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Melbourne GP (BBC Spoilers)

6K views 64 replies 23 participants last post by  Windy 
#1 · (Edited)
So it begins.

So far Sky's presentation has been top notch expect for that red button graphic that you can't get rid of.

Rollon FP1.

Edit: Not much action going on due to the wet track, already I am sick of Sky cutting away from the worldfeed to show pre-recorded VT's and pitlane interviews, also sick of sponsored by Santander 123 current account every ad break, though the HD picture is way better than whatever the BBC pumped out last year as is the 5.1 audio and finally the proper use of graphics in 16:9 rather than 4:3 safe.

Edit 2: Ok maybe the pitlane camera isn't such a bad thing now that we have a picture to go along with Ted's reports like Kimi's steering column problem just now, we saw it being tested then taken out of the car.

Edit 3: Massa bins in into the gravel trap at turn 9, no damage by the looks.

Edit 4: So ends FP1 with the McLaren boys 1 and 2 with Schumi 3rd, I'll catch FP2 later as its way past my bedtime.
 
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#2 ·
...already I am sick of Sky cutting away from the worldfeed to show pre-recorded VT's and pitlane interviews, also sick of sponsored by Santander 123 current account every ad break...
Adverts!

:eek:mg:

... So switch to the BBC live coverage - No adverts, no pre-recorded interviews - they are all live, only interruptions are the team radios :)

Jennie Gow is doing an excellent job in the pit lane (although I prefer to see her).

Not so sure about Jaime Alguersuari - his Spanish accent is not so easy to understand...
 
#11 ·
I counted at least 4 ad breaks in FP1 and 5 in FP2 on the main feed, all is not lost though as you can chose which feed and audio in the pretty excellent red button feature. The interviews were live which cut away from the track action mostly, its just that they had pre-recorded VT's introducing some of the teams which didn't last long as I guess they had a ton of complaints via twitter and email, they better not have any breaks during qualifying though.

We had David Croft and Anthony Davidson on commentary also Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham and Martin Brundle reporting from the pitlane and the back, with Sky Jake (Simon Lazenby) and Damon Hill around.

I think the story so far is that Mercedes are looking good, Red Bull are likely sandbagging, Mclaren not expecting any dramas and Ferrari are scratching their heads.
So the questions; have Red Bull and Ferrari deliberately not shown their true pre-season form so far and thus flattered both Mclaren and Mercedes-Benz GP? What about some of the teams just a place or two down the grid? Do they have room for improvement to challenge the top four?
Have to say I agree with Dean Carr, the Ferrari seems like a handful, Massa went off though it was more his mistake and Alonso also almost got sucked into the wall at the final corner at the end of FP1.

Didn't see much of the RB's but they were apparently 12kph down at the speedtraps than the Mclaren and Merc AMG's.

Out of the mid-field probably Sahara Force India look good, the hammerhead VJM05 looked mighty in the hands of the Hulk.

But its too soon to tell anything really as the track was wet and then drying during both FP's.
 
#4 ·
I'm not a fan of James Allen but have to agree he did a good job and I think Jennie is probably the best pit lane reporter the BBC have had so I will be quite happy to stick with the BBC live coverage for all the races this year :)

They just need a better choice of ex-driver...
 
#8 · (Edited)
Yes, I will be listening with the TV (muted) on RTL.
Quote above (Not so sure about Jaime Alguersuari - his Spanish accent is not so easy to understand...)

I thought this too, but then again BBC have a bit of a coup in that he's virtually a current F1 driver so he knows all about Pirellis, DRS and racing against nearly all the other drivers. His knowledge could be important.

One thing is for sure, that he will say "for sure" a lot because all F1 drivers do for some odd reason.
 
#9 ·
Good lord, it's this weekend!

This may be the year I stop following F1 - I stopped recording every race a couple of years ago. All I have from that is a huge pile of VHS cassettes of a lot of cars going round then the red one wins!

I had a cassette of the full Spa 98 complete with commentary. I lent it out.

:facepalm:
 
#10 ·
Just been trawling the BBC's F1 web site. In Albert Park down under, Lewis Hamilton has given a couple of very level headed interviews which I found very refreshing. If he is ever able to take that considered coolness onto the track, he will be a more successful F1 driver.

Unlikely but, if the 'form' shown by the teams so far in P1 and P2 this weekend is a true indiciator, then this season should be very interesting.

