When they introduced the new paddock pundits, they played a great video of DC winning lots of races, and then they introduced the second pundit... Damon Hill's helmet came into view and I nearly hit the roof... then I realised it was for Eddie Jordan disappointed! hehe

As for Eddie, I don't like the guy but was (and maybe still am) prepared to reserve judgement. Today he was quite annoying, especially the way he cut DC off and didn't let him ask Branson a question, but instead thanked him on behalf of the world for gracing F1 with his bearded presence and magnificent chequebook.

Eddie will probably turn out to be not a good choice for this role, he is quite full of himself. DC on the other hand was really good and kudos for sticking up for Button when Eddie basically called him a crap driver.

Brundle is one of my heroes so he can basically do no wrong Legard was ok, better than the annoying whine that is The Cock Allen.

Legard got off to a bad start when he couldnt say Formula One properly right at the start of the program.

Really? It seemed to me that he skewered Branson rather effectively, on his decision to make an abrupt about-turn, and open his magnificent chequebook when it became clear that the Brawn was a winning package. It was quite amusing. Plus, it was good to see two pundits disagreeing for once. You barely see that anywhere in sports coverage.

Th BBC Coverage reminds me of the old F1Digital+ coverage - the new crew will take time to gel a bit more - Leggard reminded me of Kenneth Wolstenholme, very fast and punchy, talking more of the on track action and not too much on off track politics or opinion - no more "now tell the dumb viewers martin..." - this is a very sober more grown up F1 coverage we have now and this is good for F1.

McKenzie sounded a bit pissed off to me when talking to Kubica. DC and EJ will def be the ones causing the discussions down the pub with people siding with either, neither or both at times!

The Friday gang of Croft and Davidson is a great combination and will set the weekend up.

Some cars are on the track, I think the F1 season has started, well it has now.................

Maybe my personal dislike of the guy just came to the fore I'm going to try and reserve judgement, give him a few races

Was thinking the same thing. As soon as Humphrey's or DC started talking EJ started looking around as if he wanted to find someone more interesting to talk to!

I got the impression that when they could keep his attention he was giving them 100%, but I got the impression most of the time that EJ was treating today as being little more than a chance to catch up with the Paddock.

I fully understand the people saying we need to give the team a chance, and we do need to do that, but dear Lord I hope they aren't this bad a few months down the line.

Jokes aside, I enjoyed DC and Eddie, there seemed to keep brushing each other the wrong way and I found that funny.

The overall coverage was fantastic, in my opinion!

The main commentary is going to take some time to gel with each other, however the practise session commentators were fantastic, and I guess it's easier for them as they are radio commentators by trade. Well, aside from Ant, but he was more the "technical guy" so...

My dad's dodgy freesat box is letting the side down here.

Jordan is a joke.

Always wanted to get back into F1 after his Jordan team failed, he never really wanted to leave.

It wasn't for lack of attention he just looked nervous and kept squirming in front of camera - quite uncomfortable viewing!!

All in all very good coverage though. Eddie might be good entertainment value but his comments were more in the Mark Blundell 'state the obvious' vain....not very impressive showing all in all from Mr Ego Jordan.

I preferred the radio 5 live commentary during qualifying, but overall very happy with the BBC coverage.

I only have two minor gripes with the BBC coverage so far, one is Legard - he's awful (IMO) and I just don't like his style of commentary. He's dull and time will not change that. The second issue is that the TV commentary isn't loud enough, the sounds on the track drown the commentators out, although for Legard this was a bonus.
Both problems however were easily solved by switching to the 5Live commentary - that is a great feature. Croft and Davidson have what Legard doesn't: Passion.

So far I'd give the coverage 8.5 out of 10. Drop Legard and it would be a 9.

I like the quieter commentary, it means I can turn the sound up for the engine noise without them 'shouting'

I agree about Legard, just hoping he'll become a bit less stiff as he gets used to it.

