F1 back 'home'
The Chain (would have liked to see some classic bits in the intro like the old days but I guess the playstation generation liked it!)

EJ & DC Ok but do you really need an hour build up? 20 minutes pre & post race is fine

Never noticed Legard which is a GOOD thing ( as Murray once said the perfect commentary is when you don't notice the commentator!)

'The Cock' would have completely wrecked the end with shouts of yeeessss jjjjeeennnssssooonnn etc (see Hungary 2006) i would have bet on him making a Ross/ Banana comment as well!.....

Not bothered about press conference these days as I have heard 'for sure it was a tough race but the (insert as applicable) team did a really good job etc etc too many times to be bothered anymore (the last comment of any interest from a driver was Kimi's response to Brundle asking him if he saw Schumi's presentation

But overall best of all is NO BLOODY ADVERTS!!!!!!!!

Need? No.
Want? Yes.
Nobody is forcing you to tune in the full 60 minutes before or to watch the F1 Forum afterwards.

I thought at first that they'd have trouble filling in a whole hour of pre-show, but I must admit that they did it very well, with no features that were "unrelated" completely or lifestyle like.

20mins post race isn't fine-look at yesterday, race finished round about 22-23mins before the end of the programme,another couple of mins while the cars get back to the pits left 20mins, after the podium etc there was probably about 12mins left, press conference took about 3mins perhaps, left very little time to actually discuss the race itself (the start, the vettel/kubica collision, effect of KERS, whether Brawn had extra pace that it didnt use, various other incidents)

The biggest bonus was it was largely different features each time. Under ITV, if you watched on Saturday, there tended to be very little fresh content on Sunday until Brundle started his gridwalk.

BBC go looking for people if they want them. You never heard of the term headhunting? People like JA dont need to apply, they get approached. But why would the BBC appraoch him? The countless emails to BBC, numerous anti-ja blogs and posts to inflammatory posts JA blog by spainsh, italian,Brits, Aussies, Americans et al would put them off. JA knew he stood no chance.

If Ferrari was a British team it would have folded up a long time ago. The nation and government would bitch about it when things go wrong. Italy support the car, Britian the driver only when he is winning. There is no sense of solidarity in the UK and they would be quick to be PC to pander to and appease forigners and a few local whingers. You think the Italian Meida would refuse to re-hire a pro commentatory?

Legard is a complete joke - i just listen to the radio commetry.

Please don't tar everyone with the same brush. I for one have supported the same team for years whether they were winning or losing and regardless of the nationality of their drivers.

Hence The Forum afterwards - it was fantastic. A full hour of discussion.

Where was The Forum broadcast? Was it radio only? Shame it never made it to iPlayer, I would love to have seen it.

During the Vettel/Kubica incident, Legard's commentary was hilariously bad:

"There goes Vettel, there goes Kubica, that's the last thing they needed to do!"

Then in the aftermath, as we watched Vettel go off live, and then cut to Kubica's crash, Legard informs us:

"Ooooh, there's Vettel...and Kubica's gone as well!"


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7970504.stm

I think it was red button only but surprised it wasn't on iplayer

Only think it was on red button as everytime you ask people about it they get ratty.

Huh??? That was about the only part he got right.

That's what I thought

JL did nothing wrong in terms of that piece of commentary-how people can say he did is quite bizarre

He was stating the obvious, as if he was commentating for radio. We don't need commentators saying "there's Vettel" when we can see it on screen.

And "that's the last thing they needed to do", come on, it's schoolboy stuff, cliched to the extreme. Don't you think viewers would have worked it out for themselves.

Worst new member ever.

True F1 fans expect more. I suggest you stick to CBBC commentary in future, lad.

i really don't see the problem with what JL did with that piece of commentary (other than nothing) given his job (strangely enough, as a TV commentator) is to commentate on what is shown on screen. He commentated on the start and said rubens had a bad start..........we all saw that, as did everyone else, so he commented on it-he's hardly going to just sit there and watch the race and say nothing is he? Just because we can see something on screen doesn't mean theres no reason to commentate on it. Commentators all over the world for donkeys years have commentated on whats been shown on screen, thats their job

It will take time for him to adjust to TV.

JA petition has 25 "signatures" --> http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ja842563

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/20..._a_memorab.html

Nice little behind the scenes tale from head man Humphrey.

For a guy so young (even in his 30s yet?) he has incredible poise, nerve and clarity. Consumate professional.

LOL.

You do realise that in Italy, they have always destroyed Ferrari in the media for every bad result.

lol! Too right. I thought JL was ok - I barely listen to the commentators anyway cause they usually miss half of what's going on - still nice to hear them babbling on excitedly in the background though.

i thought they all did a very good job for their first effort. It certainly wasnt perfect but i dont think it very realistic.

