Questions over invisible Force Indias in qualifying coverage
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
The Force India team were conspicuous by their absence to anyone watching TV coverage of today’s qualifying session.
The world television feed produced by Formula One Management featured no substantial footage of either driver during the session.
This was despite Paul di Resta advancing as far as the final stage of qualifying.
Force India did not run in the second practice session yesterday as the team made arrangements to ensure they left the circuit before nightfall.
This came after members of their team were caught up in a petrol bomb attack earlier in the week. Two members of the team chose to return home afterwards.
This prompted speculation that the lack of coverage of their cars in qualifying was retribution by FOM – something which is understood to have happened with other teams in the past.
Tensions continue to rise in Bahrain following further violent clashes between protesters and security forces. The Bahraini opposition blamed the government for the death of a man yesterday.
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Image © Force India/Sutton
Homer said on 21st April 2012, 17:46
Bernie Ecclestone, whose FOM company is responsible for producing the live coverage, scotched the suggestions that Force India was deliberately ignored.
He insisted that fans are interested only in frontrunners, hence the lack of Force India screen time.
“Nobody cares if someone is ninth or 11th,” Ecclestone told Reuters. “Only the people that are watching a particular team.
“I spoke to our people and they were more or less concentrating on who was going to be on pole, rather than somebody going to be 10th.”
–autosport
makes you wonder why FOM director showed Charles Pic instead of Force India in Q1… according to Bernie, nobody wants to see Charles Pic. we shoulda had a garage shot of Vettel instead!
Lotus49 (@lotus49) said on 21st April 2012, 18:32
Having just watched the BBC coverage, with a stopwatch in hand I only managed to spot Force India twice, for a total of 3 tenths of a second in total. Charles Pic was featured for an entire lap and a prolonged exposure of him parked in his garage. So FOM must have thought that he had a good chance on being on pole. Every time that little man opens his mouth this weekend he puts his foot in it with blatant lies. Presumably, if Force India become the victims of a Bernie vendetta then the other teams will continue to bite their tongues and hope to keep in with Bernie. What a bunch of spineless ********.
Nigel said on 21st April 2012, 18:38
As usual Ecclestone is talking demonstrable ********.
They were not concentrating on “who was going to be on pole”. They showed most of Ricciardo’s out lap while Di Resta was setting his quick time – and while no one else was out on track.
And since when was Ecclestone appointed spokesman for the fans ?
fatbloke said on 21st April 2012, 19:53
if nobody wants to see whos going to be 9th backwards whats the point in 3 part qually? Or even turning up for the race, the midfeild battles have been excellent this year. Bernie really hasnt got a clue! If nobody wants to see them then why did he make such a fuss about them not going out in P2?
abhi said on 21st April 2012, 19:36
bernie, u silly little man!!
callum (@095cal) said on 21st April 2012, 19:51
If im to be honest I didn’t notice the absence of Force India in qualifying, Be nice to hear from anyone who spotted that their was no footage of Force India straight away and get their take on the event. Also is it likely to be the same in the race?
Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher) said on 21st April 2012, 20:05
Id actually like to see what each team got coverage-wise. I mean everybody bar the top five ie. Red Bull, Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes and ‘The team formally known as Renault’ get most the coverage anyway. The others never get much. tbh can’t really recall how much i saw or didn’t see the Force Indias or anyone else for that matter. I know they didn’t show Di Resta flying, but i cant remember them showing when Ricciardo was either. Maybe i just didnt notice but i’d like to see the actual coverage time for each team before jumping to conclusions.
F1_Dave said on 21st April 2012, 20:26
dont remember seeing karthikeyan, glock, petrov, senna or maldonardo either & i think grosjean only got a very short time on tv.
we also didnt see anything but the final corner of heikki kovalainens lap.
i dont really see what the fuss is about, yes di restas good lap was not shown on tv but thats not uncommon, many of the laps from q1/2 from the lower teams are often not covered as the focus is nearly always on the bigger teams. there has also been plenty of q3 sessions where the drivers from the lower end positions have not been seen at all.
there are 24 cars out there & not all can be shown when there are more than 1 on track.
