2009 Formula One Season

[Lickey]

Same shit, different day, Billy Smarts Circus continues, Ferrari didnt get a point so they had a moan, how sad, oh well, its interesting viewing, but the real podium will never be known till 3 days later, Perhaps in 3 months time, Button will be de-pointed because he dosent like red itailen wine?

[rixalex]

Speaking of Ferrari, what on earth was going on with Massa in qualifying? Talk about over-confident; to not even have him in the car and ready in case he dropped down the order. Weird.

[kartman]

So ESPN Slater at his best again - Raikkonen changes to wets on a dry track, Slater -this is a brilliant strategy by Ferrari ,Chandhok this is crazy he will lose more time in 2 laps than a pitstop, 30 seconds later Slater -this is a brillint strategy by Ferrari . Then later Slater- Webber is dicing with Button, in a McLaren at which time the director decided on a commercial break obviously to facilatate a battery change or a slap!.

[kartman]

Raikkonen middle of a GP, Tshirt,shorts and choc ice - brilliant!

[Crossy]

WHAT A TOTAL FIASCO

Greed for TV ratings screws a potentially classic race

[MJo]

Raikkonen middle of a GP, Tshirt,shorts and choc ice - brilliant!

His KERS broke down, at least it was not beer this time

[rixalex]

So ESPN Slater at his best again -

My favourite today was when the cameraman went and filmed right up close to Webber chatting on the grid to Alonso about the weather.

Slater: "boy, would i love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation"

[rixalex]

WHAT A TOTAL FIASCO

Greed for TV ratings screws a potentially classic race

Yes, it was shaping up to be another good one wasn't it. As much as i hate the look of the cars, i have to say these first two races have been very promising in terms of over-taking action. May it continue...

..

[rixalex]

Raikkonen middle of a GP, Tshirt,shorts and choc ice - brilliant!

LOL - just goes to show that all the talk last year about him losing his appetite was nonsense!

[Mosha]

That idiot Bernie obviously hasn't heard of a monsoon season. What a waste of time.

[nidge]

That idiot Bernie obviously hasn't heard of a monsoon season. What a waste of time.

Perhaps he didn't realise it starts to get dark in the evenings too

[ignis]

Then later Slater- Webber is dicing with Button, in a McLaren

Just like the old days with dear old Murry Walker, we loved him and he was the voice of F1 since year dot, but he was always getting it mixed and muddled up

Edited April 6, 2009 by ignis

[Mosha]

That was usually Murray getting over excited. Once when James Hunt was his co presenter, and Murray was really wound up for the race. He made a comment about a driver could put his foot down and get past. James Hunt just said "I think you'll find this is the warm up lap Murray"

Do any of the Brits remeber "The Golden Shot" and the catch phrase "Bernie, the bolt"? Now we have Bernie the dolt.

[MaiDong]

So ESPN Slater at his best again - Raikkonen changes to wets on a dry track, Slater -this is a brilliant strategy by Ferrari ,Chandhok this is crazy he will lose more time in 2 laps than a pitstop, 30 seconds later Slater -this is a brillint strategy by Ferrari . Then later Slater- Webber is dicing with Button, in a McLaren at which time the director decided on a commercial break obviously to facilatate a battery change or a slap!.

Again, there's no need to watch the unbearable coverage on ESPNStar, you have internet, I can point you in the right direction...

This weekend I've watched Free Practice 1,2 & 3(from the BBC's interactive coverage) from beginning to end(approx, 90 minutes per program), this is excellent coverage with a cycle of presenters including Anthony Davidson who is whitty, insightful & experienced and who has also worked with Jenson Button quite closely so he knows what's going on in the BrawnGP team.

I watched a 2 hour program of qualifying(also from the BBC's coverage)

I then watched a 3 hour program of the actual race plus build-up and apart from Eddie Jordan being a bit of a <deleted>(he'll be removed soon I think) the rest of the BBC team is spot on, David Coulthard is pretty well suited to commentary for his experience & technical knowledge, Jake Humphreys appears to have been doing this job for years despite only doing it for 2 races!, Martin Brundle is class, totally enjoyable to listen to with his dry Suffolk tones, the rest of the team is pretty good too(Tabloid Ted Kravitz is a bit of a dirt digger but still better than anything on ESPNStar!)

Following the race in Australia there was a BBC forum on BBC Interactive which I thought was going to be a fan based program with lots of silly questions(a la ESPNStar) but it wasn't at all, it was another hour of quality questions & explanations actually showing us everything we wanted to see after the race has finished, as opposed to ESPNStar coverage(and ITV's old coverage too!) where the program is ended moments after the podium ceremony.

So in a nutshell, there's no need to watch that shameful amateur coverage, it's all available elsewhere...

10 hours and 30 mins of proper coverage, if you want that much, if you ignore the news then all of that coverage can last a good few days viewing - if you've got nothing better to do...

P.S. Mosha, Murray Walker getting confused is funny, a bit like your grandfather saying the wrong thing, which is sweet. BUT Slater making a mistake is like a geeky 2nd uncle who has no friends saying something innapropriate Possibly the most irritating person on TV.

