F1 UK Coverage Thread - 2019 Season

I'm pretty sure it came out that ITV instructed the commentators to go mental over British drivers in around 06. Never mind the Hamilton nonsense in 07, the Button over the line in Hungary 06.... 

I'd be delighted to have James back, the first post Murray was always going to look worse than they were. 

Not put SkyF1 on recently, is there anymore features on Johnny Herbert? He won the 1995 British Grand Prix don't you know? 

Steve Jones is confirmed to host C4's coverage.

Testing coverage OK but it does include Mr. Croft on extended practice form.

Glourious shots towards the end of the session with the sun going down

Testing coverage OK but it does include Mr. Croft on extended practice form.

 

Glourious shots towards the end of the session with the sun going down

I watched five minutes of it. Switched off. It was boring. Report at the end of the day is enough for me.

Along with the gold, the are some real garbage elements to Sky F1.

I agree 100% the main feed needs a better director. They've taken criticism to the extreme and now almost never show the first 5 positions. It takes all the narrative out of the race. I would rather see Hamilton on top of his game out front or Vettel and Verstappen chasing him down, than to be shown constant meaningless tit for tat 12th place battles.

I don't watch F1 to see just the mid-field 90% of the race. I don't watch F1 to see how close it is between 14th and 15th.

Then, with the rolling coverage throughout the week with Sky F1 you are basically paying to watch advertising. I have never known any subscription media in my life with so many advertising breaks. Also the mix of content is too repetitive.

Third problem with Sky is I have become allergic to Crofty. The guy's a bozo. No wit, just brain-dead shouting. No sense of tension, he'll shout over the opening of an envelope. Constantly shouts down Brundle. Even a flat Coulthard in the BBC days was a better pairing for Martin.

Then there's Sky's attempt to appeal to a broader, younger audience with the chatty bits. Herbert is a clown. Has no insight at all. Natalie Pinkham sounds like she's just walked out of a nightclub on E! TV. With both McLaren drivers sat down with her after qualifying, Sainz 6th, not once did she ask a qualifying related question or even really an F1 related question. Sainz looked visibly upset and said as much. When she interviewed Kvyat after the race yesterday, she couldn't stop fawning over the baby situation and even just flat out said she was more interested in talking about the baby than the race. I don't pay for this s***

There are many good elements to the Sky F1 package as well but it badly needs fixing.

Natalie needs to be fired. F1 is clearly just a career stepping stone for her on the way to something more mainstream. One of the ex-drivers like DiResta can step up to her position, they are superb pundits.

Crofty needs to be fired. Brundle deserves better in the box.

They need to focus on the sport and get rid of a lot of the trivia. Lots of good banter to be had in the paddock, and amazing drama. We don't need RC cars and Natalie Pinkham shouting down Davidson and Di Resta thanks.

Natalie Pinkham has been involved in F1 for years. Like her or not, describing her time around the sport as a "stepping stone" is a nonsense IMO and she certainly doesn't "need to be fired"

I didn't hear the baby chat with Kvyat, but I'd wager it was light-hearted stuff that isn't to be taken seriously.

I actually found her to be one of the better performers on Sky when I had access to the channel. I found her to positive and upbeat and she seemed to get on well with most of the drivers.

Edited by Jon83, 29 July 2019 - 13:32.

When are we going to get dedicated onboard cams? the UK has never had them at all, and nearly every other country has them, its ridiculous.

I seen some clips from the last race from f1tv and that looks like such an awesome service.  Its almost criminal we have sky sports, liberty global should just rip up the contract.

Along with the gold, the are some real garbage elements to Sky F1.

 

<snip>

They need to focus on the sport and get rid of a lot of the trivia. Lots of good banter to be had in the paddock, and amazing drama. We don't need RC cars and Natalie Pinkham shouting down Davidson and Di Resta thanks.

First I only snipped to keep the quote short as its a long post, your post is excellent.

Sky if they had competition would be losing, they only surviving with their coverage because of their crummy exclusivity.  They were not even confident of competing with a highlights competition hence nerfing channel 4's coverage.

As you said crofty always shouts, plus he gets excited when there is no overtaking opportunity but pretends there will be one "he is getting closer, closer, closer" .... "oh not close enough".

He talks over others, "sorry martin to interrupt you there, X just overtook Y" yes crofty we know we can see it on our screen idiot.

Then there is the constant errors between the pair of them e.g. they were talking leclerc making up 4 seconds a lap, umm he did it for one lap then slowed to the pace of the others, and they didnt realise for nearly 5 laps.