Nigel said on 21st April 2012, 22:05
“I know they didn’t show Di Resta flying, but i cant remember them showing when Ricciardo was either.”
In Q2 they showed almost the whole of Ricciardo’s flying lap – and also his warmup lap while Di Resta was setting his time, unseen. At the time, the leaders were all in the pits.
GT_Racer said on 21st April 2012, 20:35
Spoke to someone at FOM & the official line seems to be that they were asked not to show Force India because there is a whisky sponsor (Whyte & Mackay) on the car & Bahrain law prohibits alcohol branding been displayed. I was told that they were asked to remove the branding from the car Friday afternoon but for whatever reason left it on.
I actually seem to recall Force India removed that branding from there cars at Abu-Dhabi last year for similar reasons.
matt90 (@matt90) said on 21st April 2012, 20:38
@keithcollantine in case you didn’t see this yet ^
matt90 (@matt90) said on 21st April 2012, 20:58
And yet in 2009:
http://i.eurosport.com/2010/03/18/591211-10343064-640-360.jpg
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bahraingrandprix_practice_2010-13.jpg
2010:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fisi_forc_bahr_2009.jpg
http://stwot.motortrend.com/files/2009/04/18462600-623×389.jpg
matt90 (@matt90) said on 21st April 2012, 21:14
However, McLaren have removed the little alcohol sponsorship they did have (on the wing mirrors) just for this race apparently. If it is a Bahrain regulation, haven’t they had better things to be doing over the last 2 years than reforming their alcohol-advertising policy?
joseph said on 21st April 2012, 21:14
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/motorsport/4271147/Bernie-Ecclestone-denies-Force-India-taken-off-TV.html
bernie quote below
Instead, he said their TV no-show could be due to legal reasons that prohibit advertising hard liquor in Bahrain – a dry country – as their cars contain a whiskey brand on their car.
He said: “I was busy and didn’t notice Force India were not on. I will look into it.
“It could be technical but I suspect it was more to do with the Bahrain laws on no alcohol advertising.
“They have a whisky company prominently on the car. They should have taken it off. The TV could not show that.”
He later added: “I spoke to our people and they were more or less concentrating on who was going to be on pole, rather than somebody going to be 10th.
matt90 (@matt90) said on 21st April 2012, 21:37
However, SunSport understands that Force India were given the green light to run with the logos of whiskey brand Whyte & Mackay.
If true, alcohol maybe used as a cover? Although I’ll wait until tomorrow for any conspiracy theories.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 21st April 2012, 21:43
Interesting – I’ve dropped Force India a line to ask.
On one hand I’d be surprised if this is the explanation as teams are used to having to alter their liveries to suit different territories, and Force India have (to the best of my knowledge) had alcohol sponsors since they first competed in F1.
And if it is the case, presumably the law has changed since 2010, as Force India had both Kingfisher Premium and Whyte & MacKay logos (and possibly other alcohol brands) on their cars the last time F1 raced in Bahrain:
Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, Bahrain, 2010
On the other hand, if ever there was a weekend to be preoccupied by more pressing matters and forget to take unsuitable advertising off the car, it’s this one.
King Six (@kingsix) said on 21st April 2012, 22:32
If anyone has a recording of FP1, that could solve this little mystery. If the cameras were broadcasting images of the Force India cars in FP1, before they decided not to run in FP2… then obviously alcoholic branding was/is fine and it’s just a lie.
If they weren’t televising the FI cars even in FP1, then perhaps this isn’t some sort of retaliation over not participating in FP2 and really is about alcohol.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog) said on 21st April 2012, 23:18
Almost convincing – but how long does it take to peel a sticker off a car, and I thought Whyte & Mackay made “Music CDs” for occasions like this?! Different stickers for different local laws though, same as it’s been for donkey’s years.
I’ve read that the new Sauber sponsor (currently “True Blue”) is of an alcoholic nature – think Mansell – so maybe the local laws are a reason why they haven’t identified themselves yet.
It’s sad, and says everything about F1, that so many people are on about this when people are dying.
