uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[Massa_number1]

I have the sky channel and I think aside from Brundle and Kravitz the rest are pretty awful and boring (natalie pinkman is ok tho corrr blimey guv!)

Lazenby is rubbish I hate they way when he tries to be funny he doesnt even finish what he is saying and just starts laughing? leaving everyone standing awkwardly until he composes himself.Humphrey was OK but as someone already mentioned he seemed too smarmy for my liking especially the way he 'dismissed' people after he finished interviewing them.

Get Irvine in for Hill to add a bit of humour and honesty,let Steve Ryder a man who knows the sport and is highly professional to present keep pinkman for eye candy, Ted can stay as can Brundle and although a pipe dream replace Herbert with Ross Brawn

[davyboy]

Well at least the Sky crew have basic maths under control.

[Tony Vandervell]

Can everyone else hear the cogs turning in Kravitz's brain?

[Paradise City]

It's a bit below the belt to throw that question out verbally. If it was written down on the otherhand, I'd be flying.

[Marbot]

Allan McNish seems like a good addition to the Beebs pundit crew, I think.

Insightful interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRoKW7LHz8

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Allan McNish seems like a good addition to the Beebs pundit crew, I think.

Insightful interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRoKW7LHz8

He's always been extremely articulate... even as a child ! I used to race against him in karts and he wasn't anyway near as nuts as the rest of us (!)

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Allan McNish seems like a good addition to the Beebs pundit crew, I think.

Insightful interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRoKW7LHz8

This is a really good look at what changes and skills the driver is going to have to bring to the race but I wonder if it isn't making GP racing more like endurance racing, and if the skill set doesn't belong more to long distance racing than a GP...

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

This is a really good look at what changes and skills the driver is going to have to bring to the race but I wonder if it isn't making GP racing more like endurance racing, and if the skill set doesn't belong more to long distance racing than a GP...

Agreed, I always get shouted at when I express the view that a GP should be a maximum attack sprint race, he who goes fastest for longest wins!

I don't want to see an economy run, a reliability trial or a service and tyre changing competition, I want to see 2 hours of cut and thrust racing!
Spot the error, what's wrong with GP racing!?

That is why I want to watch GP racing and not endurance racing, were a couple of good sports car sprint races in the past.

[Paradise City]

F1 has always had a tyre and/or fuel conservation aspect. If you want to dump all that, fine, but if you do that, you've created something entirely new.

F1 is something with everything in it, endurance aspects, sprint aspects, strategy, conservation and flat out.

When you had multiple tyres and indeed more leeway with regs .eg V8,V10,V12 you could vary it abit. Each car had more different potentialities and strengths and so on. Now it's regulated much tighter, cars are more predictable.

Think of the old WRC, fast, tough, required stamina (Safari Rally ) but stuff not on the scale of the rally raids.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

F1 has always had a tyre and/or fuel conservation aspect. If you want to dump all that, fine, but if you do that, you've created something entirely new.

F1 is something with everything in it, endurance aspects, sprint aspects, strategy, conservation and flat out.

When you had multiple tyres and indeed more leeway with regs .eg V8,V10,V12 you could vary it abit. Each car had more different potentialities and strengths and so on. Now it's regulated much tighter, cars are more predictable.

Think of the old WRC, fast, tough, required stamina (Safari Rally ) but stuff not on the scale of the rally raids.

I agree that there has always been a fuel conservation aspect and a tyre redemption issue in looking after your tyres. In fact I'd prefer no pit stops and a set to run for a full GP and be looked after.

This would be easy to set up by only allowing manual spanner tyre changes or do what NASCAR does and limit the number of people over the wall, so tyre changes required much more time and in effect having to change tyres cost you more time than it saved by running the tyre use as if it was a two leg sprint....

But my point was that there is a lot to think about in the issues that McNish brought up and I simply wondered if some of them were not appropriate to GP competition.

[S griffin]

Remember 2005? No tyre changes and as a result we had overtaking, even at Monaco. I know it wasn't everyones cup of tea, but I would take it over the stupid number of pitstops we've got.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Tony Vandervell

Can everyone else hear the cogs turning in Kravitz's brain?

I watched his notebooks on Youtube from Jerez testing and although you learn some interesting snippets, I think the fact he stands around a load of lorries at the back of the paddock turns a lot of people off. It really is dull for the most part IMO. Then again I don't think much can be made of testing as a TV program as its all guesswork and cars just going round and round. Testing can pretty much be covered by a decent written report listing all the interesting facts IMO.