Also you the lead broadcaster sky, get onto FOM, and tell them to sort out their damn coverage, no full screen replays its 2019, use split screen, PIP whatever, more onboard coverage, more air cam coverage.  Stop changing car every 10 secs coverage.  More leader battles instead of mid field coverage.  Sort it out.!!!

Don't think Pinkham has been the same since her maternity leave. No doubt exacerbated by Sky's insistence to hype up the F1 show, etc. Dancing on the grid with Karun was horrible.

Not a fan of Di Resta. Scottish Rosberg.

When are we going to get dedicated onboard cams? the UK has never had them at all, and nearly every other country has them, its ridiculous.

I seen some clips from the last race from f1tv and that looks like such an awesome service. Its almost criminal we have sky sports, liberty global should just rip up the contract.

Edited by SonGoku, 29 July 2019 - 15:11.

Yes - very artistic shots of a wall of spray from the car in front!

The biggest problem for me is the apparent need to hype things up and to "big up" the British drivers. Murray Walker was unashamedly patriotic but I don't recall him exaggerating the exploits of British drivers. Sure, he'd tell us where Martin Brundle or Jonathan Palmer were down in the field but he'd never exaggerate their chances nor did he claim Rupert Keegan was a future winner or have an orgasm when Brian Henton scored a point. 

George Russell is having a good rookie season given the car he has, and is impressive....but you'd think he was in the running for the WDC the way Sky talk about him.

Don't think Pinkham has been the same since her maternity leave. No doubt exacerbated by Sky's insistence to hype up the F1 show, etc. Dancing on the grid with Karun was horrible.

Not a fan of Di Resta. Scottish Rosberg.

Omg you've got to be kidding me that must of been awkward   Scottish Rosberg lol Does he make up false narratives about Hamilton aswell.

The biggest problem for me is the apparent need to hype things up and to "big up" the British drivers. Murray Walker was unashamedly patriotic but I don't recall him exaggerating the exploits of British drivers. Sure, he'd tell us where Martin Brundle or Jonathan Palmer were down in the field but he'd never exaggerate their chances nor did he claim Rupert Keegan was a future winner or have an orgasm when Brian Henton scored a point.

George Russell is having a good rookie season given the car he has, and is impressive....but you'd think he was in the running for the WDC the way Sky talk about him.

No F1TV for the UK until 2025. Now you can say a lot of people are lucky because the service has problems every two races, but when streaming will be more and more important and the errors gone it will be a lovely package to have.

Imagine this race going onboard to see your favourite drivers fighting with their cars in the rain.

f1tv in english commentary is sky sports f1 anyway so even if it was available at the moment you would be paying for the same thing and a bit more of a shittier service

When are we going to get dedicated onboard cams? the UK has never had them at all, and nearly every other country has them, its ridiculous.

 

I seen some clips from the last race from f1tv and that looks like such an awesome service.  Its almost criminal we have sky sports, liberty global should just rip up the contract.

Sky buy the world feed.  They show what they are given.  Onboard cams will be the USP for LM's internet offering.  it's not possible to offer separate onboards on televiison.  I can't see the attraction of onboard cams.  If you're watching from Verstappen's car, how will you know what you're missing - you'll even miss the Ferrari that hits him up the arse.

The biggest problem for me is the apparent need to hype things up and to "big up" the British drivers. Murray Walker was unashamedly patriotic but I don't recall him exaggerating the exploits of British drivers. Sure, he'd tell us where Martin Brundle or Jonathan Palmer were down in the field but he'd never exaggerate their chances nor did he claim Rupert Keegan was a future winner or have an orgasm when Brian Henton scored a point. 

 

George Russell is having a good rookie season given the car he has, and is impressive....but you'd think he was in the running for the WDC the way Sky talk about him.

Which other drivers should be 'bigged up'?  All of the drivers in the top 3 teams get plenty of mentions.  Several current drivers are on their way out, others won't last long in F1.  So who isn't getting the attention he deserves?  Murray Walker commentated on F1 in much different times.  Times when showing the highlights of a race 24 hours after it had finished was still considered to be cutting edge sports reporting.  When drivers didn't have an image to push in the media, a media that sold in low numbers. 

When are we going to get dedicated onboard cams? the UK has never had them at all, and nearly every other country has them, its ridiculous.

I seen some clips from the last race from f1tv and that looks like such an awesome service. Its almost criminal we have sky sports, liberty global should just rip up the contract.

