Yes, pretty good start from the BBC. A lot better than ITV...so far.

I hope they resist the temptation to bukkake all over Button as ITV did over Hamilton.

All commentators good - agree with comment above re. EJ, but that was always going to be the case. He is capable of being a master bullshitter, but he was not quite as bad as expected.

Never warmed to DC as a driver, but his comments were interesting and insightful, and I think he may have finally found his forte in F1.

So far, so good...

Oh, and quite nice to hear Ted in the pits...always an excitable schoolboy. A nice link (in addition to Martin) from ITV, even if it represents its less capable side...how gutted must James "The Cock" Allen be to hear Gravitz's voice

Having no commercials is great, although less clear when to make a cup of tea or have a slash...

Can't disagree with anything you said there. I preferred David Croft (Five Live) over Legard too, but I'm sure it'll take a few races before they settle into their roles.

For me, the real difference was having no commercials, it just felt a little more relaxed rather than always thinking about crowbarring a break in at any point.

Gonna do that for the race, leggard is not tolerable.

Hamilton qualifying so badly is news, whatever country you are in, so it gets airtime. When Schumacher qualified badly it was news, when Hakkinen blew it it was news; when the current champion is languishing at the back of the grid, it's news! - Don't start another anti-Hamilton witch-hunt, we have far too many of them already.

Next, another 10 pages of Massa v. Raikkonen; Button v. Barrichello; Hamilton v. Kovalainen; not forgetting the all new, singing and dancing Webber v. Vettel thread..................................

Does anyone have a BBC red button link to the qualifying replay?

Could we possibly keep this thread spoiler free?

Reading this thread tells me that people truly are lenient towards the BBC after Button was only showed in the press conference. If I recall correctly, there was a huge fuss about ITV only showing Hamilton in press conferences after race/qualy then immediately cutting back to the pundits. This is quite bad considering ITV is a commercially run broadcaster which has been losing money for who knows how long, while the BBC are publicly funded.

Ah well.

No Brundle though :\

They didn't just cut back to the pundits though, they had just grabbed the owner of the company who had just sealed sponsorship of one of the most 'amazing' (as in stories) teams in F1 history. It wasn't like they were cutting back to Steve Rider and Blundell to read out a number to text to win a trip to the Monaco GP.

I felt it was justified.

Bit hard to keep a thread about TV coverage "spoiler free" - and, you know, actually have a thread on tv coverage.

And he was the pole-sitter. I'm not a big follower of Press Conference's because very little is said. I need to hear from the pole-sitter and the race winner, and potentially 2nd and 3rd place (race)finishers if they were directly involved in the battle for the lead instead of just cruising around a few seconds behind.

I thought the coverage was good in general

no ads

Brundle

Jake, DC & EJ

Legard, first time out, will do better as he gets used to it. Though I wanted Crofty to get the job JL deserves a chance - he hasn't even done the race yet!

Missing 75% of the press conference

Digital coverage (now watching the re-run on the red button)


Seeing Richard Branson interviewed with the Kingfisher logo behind him = priceless

I can't link to a TV unfortunately. Um, should be on BBC iPlayer shortly: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j6...rix_Qualifying/



Don't think that's remotly possible if we are referring to a commentator when say Driver A passes Driver B.

For those that haven't seen or want to see it again to comment on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7969481.stm - BBC F1 title sequence

I thought it was very amusing when the coveraged stopped and it said "sorry for this break", well we've had to put up with it for 12 years one more won't hurt.

If you are in the UK try 301 or 302 on your Freeview. It's 302 on mine. Presumably the same on Freesat.

I have to say that Jake was much better than I expected, and was amazed to read that he's 31, he looks about 16.

I thought Legard was good, he and Martin just need to find their timming together.

Ant Davidson in FP1 annoyed me silly though.

Well, overall I was quite pleased with the BBC's effort.

