why no HD???
P.S> Keep up the good work!
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get off of lewis hamitons and mcclarens case. F1 has not been a gentlemans sport for years,he has admitted lying to the stewards and has been disqualified, end of case. Michael Schumacher admitted on several occasions to deliberatley running into opponents over the years to gain an advantage even securing a world championship at damon hills exspense.The FIA are in no position to pontifficate about morals, wrong doing etc. when headed by Max Moseley.
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Is there any chance of starting the live feed on the website earlier? I refresh the relevant page at the programme start time, but it doesn't appear until a few minutes into the programme.
Thanks, and very good job so far.
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Three words... Eddie Jordan... Why??...
Ok more than 3 words... He is Pompous, opinionated - and not even in a vaguely entertaining way like Clarkson.
My favourite quote of his this weekend was regarding "Ryangate" (which might have Mclarens lawyers twitching??)...
"I'm not here to aportion blame... but the guy who's voice you hear on the team radio...it's his fault."
In a sport of specifics and accuracy its bizarre that "EJ" allows himself to be so factually incorrect with his many sweeping generalisations.
DC was good...as was Ted Kravitz rather more factual appraisal on Ryangate.
For a while I had assumed my middle aged uncle had entered the room and begun commentating on the race... the lack of knowledge was about the same BUT it turned out to be Jonathan Legard. I'm sure I can hear his cordoroy trousers rustle when he gets flustered??
Weird race... weirder commentary... funny to hear so many people not know what was going on with the 10 minute rule. That is F1's fault... but I don't think Bernie has a blog??
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Ok, Ok, Ok, enough is enough!!!
We used to laugh when Murry Walker got something wrong in his commentary, you came to expect it, we all loved his `Murry~isms`, it was part and parcel of the whole deal, but its got to the point now where Jonathon Legard is getting beyond a joke.
Simple errors such as "Oh no, he`s gone off again" to be closely followed by Martin Brundle "No, thats just a replay" beggers belief!!
How much of Licence Fee Payers money is being wasted on this guy??
Bring back Murrey and we can all laugh along with him, but if you continue with Jonathon people are going to be switching off in their thousands.
Keep Martin onboard as the main commentator and give him some worthwhile backup in the commentary box so that we can get back to some sort of normality.
I`m sorry to have to say this, but the one thing that ITV eventually got right was a good team to listen to commentating on the race, and Ok, they made a right hash of the rest of it, but if I was not able to watch the race and could only hear the commentary "I would be severely Hacked Off!!!"
Ok rant over
Keep up the great visual coverage, your knocking spots off ITV!
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So pleased you have Mike Gascoyne this weekend. A MASSIVE, MASSIVE improvement on having "EJ". While Gascoyne is not the best natural orator he has very good current knowledge and was prepared to make some definitive statements/predictions on strategy, fuel load, tyre choice etc etc... a refreshing change from the typical EJ soundbite of absolute nonsense. For me it is a clear choice... Gascoyne should replace EJ at all races.
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I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your coverage of F1 on the BBC. The whole team seem to be working well to give a comprehesive viewing. (Jake Humphries particularly holds the discussions together well and David Coulthard and Jonathan Legard are a refreshing and informative change to the line up). Well done!
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EDDIE JORDAN...please get rid of him. I don't think he belongs on the television, most of his comments are nonsense. I know he's a very knowledgable person when it comes to F1 but I really don't care about his personal opinion. He just doesn't seem to gel with the rest of the team. He makes me cringe. Mike Gascoyne did a great job. And on another note can you pick some upbeat tracks for the montage pieces...The Killers just doesn't cut it, how about something more modern and cutting edge with a decent bass line to get the heart racing before the action starts.
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Please can you stop Mr Legard asking countless rhetorical questions in commentary... It shows the enormous holes in his knowledge and in my opinion his ability to do the job - asking the viewer what we think of Red Bulls performance/2nd sector time/Ferraris tyre wear etc is not providing context to the pictures or indeed providing "a running commentary" on what is actually going on. This is what he is paid to do?... I appreciate it's a difficult job - but if you don't know whats going on no amount of pre prepared statistics is going to impress. If I want someone to ask me rhetorical questions my girlfriend is usually pretty good at that!? Would like to hear more from Brundle BUT even his high standards are not quite as on the pace as before... or are they? - sorry couldn't resisit my own rhetorical question - but just what is going on in the commentary box??
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Guys, whats happening with the coverage of F1?
