FIA Formula One Championship ~ 2014

[MartinT]

Isn't that the same as last year?

The coverage on Sky F1 is superb.

[synsei]

I believe they are showing six live races this season Neil. Even though I baulked at the highlights situation initially and I am still annoyed with the BBC, and Mark Thompson in particular, for rolling over to SKY so easily in giving away their full live coverage rights I am reasonably happy with the corporations highlights coverage so far. The HL shows are sympathetically edited to the point where I don't really feel that I am missing out on much at all, which is good because I'd lop off my right arm before giving SKY any of my money...

It was a good race today with some stunning performances from the new guys, especially Magnussun and Bottas. Kyvat gets an honorary mention here too and I feel we will be seeing much more of this guy as the season chugs along. Rosberg's Mercedes was in a different league to most of the other cars today although I wonder where Bottas would have finished had he not slapped the wall with his right rear early in the race, that Williams is quick plus it looks the dogs danglies in it's Martini Racing livery. It was a shame Massa was nerfed by Kobayashi coming into the first corner but hey, that's racing and then of course there's Hamilton's mechanical woes to consider. Such a shame as this issue robbed us of a terrific scrap up front involving the Silver Arrows pairing. Hat's off to Nico for a blinding start by the way and to Bottas for not spearing into the wall off the start after his car nerfed left due to uneven wheel spin, Williams might want to take a look at that diff...

The Ferrari's were a bit of a disappointment for me and Raikkonen in particular appeared to be struggling with the set up on his car at various points during the race. Alonso probably had the same issues but managed them somewhat better. I thought Button had a good result considering he was languishing down in eleventh for the first quarter of the race, however his inspired lunge into the pits at the start of the safety car period allowed him to make up three places almost instantly which helped a lot. I'm becoming a little worried that he is seemingly reticent to overtake on the track just lately, something which he needs to address and quickly.

All in all it was an excellent GP however it wouldn't be F1 without a soupcon of Red Bull controversy, is the Renault engine in their car sipping too much fuel or are the FIA's fuel flow sensors at fault? Time will tell I guess, we will just have to wait for the appeal but in the meantime Ricciardo's suspension has taken the shine off the event a little, can't help feeling immensely sorry for young Mr Grin...

p.s. Notice I didn't mention Vettel, this was deliberate...

[MartinT]

I am still annoyed with the BBC, and Mark Thompson in particular, for rolling over to SKY so easily in giving away their full live coverage rights

Blame the BBC's inexplicable excesses in coverage of football and cricket <spit>. I would love to know what the audiences are for each. Tennis gets a poor deal too, outside of Wimbledon.

[Audioman]

Blame the BBC's inexplicable excesses in coverage of football and cricket <spit>. I would love to know what the audiences are for each. Tennis gets a poor deal too, outside of Wimbledon.

BBC show little live football. Highlights mainly late Saturday night is hardly excessive. They only show what they can afford and that means sharing with Sky. Remember absolutely no Cricket on Terrestrial now (except Ch 5 highlights). Grand Prix still does reasonably well. Exceptions are World Cup /Olympics and Wimbledon which I believe are still 'protected'. If you are seeing loads of live Football and Cricket must be glued to Sky which I won't donate to while Murdoch is still on this planet and charging rip off prices.

[keiths]

Blame the BBC's inexplicable excesses in coverage of football and cricket <spit>. I would love to know what the audiences are for each. Tennis gets a poor deal too, outside of Wimbledon.

Martin, other than brief highlights of the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Cricket World Cup finals, there has been NO cricket coverage (live or highlights) on any BBC TV channel since 1999 when Test Match broadcast rights were lost (initially to Channel 4, then Sky). The only cricket coverage across all terrestrial channels is a 45 minute daily highlights show of home Test Matches on C5 and coverage of the IPL (Indian Premier League) on ITV4. This is meagre coverage indeed of what is supposed to be England's national sport.

Though not a football fan, I feel it worth mentioning that other than highlights (Match of the Day and The League Cup Show) the only live football shown on any BBC channel are Scotland international matches (show on BBC Scotland 1 & 2), some European Championships Final (every two years) matches and some World Cup Finals matches (every 4 years). BBC3 also showed some live Confererations Cup matches.

Tennis does quite well on the BBC - as well as Wimbledon, which gets a huge amount of live coverage with many 'red button' options as well as coverage on both BBC1 and BBC2, the Aeon Queen's Club championships are shown live in full and live coverage of the latter stages of the Australian Open are also shown live. Until recently, the French Open was also covered live (rights lost last year to ITV), but live BBC coverage continues of both the ATP World Finals and selected Davis Cup matches.

As for F1, any single penny of licence-payers' money given to Bernie Ecclestone's tedious circus is an outrage in my opinion

[synsei]

BBC show little live football. Highlights mainly late Saturday night is hardly excessive. They only show what they can afford and that means sharing with Sky. Remember absolutely no Cricket on Terrestrial now (except Ch 5 highlights). Grand Prix still does reasonably well. Exceptions are World Cup /Olympics and Wimbledon which I believe are still 'protected'. If you are seeing loads of live Football and Cricket must be glued to Sky which I won't donate to while Murdoch is still on this planet and charging rip off prices.

We may lose F1 from the BBC altogether in 2017 in which case I will resort to downloading each race via a torrent site without feeling a shred of guilt, I detest the Murdoch's and all they stand for with a passion...

[MartinT]

BBC show little live football.

The news is so plagued with football (might as well not call it sports news, but football news) that my brain automatically thought it represented general coverage too. I am indeed remembering the days of yore. Ditto cricket.

[AlexM]

I've got to say that I enjoyed the first race of the year, and F1 2103-style has some promise. Add into the mix several teams experiencing an upswing in competitiveness (Mclaren, Williams (yay!!)), and some excellent skills being displayed by the rookies (Magnusson, Kyvat), and random changes in competitiveness up and down the field and I found it an enjoyable watch, with some good overtaking. It was also marvelous watching the drivers wrestling the cars and dealing with reduced downforce and excess torque - we saw quite a few saves from improbable angles!.

The only major negative is unreliability (which will persist), and the awfulness of the new exhaust notes.. I think an F1 car has to look good and sound awesome, and they sure sound nasty and the stupid looking appendage to meet the new side intrusion regulations look ridiculous. I noticed that a number of teams have coloured their anteater noses black as even they think they look stupid!. I do love the Williams new Martini racing colour scheme... that takes me back!.

Regards,
Alex

[Tim]

Just watched it on the iPlayer and I think my love affair with F1 is finally over

I have been a fan since the 60's and glued to the TV set since the late 70's when it was first broadcast, I also used to regularly go to both Brands and Silverstone. However, I lost quite a bit of interest last year when the beeb employed that appalling bint Suzi Perry as a broadcaster and now those cars just leave me totally non-plussed . . . F1 cars should not sound like tractors

[MartinT]

I couldn't agree less - F1 was always supposed to be the pinnacle of technology and in recent years they just weren't any more. Now, with that complex power plant and energy efficiency (>700bhp from a 1.6), they are complex marvels to admire again. The reliability will come but, more to the point, they are a right handful for the drivers to master and true skill will reward with points or a podium. I haven't enjoyed a race so much in years.