I might be old fashioned with that view but I stopped watching free practise because I realised it was a huge waste of time and time I am not getting back lol.

[Tony Vandervell]

I'm the same way. For the first couple of seasons after F1 returned to the Beeb, I watched as many of the free practice sessions as I could; by last year I was down to a handful of FP3 runs - just the tracks I particularly enjoy. As you say, a well written report will normally suffice.

[bella]

i used to watch the bbc free practice sessions because the commentary, conversations and guests were so good that it was actually better viewing than the race itself

[VIVA GT]

When I had the time, I tried to watch as much free practice as I could (on the BBC - FREE practice). I felt that it gave me a lot more understanding and a feeling of a deeper involvement in the Grand Prix weekend.
A bit like many years ago, as a group of youngsters we would camp at the British GP, from about Tuesday before the race, even (sady) watch the transporters arrive and the teams set up camp & unload the cars. Thene there would be the unofficial (un-timed) practice sessions and the timed (qualifying) ones, all part of the build-up to the main feature - the Grand Prix itself.
As I say, this was when I was a youngster, and only had myself to worry about, so my time was my own. Now I'm a grown-up, with responsibilities to other family members, I can't always even justify the time to 'selfishly' wath the race, but that's my problem and not the fault of the BBC!

[henners88]

I used to get home from work on a Friday afternoon and watch the practice sessions on the red button or even sneak a look while at work. Crofty was quite good in that role with Ant and I really enjoyed Chandhok when he was a guest a few times. These days its rather dull and I'd much rather have a quick read of what has emerged before quali and watch the main sessions instead.

The truth be told I also can't dedicate that many hours to watching F1 these days and I am lucky to see quali. I usually watch the race delayed as weekends are too precious to be in front of the TV during the day for me. I just need the ability to get the Sky races delayed but in full now. Its a bit of a bummer when you either have to wait for BBC highlights or write off a day to stream Sky's coverage live. I doubt I'll be able to do that this season anyway with a new baby

[LC2guy]

Originally Posted by Tony Vandervell

by last year I was down to a handful of FP3 runs - just the tracks I particularly enjoy.

I agree Tony, testing and practice no longer hold the same interest as in my youth. I didn't bother last year with the practice report programmes either, even though i have Sky F1, but its a bit different this year due to all the new regs and various problems certain teams are having, and its cars NOT going round and round thats interesting, so its been very good this year. Next season i'll probably skip them again though as by then we'll know the status quo. If it were Le Mans however, i wouldn't miss a second of ANY session......

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by henners88

I just need the ability to get the Sky races delayed but in full now

I'm sure that Sky show full race coverage the evening following the race so you can watch it then on Sky Go ?

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Mr V

I'm sure that Sky show full race coverage the evening following the race so you can watch it then on Sky Go ?

That would be all right if I can avoid the result for in some cases 36 hours. I was thinking more of a Sunday evening a few hours after the race. I don't understand why Sky don't repeat it later in the evening as I'm sure a lot of fans watch delayed. Then again if you pay for Sky you can record it, so its only really for people using Sky go who would benefit.

I've always recorded races and avoided results for a few hours and watched at 5 or 6pm on a Sunday. I can still do this with the BBC races and thankfully I think all my favourites races are on the Beeb this year, but its still nice to be able to follow the season in full if I can. Highlights are ok for one of my least favourite venues like Monaco I can concede. Then again Monaco is popular with some.

[adam46]

Does anyone know which old Formula One car (or other single seater) is used in the Sky F1 ad? Obviously, much of it is CGI, but I thought some of it was real footage. To me, it looked like a Jaguar...

[MarkG]

Originally Posted by bella

i used to watch the bbc free practice sessions because the commentary, conversations and guests were so good that it was actually better viewing than the race itself

+1

[Knowlesy]

Interesting...



I wonder if he will be able to control the smirks when Seb has a reliability induced meltdown at some point this season?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I wonder if he will be able to control the smirks when Seb has a reliability induced meltdown at some point this season?

He'd be pretty sad if he resorted to that in public...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Interesting...



I wonder if he will be able to control the smirks when Seb has a reliability induced meltdown at some point this season?

Who, Humphrey?

He has trouble controlling smirks at any time.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by davyboy

He'd be pretty sad if he resorted to that in public...

The outrage would be delicious.