[Mosha]

Murray's depth of knowledge was amazing, no matter which motor sport he was talking about. He never sat down during a race, doing all the commentating on his feet.

[MaiDong]

Murray's depth of knowledge was amazing, no matter which motor sport he was talking about. He never sat down during a race, doing all the commentating on his feet.

Murray Walker now hosts a 5 minute program on BBCi just rounding up his views on the race, another reason to ditch ESPNStars coverage in favour of soemthing professional

[rixalex]

This weekend I've watched Free Practice 1,2 & 3(from the BBC's interactive coverage) from beginning to end(approx, 90 minutes per program), this is excellent coverage with a cycle of presenters including Anthony Davidson who is whitty, insightful & experienced and who has also worked with Jenson Button quite closely so he knows what's going on in the BrawnGP team.

I watched a 2 hour program of qualifying(also from the BBC's coverage)

I then watched a 3 hour program of the actual race plus build-up and apart from Eddie Jordan being a bit of a <deleted>(he'll be removed soon I think) the rest of the BBC team is spot on,

Are you in Thailand? As i understand it, BBC video on the internet is not available to those of us here. Or am i wrong?

[MaiDong]

This weekend I've watched Free Practice 1,2 & 3(from the BBC's interactive coverage) from beginning to end(approx, 90 minutes per program), this is excellent coverage with a cycle of presenters including Anthony Davidson who is whitty, insightful & experienced and who has also worked with Jenson Button quite closely so he knows what's going on in the BrawnGP team.

I watched a 2 hour program of qualifying(also from the BBC's coverage)

I then watched a 3 hour program of the actual race plus build-up and apart from Eddie Jordan being a bit of a <deleted>(he'll be removed soon I think) the rest of the BBC team is spot on,

Are you in Thailand? As i understand it, BBC video on the internet is not available to those of us here. Or am i wrong?

[rixalex]

This weekend I've watched Free Practice 1,2 & 3(from the BBC's interactive coverage) from beginning to end(approx, 90 minutes per program), this is excellent coverage with a cycle of presenters including Anthony Davidson who is whitty, insightful & experienced and who has also worked with Jenson Button quite closely so he knows what's going on in the BrawnGP team.

I watched a 2 hour program of qualifying(also from the BBC's coverage)

I then watched a 3 hour program of the actual race plus build-up and apart from Eddie Jordan being a bit of a <deleted>(he'll be removed soon I think) the rest of the BBC team is spot on,

Are you in Thailand? As i understand it, BBC video on the internet is not available to those of us here. Or am i wrong?

Any chance of providing a more detailed answer than a smilie? Every time i try to use BBCi Player i get a message that says "sorry, not available in your area" - or something like that.

[ignis]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

If you want to watch Uk TV then you can via the Australian site

http://www.uktv.com.au/home/

[rixalex]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

Yes, but didn't they win it back recently?

[QED]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

Yes, but didn't they win it back recently?

Yes they did. Don't know how long for though, certainly this season.

[ignis]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

Yes, but didn't they win it back recently?

Yes they did. Don't know how long for though, certainly this season.

Had no idea

So that explains why the 1st 2 races started at 5pm......... All about ratings and Prime time TV

[F1fanatic]

I dont disagree with what your saying and he was there at the finish, but starting from the back of the grid helped him no end after the carnage at the first corner and contrary to rixalex opinion that I'm a detractor of Hamiltons performance is crap, I'm pointing out that all drivers need a certain amount of luck and in Australia it was Hamiltons turn , not a problem, I don't like the way he and the team lied about Trulli.

Agreed, especially the bit underlined.

It's no excuse, but i can understand how a young driver could place his trust in a senior team member and simply follow his advice.

Anyway, he's learnt a lesson and hopefully in the future he will think and speak for himself.

Hopefully he will, he's too talented to have to stoop to the kind of tricks that Shumacher got up to, especially that b------t when he parked his car on the corner to prevent anyone beating his practice time at Monaco not to mention Damien Hill and Villenueve?. winning is important just don't sell your own integrity and self respect to achieve it.

Are you mad??

Hamilton LIED and was caught doing so!! Most paddock members (according to the forums) think that poor old Dave Ryan took the blame for a decision made far higher up, and Hamilton was only too happy to acquiesce.

Do you honestly think he is stupid enough to just do whatever someone else says? If they told him to jump off a cliff would he do it?

Let us not forget that Hamilton saw the stewards more than an hour after the end of the race (it was hardly in the heat of the moment!) In fact in the heat of the moment he told reporters that he was told to let Trulli past, and he did!

Please also bear in mind that he LIED at the second hearing knowing full well that it would mean that poor old Trulli would lose all of his points for the race! He lost his integrity and self respect at this point.

Schumacher made mistakes (and I'm willing to argue any of them apart from Monaco 2006!), but he was never stupid enough to lie after he had admitted the truth to a journalist!