AJ said on 21st April 2012, 21:01
For those who think remaining neutral is laudable, this guy knows a bit about persecution and torture personally – for nearly 3 decades – and yet when in a posiition of power to “right the wrongs” promoted forgiveness of his persecuters. This is what he has to say…
“If you are a neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” – Desmund Tutu
Bernard (@bernard) said on 21st April 2012, 21:15
F1 has by and large been a great motor sport to watch over the decades – but why anyone would want to perch their money together with their corporate and personal reputations on the head of this mindless, flailing and uncontrollably schizophrenic sport is beyond me. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if competition applications require teams to be sworn in blood over a picture of The Madonna…
The silverstone based team has accrued many fans over the years, Paul Di Resta has many fans, Nico Hulkenberg has many fans as does Jules Bianchi. Fans that watch F1 to SEE the team and it’s drivers competing. Fans that also value and respect the decisions of the team. Fans that support the team via merchandise. Fans that ultimately support the championships via tickets and TV subscriptions.
The FIA should take note, sponsors should take note, TV companies should take note, potential investors should take note and most importantly FOM should take note.
This weekend is yet another dirty smear on the already opaque public image of F1.
Enigma (@enigma) said on 21st April 2012, 22:05
Watching qualy back, just noticed Di Resta shown in the background at the end of Q1 – he’s diving into the pits while Kobayashi crosses the finish line. I guess that’s most TV time they’ve got!
Toro Stevo (@toro-stevo) said on 22nd April 2012, 1:51
Di Resta was also passed by Webber on the second to last straight on Webber’s last flying lap in Q3. They did cut to in car footage at the time though, which showed less of the Force India car than an aerial shot would have.
AJ said on 21st April 2012, 22:29
just seen a twitter campaign for people to Boycott Gillette. If social media can bring down the Egyptian premier, I guess the corporate sponsors of F1 should be worried.
I’ve been saying this for 2 days, speaking out and acting can make a difference. Social media connects us little people and gives us power as a collective
AJ said on 21st April 2012, 22:37
Wow. Shell, dell,virgin, hugo boss, vodaphone, casio, pirelli, santander, hilton, jonnie walker, siemens, reebok, proton, intel all being cited.
Here’s one guy with over 3,000 followers recommending this @peterclifford1
and I’ve seen others
f1alex (@f1alex) said on 21st April 2012, 23:32
It does seem a bit strange that they’d rather show Alonso warming his tyres, moving the camera away from the Force India that was just behind him and on a hot lap…
Guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
Maksutov (@maksutov) said on 22nd April 2012, 2:17
Well tomorrow (or today I should say) will be a different story, as they now realize that the public can see.
Kingshark (@kingshark) said on 21st April 2012, 23:49
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ufraPwIe1r8kneko1_1280.png
chaostheory said on 21st April 2012, 23:49
I don’t like F1 racing in Bahrain this year, but the decision to go on with the race wasn’t surprising at all – Bernie & co have gone to communist Hungary back in the 80s, they’ve gone to China; i can imagine Bernies & co F1 would go to 3rd reich or Stalins Russia, they would even go to Syria or North Korea if there was enough money in it. I’m more dissatisfied with teams behavior, like Force Indias, cause if they wanted to demonstrate something, the only way was to not go to Bahrain at all, not just skipping one practice session; assuming it was a demonstration.
nackavich (@nackavich) said on 22nd April 2012, 4:56
Maybe Brundle could spend all 10 minutes or so of his Grid Walk chatting with all the Force India crew on the grid!
matt said on 22nd April 2012, 7:31
That would be superb, in the background you’d see little Rumplestiltskin Ecclestone jumping up and down in rage.
rsp123 (@rsp123) said on 22nd April 2012, 12:06
Is F1 a respectable modern sport or something run along more Stalinist lines? Talk about the Emperor’s New Clothes. Look at the ridiculous contortions the team personel (and others) perform so as not to offend BE or JT and risk who-knows-what. I can’t help but think that Bernie and Jean have crossed a line this weekend; the international scrutiny of F1 will increase and its reputation can only suffer. Richard Williams in the Guardian has it right.