I enjoyed JL, more so than James Allen.

I thought DC, Brundle were very good and EJ was an annoying twat, but hey, im sure there are lots of people who do enjoy his twat style and he certainly gives a different perspective.

The intro they used before the race was pretty awesome too i thought. I didnt hear the radio commentary but will give it a shot when i get a chance in the next few races.

Hello everyone,

As you all know I produce the BBC Radio 5 Live coverage.

Regarding the point above there are no token presenters on the coverage, you should give the BBC a bit more credit than that.

First of all how many of you can tell me what a "driveshaft boot" is?

Secondly the reason for Holly to throw the question to Anthony is what is called a production device. Ant is the expert on our team and as the expert he is in a much better position to explain the device and how if it was broken, the reason why it should be replaced and how it affects the performance and reliability of the car.

We have to cater for all types of fans, from the well informed to the un-initiated. Therefore our coverage should be balanced.

If you had listed to qualifying on 5 Live you would have heard Holly speaking to Lewis, ahead of all other broadcasters, about why he was not taking part in Q2. She also brought loads of extra info from other teams pit to car radio that you dont get on the world feed. In addition if you had listened to our Thursday night preview show you would have hear the exceptional interview she did with Jenson. Her strength lies in the fact that the drivers like and respect her, and relax in the interviews she does with them.

Anyway if you have any questions about our coverage I am more than happy to answer them, but please remember the bigger picture, we cannot focus our output on the die-hard fans, we have to be aware of the whole mix of our audience.

Cheers,

Jason

Yeah that is a harsh call, i remember hearing that conversation. In saying that, she did miff the name of the part and got a case the word muddles when doing the flick pass to AD, but those here for a few years know I am just as bad (though I am not paid for it).

Jason, one has to remember that internet forums only represent a minority viewpoint, and it's a just a few who complain about everything -- the kind of people who you don't want to be in a pub with.

I thought Holly was pretty good It's going to take a few races for things to gel. Keep up the good work.

Seriously? Most car fans would know that. You don't need to be an engineer to know what something as simple as that is. I expect that as the minimum at the BBC. Don't insult us, you have no excuse to provide anything less than the best service.

Ross, the BBC have to attract towards all audiences, you do realise not every single of the 5.2 million people that watched the F1 is a diehard fan, some are just "general" fans... for some they may have just watching recently. You can't just assume that every fan is a diehard F1 fan.

It may be insulting our intelligent, but the aim is to attract to new (and existing) audiences to BBC F1 programming.

I don't see what you problem is: BBC F1 increasing F1 popularity = Net positive.

Not for us it isn't. The more the demographic widens the more the coverage has to be 'something for everyone'.

And knowing what a driveshaft boot is isn't some great insight like knowing how a three damper system works or differential pre-load, it's a fundamental piece of any vehicle on the road. Not knowing that is one level above "Golly gosh these cars are fast"

That said I know how TV production works and how questions are pitched to the colour commentator so he can explain them so whether Holly (or anyone else) knows what a CV joint is or isn't, they could at least do a better job of lobbing the question.

Granted it's not going to be seamless the first weekend, but you should expect a lot more than some of this. They've had a year to prepare for this and it's not like the BBC hasn't covered F1 or major sport before. I think its just another example of how the potential of the broadcaster is limited by the people it uses, both on air and off.

I knew what a driveshaft boot was when i was still at junior school.

Its self explanatory really, just a rubber cover which protects the CV joint from dust/debri.

The most surprising thing was that Ant Davidson didn't sound 100% sure what it did.

Dude, did the BBC touch you inappropriately as a kid, or something? Or is the cold getting to you on that high horse?

A driveshaft boot is an easy one for anyone remotely interested in car mechanics, HOWEVER I'd way sooner have specifics like this, than a dumbed down "problem with the drivetrain" or "technical issues with the rear of the car".

Thumbs up for Holly getting the specific item that had failed.

I like the idea of getting people interested in the techinical side of the sport, rather than dumbing it down as just: Car, Engine, Gearbox, Wheel, Tyre. This forum is only representative of the F1 nerds that live the sport, and so will know tehnical names. Myself included. I would bet the majority of BBC F1 viewers WOULDN'T know what a driveshaft boot is.

It would have been much easier for Holly to just give a vague dumbed down description of what was wrong, and look knowledgeable, but I'd way sooner she do what she did, and get as MUCH info as possible, and feed it to the commentators.

People are just moaning out of elitist snobbery because they know what a driveshaft boot is, and you're on a forum of hardcore nerds.

