BBC F1 coverage: your verdict

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Mark Webber talks to the BBC in Melbourne

A big talking point on the live blogs during the Australian Grand Prix weekend was how BBC did with their F1 coverage.

I thought they did a great job – but reading around some other sites I’ve noticed a few complaints. What did you think of the BBC’s return as an F1 broadcaster?

Coverage

For the first time ever, all the F1 practice sessions as well as qualifying and the race were broadcast live in Britain. ITV made a big step forwards with this last year, offering all the sessions bar free practice three, but BBC are now bringing us the full complement – on television as well as online. This is a great step forwards.

I didn’t get much of a chance to play around with their onboard coverage, but the rolling highlights feed online was very useful.

We got a decent amount of post-session footage too. I was unimpressed with their decision to cut the post-qualifying press conference to go to an interview with Richard Branson, but on race day we got much more of the interviews. The post-race discussion which continued after the broadcast had finished on BBC1 was very good, and demonstrated BBC’s willingness to use modern television technologies to extend the coverage in a way ITV never bothered with.

Commentators and presenters

I’ve seen a few people on the forum here and on some other sites criticising Jonathan Legard’s performance as lead commentator. I’m at a loss to understand why. He had a few wobbles on Saturday but I thought he did a fine job on Sunday.

Inevitably, the rapport between him and Martin Brundle (who was in fine form) will need a little time to develop. I would, however, like them to be struck with a cricket bat every they use the phrase “KERS system”.

Jake Humphrey did all I expect from an anchorman – he kept things moving and didn’t get on my nerves. David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan brought plenty of useful first-hand knowledge of the sport and offered the kind of constructive disagreement that was lacking on ITV’s team last year.

Ted Kravitz did his usual solid job in the pit lane – but I don’t remember hearing much from Lee McKenzie.

Tone

One of the things I appreciated most about BBC’s coverage is how much less patronising it felt than ITV’s effort. Too often ITV seemed preoccupied with chasing celebrities and ignoring the enthusiast audience in favour of the patriotic element.

There’s nothing wrong with focusing on the home drivers, but it often felt like ITV did it to the exclusion of all else – particularly when Lewis Hamilton arrived on the scene. BBC struck a much better balance.

Overall

On the whole I thought the BBC did a very good job of their first F1 broadcast in 13 years. There was the odd hiccup – one broadcast abruptly disappeared for half a minute or so – and the presenters are obviously still getting used to each other, but that will surely develop with time.

Of course not having adverts instantly made the coverage incomparably better. FOM should take note and ensure that viewers abroad are offered the same luxury, even if on pay-per-0view.

The biggest things missing from the coverage at the moment are all things Formula One Management need to provide – a HD feed and better on-screen information.

Although I had my misgivings about ITV, it was clear from talking to fans from abroad that their coverage was among the best F1 got. But the BBC have raised the bar even higher.

What did you think of the BBC’s F1 coverage? Do you have a new local broadcaster in 2009? Do leave a comment – we know they’re paying attention to what F1 Fanatic readers have to say.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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155 comments on “BBC F1 coverage: your verdict”

  1. I noticed Legard seemed much improved on Sunday as well.

    Overall I really liked BBC’s approach and coverage, especially the online and red button forum after the main program ended.

    1. I cant agree with you there! I mean Legard was ok, but the interviewing time before the race was too short, and thy don’t interview many relevant people like Vettel, or Buemi in his first race!

      Correct me if im wrong, but ITV made a better show overall than the beeb, although i prefer the beeb because it doesn’t have breaks in the middle of the race.

    2. Legard wasn’t bad on Friday/Saturday, but he was better on Sunday. Good on him. DC and friends did a good job too.

      I wouldn’t rate my local coverage so highly, though, they missed a couple of crashes (like Kimi) so they could have an ad break.

    3. BBC coverage as you would expect is about 100% better than ITV was BUT seeing as we are paying for it …it should be !
      Jake Humphries is not so bad I almost beleave he interested , I get a strange pleasure out of watching DC and EJ doing live tv …hmmm , Ted Kravitz does a solid job.
      Only weak point I can see is legard .
      I really hate to admit it but I think I preferd James Allen.
      I thought Legard had done radio coverage of F1 ? sometimes it seems he just does’nt know what he’s talking about.
      Brundle .love him or hate him hes good.
      Well done BBC good effort but have think about legard .

  2. Think they did a great job. Wasn’t sure about Legard, but he was pretty enthusiastic. Eddie Jordan is going to get extremely annoying though….

    1. I hear you about Eddie Jordan, he’s very driven, and seems to believe in everything he says is right. But then he was a team boss, from a background where he started from next to nothing, so we may have to put up with him, especially as he adds a contrast of opinion to the more mellow Brundle and Coulthard.

      I really miss James Allen commentating on f1, I would swap him any day for Legard.

      Legard who seems to have been woken up out of TV retirement for this role ( I know he’s been on 5 live since 97, but it just feels like you dragged your grandad out and he vaguely remembers what to do ). I really enjoyed James Allen and Martin Brundle as they brought a lot more of the atmosphere through the tv.

      I got annoyed a number of times, when I knew more than the commentators did. (through internet addictions, and RSS feeds :) )

      Overall though, I’m very glad it’s on the beeb. More polish though lads!

    2. While I’m here. I would like to say, if anyone hasn’t seen the Beeb’s intro sequence on Sunday. WOW! Made the hairs on my arms stand up.

      Detailed information as to why F1 is what it is. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it on iPlayer.

      .. then, when the info-intro is done, The Chain kicks off, and you wanna shout for joy! :) ( I did at any rate, been a long wait for this season! I love it! )

  3. I thought the forum on the red button was great. Legard was okay on race day, but I didn’t really like him during qualifying. I’ll give him another few races before I can judge his quality properly.

    People are complaining about Eddie Jordan but I think he asks some decent questions, although he likes to interrupt people a lot. The only thing during the race which I wanted them to find out for me was the reason for the Ferrari’s retirement, but apart from that it was good.

  4. schumi the greatest
    30th March 2009, 12:20

    agree with you there keith bbc done a good job. a few times i expected to see the covergae go off for advert break, it took some getting used to as i normally got a drink or went to the toilet during these breaks but its juts so much better.

    Commentary – great i thought i think leggard was maybe talking abit too much because he used to commentate on the radio i think he sort of explained everything rather than juts pointing out intresting things, we can see the order on the tv so we dont need it to be repeated every 10 minutes. brundle was just his usual top notch.

    presenting – i thought jake humphrey was good too and i liked the banter between him, ej and dc. quite honestly though after putting up with mark blunell for the past few years anything would have been an improvement i mean literally anything!

    coverage – good again, the red button stuff is good sadly i couldnt see the f1 froum but after because being my birthday weekend i went out for a few drinks on saturday night and i sky plussed the race and watched it once i eventually got up. id be intrested to know what this was like if anyone who saw it could tell me??

    better than itv definitley ive got the chain stuck in my head now haha

  5. I agree it was brilliant! I was able to watch practice before work on Friday, then had the highlights on at work, although I wasnt meant to. The coverage was great, and even though it was only yesterday, this morning I managed to get the highlights in again!!

    I think that the Beeb have taken a lot of things that ITV had done well and incorporated it into a very good show.

    with no adverts and a plethera of knowledge in the line up I can wait for the other 16 races!!!

    meanwhile i am going on iPlayer to watch the race again!!!

  6. A brilliant first outing.

    Jake Humphrey, EJ and DC were 10 times better than Steve Rider and Mark Blundell.

    They were professional and very incisive.

    The commentary was brilliant: it was great hearing commentary that didn’t contain the word Hamilton ten times per sentence.

  7. Bigbadderboom
    30th March 2009, 12:38

    On the whole much improved…however

    Eddie Jordan seems to like the sound of his own voive and tried to dominate interview time, often cutting DC’s or Brundels opinions. Also a bit of an Eddie-DC “love in” at times.

    I think the BBC are to be commended on a good first show but FOM TV should get the feeds much better, often following minor place battles over lead fights. And will we be seeing more KERS telemtry.

  8. I agree with you Keith, I thought the coverage was very good… everything is in place and just needs a bit of polish.

    I thing Legard is still in Radio mode but will hold judgement until mid season to see how things improve. He had certainly improved from qualy to race.

    I particularly warmed to hearing Brundle and Ted, voices of familiarity in an otherwise new setting. They made me feel very much at home. ;-)

  9. Must agree with Keith. Don’t quite understand the criticism from some quarters, especially of Leggard who I thought did a good job during the race of keeping me informed – filling the holes left by FOM’s lacklustre graphics.

