[Palle]

Update to my post about viewing F1 in Denmark:

The basic TV package where I can see F1 via German RTL costs almost £290 a year. The add-on package to view the TV3+ channel with the Danish F1 coverage costs £228 a year. Here I get a lot of other channels included in the package. However I can buy the TV3+ channel as a single channel add-on to my basic package for £66 a year.

[Palle]

1. What country are you in (and state, if applicable)
Denmark

2. Which channels broadcast F1 near you?
TV3+
RTL HD (Germany) via some broadcaster like “Yousee”

3. Do they show all the races live or only a limited number (if so, how many?)
TV3+: All races live
RTL HD (Germany): all races live

4. Do they also show qualifying live?
TV3+: yes
RTL HD(Germany): yes

5. Do they also show practice sessions live?
TV3+: Yes, this year they do. I don’t think they did last year though.
RTL (Germany): FP3 recorded is shown a few hours before the race starts.

6. If they are a subscription channel, what does a full year’s subscription cost (excluding limited time offers)?

TV3+: as part of a package You have to pay additional £19, but You can buy this one channel only as an extra channel to the basic package for only £5,50.
RTL HD: £24 for the basic TV channel package with the RTL HD F1 coverage in German. Problem for me is that when they do simultaneous interpretation to German during English interviews I feel like 2 people talking to me at the same time, because I understand German and English almost equally well. Then I listen to the sound from http://www.vipboxeu.co/sports/formula-1.html

7. Do they broadcast coverage online? If so please post link/s
No

8. Please supply any other relevant information such as alternative viewing options
This Sunday I go to the local cinema and watch the race from 30 minutes before green lights. It costs app £10. Actually one cinema in Denmark is almost sold out already thursday evening – because of Kevin, the F1 fever has caught Denmark;-)
RTL focus on all the German drivers, Mercedes and Red Bull, TV3+ focus on all the Danish Drivers and McLaren;-) The German commercials are almost worse than the Danish, and some of them haven’t been changed for years!

[Palle]

Vettel on Alonso, or some of the action around Rosberg, who was defending strongly, or Perez against Button or …actually lots of spectacular overtakes. This race didn’t need the DRS to produce action, or would lack of DRS had stretched the cars out to far from each other and made it a boring race?

[Palle]

I would hate to be Massa’s race engineer. Massa is a very nice guy, but he hasn’t recovered mentally after his accident. He found out that he is mortal, and that thought is doing no good for lap times. I can’t remember a race since his accident, where I thought: Wow, Massa is back! Ferrari has kept Massa, while fired some technical staff because the car wasn’t good enough or the strategy had a wrong call, it doesn’t add up to me – the logic is missing.

[Palle]

@damonsmedley: You mean Buttons pass on a driver and car combo, which is slower than the Marussia’s? (Sorry, but I couldn’t help it;-)

[Palle]

I think Heidfelds problem is basically that he is too reliable – when put to the test by another driver with an ego as large as a dachshund (ego reversed size of dog), Heidfeld would always yield and get the car home in a secondary position. I remember seeing him in a race, where Kovalainen in a McLaren came out of the pits as Heidfeld in a BMW passed the pit exit. Heidfeld didn’t hold his track, but took an outside line and allowed Kovalainen to get to the track and actually overtake him. A driver like Alonso, Hamilton or Kubica had just held his racing line through the turn, and forced Kovalainen to brake and fall in behind. This incident alone squashed my hopes of ever seeing Heidfeld as a Champion driver. He simply isn’t aggressive enough. He is never the driver to get a DNF, because of a serious prolonged infight with another driver. Not like Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica, Schumacher, Webber, Petrov etc. At least I can’t remember to have seen it ever. If he gets over this mental problem, then he can get to the top of the podium in the right car, without it he needs a miracle to get there.

[Palle]

Looking in the hall of fame

http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/

I like the last one with the 3D image of a pair of swimming goggles best;-)

Of the newer ones, I certainly don’t like the new Pirelli caps – they look as the cheap type of free merchandising You can get. Only a slight level above a childrens cap from an amusement park somewhere – but maybee that is what F1 is today: An amusement park, where You can buy the right to try the carts going merry around and merry around – in a way You could argue that is what Petrov did;-)

(Don’t mistake me, I’m full of respect for what he has achieved now and somewhat before the last race in 2010 I felt he deserved his spot in F1, maybe not in a car as good as the Renault.)

[Palle]

If You can buy a VPN connection and get a server in UK, then with a bandwidth of 5-6MB/s, You can see the races on BBC online realtime or You can download them after the event. The quality is as good as You can get on the TV, if Your bandwidth is large enough. But beware, You will exceed 10 Gbit of data download a month, if You watch both the qualifying and the races, so get an internet connection with flat rate.

I live in Denmark and use a Strong VPN (www.strongvpn.com/)to watch the races, except this coming weekend – I’ll be present at the track in Spa;-)

Strongvpn has a very good support to guide You through the setup with chat support etc. It is working very well, but be sure to get the right type of solution – ask their support.

[Author]

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