And whats wrong with that? I'll admit to studying workshop manuals, it usually helps when rebuilding engines.

God it was exciting

Well I had no idea what a driveshaft boot is either and I've watched F1 for 19 years. Maybe I'm in the "golly gosh" category. It was pretty obvious once I googled it. But then I don't drive and my knowledge of how a car works is quite basic. I'd have been happy with "problem with his drive shaft". Her error was probably trying too hard and going into too much detail.

I can understand why those who knew what this part is were frustrated that she didn't, but I can also understand why she didn't know and had to ask. I expect the person in the pits to be able to get answers and talk to the people that matter. That's enough for me. If an engineer tells her a fault that she has no clue what it is, but she repeats it anyway, then fine. I've no problem with that. Having a go at her for not knowing is imho just looking for reasons to find fault.

That picture

I honestly don't think EJ or DC were any good at all. Jordan for obvious reasons, where as DC was unenthusiasticly quiet, at 6 am in the morning nearly put me back to sleep. Humprhey I was pleased with however. Enthusastic without sounding like a complete tit.

I really think that the BBC need to improve the actual BBC One coverage as I think that's the only thing that's letting them down, everything else is top notch

If you don't pretend that knowing the intricacies of car mechanics is a minimum requirement for appreciating the sport, then there's nothing wrong with it. If you hold people in contempt because they don't understand what driveshaft boots are then you're a knob - and a bore.

I expect the experts to know more than either of us.

But she isnt an expert.

Come on, you really are nitpicking. I know plenty of F1 fans who wouldn't know what a driveshaft boot is. Holly isn't there for the technical parts of the coverage, that is exactly why you have a commentary team so each can bounce off each other's strengths.

I thought the five live commentary was fantastic, I might watch Malaysia live with the radio feed then try out Legard and Brundle again when they repeat the race as I don't think it's fair to dismiss them totally after one race.

I'm not nitpicking the driveshaft issue actually, I think we're overfocusing on that aspect. But I think its an important issue in principle because if you're going to try to do something you'd better do it well otherwise don't over extend yourself.

Think you need to chill out Ross and stop having a go at the BBC and the people on it. Every single year there'll be new fans joining the sport (particularly if their country has a new driver in the sport) and not all of them will know everything about F1 cars-so what if the BBC (and every other country in the world) has to cater for everyone. If you're that bothered, why not ask the BBC or whoever to provide an exclusive Ross Stonefeld commentary just for you, so you don't have to sit and listen to people telling you things you may already know about F1, cos strangely enough, 1 day however long ago, you were a new F1 fan, as all of us were, so won't have understood every little thing, and so no doubt were quite happy they catered for you as well as the hardcore fans at the time. Just give it a break and stop looking for every little minor potential fault from the BBC, instead just enjoy the fact you get to watch F1. If you hate the BBC that much, then just stop watching, at least that way you won't be seemingly concentrating on looking for faults with their coverage, rather than watching the coverage for the racing itself.

Well actually since I started watching F1 in America I've was 'raised' on a very knowledgeable commentary who catered for the kind of race fan who was willing to get up and stupid o'clock in the morning and watch teams and drivers on the other side of the world. I guess I was just lucky.

I think most F1 coverage, like the US coverage has, could use a 'tech commentator'. You have to be careful not to get a boffin because engineers are notoriously bad at explaining things in a non-scientific manner but it'd be a useful third voice along side the anchor and the colour commentator.

If you want an example of how you can do this, look at how Eurosport do their English MotoGP commentary, which is three nutters on a budget making the BBC look amateur.

The problem in compairing the US coverage to the Uk one ross is simple.
The US viewers are almost certainly going to be the hardcore fans, F1 isn't popular with the masses and it's very rare you'll get people there just tuning in and watching.
The British viewership is made up of a wider group of both your hardcore fans and then there is a large group of newer fans and the casual viewer. As such the commentary team and the production of the show has to be adjusted to cater for the casual and the new fan in an attempt to keep them interested in future shows.

Ross does have a point actually. Thee are a lot of us who'd appreciate more detail. They should not underestimate the casual veiwer's ability to learn. It may actually make it more interesting for everyone.

While I agree there is a fine line between the ability and willingness to learn, and being bored to death and confused/ put off for life.

I enjoyed the coverage. The lack of adverts was a real plus. Thought Legard was ok, an improvement on Allen, although that could just be enjoying a change rather than him being better.

Thought the forum was great as well, although that brings on to my main gripe: Eddie Jordan. Him being terrible was bad enough, him being terrible and trying his best to dominate proceedings was awful to watch. I hope he gets replaced.

i doubt very much that they make the BBC look amateur, i think thats just your 'slag off the BBC' urge kicking in-you really do need to quit slagging them off at every opportunity-if you think you can do better, as Jason said, email them your CV and hope you get a job with them

Sounds like you haven't watched the Eurosport coverage. Do you perhaps have a 'slag off Ross' urge kicking-in?

Surely it's not a matter of him thinking he can do better, but him thinking they can do better?