    Thoroughly enjoyed the Forum after the race, though Jordan will get irritating quickly if he continues his endless repetitions – thankfully Brundle managed to get things back to Humphreys before things got out of hand.

    Was very impressed with Humphreys, too. He had a smooth delivery with a light touch and was clearly well briefed – you only had to watch the Forum to see how his prompting generated an excellent debate. There were a few rough edges, but that’s to be expected. Otherwise it was an excellent return, while the online coverage was particularly good.

  10. Mouse_Nightshirt
    30th March 2009, 12:52

    The first thing I said to someone after qualification on Saturday was “You can tell Legard is a radio man”. I’m still holding judgement on him, but the rapport with Martin is not there at the minute and even Martin seemed slightly edgy. We’ll see how it develops.

    I preferred Steve to Jake. Jake seemed less interested and more monotonic. Maybe it was nerves and he’ll wake up.

    Eddie and DC were a great addition; their banter is quite insightful at times and it’s good to have a bit of debate; it was reasonably intelligent in any case.

    Lee seemed quiet and uninterested during driver interviews. It might be her tone of voice for me. Did anyone spot Louise Goodman giving someone a hug right after they were interviewed by the BBC? Can’t remember who, but Louise was there.

    Martin and Ted – excellent choices to keep on board.

    The after race forum was fantastic in my view, plus the ability to watch the onboard cameras during race day. Absolutely fantastic logistical coverage from the BBC in that sense.

    A few sore spots for me, but ones I reckon will heal with time.

  11. It’s the same format as itv. I don’t think it adds nothing special – quite the contrary with Legard’s football style.

    I would rank bbc’s coverage the same or worse than itv but adds free is great.

    Obviously the fact that they kept Brundle – the best one right now, similar with John Watson’s eurosport coverage years ago, always well in live events – seems to me basically the same quality.

    Fortunately fears that we would not see a live internet feed were not true. Live net feed as a very good image – possibly the best one.

    But I still prefer to re watch the race on mondays through italian rai to change a bit – and it’s a decent coverage as well.

  12. In Australia, we took the BBC’s feed through the new ‘One’ channel which has just launched (effectively channel 10). I found that Martin and Jonathan did a admirable job considering it was their first time out.

    One thing that was a little frustrating was that as the BBC do not take a break for commercials, ‘One’ had a little bit of trouble dealing with their advert commitments. So much so that Kimi Raikkonen’s off mid way through the race was completely missed by the Aussie audience, only being shown a replay well after the race had finished.

    In the old ITV days, there would have been a replay straight after the commercial break so everyone was up to speed as to what we had missed in the last 3 minutes.

    Anyway – thats an issue for One to work out, but overall well done by the BBC (Love to hear old Murray back though! :))

    1. For those of us without Channel One, we didn’t even get to see the replay.

    2. @Dave, actually in previous years you might be surprised to know channel 10 would fit in their own add breaks, regardless of when ITV had theirs, so no real change there.

  13. I thought the BBC did an excellent job, albeit helped along nicely by the most interesting race I can remember in a long time!

    Jake Humphrey was good as a frontman, certainly more enthusiastic than Steve Rider used to be and he showed a good knowwledge of the sport too. Not sure about Eddie Jordan yet, he may well get annoying as the season moves on but time will tell.

    Martin Brundle was top class as ever, agree with the comments about Legard still thinking he is on the Radio, though Im sure this is something he will put right after a couple more races.

    Particularly liked the BBC’s graphic on the use of the KERS battery power each lap when they were focussing on an individual driver, gave a good insight into where and then this is used by the different drivers and the tactics involved.

    All in all well done BBC!!

    1. Paul, the onboard telemetry graphics are provided by FOM, not the BBC. Whenever you see the F1 logo in the bottom left corner, it’s a FOM feed.

    2. I don’t think the KERS info was used to its fullest potential. The way it is displayed (the “in car” revs/speed/throttle/brake graphics) means it is only available for one car at the time. Granted, You can see where a driver uses it but there where a few instances where two KERS equipped cars were battling and it would have been cool to know the respective charge/use. It might be useful just 2-3 times in a race, but I think it would be worth it.

  14. I think it was a good a good start by the BBC. Unfortunately for me I only watched the terrestrial coverage as I don’t have digital yet, (hopefully I will get it before too long) so I missed out on practice and most of the post race coverage.

    Beforehand the only thing I was a bit wary of was the main presenter, Jake Humphrey, just because I didn’t know much about him other than he used to be on children’s TV, (I often find d kids TV presenters annoying) and that he has done some other general sports coverage for the Beeb, but I could did not have any complaints about his performance. However I think I may find Eddie Jordan annoying as the season goes on.

    Although The Chain is back as the theme music (yay!), I can’t say I liked the graphics they put with it, this was because I was expecting classic F1 clips like when the BBC used to have F1 rather than just a CGI sequence.

    I have a question, when Coulthard did that report on the qualifying show on Saturday he was surrounded by loads of old F1 cars, does anyone know where this is and if it open to the public. I believe Coulthard has his own collection of cars but I thought this was just ones he had raced himself.

    1. Rasputin was a C...
      30th March 2009, 13:55

      I believe Coulthard was wandering around the Grand Prix Collection at Donington Park. Went there last summer and I’d say it’s well worth a visit. The McLaren room is huuuggggeeeee.

  15. I thought, overall, it was good but I agree with those who said that Legard sounded like he was commentating for radio. I just think it sounded like a football match or horse race at times. At this stage I still prefer James Allen’s style.

    I’m glad they kept Brundle and I thought DC was good but Eddie Jordan’s going to try my patience, I think. What was with all the Bernie Ecclestone love?

    1. horse race… exactly what I thought!

      But in general, a very very good performance overall from the BBC. Forum was excellent. I have a hunch they cut away from the quali press conference because Rubens actually used the ‘F’ word shortly afterwards (I’m assuming it a delayed transmission).

      Less beardy branson would be nice though :)

    2. I have a hunch they cut away from the quali press conference because Rubens actually used the ‘F’ word shortly afterwards (I’m assuming it a delayed transmission).

      Ah that would make a lot of sense.

  16. I enjoyed the commentary but found that Ted Kravitz was underused. Ted came up with a few key points so I’m still confused as to why he didn’t get Legard’s job.

    Brundle and Humphrey are a good pair and once things settle down they will be the reason I choose the Beeb for my GP viewing.

    Overall – a good job Mr. Beeb but please use Ted Kravitz more!!

    1. Yeah, they ought to have used Ted more, especially with it being the first race he could have explained a lot of things about the race we weren’t really aware of

  17. The BBC did fine, I’m almost certain that in a few races time when they all know each other better and are a bit more experienced the coverage will be amazing. I’d say it was already on a par with ITV who were excellent, adverts and Hamilton loving aside.

    And who else liked the short ‘multi coloured electricity’ clip they play before the race starts (nothing to do with the BBC I know). It’s way better than the spinning lines of 2004- 2008… but I still miss this one:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7c3R-wdvpM

    1. we all do my friend, we all do.

  18. I thought it was really good. I loved the race day intro graphics, and the music didn’t seem dated as I thought it would.

    The best thing for me is that they are letting DC and EJ ask questions, so you get the perspective from an F1 beginner and from the pros. The interviews seemed much improved because of that.

    I have no complaints about the commentary.

    I watched the post race stuff online as well as one of the practice sessions which I was please to see were commentated.

    I think they have done a great job.

  19. Unfortunately I missed the pre-race buildup as I only caught the later repeat, so I will have to wait before I can comment on those. I do like the fact that all the practices are now shown, and am looking forward to see what is available on the Red Button during the race.
    The Saturday mix of presenters was good, it felt more like a conversation you were included in than a general praise of all things Hammy as ITV used to be.
    I thought Brundle and Leggard were nicely balanced between commentary and information, does anyone know if BBC radio used the same commentary? If it does then that would explain his style….
    Ted was quite quiet in the Pit Lane, maybe my complaints got through to the BBC hehe, or maybe he needs to get his feet under him. I wonder if Lee is only there for the occasions when drivers fall off the track, so we will only hear from her after an incident?

  20. The one thing I noticed though was that they seemed to skip over the issue of starting weights only mentioning it briefly in the commentary.

    I was expecting a thorough dissection and fuel corrected qualifying times. Perhaps they thought it would improve the show not to mention it.

