F1 Fanatic

I want F1 back on the bbc, don’t like football so will only be paying for F1, as anybody seen a pay to view option? as much as be grudge paying it.

I caught most of the Sky season preview show when it was shown on Freeview the other night, I found out it was on when I was flicking through the channels so I missed the first half hour or so.

I think they put the program on Freeview as one big advert to try to get people to sign up, like when Sky used to do the Free Weekend pass on Sky 3 on Freeview which was basically all the best shows from their subscription services but on Freeview for one weekend.

Anyway back to the F1 show, You could tell it was early days as the presenters hadn’t fully gelled, and the content was what I would expect from a preview show, I didn’t like the set though with the pictures of F1 cars rotating in the background, but that is a minor quibble.

Overall it wasn’t bad but I don’t think it was significantly better than anything the BBC did like this.

As was obvious ever since the deal was announced the area where Sky will be better than the BBC is on the none-race weekend coverage. Sky have a channel dedicated to F1 and so can fill this with various documentaries, classic races and news shows.

The BBC’s race weekend coverage was pretty much spot on for me, especially last year with Brundle and Coulthard commentating. The only improvements you could ask for would be different presenters/pundits if the BBC team weren’t to your taste and a bit more post race analysis, because as good as the F1 forum is they didn’t seem to cover the whole grid all the time.

Its all very here, there & everywhere. Atleast what ive seen so far. Say the worse part of the preview thing and the main fear I have, is that this is going to be a TV Studio job, like what Sky did/do(?) with its Indy coverage. Part of what made the F1 coverage on BBC was that it was there amoungst it all, and sure Jake would get in peoples way and Eddie would be sprinting off to grab someone to drag infront of the camera, but it felt ‘part of F1′. I don’t know if thats the way Sky will do it, but I hope not as unlike football, being on the grid for the build up is part of F1.

Concern #2. Georgie Thompson. Sure she’s a looker but I dont know yet if she’s (and i’ll try to put it best I can) going to fit in. Lee McKenzie is brilliant as she is a bona fide fan and enthusiast. Ive been watching Georgie a few years and even on Sky Sports News, she’s never seemed quite interested in it all. Getting Crofty, Brundle, Kravitz & Davidson onboard is a major coup of course and should go someway to resolve this.

I have Sky & have done for a good 15years or so, so I know what they are capable of (good & bad). So Im going into this with caution and an open mind. If its crap, Ill just turn on for the race and watch the BBC when they show live races.