I'm just loving the way very specific, and potentially divisive or jarring from the viewer's point of view, individual personalities and feelings (and what seemed to be a set of presenters quite obviously told from 'on high' to follow a lowest-common-denominator policy centered around absolutely the easiest targets for arousing emotions) aren't being given the room to flourish to dominate the whole tone of the broadcasts any more a la Rider, Allen, Blundell... the complaint's been endlessly repeated, I know, but personally, I do absolutely prefer the more 'disinterested' (not uninterested or uninteresting, for those who know the difference) and inconspicuous approaches and styles of Humphrey and Legard, most noticably. You just 'don't notice them', in the best possible way. IMHO, it does make ITV's style look a tad unprofessional in comparison...

Well, that's it. It's finally here.

After 12 years of having Formula One race coverage interrupted by commercials, it is back. Tomorrow marks the first live race on BBC television since the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix.

This thread would probably not be here if it wasn't for you guys. I'd have probably ended up talking to a brick wall.... thank you all of you guys for discussing the coverage over the winter, discussing all the plans... some which are in full flow, and others which are now entitled "The thing that never was".

The "guessing game" can stop... the hours of "mind games" can come to a conclusion. Because tomorrow: Sunday, March 29th, 2009: Formula One is well and truely back on the BBC.

Sorry but no one these guys had anything on James Allen! They need to bring him back!!!

Oh dear....keep taking the medication.
You people need to assimilate something called 'perspective'


Jonathan is just fine.
He has a wonderful voice and will soon gel with Martin perfectly.

Great Job BBC!!!


Jp

hes better as a writer/pit reporter

Thanks for those D.M.N. The Polish one is hilarious, very day-time tv-ish. I like the BBCs then RTLs.

his blog is good.

Fnar! Fnar! Just got round to watching these! The Polish one is five-pints of awesomeness

The worst has to be the Spanish one though. They've just nicked the idea from Wipeout on the PlayStation.

DC was impartial and completely honest. Jordan was talking nonsense and ignored the fact that this IS the first time in Button's entire F1 career that he is in the fastest car. Unlike Schumacher who had the fastest car for most of his career. DC said lets try to compare schumacher if he was driving the same cars as button had for his career.
After qualifying Jordan then pulled a tantrum when Rubens didn't get pole as he had predicted, DC predicted button for pole. Jordan is in love with schumacher, you could see DC was cringing with embarrassment.

The quali show at least felt a bit disjointed to me but I guess that's normal, it was their first day at work together in a way, they got stuff to iron out and I am sure they will.

Personally Eddie annoys me a bit, but again it's a personal thing and I m happy to overlook it, I m sure other people will love him. Potentially though him and DC can be entertaining in as much as they do have different opinions on things and both are fond of sticking to their guns.

Jonathan Legard I feel needs a bit of work, he was making a few too many mistakes.

Branson calling himself a bastard on national TV was funny ... the apology by Humphrey was even funnier.

Fastest car... 2001 2002 2004 second half of 2006. BS, the majority of the time he was beating people who were in faster cars, most noticeably Hakkinen.

I'm actually surprised the BBC hasn't got enough flack as it has for hiring Jordan... again the bias towards the BBC is showing

Bit of a longshot, but I don't suppose any of you folks know the piece the BBC used at the very start of their footage this morning in the build up to the intro?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j6...ng/?src=a_syn30

I am sure I have heard it elsewhere, but can't quite put my finger on it...

The point was, as pointed out by Coulthard to Eddie Jordan, Button has NEVER previously had the fastest car in his F1 career until today. Schumacher had it for years with Brawn for the majority of his career (barring 92-93, 96-98 and 2005).

During the qualifying session, did you notice when he used the word "sense" (in a different context) three times over the course of a sentence and a half? IMO that was rather funny and brought back fond memories of Murray.

If Legard talks much less and, when talking, increases the number of silly sayings/errors he makes, I just might grow to like him. However, despite the fact I can't stand Hamilton worshipers and people with overly inflated egos, I always enjoyed the bulk of James Allen's commentary, and I have a strong feeling that regardless of how much Legard can improve, I will always miss the James/Martin combo.

James clearly was (is) totally obsessed with Formula 1. Listening to his commentary and reading his blogs, you get the impression that F1 is his *entire* life. That obsession combined with his (IMO) overall high level of intelligence and ability to quickly spot what's relevant, is what allowed him to work quite well with Brundle.

