[himmatsj]

One reason I used to like to watch my F1 races over the past couple of seasons on the PC was due to me being able to follow the live timing concurrently. And really, if I were to watch races or qualifying sessions w/o LT, I would barely know what was going on all around the field. The single-most important aspect of the F1.com LT was sector times. With this, you can see why drivers were losing time, and in the races, see how fast one driver was catching another. It added another level of drama.

But this past Saturday, I fired up the LT and was greeted with horror. It was a dumbed-down version of the LT of seasons of yore. And to be honest, I actually expected them to improve the LT service further this year as we entered a “new era” of Formula One.

Now, the mobile version never made a good impression on me. There were technical issues with it on Android (something to do with “can’t connect to port ####”) over the past 2-3 seasons.

So anyway I downloaded it on Android this year, seeing that it was under a different developer/publisher, and while it looks decent enough, I don’t see the worth in paying RM45 for it. Mind you, RM45 is not something you go around throwing here and there.

My tablet is also over 2 years old so yeah performance wise it kinda sucks. Would have been better if the FIA allowed for a trial period of one race weekend to see if it is worth getting or not.

So, what are your thoughts about the Live Timing fiasco? Should FIA never have tempered with the PC version? Should the mobile version also be available on PC, paid of course? Should it have been free all along?

PS: Where can I follow Live Timing with sector data for free on PC or mobile?

PSS: Anyone here used the 2014 app’s premium version? Can you please impartially tell us how good or not it is, and what are the best features?

Thanks!

[Lord Stig]

First, the F1.com site is run by FOM (commercial rights holder) not the FIA (governing body).

The “new” F1 app is much improved, it includes things like Team Radio and BBC 5 Live commentary. It is not perfect, however, and there were some bugs during the race (drivers simply disappeared from the timing pages and Massa was stuck in the middle of the field even if he never made it passed turn 1.) To FOM’s credit, their Twitter page for the app was active through the race and provided updates as to the glitches. Also they were able to fix most of the issues on the fly, which was good. Also the pricing has been reduced to $11 for the season. To me, that is totally fair, given the extra features such as team radio.

To answer your other question, there is no other way to get full timing information this year. I do share your frustration with the lack of a desktop alternative. I would have liked to see a paid desktop version as well.

[Keith Collantine]

From last year’s official live timing app review:

I found myself wondering who the app is aimed at. Armchair viewers can glean much of the same information in real-time from Twitter, multi-channel TV coverage and the existing free live timing page (which makes me wonder how much longer the latter will remain in existence).

Review of the new app on the site later this week, by the way.

[matt90]

Mo money, etc. and something else in the same vein.

[MarcusAurelius]

I always watched the Qualifying and Grand Prix with a laptop for Live Timing. And I was also very unpleasently surprised with the castrated version on Formula1.com.

But… The new F1 app makes up for that loss.

Yes, it used to be free information and now you have to pay for it. I hate that. But I hate missing live timing even more so I paid the 10 euros for the 2014 season. It’s as simple as that. If you really want something, you’ll pay for it.

Last year I used the F1LT app on the android which had a great feature to download and reply a session. Great when you had to miss the live GP. The new F1 app also has this feauture.

So, you have to pay for it, but you also get more in return.

PS. It was a bit messed up with the start crash. Massa was in 14th place for a long time :-(

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