  21. I thought Legard was terrible at the start of the race, he was gabbling incomprehensibly at the first corner; but once he calmed down he was okay. The chemistry needs to develop between him and Brundle as there seemed to be some awkward silences at certain points during the race.
    .
    Perversely, I kind of missed the ITV adverts as at least they gave a natural “comfort break” – but that’s entirely my problem as I forgot I could pause live telly on my Freeview+ box & consequently missed Kimi’s off.
    .
    The Saturday afternoon full race replay had little preamble, which was surprising and possibly a major disappointment for those watchers without the red button who missed the live coverage.
    .
    To be fair, we’re making a comparison between BBC’s first race and several season’s worth of coverage where ITV had enough time to get it right. I think they did OK.

    1. Perversely, I kind of missed the ITV adverts as at least they gave a natural “comfort break”

      I know you don’t mean it really…

  22. I felt Legard left a lot of dead air, waiting for Martin to fill it. Sure James Allen would occasionally fill it with excitable guff, but, frankly, that was his job.

    I saw the last 30 laps of the StarSports in the Novotel at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and just watched the BBC coverage up to lap 18 (after a 24 hour journey home that should have been 9) and Steve Slater made Legard look freakin’ awesome. So give the guy time, he needs at least three races to settle in.

    The rest has already been said by Keith, so it doesn’t need repeating.

  23. I go along with most of the comments above, it was great. I liked best (from what’s new), the red button stuff after the race. In the past very often there is no time left and they cut, and I’m thirsty for more!!
    I invested a lot during the winter for this, like buying an HD TV and a Freesat box to watch F1 in HD, but I commented on that to Keith already, I know it’s not down to the beeb.

  24. Your “Tone” comments are dead on – the coverage has become more intelligent all round. With one exception: the show had an even worse start than Barrichello with BBC’s portentous introduction: Jake saying “we’re going to take you on a journey…” (why is everything a journey these days?) and “this…”(long Top Gear pause)”…is Formula One.”

    With apologies to non-digital viewers, the rest is my thoughts on the “red button” coverage:

    I thought the paddock setting and content of the extended post-race discussion was excellent, as was their ability to pop up in a different location in the paddock after a short clip…hopefully they can bring in a driver or two in future, and ask some searching questions. They’re not used to that…

    I used the “onboard” channel on a couple of rare occasions when the race went quiet. The scrolling positions-and-gaps ticker (like US channels’ racing coverage) is useful but the onboard pictures were often the same as the main coverage, and a bit small to see properly, while there was empty space to either side. Damn those Luddites without widescreen tellies!

    1. Jake saying “we’re going to take you on a journey…” (why is everything a journey these days?) and “this…”(long Top Gear pause)”…is Formula One.”

      It was totally a Top Gear pause!

  25. I was disappointed with BCC. Brundle was goldclass as usual and I think Legard did well. But the race director was shocking. ITV made it so easy to follow the race, at all times you knew exactly what was happening. With the BBC all I knew was that Button was in the lead. I didnt even know Kimi crashed till a long time later and im not sure that is all down to the chaotic race, I guess its going to take them a season or two to develop that interaction ITV had. But it did feel like a real step back.

    1. The race direction is nothing to do with the BBC. The feed is from FOM – the same as ITV last year.

      I did think the direction was bad but it’s not really fair to pin that on the BBC

  26. I think I agree with the majority of the sentiments expressed here, the lack of Ads was good, legard was still in radio mode, but will adjust, and Jake Humpreys actually surprised me, a good step up from Rider I think.

    However, if anyone has access to the BBC can you please teel them that in the red button forum, tell the camera to STOP moving around. It started with them all looking relaxed post race for a chat, then all of a suddent the camera-man was in DC’s face, then backed off, then in EJ’s face etc etc and every time you saw the look on their faces which said “Whoa steady on there mate, you’ll take my head off with that thing”

    Apart from that, it was great, really great and maybe in Speang (a generally more dull race) I’ll get the chance to play with the different feeds, as opposed to being totally glued to the action on BBC1

  27. I thought on the whole the BBC did really well. The first thing I would like to commend them for is the sheer amount of coverage they provided from the week leading up to the Grand Prix and right the way through to last night when you could still catch highlights of the Grand Prix on the red button. This amount of airtime in unrivaled here in the UK without having to pay for it especially so well done.

    Content wise I am slightly less enthusiastic at this very early stage. Despite what you think the coverage is still very weighed in UK drivers favor – the montage clips basically centered around british drivers, Mansell, Button, Hill, Lewis – but I don’t have a problem about that but I know it gets on peoples nerves from other countries or fans that support other drivers.

    My gut feel is I am not going to warm to Legard, not that I don’t like him, just I don’t think he gives to much away about his personality, he just talks at a million miles per hour. He sounds authoritative and describes things pretty well, but it is the vulnerabilities that endear me to these guys, Murray had his gaffs, Hunt was clinically blunt, Allen was a bit over the top with Lewis and Brundle is great all round at describing it for the man in the street. But Legard lacks something endearing.

    The worse point for me what when Piquet spun off and Brundle was talking and Legard just opened up at full pelt and fired a volly of noise which was undecipherable. He reminds me of the circuit commentator at Silverstone – Ian Titcshmarsh – but I like him better.

    I switched over to Radio 5 commentary and it was much better (in my opinion) Anthony Davidson and Croft had a much more relaxed relationship and both were comfortable chipping in with their own opinions rather than just keeping it informative.

    Did anyone here Davidson’s response to David Crofts question about if he had ever lied to a team engineer? Apparently in 2005 he was so excited by getting to drive the Honda he forgot to tie up his helmet and went out on track and realised half way round as it was coming off his head, so he came back in and lied about the throttle mapping being all wrong, got out of the car and while his mechanics investigated the reported problem Davidson did up his helmet – Classic!

    I enjoyed the musical montages, I am a sucker for those, Sky’s post football match montages are awesome and I think BBC have found a similar level.

    Jake was brilliant in my view seemed to comprehend everything and kept things moving nicely perhaps wear a shirt next time, he looked like he had just popped out of Topman on a saturday afternoon. Eddie Irvine got on my nerves. Sorry but I cannot stand the man, but that is my personal opinion.
    Hats of to DC he made a perfect transition and surpassed my expectations of him.

    But generally for the amount of content they provided I was almost a bit bored of seeing the race…..That’s never happened before!

    On the whole well done BBC, it will take me a while to warm to Legard but in the mean time I can just switch to radio 5. I am sure they will have some decent features in the coming weeks and months.

  28. I didn’t like Eddie Jordan and I fear he’ll only get worse as the season gets on. Other than that I have to agree with Kieth.

  29. far better job than itv i have to say but i was expecting more on the red button. it would of been better if you watch the reply from the start instead of it been rolling only.

    i wouldn’t care if i had to pay for this, even if it wasn’t from the bbc but FOM themselves.

  30. BRING BACK LOUISE GOODMAN!!!
    She always had such a good rapport with a lot of the drivers, asked appropriate, intelligent questions and did a good job all-round. Now we’re stuck with some butch scottish woman who doesn’t seem to know her ar*e from her elbow!

    Additionally, I think that although Brundle couldn’t get a word in edge-ways in qually, it was better for the race. Obviously, they’re a new pairing so it will take time. Legard seems to forget he’s not on radio at times.
    Eddie Jordan seems to be relishing his pundit position and the coverage is worse off for it in my opinion. He talks rubbish is copious amounts. DC was good though. Jake Humphrey – meh. I wish they would get Jim Rosenthal back.
    But at the end of the day, (to use a sporting idiom :)) I felt the beeb did well – very comprehensive coverage – just a few irritating things that I would change but will probably get used to.

    P.S. How rubbish was the intro, regardless of The Chain’s inclusion. And all that tyre squealing? Looks like it was put together by a ten year old who is “like really, really into cars” and thought it would be so cool to make it all with computers.

    P.P.S. Bit of a long post; sorry about that.

    1. I’d like Louise back too, she was the first lady of the paddock.

      I think I heard she will be doing touring car coverage with Steve Ryder?

    2. I believe she’s basically doing the same job as last year, except now for the official F1 TV broadcast at all the tracks in the calender.

  31. I was really quite impressed with the BBCs coverage – especially given it was only their first race back in the reins – i thought Legard definitely improved from the Saturday to the Sunday – although you can still tell he is used to the radio – that will improve with time though, I dont think we could hold that against him too much – commentary between the two mediums is very different, its only expected that it would take time to adapt. Likewise with the relationship with Brundle – that will take time too, I’m sure it would have when Allen started – i cant quite remember though.