It was certainly not perfect, but -Brundle & Kravitz aside- the whole team was brand new to live television presentation, I think. There must have been nerves for such a high profile initiation, and we have to make allowances for that.

Probably the most obvious negative aspect was Jonathan Legard's commentary. It was very evident that he had developed a 'radio style' during his years as 5Live's commentator, and he needs to adapt a little more for TV work. His first live qualifying commentary was, it has to be admitted, a little worse than James Allen's was on ITV, but that is the point: it was his first. I am fairly sure he will improve as he & Martin develop a working relationship.

I've never heard of Jake Humphrey, but I reckon he did a reasonable job of gluing the off-track sections of the programme together. He was neither too 'in your face' nor 'smarmy' nor 'plastic'. And he seemed to have a reasonable knowledge of what he was talking about.

I thought DC & Eddie looked as nervous as hell, again something that will improve as they gain experience, and I enjoyed what both of them had to say. Eddie in particular, as a former team-owner, knows the inner workings of teams and the questions he put to both Ross Brawn and Richard Branson were refreshingly different to what we normally hear, and quite enlightening. The DC-Jordan banter seemed to me as if it was artificially planned; they will probably get much more natural in the future.

I liked the intro, with 'The Chain' and all, and I'm sure I spotted the classic footage. (Didn't 'Our Nige's' Adelaide blow-out feature in it at one point, amongst other bits?)

I was a bit confused by the red-button 'alternative audio' though. It came on the screen at the beginning of Q1, and I pressed the red button to see what it was, but the screen I then arrived at showed no clue as to where the alternative audio was. I think they need to improve the workings of that. (It may have improved later in the programme; I only tried it the once, when it first appeared.)

It has to be said that the complete lack of any advert breaks would have made the BBC's coverage superior to ITV for me, whatever it was like, but all in all I think they did very well.

My verdict: Big improvement, but can -and no doubt will- get even better.

I prefer to listen to racers than to owner of big company sponsor.

What was stopping the bbc showing a recorded branson interview after the PC? then they would have even been able to edit out the B word.

It's a shame you can't select commentary combos, as croft from Five Live is good, but Brundle is 'the voice of (modern) F1' for me.

Croft and Brundle! Someone start a petition

+1!

Such sour grapes from Coulthard. He looked like he was chewing wasps!

So bitter, just because he spent years in the best car and never looked close to winning the WDC.

I think it'll take time for Legard to blend in, but to say "replace him" after the first session is a bit laughable to say the least. I agree, it wasn't the best TV commentary with them talking over each other at times, but over time they will get better.

Besides, why Croft? Those of you who watched GP2 last year on ITV4 would have heard Croft's "shouty" style. Also, Brundle and Croft do not have a good working relationship I believe, I think Croft was the original choice to be alongside Brundle, but that never happened as Brundle did not want to work alongside Croft.

The show ended straight after the interview, so I think they thought they would have run out of time.

I imagine at future races (that are during the daytime) you will get a longer show after the end of qualifying, and possibly on the rerun this afternoon.

No idea about the Brundle/Croft relationship, but much as I love Crofty as a radio commentator he talks even more than Legard did today when he's doing TV commentary and despite having been doing it for a while now he never blended into TV commentary, radio is his place.

I don't blame him. Croft is awful. In Brazil last year he didn't realize Hamilton passed Glock to 5th and looked like a numpty when he crossed the line. Brundle on the other hand was quick to spot a struggling Glock. But yes I don't blame Brundle at all.

Yeah...

'cos that Ferrari in 1995 was sooo much the championship winner, Schumacher had to get one for 1996.


DC bitter - no surprise. He had 3 years of potential championship winners and threw them all away.

Did they stream FP3 ?

I can't find it on their website anywhere.....

He did do a good job. That was a complete surprise to me as I thought he would be the weak point in the package. A clear case of somebody improving given enough time.
Legard was a little disappointing and does need to work on changing to a TV style, but he was very nervous, and needs to be given time.
Good though. A nice mix of the different drivers.
They do need to show the full press conference though, that was always the letdown with ITV.