P3 is @ 0300 UK time, Qualifying @ 0600. Another night's interrupted sleep is on the cards. May miss P3, I fell asleep listening to P1 in bed last night... :)... set the alarm for 05.55 and see how they all shape up.

So the questions; have Red Bull and Ferrari deliberately not shown their true pre-season form so far and thus flattered both Mclaren and Mercedes-Benz GP? What about some of the teams just a place or two down the grid? Do they have room for improvement to challenge the top four?

I've had a few wagers prior to any wheels turning down under. Looking good and am pleased with things so far. Not counting my chickens just yet mind. Especially as I've just had my worst Cheltenham Races for as long as I can remember.... :(

We shall see come 07:00 Saturday... ;)
..
 
#12 ·
Just been trawling the BBC's F1 web site. In Albert Park down under, Lewis Hamilton has given a couple of very level headed interviews which I found very refreshing. If he is ever able to take that considered coolness onto the track, he will be a more successful F1 driver.

Unlikely but, if the 'form' shown by the teams so far in P1 and P2 this weekend is a true indiciator, then this season should be very interesting.

P3 is @ 0300 UK time, Qualifying @ 0600. Another night's interrupted sleep is on the cards. May miss P3, I fell asleep listening to P1 in bed last night... :)... set the alarm for 05.55 and see how they all shape up.

So the questions; have Red Bull and Ferrari deliberately not shown their true pre-season form so far and thus flattered both Mclaren and Mercedes-Benz GP? What about some of the teams just a place or two down the grid? Do they have room for improvement to challenge the top four?

I've had a few wagers prior to any wheels turning down under. Looking good and am pleased with things so far. Not counting my chickens just yet mind. Especially as I've just had my worst Cheltenham Races for as long as I can remember.... :(

We shall see come 07:00 Saturday... ;)
..
You paid Murdoch then? :dddc:
 
#19 ·
Thats pretty expensive, IIRC £35 per month for access to Sky Go on its own with Sky Sports F1.

FP3 brought a few surprises, both Vettel and Schumi bin it into the gravel trap, Grosjean was pipped at the end by Hamilton.

Now to get an hour or so of sleep.
 
#21 ·
That was great qualifying, just simply great... ;)

There's even a bonus and it's a BIG one. We shall see Vettel in a car apparently not now quite the best in class participate from lower down on the grid. Sehr interessiert Herr Vettel ... ;)

This image shamelessly stolen from another f1 site made me smile :~



I shall be watching the race like one of these ...



... und names will go into meine form book for future reference... like so :~



:lol:

Also, I remember Grosjean T-Boneing Button out of a race a few years back which cost me a nice few quid. A deja-vu will not be appreciated.

I hope Jenson Button's it .. ;)

Here's something to ponder. Will the old man of the track in fourth on the grid make one of his uber-fast take offs from the start? That really could upset mein meister bet plans ... :(

All very interesting ...roll on. :D

....
 
This post has been deleted
#26 · (Edited)
watching a recording on .....
Dodgy links/streams are not allowed on here as per http://forums.mg-rover.org/showpost.php?p=4883642&postcount=45 suggest you remove it before a mod/admin does.

Maybe it's because Sky are new at the game and no one likes change but i didn't like the Sky coverage, it isn't a patch on the BBC!
I have HD so i get F1, i'm not impressed though. At the moment i'm thinking i will watch the BBC whenever possible.
Great result in quali though. Cloud nine so far but the serious stuff starts tomorrow!
I quite like Sky's presentation, my main issues are the ads and the persistent red button that you can't get rid of.

Watching the BBC highlights timeshifted on BBC HD atm and I find the picture quality not a patch on Sky's but they do add content like Jake doorstepping Kimi and Jake and Button playing pool during the buildup compared to Sky Jake and Hamilton doing laps at the topgear test track on Sky.

Anyway it was quite good though I expected more from Force India and Grosjean was threatening that from his FP3 performance, Ferrari are really up against it again and continue to slide down the grid.

Glad the RTL/R5L combo is working out for those of you that went down that route. :)

Edit: Just finshed the BBC highlights and I think I got more information out of it than Sky this morning, plenty more interviews than Sky and found it a bit weird seeing Natalie Pinkham in the background as Sky did a pretty good job of avoiding anything to do with the BBC. Did have a little bit of trouble understanding Gary Anderson and I think I prefer Ben/David to David/Martin on comms.
 