Why are the hour build ups are so awkward and sketchy with wobbly camera angles and DC and EJ constantly taking over each other if not the engines in the background. They seem to spend far to long over analysing the same things while the hugely informative bits from Martin, Lee and Ted are cut bizzarly short. And anyway, how come Lee and Ted 'in the pit' seem to be faceless voices - why do they seem to be kept off screen which just voice overs parts? And while im having a moan, who picks the backing music - its so somber - why not play out coverage to something as upbeat as the racing this season has so far produced? Come on people, you are the BBC! I know you can do better than this, you promised so much before the season started and for me have failed to match the hype. ITV did a cracking job of F1 but suffered because of the commercial breaks, but you lot have no excuses!!! Please do better!
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Please can someone have a word with Jonathan Legard. Has any one noticed how many times he uses the expresion "that must of been a real shot in the arm" !!?? Did he use to do drugs? Please stop using this expression.
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I have been a F1 fan since 83 so I have seen a few changes...;The coverage by the BBC of F1 is ok. Bernie moved it from ITV because the fans would get better value. Well I dont agree. The constant 3 man chat with Eddie, David and the presenter - Sorry forget his name ( and looks too young!)is getting a bit boring. It is not as slick at ITV and needs an injection of energy..Its not all bad but should be as good or better than ITV.
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well well well, the MASTER returns NO! not DR who, but the next best thing M shumacher one of the greatest drivers the world has seen what a coup this is for farrai bring it on boys im tremmbling with exitment PS vittel your a amiture mate compared to him
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SORRY what ever you say about the coverage by the bbc it's 100% better than itv it's advert after advert was driving me insane. well done mark brill job so fare and the beeb well worth the licence fee if only for the F1 coverage. And further more the reasons that i am takeing a dislike to hamlton is because of his comments at the start of the 2008 season when he refered to the slower drivers as THE MONKEYS AT THE BACK when commenting on the difficulty he had when he hit traffic on the 1'st and 2'nd run of qualyfing. sorry lewis but its your statagy was flawed and it was yuor team that got it wrong get a grip not every thing in life is handed to you on a plate and now it's 2009 who is the monky at the back what goes round comes round now you are the back marker in buttons way. just thought i would point that out.
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As a new member of the F1 Blog 'family' I want to add to previous comments about F1 coming 'home' to the Beeb!This is where it belongs, uninterrupted without infuriating adverts just as the only overtaking opportunity of a given race crops up!The BBC Team put together for this season are spot on.All we need now is for all the 'politicking' to get out of the sport as there are enough hidden agenda merchants in Westminster without tainting our sport with politics.Here's to a fantastic,more challenging last 7 races to this season!
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Mark:
Best Job
I am very glad, that you have the best job in the world....Enjoy it..
=Dennis Junior=
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So far this season the BBC have really shown up 'the previous broadcasters' lacklustre performance by pulling out all the stops and providing us with outstanding coverage.
People all over the world that could watch coverage from their own national providers and broadcasters go out of their way to 'download' re recorded 'torrents' of the beeb's F1 programming. While the legality of such actions is highly questionable, it shows us that the BBC's coverage is widely accepted as being the best in the world. Would you go out of your way to illegally download another countries coverage of Manchester United versus Arsenal? I think not. And, as mentioned previously in the comments on this page, rhetorical questions are great when used in context every now and then to spice things up, but start to leave a bitter taste in ones mouth after thirty or so servings per hour. Can you see where I'm going with this? Shall I state the obvious now or later?
After failing to improve his performance over 10 races this season, Nelson Piquet Jr was unfortunately given the red card by Renault. This must have been a tough decision for them. However, they are not the only team that have had to make similar decisions, we've seen the inconspicuous Frenchman Bourdais given the boot in a similar 'drag them from the car kicking and screaming' type fashion.
Alas, if I lived in the UK I would most definitely press my red button quicker than John Ehrlichman during the Nixon administration, and then breath a sigh of relief as Crofty and Davidson deliver a fast paced, witty and informative commentary. Legard isn't the worst commentator in the world. Compared to many in his field he's pretty good. But did pretty good save the collective hides of Bourdais and Piquet Jr? Can I possibly fit any more rhetorical questions one blog comment?
We are talking about a world class team and a world class sport. If you can't match the performance of your team mate, it's time to step away from the microphone. And what of his team mate? I could be wrong, but I get the impression that poor old Martin is struggling to keep it all together. He deserves the best. No disrespect to the BBC or Mr Legard, but Martin doesn't currently have the best beside him in the commentary box.
Finally, if we do have to tolerate another season of 'Leg-end' Legard, can someone please point out to him that 'Yesterday' is a three syllable word and not a two word phrase or expression.
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