Edited by Clatter, 29 July 2019 - 23:10.

Not quite correct. Onboard cams via the red button used to be available on the satellite broadcast. Not sure when that stopped (I assume it has, but haven't checked), but was there way back, possibly came in after Bernie vision flopped. Never bothered to use it myself as it was too slow switching between the various feeds and you just ended up missing the action.

BBC had them circa 2011, i remember for some races having two TVs set up side by side, one with red button onboard camera (and no commentary)

I had several tabs open on my browser to make the most use of what was available on the BBC.  I watched the race without commentary and was able to avoid Jonathan Legard.  Despite Sky putting much more money into F1, they don't offer any of the options the Beeb had in 2013.  Gagging muting Croft needs to be an available option.

 

FORMULA 1 ON THE BBC IN 2013

For all live races, F1 fans will be able to customise their viewing experience online through a live leaderboard; in-car cameras; choice of commentary; live text commentary; interactive forums; circuit guides; and blogs.

Ah yes, the heady days of Perry McCarthy doing commentary for the CBeebies feed. 

(or did i just dream it?)

Which other drivers should be 'bigged up'?  All of the drivers in the top 3 teams get plenty of mentions.  Several current drivers are on their way out, others won't last long in F1.  So who isn't getting the attention he deserves?  Murray Walker commentated on F1 in much different times.  Times when showing the highlights of a race 24 hours after it had finished was still considered to be cutting edge sports reporting.  When drivers didn't have an image to push in the media, a media that sold in low numbers. 

No drivers should be artificially hyped or bigged up. The commentators should be calling it as they see it, not pandering to some perceived idea that we need to be told someone is great. By the gods, I happened to be flicking through channels at the weekend and some sport or other had an American commentator absolutely screaming his head off about some competitor's perceived prowess at his sport...before the event had even begun. It's childish, in fact it is downright stupid.

Sainz has a great race....call it, say Sainz has had a great day and shown what he can do. Verstappen wins in what may still be the 3rd best car on the grid...call it, he's having a great year. Hamilton's romping to title number 6? Great, call him the GOAT.... But no need to artifically hype them up. It really is off-putting. 

It was certainly easily noticed when ITV took over in the 90s, they started favouring the British drivers in their commentaries and in the montages put together for the intro and credits sequences...and the little montages showing highlights of the season so far. Are we really so daft as a species that we can't see through the hype? Are we really so daft as to need the hype? I don't need to be told to be proud of the achievements of British drivers, teams, designers, team principals etc. I am quite capable of that without being directed by an inane commentator screaming his or her head off any time a Brit so much as picks their nose or successfully navigates corner. What an achievement (rolls eyes). I don't need someone to shout at me to know that Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, possibly the greatest...and that he's largely beating foreigners. 

 

  Gagging muting Croft needs to be an available option.

I have the Sky stream playing, with the godawful "Crofty" muted, and sync it to BBC radio commentary.  Works for me.

No drivers should be artificially hyped or bigged up. The commentators should be calling it as they see it, not pandering to some perceived idea that we need to be told someone is great. By the gods, I happened to be flicking through channels at the weekend and some sport or other had an American commentator absolutely screaming his head off about some competitor's perceived prowess at his sport...before the event had even begun. It's childish, in fact it is downright stupid.

 

Sainz has a great race....call it, say Sainz has had a great day and shown what he can do. Verstappen wins in what may still be the 3rd best car on the grid...call it, he's having a great year. Hamilton's romping to title number 6? Great, call him the GOAT.... But no need to artifically hype them up. It really is off-putting. 

 

It was certainly easily noticed when ITV took over in the 90s, they started favouring the British drivers in their commentaries and in the montages put together for the intro and credits sequences...and the little montages showing highlights of the season so far. Are we really so daft as a species that we can't see through the hype? Are we really so daft as to need the hype? I don't need to be told to be proud of the achievements of British drivers, teams, designers, team principals etc. I am quite capable of that without being directed by an inane commentator screaming his or her head off any time a Brit so much as picks their nose or successfully navigates corner. What an achievement (rolls eyes). I don't need someone to shout at me to know that Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, possibly the greatest...and that he's largely beating foreigners. 

You cannot turn the clock back.  Sports broadcasting has changed.  The BBC used to show a lot of sport, there wasn't time for the extended programmes we have now on the specialised channels.  Who knows what they wanted to show us, but couldn't 30/40 years ago.  I must be fortunate, because when the bullshine starts, I can tune it out.  I remember my parents moaning about Radio 1 DJs waffling between the music, I hardly noticed them.  If they became too much, viz Steve Wright, I turned it off.  The off button is still an option we can use before and after races.