Moral of the post:

Don't dumb the sport down (you haven't yet, I'm actually impressed) and Holly did the right thing.

Ross,

Clearly you have issues beyond what we broadcast.

I would like to know exactly how much you know about production, TV or otherwise, rather than hide behind statements on the internet...

If you think that you can do a better job then send me your CV and we will consider it, but judging by the way you speak to people on this forum I would not let you near any of the guests on our show let alone behind a microphone.

Educate, Entertain and Inform.

If you simply want experts to be on air talking about the smallest details then I think this would be ultimately the dullest broadcast in the history of the sport.

Radio is there to paint the pictures, it is to create excitement and ultimately deliver a show that appeals to everyone.

The saying "you can't please all of the people all of the time" is very true, but if I can please most of them then I and my team are doing their jobs.

I am more than open to criticism and welcome all constructive feedback.

Cheers,

Jason

I like cars and I don't know what a drive-shaft boot was, but then I watch F1 to be primarily entertained, an if I'm educated long the way... that's cool.

I don't know what a drive-shaft boot is

Although that might fit well with Ross' view of posters here

Ross clearly has an epic chip on his shoulder. His behaviour in this thread, (and others) is becoming increasingly incoherent and out of touch with the people who visit this forum and read the magazine. Quite why he continues to visit a forum, who's members he seems to universally resent, I don't know.

Quite extraordinarily, given his position, I'm considering adding him to my ignore list.

I did not know what a drive-shaft boot was either. I could have had a guess that it was the same as the infernal CV-Boot which seems to spend it's life splitting to give MOT's something to talk about, but I did not know what it was for sure, and anyone pretending that the majority of F1 viewers did is kidding themselves.

All I can say to JasonSW is that radio commentary during the FP's was fantastic, one of the best I've heard I think. Ant Davidson is fantastic, and the chemistry in the box is great. I probably shouldn't be saying that, but as a non-UK resident I'll take a close look at whatever tricks one can do to listen to it (be calm, stevy1986, I'm leaving the sacred BCC iplayer alone) online, proxies and such.

God you're a nerd. I've never heard of a driveshaft boot, and don't bother explaining it to me because it's likely to be boring beyond belief. I watch F1 to enjoy racing, not learn car mechanics 101. I guess you have the Hayes manual as your bedside reading? An F1 show hosted by and for the trainspotting contingent isn't going to be of interest to most people. You're just going to have to put up with the national broadcaster aiming for a wide audience.

Small world: James Allen sharing hotel with Anthony Davidson and Jason

I'd love it if there was a way to switch the 5Live commentary team onto the TV, as I've always liked Crofty and I think he's a really good commentator on the radio (although admittedly he got a little ... over-excited at times when he called our races for ITV last year...). Although I guess even if there was you would only be able to do it live, which doesn't help me much when I get back home after the weekend and sit down to finally watch the F1.

I think there is, but I think it's limited to when you're viewing the interactive channels? I wasn't entirely sure how that system was working and on one occasion wasn't getting sound through the onboard channel.

But won't that give you just the 5Live feed and not the feed from the trackside cameras that are also giving you the audio from the pictures you're seeing? Or are they pipping in the camera feed/audio and then just overlaying whichever commentary option you've selected.

I'd just love to hear 5live from the internet and mute the TV card with one clueless knob and a second guy who sits in the box watching livetiming and knows exactly as much as I do, aka Polish commentators.

Heh, there is, it's called the red button, and it's marvelous

Oops read your post a second time, sadly I don't think you can do that over the internet, but we can in the UK. Good to see our licence fee going somewhere other than Jonathan Ross's bloated backside

I don't want to do it on the internet, I want to do it on the digital recording on my Virgin box when I get home from the track. I realise that there's probably little to be done in that case, but maybe there is: they're adding all sorts of technical do-dads to TV all the time.

Like the chain coming back as theme, also enjoy Brundle,Kravitz? and Eddie J but rest of them sound as if they are BBC News readers with their lisping,genteel acents so had to keep turning sound down. Im guessing DC got the job via his Manager (M.Brundle) as can see no other reason why.

I was able to flick through the none/5 live/ BBC1 / CBBC commentary when watching the re-runs as they were broadcast - but I don't know of any digital platform currently able to allow that sort of interactivity when watching a recording.

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured, but if anyone knew of a solution they'd probably be on here somewhere.

I'm an Automotive Engineering student and you saying that is the first time I've ever known, so no I'd say it's not exactly common knowledge tbh.

We use the same international sound feed that TV use. It is mixed in stereo for the red button coverage but on the radio mix we use a mono feed.

Try the red button


edit:waaay to late with that comment