    I thought the red button stuff was brilliant, all the practices, the re-runs of races, the forum at the end of the race. plus qualifying and the race were re-run immediately following the live broadcast – there was the potential to watch the race at least four times on the Sunday across the BBC channels. The forum in particular was good – interesting debate with real opinions rather than a cautious answer – the extra interviews were a bonus, and although I find EJ a little irritating at times, he does at least bring a debate (usually contradicted the others, on pretty much every topic). I also liked the fact that all drivers/teams got covered in the post race analysis, not just Hamilton, or indeed Button. (and thats by no means a dig at either driver, more of ITV who were awful for doing that!)

    I also thought that Jake Humphrey did a really good job – he was the one I was a little unsure about when they announced the team originally, I thought it was a bit of a random choice – but I’m glad they picked him – he was well informed, sounded genuinely interested in everything and worked really well with DC and EJ – he kept everything flowing nicely, as well as asking questions that casual viewers might want to know about, without making it sound patronising to the more ardent fan.

    Overall – very impressed, and its likely to improve as well, it is after all only their first race!

  32. Great job by BBC. Red button for practice and after race forum superb. Only negatives: more time should be scheduled after qualifying, there’s always plenty to discuss. And Eddie Jordan?!

  33. Pls get rid of Eddie Jordan.

  34. Overall enjoyed BBC’s coverage!
    One pet hate though was their insistence to want to talk over the ‘team radio’ broadcasts. I love the fact teams have been forced to leave their transmissions unencrypted but for the commentators to continually speak over them was very frustrating!
    That and would like to see HD broadcast. But I suspect thats more up to the circuit management to provide that so we’ll see…

  35. ‘KERS system’ is a fine example of RAS Syndrome:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAS_syndrome

    EJ would be better suited to Jeremy Kyle, he seemed to be there to just argue against even the most straight forward of concepts. I’m sure he said ‘Confuser’ rather than ‘Diffuser’ at one point. Luckily he is kept away from the actual racing coverage so it wasn’t to painful.

    No use of ‘danger high voltage’ yet, but it’s only a matter of time ;)

    1. And calling it RAS syndrome is also a perfect example of RAS :) lmao

  36. Trouble is, I needed to pee in the middle of the race – with no ad breaks I didn’t want to miss anything!

    Is the F1 Forum from the red button available to watch on the web anywhere? It’s not on iPlayer I don’t think? I missed most of this!

    Generally I quite liked the coverage – I suppose it’s quite hard to get it perfect as it’s live!

  37. Excellent coverage. Just needs tweeking and balancing so that EJ stops interupting everybody! I value his opinions but he wasn’t letting anybody else speak!

  38. Hugo Bourgeois
    30th March 2009, 14:36

    Honestly, I must say that the BBC coverage is a big step forward for me. Being Belgians, we have the choice between French comments (from Wallony), which I would rate 8/10 easily and Dutch (Flanders) comments that I would rate anywhere between 2 and 4/10.

    At last, we get to see a coverage that the network (in this case BBC) has really made a positive choice for, rather than just not wanting another network to have it. In Belgium, first they choose, and then they choose to ignore it.

    So Belgium puts its hands together for the BBC and its coverage!

  39. Im loving the BBC footage. The red button is brilliant, I think ive watched the highlights about 10 times and the after race chit chat is great, not like ITV who would simply cut press conference as they need to get the adverts in. The only problem I had during the race was when to make a cup of tea as no 2 minute breaks anymore, lol. I thinkm the presenters simply need a few more races before they are fully compfortable with each other. And i found Coultard and Eddie’s diagreements quite ammuzing.All in all the Beeb have done much better job, the only complaint is DO NOT CUT PRESS CONFERENCE!

    1. Great coverage from BBC. I watched online and i think it was superior to iTV’s coverage. Still not too sure about, Eddie and David as pundits, i like both but maybe not together, but perhaps too early to judge :| Would have liked to see Mark Blundell carry on though. All in all i think it was a success..

  40. compared to ITV i think they did a great job, i liked Jonathan Leggard in place of James Allen (James Allen’s website is an excellent read by the way i have nothing against him at all just didnt like his commentary style) and the whole program for me was more focused on the race including the technical side which is what i like.

    The red button was excellent too especially the highlights, forum and the previous years ‘classic races’ leading up to race weekend, i hope they do that for every race as i enjoyed watching them at 4am when my little girl decides she doesnt want to sleep!!

    Well done and welcome back BBC.

  41. I liked it. If this was the first race it should gel together well over the next couple of races.

    Jake Humphreys did a sound job and took a dig at DC only watching himself on the F1 season review DVDs that made me laugh.
    Eddie Jordan – Not sure yet, but Jake and DC were eager to rub it in when Barrichello didn’t get pole.

    Brundle – Excellent. Ted Kravits – Excellent.
    Legard – Well he’s from radio and I find he has the same style as Murray Walker. Not that he makes gaffs like Murray, but he’s more of a natural commentator. He will tell you exactly what he sees. This is all he needs to do. I find that this style suits F1. Yes, you may think it sounds like a horse race, but then listen to some old Murray commentary and it’s the same. Maybe his tone of voice needs adjusting too.
    Either way, I had no complaints.

    One point from the wife. Martin Brundle looks like a gym instructor in his all black polo shirt. He should wear a different colour shirt to Legard. Strange but maybe true. Also, maybe it was jet lag, but I thought in some places they all sounded a bit drunk. Could be Live commentary nerves. Eddie Jordan called it a confuser rather than diffuser and some others occasionally struggled to get out what they wanted to say.

    1. That ‘confuser’ remark was a wee play on words by EJ that evidently some people didn’t get… :)

  42. I absolutely loved the BBC coverage, and the choices they provided.
    I loved the run up to the GP, which showed highlights from previous Australian GP’s, and hope that there are a few Malaysian GP’s to watch this week, I think they have 10 to choose form.
    I loved the wee news show they did last Thurs/Fri night, which explained alot about the changes.
    Regarding Jonathan Legard, I dont like him, he sounds like he is unexciteable..I think his and Brundles reading of the race was not great.
    I love that you can turn over and watch the same coverage with 5Live commentators, which are by far the best, and in my humble opinion should be used on the main feed.
    IN CONCLUSION……ITS SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR…LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT AND MOST OF ALL, UNINTERUPTED COVERAGE

  43. .oO(Oh, to be in England now that spring is here… And the Beeb has F1 back!) :|

  44. There really was not much difference in the coverage. Both companies took whatever ABC was giving them. The worst part was trying to put up with Eddie Jordan, who seemed to be on a personal ego trip, and his fawning over Branson was cringeworthy. He is superfluous, remove him.

  45. > Cracking opening sequence , and ‘The Chain’ is just classic !
    > Eddie Jordan interview with Branson was good, especially as he has first hand knowledge of running a team.
    > Jake – Great anchorman
    > Brundle – the usual good stuff on the grid :)
    > KERS Telemetry/Onboard footage – Good Stuff – keep it coming …(More !)
    > Pit Radio – Lots of very clear radio, really made it interesting, especially the “Yaaaahaaa” from > Button after Qualifying and winning !
    > Excellent after race coverage, with some great footage of Rubens , Jarno and Jenson swapping experiences before going to the podium.
    >One thing that would be interesting would be a bit more in-depth stuff on the technology (KERS. Wings, Engines etc)

    Oh….and more Lee Mckenzie please !

    Glad to have the BBC back doing F1..Well done to Jake and the team.

  46. Demon_racer74
    30th March 2009, 15:08

    i thought the BBC was so much better than ITV… Night & day. No adverts, Pratice sessions… love it. My only gripe is with Eddie ‘Has been’ Jordon, who after 5 seconds talking, had me shouting at the screen.

    Please tell him to “Do one”

    Other than that can’t wiat until next race…Come on McLaren, find that pace. Lewis for champ.

  47. We’ve all spent years moaning that the ads spoilt our viewing. now at last, uninterupted coverage and all I keep reading is complaints that ” No break meant I couldn’t go to the loo or make a cup of tea” ARE YOU MAD! stop complaining! Great start BBC, needs a bit of tweaking but i’m sure that will come with time, EJ needs to let people finish speaking before he launches into his ten minute rants and the use of KERS needs more coverage. Brilliant red button viewing and Bernie, get the HD feed sorted! can’t wait for next weekend….