They did, but the full FP3 nor Quali are on there yet. I think they are being streamed on BBC Red Button right now though.

Jordan will say things that people are uncomfortable with - even if it is the blatant truth.

Jordan will talk Crap... What was that rubbish about Brawn getting a different Engine to the McLaren... Total BS...
I preferred listening to Croft and Ant...

It is entirely normal for a customer team to be a spec below the factory team.


Simply due to manufacturing limitations on new parts if nothing else.



But of course, you know better.

Are there 'steps' anymore with the engine freeze?

The engines are manufactured exactly the same, however they are then tested on the dyno and there are always slight differences in output. McLaren get first pick of the batch, I don't know if Brawn or Force India get second pick or whether their engines are randomly selected from the rest.

I would expect Brawn to start getting second pick as Mercedes will want them to stay at the front. I'm surprised that they haven't yet badged the cars (unless I've missed it).

Great coverage but I never ever want to see Martin Brundle's man boobs again

Yes it is laughable which is why it warranted a

I don't know or care much for the politics between the crew, I was just saying who I preferred, and in an earlier post in this thread, I said it would take time for them to blend in if you'd care to read it.

Jesus, I'm already sick of Eddie "alluded to" Jordan, he's a verbose version of Mark Blundell, but with fewer grammatical errors. I hope they replace him next season.

The rest of the team looked great - top marks to DC and Jonathan Legard made a very good first impression. Jake Humphrey seemed very adept too. Not radically different from ITV's format, but a lot less cheesy.

There's a petition here to ensure that it never happens again...

Never liked Eddie Jordan anyway - far too bitter. DC is brilliant. Legard needs to get a bit more comfortable with Martin. He'll get there. He doesn't sound like a man who thinks he is more important than what he's commentating on.

As I maintained for 5 months.

F1
-James Allen
-Adverts
=Win.

And indeed, it was a far FAR better experience than ITV.

Boring, boring - Haven't BBC been watcing ITV for the last few years? By now they should have some idea!

Untill Brundle turned up, I was ready to switch off. With current events in F1 there was lots to get excited about, but they failed to convey any excitement.

The pre-made inserts were apalling, especialliy the one with DC reading his lines in absolute monotone. And which numpty thought plink-a-plink music behind the talking was a good idea? DC and EJ's interview techniques are so ameteurish I cringe.

After seeing the wonderful CGI with two Red Bull cars on BBC News I was looking forward to great things, but was so disappointed.

I hope they buck their ideas up very fast, otherwise it's going to be a yawn watching races this year.

There is zero chemistry between Brundle and Legard. And I can't see it happening either.

I knew putting two no.1 commentators together wouldn't work, and a radio commentator at that.

Bring back James Allen!

Here is a petition:
Bring Back James Allen Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/ja842563/petition.html

ROFL123

The only thing that disappointed me was a fully CGI opening sequence. With all the access to footage they had, they could have done FAR better in my opinion. There's a fan made BBC F1 2009 intro on YouTube that knocks the SOCKS off the BBC one.


CGI is boring when compared to real F1 footage. You can tell it's been made by a group of media nerds.

Fortunately, it airs only once per broadcast. Unlike the massively obnoxious Sony idents, which, when added together, accumulated more than an entire race duration of air-time during ITV's time as F1 broadcaster.

If James Allen is brought back - I will hunt down the director general of the BBC, and shoot his dog in the face.

I pretty much echo the comments that almost everyone else has said.