Murray, was just as obsessed with F1 and had endless F1 knowledge, but he was very (very) mistake prone, and I believe that - combined with his very likable personality - is why he was loved and why he worked so well with Brundle.

Compared to Walker and Allen, Legard doesn't seem nearly as obsessed (knowledgeable) about F1, nor is he as quick thinking as Allen or as mistake prone (funny) as Walker------and that could be a problem. His wishy-washy - no significant/meaningful traits/attributes - style of commentary (IMO) will never become a complement to Brundle's fine work, it can only hamper it.

I hope I'm wrong. . .

Excellent

Nothing will ever be perfect with f1, but I don't have complaints about BBC, I just love no adverts, anything else is a bonus.

I'm really liking the new coverage so far. The practice commentators were good, and the "main" guys are even better. It's nice not being frequently annoyed by JA The lack of commercials is the best thing about it though IMO.

I still like the SpeedTV commentary better (it's more fun/humorous), but the commercials are sort of a deal breaker. It really breaks up the flow/continuity of the action.

..wonder if DC will actually punch EJ today

That "this is F1" thing before the chain was pretty damn good.

I love that if you get bored of the stuff on bbc1, just pop on 301 and its 5 live's build up. Ill also be using that for commentary, i didnt like the other guy yesterday.

I can't believe I got up an hour early for the build up and they just rehash the quali build up.

I need an ad break. Gotta make coffee and feed the cats. I HATE BBC!!! BRING BACK ADS!!!




(I am being sarcastic. The coverage is excellent)

You know, I can't help it, but I just find EJ opinionated (in a bad way) and annoying. He talks more about himself than anybody else.

In fact, it's a pity that Branson can't replace EJ full time... He's a dick but a proper character...

Oh look. EJ berating Branson for not going to his gig last night.

Branson's certainly pulled a blinder by getting in on the BrawnGP gig, but let's not get carried away boys: his company is a SPONSOR. It's not as if he's the bloody Team Principal.

Branson thinks all "his" cars have to do is turn up and they'll win.

He wil get a rude awakening when both cars retire with mechnical problems before half distance. I wonder if he will withdraw his sponsorship after that?

Only thing they've re shown is the driver intros.

True, but given that Ross Brawn is openly more comfortable as a techie than a team owner Branson will likely be a figurehead and will certainly have a big say in the teams business and spending decisions.

I welcome him and Virgin!

BRUNDLE GRID WALK! My favourite bit

Ha ha ha. Love all the McLaren boys trying to get a look at the back of the BrawnGP cars, and all the BrawnGP guys standing at the back to block their view!

I agree entirely, but I still find the attention being lavished on Richard quite funny!

OK, lose the 'DeNiro in 'Casino' sunglasses, Jense, K'?

IMO Brawn GP is the the big story of the weekend Branson is a part of that and generates a lot of businiess interest at a time when sport needs that kind of interest.

I do love the grid walk. Brundle really does have balls of steel sometimes.

I would hope that 99% of the people down there know who he is. I wonder if we'll see DC doing a co-grid walk at some point? He must have a few connections too.

The circumstances of the beeb return has been surreal! The coverage has been fantastic so far. Just watched Brundles grid walk, as good as ever with the F18s ripping overhead! People talked down Eddie Jordan when he got the job but his insight into the dark side of F1 in the Virgin/Brawn deal has been brilliant. DCs driving insight has been far more applicable than Blunells ever was. Humphrey is engaging, confident and knowledgable. DC just pointed out that Pat Fry was one of the McLaren engineers examining the Brawns rear end. It cant really be any better

Legard actually sounds a lot more enthusiastic and passionate this morning.

Good grief! How fast is Jenson's car?!

Anyone else preferring the 5 Live commentary via interactive? Davidson is brilliant.

Davidson and Croft are great. I can't tear myself away from Brundle though.

I may have to watch the replay later on with 5Live commentary instead.

Legard and Brundle were excellent for me today, seem to have an understanding now, hardly cut across each other.