  48. I thought te coverage was the best ever. It was great to see Pi,P2 and P3 it was like being back in the 90’s watching Eurosport. Red button coverage spot. Have to agree with some other comments Eddie Jordan needs removing. He ran a team from a couple of garages at the back of Silverstone circuit on a shoestring budget and here he is talking like Stefano and Ron would talk about their teams. His favoritism for anybody that drove around circuits (usually at the back except in wet) in his cars is so biased its annoying. Perhaps John Watson would consider coming back and taking his place.

  49. Perhaps a poll on whether they should keep EJ or not keith? Would be very interesting to see the results!

    1. and not just “get rid of Eddie”, but who to replace him with.

    2. Perhaps they should bring Antony Davidson into the tv coverage. Listening to him in the friday practice was quite a pleasant experience!

  50. Humphreys – 8 – expectations were incredibly low but he was unobtrusive and egoless

    Coulthard – 6 – a bit forced tried a few jokes that didnt work but hes got the background to give some really good insight. i hope he can deliver

    Jordan- 6 – hes ok and can banter but he tended to re ask questions

    Legard – 5 for saturday 7 for sunday -. a marked improvement, a bit verbose and has no chemistry with Brundle but it’ll come or he will go

    Brundle – 10 peerless

    Mckenzie. – 2 – pretty. and pretty anonymous

  51. BBC coverage is great, i think it will improve to. I just cant stand Eddie Jordan, it’s just to much, i cant see him lasting long!!

    Brundle- as good as ever
    Coulthard- a good addition and interesting insight
    Humpreys- good overall
    Legard- i enjoyed his commentary, definitely needs brundle with him though
    Mckenzie- smoking hot!

    1. Anthony Davidson – definitely the next Brundle :-)

    2. I’m with you on EJ – He talks out his ar**e.
      Surely you’d rather have Louise back? In addition to actually being able to talk sense during interviews, she’s far better looking than that butch scottish woman.

  52. theonlygayinthevillage
    30th March 2009, 16:41

    Everything great brill gp UNTIL the cheshire cat that is branson turned up.mr teeth on legs,gives me the creeps!!

    1. God, I hate beardy-Branson. Plus, the BBC team seemed to think, from the comments they were making, that he’d had some part in orchestrating Brawn GP’s success, when in actual fact he passed up buying the team, realised his mistake, and stuck some of his stickers on the side of their car the day before ( he handily forgot his comments about F1 not being green enough. HYPOCRITE).
      It makes me so angry!

  53. “the odd hiccup” you mean the sound, that quite freezed and made the engine sound quite strage??

    i thought it was the satelite reception Argentina has! :O

    that odd hiccup is horrid…

  54. To true i should stick to your broadband and mobiles mate!!(not very good at that either)apart from swearing branson exellent perfect weekend-especially hamilton not winning!!

  55. I really liked it, i liked the JH, Ej and Dc combination, alot better than listening to Steve rider and Mark blundell having a Lewis-fest outside the Mclaren garage. EJ’s ego did get annoying at some points but i liked seeing him and Coulthard disagree on some points, good hearing the team owners view and also the drivers view.

    The forum at the end was fanatstic, it would be good to see something like that after qualifying as there really wasnt enough time after qualifying to discuss, have interviews and see the FULL press conference.

    Legard was quite good i thought, he was enthusiastic and he reminded me of Murray how excited he got at some points and it was better than hearing James allen screaming down the mic. He did talk abit much though, wouldve liked to hear more from Brundle.

    Apart from that i loved it, having no breaks was fanatastic and looking forward to next week :D

  56. I’m a dutch viewer so I can’t compare to ITV, but compared to Dutch coverage, the BBC is miles ahead.

    I really like Brundle. His experience just adds so much better insight into what’s really going on. The Dutch presenter talks like he knows everything, but he gets just about every call wrong. Just because he really does NOT know what he’s talking about.

    I wasn’t too keen on the paddock interviews with Jordan and Coulthard, but at least Coulthard offered some nice insights too.

  57. how can anyone complain about anything to do with the coverage when there are no advert breaks?

  58. Coverage was great, Eddie Jordan really got on my tits though! He got way too carried away and full of himself

  59. leggard done my head in, not because of the radio commentary, but because he made it hard for brundle to commentate. I think that with time, the radio commentary will fade away, but I’m not sure if he will stop butting in before martin or cutting him short.
    It really annoys me when the radio transmissions are talked over or when I can’t make out what the driver is saying over the radio and the commentators don’t clarify what was said.
    Jake H did a quality job, well impressed. At first, I thought he would be hopeless but he was pretty well clued up and had a lot of energy which I thought was good.
    EJ was quality, arguing with DC about JB not being as good as MS was funny “but he’s just not” lol

  60. Legard – I thought he was OK. Needs to speak less and say more… I can see the pictures!

    Brundel – brilliant as ever but becuase legard whouldn’t shut up didn’t get to hear enough of him

    Coultard and Jordan – gave two very different views on the sport, good combination.

    Mckenzie – who

    Humphreys – not bad at all, but then everyone is who is not rosenthal is perfect as far as I’m concerned

    Loved not having adverts but it meant I had to decide when to go to the toilet, so if I miss anything it is my fault not ITV’s, I liked being able to blame them.

  61. Not impressed really. Sounded like the commentator would be better off dong football or snooker! – he basically killed it stone dead for me. The show intro was very long-winded so I hope we don’t get that every week. I really prefer the ITV show and really didn’t mind the commercials – especially in the pre-show when it gave me plenty of time to grab another beer or a snack without missing anything.

  62. I hope the commentators gell soon…… I thought I was listening to a horse race at times

  63. Unfortunately I slept through the race and missed the bulk of the coverage which wasn’t shown on the re-run. I did think Jonathan Legard was a bit wobbly on Saturday, but enjoyed his coverage for the race. He seemed to have the genuine enthusiasm that was missing up until now.

    1. With your level of interest suggest you sleep through all the rest as well.

  64. I think the BBC’s coverage was head and shoulders above ITV’s – thank God Jame’s Allen’s gone….. however my only regret is that the BBC has missed trick in not recruiting Ben Edwards (Ex-Europsport F1 comentator) to stand along side Brundle in the Box. The guy is a legend and it you don’t believe me watch this on Youtube I though the guys head was going to explode during this commentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5AoTROb0H0&feature=related :-)

  65. I think the BBC`s coverage was head and shoulders above ITV`s – thank God Jame`s Allen`s gone….. how ever my only regret is that the BBC missed a trick in not recruiting Ben Edwards (Ex-Europsport F1 commentator) to stand along side Brundle in theb Box. The guy is a legend and if you don`t believe me watch this on Youtube I though the guys head was going to explode during this commentary

    youtube.com/watch?v=K5AoTROb0H0&feature=related :-)

  66. i was pleasantly suprsed with Jake Humphrey, i thought the coveraewas billant especaly with all of the extra coverage on the red button. not too keen on eddie jordan and i did miss James Allens commentary.

  67. Overall I thought the BBC coverage was really good, no advert breaks, NO ADVERT BREAKS! Dear god I’d forgotten how good it felt. And how nice is it to have a proper commentator again, I mean really it was like poetry, I feel like my ears have been abused for years, I can never have those years back but at least I can look forward to the future. I don’t hate James Allen, he was a really really good pit lane reporter unlike Ted “Friends in high places” Kravitz. Eddie Jordan runs a fine line, I’d be willing to bet that a) At some point he will get in a fight with Couthard, and b) He won’t last the season.

  68. I wanted to punch Eddie Jordan in the face!!! He would not stop talking about Barrichello, it was soo annoying. But overall, I thought the coverage was really good!

  69. So to sum up general opinion:

    1. BBC better than ITV on their first attempt even without factoring in ad breaks
    2. Amazingly Humphries pulled it out of the bag
    3. EJ didn’t…
    4. Legard needs to understand that we can see the feed also, but should learn
    5. Brundle, despite the lack of a grey beard, is in fact god

    Pretty much agree with everything above – with the exception of JL – After James Allen his voice was like gold sweet nectar….

    Oh i forgot…
    6. Who is Lee Mckenzie?

  70. In the case of “Lee McKenzie, who?” – at least a couple of times when the commentators were introducing her to say she found someone they only had the driver (or whoever) speaking, not her posing the question or anything. The only time we saw her (I think) was at the end when she’s walking and talking with Lewis and I think she was a bit of robot in doing so (maybe nervous, who knows).

    I like Jordan, but then again, always have – don’t necessarily agree with him all the time, but then again he does make a fair point most of the time. I think we need to see more from him and Coulthard, because they’re pretty funny guys (historically) and a couple of characters, but at the moment it’s like white collar talk and either forced banter or just not natural. I wasn’t disappointed by any means, but I would definately want to see more.