I have the Sky stream playing, with the godawful "Crofty" muted, and sync it to BBC radio commentary.  Works for me.

Doesn't work when viewing a delayed stream - cough.

Doesn't work when viewing a delayed stream - cough.

The Radio stream is ahead of the Sky stream so before the race starts wait for a driver-to-pit radio message, pause the radio stream, when the drive-to-pit radio message box appears on the screen, unpause. 

I thought Sky were ok today. Didn't bother with the build up, but "Crofty" wasn't too bad in the race, I think there's less "bantz" when Ted isn't in the pits, and the after show with Damon was fine. Maybe a muted atmosphere in the pits also muted their more annoying tendencies.  

Edited by Jordan44, 02 September 2019 - 15:28.

Is Sky's Jenson Button a hopeful or just eye candy to get the female viewers on board? I know he's new to journalism, but wow the cringe. Did he perhaps do some acting tryouts and subsequently decide to go into media? He's got the face, the voice, and that's it. I hope he gets better soon or goes on to other things. Rosberg seems to be more natural at it.

Steve Jones quality again as per usual. Asking the hard questions and getting valuable insight. Probing Horner on the Albon-Gasly swap, then making DC and MW bring up what may have been tough memories by giving their perspective re. team dynamics in a clear no. 1 and no. 2 situation to explain the Bottas extention.

Contrast that with other outlets and their clickbait fluff pieces, 'here's why Vettel is a fraud now' for £3 a month or whatever,

Sky broadcast always feels like there is something missing when Ted Kravitz and Anthony Davidson are not on the show.

Everyone else i can take or leave.

Channel 4 getting Stefano is a big coup, for the Ferrari perspective and insight on races when their competitors don't really have that. Also, getting the Lambo CEO for chats is pretty handy.

They're actually getting me to watch the buildup now, unbelievable. 

Sky are offering F1 for a tenner a month. Time limited offer ends on Monday. https://www.skysport...d-time-10-offer

Desperation, I guess. I'm already trying to get to a point where I can dump Sky. The last thing I am look for is to pay them an extra £10pm. Of course, if they want to keep my custom by giving it to me for free, then I might consider it.

Is Sky's Jenson Button a hopeful or just eye candy to get the female viewers on board? I know he's new to journalism, but wow the cringe. Did he perhaps do some acting tryouts and subsequently decide to go into media? He's got the face, the voice, and that's it. I hope he gets better soon or goes on to other things. Rosberg seems to be more natural at it.

I think the C4 coverage has been great this season even with the time limits etc imposed by Sky.   Their programme in contrast feels like they've just tried to chuck as many 'names' at it as possible.

Steve Jones quality again as per usual. Asking the hard questions and getting valuable insight. Probing Horner on the Albon-Gasly swap, then making DC and MW bring up what may have been tough memories by giving their perspective re. team dynamics in a clear no. 1 and no. 2 situation to explain the Bottas extention.

Yep fully agree Steve Jones is a complete natural in front of the camera and with Edwards doing the business on the commentary it's a great team

Yep fully agree Steve Jones is a complete natural in front of the camera and with Edwards doing the business on the commentary it's a great team

I kept the Sky coverage on last night after the race to soak up some of the celebration, but found a particularly awkward moment with Lazenby interviewing Will.I.Am or whatever his name is.

I'm not the sort to get offended on behalf of a demographic, but I had quite the cringe when Lazenby said something along the lines of:

"Tiger Woods is good at Golf, Lewis is Hamilton is good at F1 - are you surprised of the success that your people are able to achieve?".

Obviously I'm paraphrasing there but it was really quite awkward, Mr I.Am then went on to awkwardly explain how nobody is taught to play golf or build/drive racecars in the ghetto 

Edited by RedBaron, 04 November 2019 - 12:44.

The sky team are so out of touch. They need some younger fresher faces in addition to the older team.

So cringing when they try and relate to Norris and the other young guys. Even this music obsession 'Crofty' has with Danny Ric because he mention a heavy metal band one time is cringing.

Yeah, it's mainly Crofty and the "between session" people that are the problem IMO.

Brundle just outright ignores Crofty when he's wittering on about stuff and will bluntly state that he's never heard of "X" who keeps appearing on camera in one of the garages.

Kravitz has a bit of a tongue in cheek self-deprecating view of it which I find entertaining, such as his "rave" at Mexico