#22 ·
Maybe it's because Sky are new at the game and no one likes change but i didn't like the Sky coverage, it isn't a patch on the BBC!
I have HD so i get F1, i'm not impressed though. At the moment i'm thinking i will watch the BBC whenever possible.
Great result in quali though. Cloud nine so far but the serious stuff starts tomorrow!
 
#25 ·
The RTL/ 5Live combo worked well. I think the 5Live is about 2 seconds ahead but you don't notice it really.

Odd to see Vettel, Glock and Rosberg talking in their native tongue. So used to them talking near perfect English.

When they interviewed Whitmarsh they interviewed him in English but it is dubbed over almost in real time so you can hardly hear them talking.
 
#29 ·
No ads at all throughout the qualifying on Sky this morning.

It is a dilemma, do you watch on BBC and give them figures to say to themselves they were right to drop all of the live races, or watch Sky and show them they should have kept it. Or I guess cut off your nose to spite your face and watch it on some other convoluted method of mix of TV and radio or internet stream.

This is obviously if you have access to Sky coverage.
 
#38 ·
Depends on what you think an ad break is as there were plenty during the buildup and at lest one after qualifying but none during the track action which was the most important bit.

I'm starting to think if I don't watch the BBC be it live or highlight coverage as well as Sky I might miss something.

I don't see how viewing F1 legally via a free to air broadcaster constitutes being convoluted.

where do you come from? The new boy seems to have a pronounced Estuary accent, though his voice is quite comparable to Murray's.
Birmingham and I don't usually have an issue understanding any British accents even foreigners speaking english.

Well I don't know who you saw, buy you probably were not imagining it. Marussia have signed some 32 yr old Spanish lass as a test driver:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17293023
Nice catch, can't say I noticed her though during the FP's.

Not sure if it works on Sky, but on Virgin if you press the blue button this usually removes the red button from the screen...
usually the "back up" button on sky to kill the red ********
No it's part of the stream in the form of an IPP (in-programme prompt/pointer) rather than the standard MHEG red button which can be set to timeout on the STB or by pressing backup.
 
#30 ·
X-Posted from another F1 thread on the web.

This may be of interest :~

MGJohn said:
A N Other said:
.
Another thing about the sky coverage: not sure if it was just me, but they seemed to barely show or mention Button at all. It was like he wasn't there. Anyone else notice that?
.
Yes and that's apparently catching if the evidence of my own ears can be relied on.

Even James Allen on Radio5Live rarely mentioned Jenson Button for much of Q3. I had no clue he qualified so well during the actual event, only sometime after. I believed the lack of Button content was because he was nowhere. I had a good each way bet on JB to qualify in 1-2-3 so was keen for any news.

In view of your comment about Sky coverage this begs the question, was JA relying on Sky pictures or coverage to base his commentary ....
 
#31 ·
Didn't find that to be the case at all. As with most Q3 sessions it really depends on what position they are on the track at one time.

Button was mentioned and appeared on the screen several times during each of his runs.
 
#32 ·
I have now upgraded to sky F1 via skys full package,though the men with the multi room hd boxes will not be coming till wednesday!! AAARRGH BBC for tomorrow nooooo!!!!
Asi was an existing Sky broadband customer I got six months free so over all i pay £30 a month for a year for the full package HD TV broadband F1 telephone two extra hd boxes free.well chuffed!
 
#33 ·
overall i pay £30 a month for a year for the full package!...
HOW much??? that's more than I pay for all phone calls and broadband! and Murdoch is getting it!

Did have a little bit of trouble understanding Gary Anderson and I think I prefer Ben/David to David/Martin on comms.
where do you come from? The new boy seems to have a pronounced Estuary accent, though his voice is quite comparable to Murray's.

It is a dilemma, do you watch on BBC and give them figures to say to themselves they were right to drop all of the live races, or watch Sky and show them they should have kept it.
Interesting question - how ARE TV ratings measured?

Or I guess cut off your nose to spite your face and watch it on some other convoluted method of mix of TV and radio or internet stream.
:confused: that's almost as though you are suggesting there might be something unusual about not paying Murdoch to watch TV and organising things sensibly.

I'll not even get into "so what sort of viewer can't speak German?" lol...
 
#37 ·
If Murdoch gets his monopolistic way, one day all will have to pay over the odds to view everything.

Much as I like F1/Grand Prix racing and have done for around fifty years, I can and will survive without contributing to the Murdoch ever expanding monopoly.

So, with that in mind, I'm out ... literally. On those Sundays the BBC do not show the races live, I shall attend car shows and car enthusiast get togethers.
.
 
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