    Legard – I see him as transitional, I think Brundle should take the lead more as he offers much more insight into the race, but I think any commentator would’ve made people go “oh, not used to this”. I know I certainly recognised the familiarity when they said “Ted Kravitz has some news”, and then Teds voiceover comes on. Sooner or later, we’ll be used to them – it’s like liking the look of the 2009 cars, it’s all transitional.

    I think the BBC red button service is great – I watched the classic GP thing on loop for ages – a shame they don’t keep it running throughout the weekend, though (that’s about as bad my complaining will get!). And I wish they would play the full re-run (with pre-race commentary) when playing the re-run which goes almost immediately to the race. But hey, other programs need time too.

    Overall, I think we’ve got a lot more to come from the BBC as this is just the beginning. If I were to nitpick, I’d say I don’t know when I should go for a wee anymore because there’s no more ads!

    1. Real fans never pee!

  71. I’m in New Zealand, and Sky TV (Paid TV Network) shows the BBC’s F1 feed. Personally, I thought it was excellent. My only complaint is I missed James Allen’s commentary, but I think I’ll get used to the new crew given time.

    Not having any ad breaks was excellent, and worth the switch alone. I also felt the picture and sound quality were better than in previous years. A standard signal can look pretty rubbish through a full 1080p TV, but BBC’s coverage held up really well.

    I would have loved to have seen the Forum after the race… that would have made it near perfect.

    A solid 8.5/10 from me. Very very good

    1. In the last couple of seasons I’ve felt we’ve been given the bare minimum coverage on Sky in NZ but no so this year. It was great having all the practices shown here live too with radio 5 live commentary. So 10 hours of live F1 over the course of the weekend! Fantastic!

      I thought it might have been just for the Aussie GP but it’s the same for the Malaysian next weekend too.

      No adverts was great and I thought the commentary team were good. When Legard becomes more comfortable with the role and they get a rapport going it could be very interesting as with ITV it felt like Brundle spent most of his time correcting Allen or pointing out something he’d missed. Less so with Legard.

      Big thumbs up from me!

  72. The coverage was very good but the commentry by jonathan leggard was awful, he made F1 sound like a horse race they should of let martin brundle take the lead, he knows what hes talking about and hes more exciting to listen to. Get Anthony Davidson or Caulthard commentating they could do a better job. If the BBC want to attract a younger audience then you need exciting commentaters.

  73. BowtNetterToDo
    30th March 2009, 20:26

    NO ADVERTS !!
    Great coverage, i watched every session, i recorded the onboard broadcast while i watched the race and watched the onboard after watching the forum.

    Great to see Hamilton from onboard working his way up from the back, a great argument for reverse grids based on season standings made by him and the Toyotas.

    I miss L Goodman, dont miss J Allen. I didnt spend any periods wondering what i was missing while adverts interupted the action, that always annoyed me. Imagine adverts just before a penalty kick and you get close to how adverts during F1 made me feel.

    I didnt have a problem with any of the presenters/pundits.

    I dont mind support for our home grown drivers (we Brits pay the licience fee after all), even though most of our drivers rush off to pay taxes to some other nation, but i’m glad the BBC didnt take the patriotism to ITV’s levels.

    Overall, glad to see F1 back on the BBC where it belongs.

  74. Great coverage, needs some work between Jonathan and Martin to get them seemless rather than interrupting each other, better on the Sunday, a ittle bit tenuous between DC and Eddie on the post race talk, looked like they like they were afraid of butting in on each other, especially liked the touch at the end when the majority of the presenters were brought together to demonstrate team work.
    Lee Mcenzie, please use her more, she seemed knowledgable and nice to see a member of the fairer sex, but please ask her to clearly thank the drivers after talking to them at a difficult time for them when their day has just collapsed around them.
    One annoying thing, can we get DC to take his “hair band” off does he not know that the purpose of shades is to protect the eyes from the sun, not his hair or is he losing it?

  75. I almost heard the chant “It’s Coming Home, It’s Coming Home”, but then I realised I wasn’t watching the footy.

    What I really liked about the practice sessions was that they used the radio 5-live commentary feed, not Legard and Brundle. You got David Croft and Anthony Davidson for session 1 then Maurice Hamilton and Ian Phillips for session 2 with Holly “hotlips” Samos in the pit lane. Refreshing to get lots of different opinions. Don’t know what happened in practice 3, too tired!

    Best comment I heard from the radio team was David Croft comparing the 2008 and 2009 car designs:
    “You have to look at the new car designs like this – you have a beautiful girlfriend, but after a while you realise that she’s just a little bit dull and her uglier best friend is actually a hell of a lot more fun and therefore much better date material.”

  76. It was so weird watching with no adverts, such a relief, and the “Forum” program afterwards was a very interesting watch. It was annoying that the press conference was short on saturday.

    I loved how i could watch the repeat all day long on channel 301(Freeview) I though that was awesome, I was also impressed how at the end of the highlights, the bbc had stuck around till midnight to give extra news to the viewers!

    The onboard footage was a bit strange, as it seemed to appear on my screen as 1 small box and then 1 bigger box which made sense, but what was odd was that the larger “onboard” box view didnt exactly fill my screen, (my tv is 42″) so that was annoying.

    It was entertaining seing Jordan, Coulthard and Brundle debating over things during the “forum” program, and then having guest’s in to chat with them was good too. I really did enjoy the weekend coverage, I can only imagine it will improve!!!x

  77. EJ needs to calm down and shut up a bit more. Lee McKenzie needs more air time but presumably when the relationships develop between the new TV crew and the teams/drivers they’ll get more mid-race interviews (hopefully not becoming a cliche in the “and Louise has found Coulthard” vein)

    With all the features and red button stuff they did I thought the BBC did a great job overall.

  78. I thought they did a good job.
    This was their first GP so I expected a few problems with the commentators learning how best to compliment each other.

    Brundle always gets 10/10 and all of the others where on a 7 or 8.

    Jordan & Coulthard are a good mix.

    The lack of adverts was a joy to behold, I’d forgotten how good it used to be before it went on to ITV but I hope we never go back !

    The pre-race build up was good, enough basic details for the casual fan but enough fine detail to keep me interested.

  79. On the whole liked it a lot. Was very very impressed with Anthony Davidson and pleasantly surprised with Jake Humphrey, had low expectations of him.

    Can’t say the same about Legard. Agree with most of the criticism others have mentioned.

    Legard’s first race so I might warm to him but I’m not expecting to.

  80. Very impressed, particulalry with the web coverage and the classic races build up.
    My only criticism would be the sheer quantity of Jonathan Leggard. Other people have described him as still thinking in radio terms and thereby needing to fill every second. True.
    Less motormouth from Leggard and more of Brundle’s incredible insight and judgement, please.

  81. I thought it was loads better than ITV! Although BBC clearly had taken note from ITV – I thought the clips to music was great (although not quite as good as ITVs farewell lol)

    Jake Humphries was far better than I was expecting, Brundle was on top form as ever and I was interested to see his extra bits at the beginning.

    I was surprised not to see Lee McKenzie doing more of the pieces to camera, I think I expected her to do everything Louise Goodman did previously. Ted Kravitz was same as always, I’m not particularly keen on him but does a good job.

    DC was great but I think EJ is going to annoy me – I didn’t like the way he kept taking over the conversation and it looked like he was annoying DC and Brundle at the end of the race.

    Legard – I much prefer his whole tone of voice to James Allen (so glad the bbc didn’t keep him – great journalist not so good on the commentating) but I think it will take time for the rapport with Brundle. I was a bit confused as to who was supposed to be the main commentator and I think these two did too. He was also too much of a cross between a radio commentator and a horse racing/auctioneer for my liking!

    I really enjoyed the pairing on 5 live during free practise (mainly cos they read out my text!!) but Davidson was brilliant – I wish he could be with Brundle on the main broadcast.

    I love the BBC showing practice, qualy, race and highlights so often – one thing I was surprised at was the lack of build up on the qualy re-run (not sure about the race I think I was napping at the time)..I think it should be shown twice. At least the build up was different between Sat and Sun and was so much more balanced than ITV – thank you Beeb!!

  82. I really enjoyed the BBC commentary. It was a pleasant change not to hear Lewis Hamiltons name every 10sec. CH10 here had the race in High Def 5.1, was it the same in the UK?