Fair enough to Legard that it was his first session so there is room for improvement, but even when he wasn't talking over the top of Brundle he was fairly boring. Let's give him a chance to improve and hopefully work out a system with Brundle (they really need the pat on the shoulder system, Legard kept guessing when Brundle was finished and started talking, only Brundle wasn't finished...) and if it doesn't pick up after a few race weekends the BBC really should take action fast and replace him. If they don't then they'll quickly end up with a Stop The Cock type situation and basically the entire nation will start resenting BBC's coverage based on one guy who can't do his job properly. I do hope he'll improve but I spent the past hour just really really really thinking to myself "Why the f*ck didn't you hire Ben Edwards?"

Jake Humphrey needs a bit of time for his obvious nerves to calm down, but that will come naturally.

DC was as boring as I expected to be and his interview-technique with Ross Brawn had me cringing.

Eddie Jordan started off a bit wooden but loosened up by the end of the show and was actually very entertaining by the time the Richard Branson interview came up.

Ted did a stirling job as usual

Overall I would say that today's coverage was a bit flat and lifeless but I put that down to the above reasons, which have every chance of being ironed out over the next few weeks.

The opening title sequence....yes indeed welcome back The Chain....if only we could hear it!! The over the top car noises take away from the drama of The Chain, a bit idea. And that CGI Gotham Street Race stuff is just crap. It seriously looks like it's in place just to try and draw in people who's sole experience of racing is the Fast And The Furious or Playstation2.

If it HAD to be CGI why not have them racing around something resembling a race track, rather than a city centre???? They don't race around city centres !!!

Martin Brundle was never no1 commentator at ITV and he isn't at the BBC.

I think he spoke so much today because he got sick (as did all of us) of Legard wittering on non-stop.

I understand they've done several practice runs, so why they got it so appalingly wrong today is beyond me. Legard was acting like one of the amateurs you used to see on the fan-commentary option on Sky football, where they used to talk over each other all the time.

thought it was pretty good coverage

couple of things I'd change though...........

get Eddie Jordan as far away from a mic as is physically possible

and get DC in there with Brundle, and let DC run his mouth off, both funny and informative.

Yes they do. Monaco. Singapore. Valencia. Abu Dhabi.

I though it was quite obviously an artistic interpretation of Valencia and Singapore. One of the buildings in the background of the CGI was part of the complex of stunning architecture in central Valencia ( an Imax theatre, infact, about 2km down from the circuit, between the Palau and the Museo )


Meanwhile - good luck Rolf.

1 Total Signatures

If you add up the various get-rid-of-James-Allen petitions on that same site, it's about 2000.

But then, from a guy who thinks he understands the tech regs better than the scruitineers - I wouldn't expect anything less.

Edwards did go for the job, but was overlooked as he refused to give up his other motorsport commitments (A1GP, BTCC).

The ITV situation was unique. Although Allen did the race starts, they were essentially equals, despite Brundle (as with most ex-drivers) being brought in as a definite no.2.

An orthodox no.2 cannot run the show himself and does not know how to keep talking and avoid silence. But Brundle can do this, this is why I call him a "no.1" even though him and Allen were pretty equal - a bit like the 2 guys who do Moto GP on BBC.

But Legard is a radio guy. He talks way too much. In radio it's important to really show emotion in your voice to give an idea of what is happening visually. This happens in football too and you can tell when a goal is going to be scored from the commentator's excitement.

Legard's radio style just doesn't suit TV. He needs to slow the hell down. I think he should stick to radio because it's his forte.

Bring back James Allen!!!!!

Incidentally, see here:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74006
Allen is now working for the Financial Times!

I think some people need to let the whole BBC F1 team settle in a bit. Its only their first GP after several years with ITV. I think they did a very good job. Legard and Brundle will settle given more time. I thought that Legard for his first GP was good, informative and not gushing and focussing on key points.

I think that the pundits in the paddock need more adjustment. The camera angle needs to be better. EJ is upfront and honest as is DC and they agree and disagree on matters which is what you want to see. The camera angle should either focus on the chest up because they focussed on one angle to get all three in one shot which was a little awkward given their standing position. Humphyries did a very good job for his first GP and was a more informative anchor man than what we had last season.