F1 Fanatic

Very well. Ok she called Eddie Jordan Eddie James and Whitmarsh Martin Whittaker but to be plonked on the live stage presenting with EJ is a tough task. She had the worst job in the world yesterday when the rain came because nothing at all happened and that’s so much harder to deal with than when everything is going on at once. She had good control over the boys, presented well, covered the issues and did it in good style. She may have stumbled over the words from time to time but it was her first time presenting like that. Great job.

I think it’s quite different personally. For a start there’s a lot more to do and millions of poeple watching you with a camera staring at you, you’ve got EJ and co. who have all really bonded together and found their own rhythm and it’s a totally new dynamic and before she asked the questions and relied on the driver so the less we saw of her the better but although this is similar she’s a lot more in the focus making the debate move on and forward, getting the fans views across etc. After just interviewing and digging for stories for so long it must be quite different having the stories brought to you and disecting them.
I feel a bit sorry for her as it was her first time so maybe I’m biased but I thought she handled it well.

She has no charisma and made a lot of mistakes.

To be fair she had to put up with a lot. Cancelled Qualifying and the live feed going down.

Looking forward to Jake returning. Would like Holly to replace Lee as pit reporter too.

First time on the job, I’d give her a good solid 8. A few mistakes, some dear air and mis-timed her talkovers on the VT’s a bit, but overall she coped well, kept things flowing, had a few moments of good charm too. Jake was very good from day 1, but he also had a few “moments” in his first few races too.

The TV problems losing audio and video were interesting – I was on the Red Button, and had to decamp to normal TV to get video back, but the 5 live audio was still on. Then all of a sudden the “main” audio feed came back and it really was jolting. Normally you listen to one or the other, but the difference was just startling – there was just dead silence for minutes at a time. There was no charisma, no cameraderie, no interest, nothing. Martin made a few attempts at something interesting, but it went absolutely nowhere. It was like there was a dead cold sink in the room draining it of all interest. I’m not just saying that as an ardent hater of Legard’s commentary, but the producers can’t be unaware of the massive gulf in quality.

She seemed unbelievably nervous. She was swaying all over the place, getting people’s names mixed up, losing tack of what she was talking about, losing confidence in what she was saying halfway through sentences etc. In the brief moments that she composed herself I though she was OK, but if she can’t handle live TV then it isn’t the job for her.

Incidentally, I thought Holly Samos did well on TV. She has a far more engaging voice, asks interesting questions and she seems to have a good rapport with the drivers

Ted would have been a much better anchor this weekend.

Lee unfortunately was not great. She’s somewhere in between being a motorsports enthusiast and a presenter – and in my opinion isn’t very good at either of those roles as a result. She reminded me of the itv coverage

Jake is great as he is simply a great anchor with an understanding of motorsport.

I think Jake’s gone to do the Commonwealth games in the hope that he makes a good impression on the big bosses who are already planning the London Olympic coverage…

As for Lee, she did a solid job I think. Didn’t seem to give the broadcast the same life that Jake does and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I guess that Jake is just a lot more natural and comfortable in the lead role after nearly two years doing it.

And finally, as Hairs and Scribe have pointed out, I hope that Legard gets replaced by Croft for next season. Having the BBC1 commentary and 5Live commentary back to back really highlighted how poor and disjointed the main feed is. Many people will have heard Croft for the first time today (the casual viewers who just watch BBC1 or maybe the people who can’t be bothered/dont know what the red button offers) and I’m sure they would have noticed the difference in quality of commentary too. Brundle is being suffocated and is a shadow of his former self in the box, but with him and Kravitz on the main feed (and also the bad sync between the 5live audio and live picture) I find it hard to switch to the alternative commentary for the entire race and find myself having to put up with Legard, and his uninspiring repetitive drivel.