  83. One thing i don’t think anybody has mentioned is the third commentary option. Once you press the redboutton and selected commentary options you heard the R5Live coverage but you could use the arrow buttons to select a a commentary labeled “CBBC”. One would think that it was only useful for children being labeled but it wasn’t too dumbed down and i think if it was someones first time watching it would be a great tool to understand some of the terms used etc.

    Overall i agreee with the general view here that Legard could come out of radio mode but i think after a few races that will happen.

  84. No adverts = brilliant
    No James Allen = brilliant

    Eddie Jordan = amusing but likely to become tiresome
    DC = just what you expect from Crazy Dave

    Legyard = Calm authority
    Lee Mackenzie = didn’t notice her

    Friday session = beyond superb, real anorak, clip board and stopwatch stuff, loved it beyond all measure, made me feel like I was at Paddock Hill again watching De Angelis power-sliding it.

    God help us all Bransons got his grinning face on the BBC

  85. For God’s sake don’t knock Legyard we will get the cock Allen back – ” and we are……..wait for it…..wait…….wait……..wait a bit more…………gaooooooooooo! “

  86. All we could talk about in the pub last night was how abysmal the coverage was, they’ve not moved it on an inch from ITV, just changed a couple of faces. I reckon we chatted for ten mins about the race and an hour about how disappointed we were in the BBC. I know they’re still hopelessly limited by the feed they get from Bernie, but when Tennis and Cricket coverage is significantly more hi-tec than F1, surely alarm bells should be ringing. Utterly devoid of ideas, 1/10

  87. Mussolini's Pet Cat
    30th March 2009, 23:29

    WOOOHOOO NO ADVERTS!!! However, there is one draw back to no commercials, for me anyway. The race now lasts alot longer for me as i kept having to pause the live tv (thank god for PVR’s) to sort out the kids, make a cup of tea for the good lady, lav breaks, breakfast etc etc… The blasted race lasted 3 hours! At least with ITV i could save a bit of time… lol. ;)

  88. Well I managed to get to see the bbc coverage of qualifying and the race this weekend, even though i thought i wouldn’t have a chance in hell.

    I must say i was very impressed with bbc’s coverage. They must have taken a guide from itv’s previous coverage because it was much better than any of bbc’s f1 coverage in the past. Maybe the post race analysis could have been a little longer, but i’m quite satisfied.

    I’m quite impressed with Jonathan Legard, though he did make a few James allen style mistakes, and he did monopolise the commentary a bit. That could be down to a lone commentary when he was on radio 5 live (but i never listened to that so don’t know if he had a partner or not). It could also be the way Martin Brundle prefers it.

    I will say i was notimpressed with the opening titles. The music was good, but “the chain” was under utilised in my opinion, and i saw what an amateur can do on youtube much better.

    So i’ll give bbc 9 out of 10.

    looking foward to Malaysia.

    The race was amazing and better than i was expecting and Jensen deserved the win totally. Also I think most people will have to say that Lewis Hamilton has shown his greatness by bringing his bad Mclaren to 3rd place from last. And i know he was helped by the first safety car.

    And speaking of the safety car, i felt it was a joke with it taking ages to come out after the accident. It makes me think of conspiracy cos it came out just after button pitted. It stayed out way too long, and the cars were travelling too fast.

    enough said for now

  89. One other question regarding BrawnGp.

    I wonder if they would have done so well if they had still been using Honda engines???

    Or maybe Honda had made leaps and bounds witheir engine too.

  90. Patresestoenail
    31st March 2009, 1:34

    Thought Jake was good – but I hadn’t expected much, based on his “What sport is this then?” Olympics coverage.

    Great to hear Maurice Hamilton and Ian Phillips again on the second practice session – sorry to lose Maurice as the 5 Live co-commentator, but Anthony Davidson is great too.

    One grumble – not enough of the coverage is on iPlayer. I don’t have digital but I do have the internet so I wanted to see the post-race forum but couldn’t! The practice session video coverage is still on the BBC Sport website but completely hidden (I only found it via the link to the Inside F1 programme) and not accessible via the iPlayer site.

    Am I right in thinking that Ted Kravitz has a background in production? He’s probably beavering away behind the scenes then. Shame not to hear more of him on screen though.

    Very happy with the rest – Legard will settle in and Jordan will continue to be entertaining!

  91. Having watched the BBC replay (I live in Hong Kong, and sadly have to tolerate Star Sports coverage), I think Martin Brundle is the heart and soul (as always) of BBC coverage. I like Jake Humphrey, DC & EJ, who are by far better than Steve Rider and Mark Blundell.

    But weirdly, I miss James Allen (can’t believe I just said that!) I know Legard is new to the job and will only improve as the season unfolds, but he sounds a bit dull. I miss James Allen’s passion and enthusiasm when something big happens.

    I was looking forward to Lee McKenzie for the simple fact that she’s more pleasing to the eyes than Louise Goodman. But I am totally disappointed. Not really on her looks, but I’m disappointed she sounds really bland and rude. She never addressed any driver by name, and just shoot her questions. And Louise built up such good rapport with drivers over the years, so her interview style is much more intimate.

    Anyhow, you lucky Brits should not complain too much and just enjoy. We have to bear with Steve Slater, the worst commentator in sports. But I must say Karun Chandhok is actually quite good. His views on incidents are a little “Brundlesque” where he mostly gets them right.

    1. You aren’t the only one ;)

      When I got home from the track I immediately watched it again on TV, and found myself shouting as the lights went out “And we are GOOOOOOOO! ” Who woulda thunk it?

      As for Louise Goodman, she was at the GP working for GPTV. Not sure if that will be at every race or not, but it was nice to see her, and hear that familiar “Hard luck Heikki” (or whoever, as obviously not everyone she spoke to was named Heikki).

      Interesting to see the comments re the Beeb’s coverage. We don’t get the panel of DC, EJ et al here, just Brundle and Legard with the odd comment from Ted or Lee thrown in. Sounds like we are missing out on some good TV. I thought Legard sounded like he should be commenting on the cricket rather than F1. I kept expecting him to say that we were two for twenty two or something. Step up the excitment a notch Legard – its high octane F1, not coma inducing cricket! But still, that may come with time.

      But don’t you people complain too much – Ch10 or Ch1 as they are now calling themselves still have ad breaks. And not quicky ones either, the whole box and dice :(

      I’d put up with a lot of **** for no ad breaks. I have TiVo that I can pause for my loo/tea/snack breaks at my convenience !

  92. Johnathan Legard’s commentary is informed, but dull. He reminds me of the kind of guy you find employed in your local public library. Not sure if it’s an improvement over Allen or not…. obviously, Allen had his share of “non-fans”.

    After all the BBC’s PR bravado about providing a “fresh start”, they haven’t exactly blown ITV away.

  93. The BBC Coverage was good, at last the coverage dosent have have adverts running through it ever 5 minutes. It’s great that it’s on BBC iplayer as well i watched the start of the race on there because i had missed the start. So for the BBC first F1 coverage they’ve done very well hopefully they can keep it up.

  94. I thought Legard sounded like he should be commenting on the cricket rather than F1.

    Errr, maybe I’m the only F1 fan who likes cricket too.
    2 completely different sports that I really like.

    Wouldn’t say he’s quite on the cricket commentary terms. Could you imaging Jonathan Agnew commentating on F1? :D But, then cricket commentary you have to read the play for the listener and this is exactly what Legard did. I think he’ll get better once he gets to know Brundle better, for some interaction between the two. It was a bit like they were in two separate booths rather than in the same space some times.

    But then I wasn’t that fussed about James Allen.

  95. I thought the coverage on the whole was pretty good, MB (always a LEGEND) Legard was awful had me wishing for James Allen to come back and thats not good…surely there is someone out there who can com and not sound like he should be doing the coms for Roayl Ascot…And we’ve waited 5 months for the start of the season and when the lights went out did he get excited??? Not that I noticed…so it should be jog on Legard you are not upto to the job..you sound like a politician and a bad one at that…

  96. Pink – sounds like you’re from Canada? No preshow, UK commentary, and TiVO?

    I will surely miss F1 in Montreal, it’s there that really got me addicted to this.

    1. Australia. Melbourne to be exact.

      I was at the race, and like any true petrolhead went straight home and watched the telecast to see what I missed !

