F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog

A case study in how to spoil good material with sloppy production.

The 1997 season was a wall-to-wall corker, with plenty of different winners and a tense championship battle that exploded into acrimony in the final round.

Plus, this was the first year that FOCA TV’s digital service provides the footage, which is absolutely first-rate.

But the appalling commentary near ruins it all. For no obvious reason the season reviews’ commentators have begun using the present tense in the voice-overs – effectively pretending that the action is unfolding before their eyes.

It’s false and deeply irritating, and compromises the depth of analysis the review can communicate.

This is a real shame because there’s plenty of action on offer – if they’d got Clive James or Jonathon Ross back it would be a 5/5 rating for sure.

Best bit: What else? Jacques Villeneuve tracks down championship rival Michael Schumacher in the final round, pounces, and the inevitable collision occurs.

F1 Fanatic verdict

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