I don't think he has. And if he has, well he's in the minority here. Eurosport's Moto GP coverage is of the very best

Why would i watch the Eurosport coverage, i have no interest in bikes. And nope, i don't have a 'slag off Ross' urge kicking in, but you don't help yourself by slagging off the BBC for every little thing, even if theres no real reason to (regardless of what you compare it to, you seem to slag them off at every opportunity)

Why would you comment on the Eurosport coverage, if you have no interest in bikes? And nope, I don't have a 'slag off stevvy' urge kicking in, but you don't help yourself by slagging off Ross for every little thing, even if theres no real reason to (regardless of what you compare it to, you seem to slag him off at every opportunity)

if he has such a big issue with so many aspects of the coverage, maybe rather than slagging them off on here, he should email them with constructive criticism, and suggest ways to improve the coverage, if he hasn't done so already

if you have such a big issue with so many aspects of his posts, maybe rather than slagging them off on here, you should PM him with constructive criticism, and suggest ways to improve the posts, if you haven't done so already [sic]

No, please don't do that.

I'm happily in that minority, very happy with Suzi, Charlie and Steve.

when I said minority, i meant the minority that believed Eurosport's Moto GP coverage did NOT make the BBC's F1 coverage look amateurish

Actually I was comparing Eurosport MotoGP to BBC MotoGP.

That's me as well.

Did Coulthard get chin reduction surgery

Here's a bit of fun... hopefully enough to lighten the mood here.
Murray does his bit to tape.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/20...gp_moments.html

I know some of you will take exception but I loved Murray's bit.
To me he IS, and will forever be, the voice of F1.
He could read the phone directory and have my full attention.

Thanks again to the BBC for adding him to their massively impressive repertoire of coverage.
Jp

No he's just standing someone who's got a massively inflated head (EJ)

I'll say it again:

BBC --> Aims at everyone.
EuroSport --> The key phrase is "sport"
SPEED --> MotorSport channel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7974526.stm --> Murray Walker on Australian GP.

Wait a minute....
Did I ACTUALLY beat DMN to the punch just now?

unbelievable..

Jp

DMN or any BBC people (Jason/anyone), what, if anything, can you tell us about the longevity of DC and EJ's contracts?

If there is a perception within the BBC (and not just from we viewers) that it isn't working out is there scope for one or both of them to be replaced?

Anyone connected to BBC dare go out on a limb on this, or even post anonymously?

I would imagine they are on a contract until the end of the year. I doubt anyone would be on a race-by-race contract. Again, I don't know whether there be a "get-out" clause or anything if person A doesn't like working with person B. I'm guessing here... I'll try and get a definite answer.

At the same point we've only had one race, hopefully Eddie uses his brain a bit more in the future.

Can I just point out - it isnt the end of the world if DC/EJ etc etc retain their place onscreen.

Some of the posts on here seem to be from people who have lost touch with reality somewhat....

Its only a TV programme !!!!!

Shit, they're onto us!

jb26 says (at a guess) : Minimum of one-year for both with an option for further years.

It's a tv programme that you have to watch if you want to see qualifying, the race and any associated interviews etc and you just so happen to live in the UK!!

Get rid of the tyre screeching on the intro, and also put some real GP footage into the mix like they did in the old days.

Get Edwards to replace Laggard, Watson to replace Jordan and Michael Schumacher to replace DC.

James Allen remains a tw#t.

In NZ we get the world feed, so we were fortunate enough not to have to hear to much from Eddie Jordan. What I would like to say in watching the Friday and Saturday practice sessions we got commentary using Radio Five live with David Croft and Anthony Davidson on Friday and they were very entertaining and insightful.

I have no problems with the new coverage, I did pick up that it was the FIA who supply the onscreen graphics and I think there is a lot of work to do in that area, for instance instead of just showing the placings down the left hand side with the person in 1st with a time, it would be good for them to colour code it so you know who is on track and maybe show everyone's time, I know a little bit more like live timing then at least you would know what was going on.

Speaking of graphics, I could never understand why they changed the yellow graphics that had been used since 1994 to the tiny grey version. I can hardly see anything and it is bloody annoying.

1999 Malaysian GP on the red button at the moment, so I'll be watching these for a while.

Im surprised they didn't include 2001, but most Malaysian races have been dullllllll and historically uninteresting.

some of the races for oz and malaysia havent been available as choices due to technical reasons (eg they had 2007 as an option, whereas 2001 for example would have been a better choice, but there were technical issues regarding that so it wasn't an option)

cos they looked awful, and the new graphics are shiny. They're also pretty good I think.

I got it on series-link but have a problem that didnt happen when was on itv. Basically it recorded the qualifying and the rerun, then did the same on the live race. When on itv it was intelligent enough to not record the rerun.

Regarding higher viewing figures on the bbc no surprise considering last year hamilton won the championship and as such it will have generated interest and the fact the gp was on later this year, I also think many people have a bias towards the bbc and will have tuned in for that reason.