  97. Having been so impressed with David Croft and Anthony Davidson’s commentary on the Red Button Practice Sessions, I listened to them rather than Brundle/Legard for the race too. Only disadvantage with this were the interuptions caused by the 7.30am and 8.30am headlines as effectively this was the Radio 5 Live feed. Don’t know if anyone else found it but there was another audio alternative lurking on the Red Button that I switched to accidently that was a CBBC version? I didn’t survive the patronising long enough to know whether this was purely intended for a younger audience? The main bit that I heard was alleged “hidden microphone” inside the Safety Car consisting of a man and woman’s voice arguing about which direction they should be going. Having realised my mistake, I was careful not to repeat it although I am left wondering what else they might have lampooned!

    All in all I thought it was a good first effort (apart from not covering the press conferences) and have subsequently enjoyed Jake’s Blogs on the BBC F1 site. I do think that it is possible that EJ may become a tad tiresome though. It’s all well and good (and vast improvement on ITV) to have commentators/pundits that are willing and able to have an informed opinion and not just about Lewis Hamilton but EJ banging the Barrichello drum so hard got tedious whether you like the guy or not.

    Jury’s still out over the long-term but no adverts and interactive coverage are excellent bonuses – roll on Malaysia!

  98. I thought that overall it was good coverage and good presentation… but… Eddie Jordan… don’t know… I don’t think he’s capable of being objective, and therefore (in my opinion) not so great for the job.

    Also, I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about David Coulthard. He’s just too boring! Great insite and knowledge of course, but boring boring boring. Perhaps he’ll grow into the role over time.

    I thought Jake Humphrey did a great job though.

  99. I think they should use Ted Kravits more – he is really excellent in his analysis.

  100. There’s an excellent and very detailed look at the BBC’s coverage on Doctorvee’s site: F1 on the BBC: A new era of F1 coverage

  101. a few points…

    1. Eddie Jordan has every right to be opinionated and refer to his (race winning) team’s efforts over the years. Running an F1 team, employing some of the most talented and experienced drivers in the world (Damon, Giancarlo, Heinz-Harald, both Schumachers), developing their own cars and dealing with the commercial aspects of the sport gives him a far more balanced viewpoint on the wider world of F1 than the likes of Mark Blundell or dare I say it, David Coulthard or Anthony Davidson. He’s opinionated, yes, but his opinions in my view are valid.

    2. TV pundits that don’t have a discernible point of view are bland. REF. Mark Blundell.

    3. Has anyone had a look at the 3D track guides? Really cool!

  102. Think the Beeb did a grand job, a couple of things needed to be improve a little less speed from Mr Legard and less pit/track background sounds. But at least the use of English improved 100% no more Mark “WHAT” Brundle a word he frequently used in the wrong place with no meaning!! This team seem to hit it off from the start and not 6 months later like ITV did.
    Just need to sort the Stewards and organisers out and we may get some results that stand and fareness. Let them Race & stop the FARCE 1 its not F1

  103. I think the BBC’s F1 coverage is very good – very happy with all of the graphics and explanations of the complexities. However, what I am not happy about is the Jonathan Legerd who is going to be very annoying if all he wants to do is talk over Martin.
    I also am not happy about Eddie Jordan who just seems to be a bitter man that he is no longer a team boss – all I hear is negativity. I think David Coulthard is brilliant however and Jake is doing a really good job. Keep it all up – I’m enjoying it a lot.

  104. please get murrey back quick the rest of the team are like a forest, so wooden, get rid of blundel

  105. Alan Bathurst
    12th April 2009, 8:57

    pretty good effort after a long time away would like to see the odd appearance of Murry Walker, and Eddie Jordan told not to but in and hog the mike.
    love the red button thing
    well done Beeb.

  106. Eddie Jordan – knowledgeable and experienced he may be, but irritating and negative he is also. The body language of Coulthard was hilarious during the Malaysian GP – it looked like he was going to smack Eddie. Would have been great viewing.

    Agree otherwise though, pretty reasonable first few races – they can only get better at it…

  107. Absolute RUBBISH bring back ITV the bbc are killing the sport give it back to ITV. Martin Brundle / James Allen are the only ones who know what they are talking about, it is painful to listen and watch the coverage.

  108. A major improvement in every way. Not only is the technical coverage great, the pre-race build up is better especially now there is a competent ex-driver to ask some useful questions, the availability of commentated practices, multiple audio streams, no adverts.

    The BBC are doing a great job.

  109. Eddie Jordon has got to go.

    He is too annoying with his constant interruptions before other pundits finish and his over used questions and rambling jibberishness, otherwise the BBc coverage is great – not commercial interuptions.

    Did anyone see the Bernie interview – were they trying to read off que-cards? I’ve never seen anyone as wooden. The questions were kind of strange too with EJ asking and answering at once.

  110. Would the bbc not employ a decent motor mouth somthing like Yankee style we really don’t want to hear what blunderer did years ago thats all he seems he wants to talkabout aside from his boring voice David Coultard is great & the other guy the main comentator & the guy in the box who ever he is with the boring one is OK, but bbc get with it a bit more, go for it after all it is all about excitement!!!!!!!!!!!

  111. keith johnston
    19th April 2009, 13:34

    i would like to say the coverage of the f1 on bbc is rubbish they are showing the highlights the now and they have missed out the start and also the first 8 laps you never had this with itv,
    what is this about do they know what they are doing or as usual do they think we are paying a licence to watch what they want to show,
    they got the f1 but so far the cant deliver ?????????????
    even when the sesson started they didnt go through all the changes in the cars at the moment i would say bring back itv …………………………

    1. You are joking, right?

      If I’m watching a repeat of a race I’m not interested in watching eight laps behind the safety car where nothing happens. It wasn’t that interesting live, never mind hours later.

      ITV, on the other hand, cut ages out of every live broadcast to show us adverts, missing hours of footage every year.

      No way in hell do I ever want it going back to them. BBC is incomparably better.

  112. Well the start of the China re-run was a joke. Lets just cut the start out completly?? Whats that about?

  113. BBC show no pre or post race interviews.
    Looking like a return to to the poor coverage last time it was on BBC. Eastenders and indoor bowls more important that the press conference.

    1. They were all on red button.

  114. Where have all the press conferences gone.

    As someone who doesn’t have the luxury of the magic “red button” (I live in Ireland), I am very disappointed by the fact that the BBC keep cutting the press conferences completely. Such a shame as I always thought that we got a lot of good information from them.

    1. BowtNetterToDo
      24th April 2009, 22:59

      Presumably you dont pay the licence fee.

  115. I love the coverage on BBC. However, I think the previous channel coverage was more lively and interesting. Also the bloke who presents it cannot say Vettel correctly. He keeps saying Fettel instead of Vettel. Somebody have a word with him please.

  116. Richard Greenane
    25th April 2009, 11:56

    I don’t have the opportunity to pay the license fee. That honour is left to UK residents. I do, however pay a handsome fee to NTL for the same content, which presumably the BBC get some share of.

  117. Self and better half agree with much on the site – great to lose adverts, EJ a bit of a nuisance, miss Louise.
    Why not only have DC and Jake?
    Are we the only ones to record the races? Then you can have breaks when you want them and go back and check any queries that arise. Digital recorders are great.
    Our two gripes are 1) Why stand in front of the pits when talking with an almighty row going on and 2) the position listings, both on the left of the picture and shown running along the bottom. They seem to be grey on grey – why not do black on white?

  118. As requested by the media, BE and the BBC F1 team, Ive given the new format for the race time to settle in. Sor far I still believe the races lack something. Lets face it one tyre change and thats it…..no more chance for cock ups by the team. The driver has onlt to keep it on the black stuff and stay awake…unlike me ..I fell asleep on the last race. Perhaps they (F1) should now introduce a second mandatory tyre change which cant be taken until perhaps after half distance where they have to use a different tyre to the one they have just had on. Might make it a bit more interesting!

  119. Why are we watching the back of the field in the British GP the coverage is pointless as these drivers are outside the points. This is not what I want to see. Poor coverage of the top teb drivers racing.

  120. I’ve been an F1 fan for many years, setting the alarm clock so as not to miss the start of a race but just lately it’s become little more than a parade of cars with the occasional overtaking move, with weather contributing the most exciting element. Nowadays I say thank goodness I can record the event and watch the weekends “action” at treble speed.

    Full marks to the commentary team though, they talk a good race, I would imagine they practice their technique by commentating on a kiddies merry go round whilst the other three wander around the rest of the fairground making the “helter-skelter” sound like a death defying white knuckle ride and “catch a duck” with a “prize every time” more desirable than winning the lottery.

    Make the drivers “drive” the cars once again, let them choose fuel strategies, tyres etc that they think suits the them and the track instead of stereotyping and restricting car/driver performance in an effort to make them all equal. Let them RACE.

    Michael C.

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