All of this aside, wasn't Sepang a great race (albeit short!).

Edited April 7, 2009 by F1fanatic

[F1fanatic]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

Yes, but didn't they win it back recently?

Yes they did. Don't know how long for though, certainly this season.

Had no idea

So that explains why the 1st 2 races started at 5pm......... All about ratings and Prime time TV

The start time of the Asian races were changed to accommodate European viewers.

After the fiasco of Sepang (suprise, suprise torrential rain at that time of day and then too dark to continue), they are now re-considering the start time of the Malaysian race!

A friend in England tells me that the BBC coverage is better only in so far as there are no adverts.

Got to be good - on ESPN (I think), we missed out on so many fights for position because of the adverts!

[wackysleet]

I dont disagree with what your saying and he was there at the finish, but starting from the back of the grid helped him no end after the carnage at the first corner and contrary to rixalex opinion that I'm a detractor of Hamiltons performance is crap, I'm pointing out that all drivers need a certain amount of luck and in Australia it was Hamiltons turn , not a problem, I don't like the way he and the team lied about Trulli.

Agreed, especially the bit underlined.

It's no excuse, but i can understand how a young driver could place his trust in a senior team member and simply follow his advice.

Anyway, he's learnt a lesson and hopefully in the future he will think and speak for himself.

Hopefully he will, he's too talented to have to stoop to the kind of tricks that Shumacher got up to, especially that b------t when he parked his car on the corner to prevent anyone beating his practice time at Monaco not to mention Damien Hill and Villenueve?. winning is important just don't sell your own integrity and self respect to achieve it.

Are you mad??

Hamilton LIED and was caught doing so!! Most paddock members (according to the forums) think that poor old Dave Ryan took the blame for a decision made far higher up, and Hamilton was only too happy to acquiesce.

Do you honestly think he is stupid enough to just do whatever someone else says? If they told him to jump off a cliff would he do it?

Let us not forget that Hamilton saw the stewards more than an hour after the end of the race (it was hardly in the heat of the moment!) In fact in the heat of the moment he told reporters that he was told to let Trulli past, and he did!

Please also bear in mind that he LIED at the second hearing knowing full well that it would mean that poor old Trulli would lose all of his points for the race!

Schumacher made mistakes (and I'm willing to argue any of them apart from Monaco 2006!), but he was never stupid enough to lie after he had admitted the truth to a journalist!

All of this aside, wasn't Sepang a great race (albeit short!).

Actuall I think we were all agreed that Hamilton is a liar, but like us you do not have access to the real truth of what went on, so whats your point?, and as for the other one, Shumacher, you must be the only person around that thinks he didn't try to run Hill and Villenueve off the road.

[F1fanatic]

Access to the real truth of what? Please refer to my previous post as to why I think his lies were unforgiveable.

MS/D Hill - Please remember that at that time it was hardly unknown. Remember Senna/Prost? Hill never complained about it until the MS/JV debacle.

MS/JV - No doubt deliberate. He had the right idea in view of JV's unfortunate comments and life afterwards! (Joking!)

[wackysleet]

Access to the real truth of what? Please refer to my previous post as to why I think his lies were unforgiveable.

MS/D Hill - Please remember that at that time it was hardly unknown. Remember Senna/Prost? Hill never complained about it until the MS/JV debacle.

MS/JV - No doubt deliberate. He had the right idea in view of JV's unfortunate comments and life afterwards! (Joking!)

With regards to Damien, are you saying that as it had happened on several other occassions and very little was done about it then it's ok, as far as Villenueve is concerned if M/S had a problem with him talk off the track rather than take action that could have killed someone, but again reading your first post you imply that you accept the Monaco debacle but would argue the other incidents, now read your last post, is this a case of changing horses midstream, remember the two drivers in question were both on the verge of taking the championship.

Senna was another one, brilliant driver in what was arguably the best car of the day but would never allow Honda to pick the second driver unless he was deemed by Senna not to be so talented, S/Prost just look at the coverage of the time, the race they ran each other off the track did not do the sport or the fans any favours, people pay good money to see proper racing not cheats.

[rixalex]

Do you honestly think he is stupid enough to just do whatever someone else says? If they told him to jump off a cliff would he do it?

I don't think it's about being stupid, i think it's about the fact that his job is to race a car. He does that job and when he steps out of the car, there are people who are employed and have a lot of expertise (and certainly a lot more than Lewis) in dealing with the other aspects of racing. He places himself in their hands and i think up until recently, had implicit trust in the team and especially Ron Dennis.

[rixalex]

Just wondered how BBC can show F1? they lost the license

Yes, but didn't they win it back recently?

Yes they did. Don't know how long for though, certainly this season.

Had no idea

So that explains why the 1st 2 races started at 5pm......... All about ratings and Prime time TV

F1 is broadcast to millions of people in hundreds of different countries. Why do you think the BBC has the clout to dictate race time? After all, when the BBC had it before they didn't.

You are right about the ratings though. The change of time was obviously done for the benefit of Europe as a whole.