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Archive: 2008 March

What’s happening here

31 March 2008 04:20

Categories: Admin, Blogging, Current affairs, General, Personal, Politics, Technology, University

First things first. I have upgraded to WordPress 2.5. The new admin panel takes a bit of getting used to, and it is a little bit buggy for my liking. But then again that is probably because I am using so many plugins.

For the first time I upgraded using the astonishing WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin. I’ve been meaning to use it for a while, but forgot about it until James O’Malley reminded me. So thanks for that James. Upgrading vee8 and doctorvee was flawless, although something funny happened to Scottish Roundup. Fixed it in the end (I hope), but it did make me scratch my head, especially as the other two upgrades went so smoothly.

Another thing to point out is that I have finally got that OpenID plugin installed. It doesn’t work exactly how I’d like it to, but it will do. Don’t be freaked out by it if you leave a comment and you don’t know what OpenID is. You can leave the OpenID field blank.

You might be wondering if it was even worth me upgrading this blog. It is rather shit of me to have posted next to nothing for the past three weeks and come back with a dull admin post. Well here’s what’s happening.

Last week in the comments of this increasingly quiet blog, a very public sociologist wrote:

Looks like F1 has stolen you away from us.

It’s kind of true. When I launched vee8, originally I had every intention of posting here (almost) as often as before.

What I was forgetting was that because of my mad hectic busy important 24/7 lifestyle and / or laziness, I was blogging less and less here anyway. In all seriousness, I am in my final year at university. And while I still have luxuries such as not having to get up before lunchtime, it does mean that I get shards of guilt searing through my conscience every time I write a blog post or open Google Reader. After all, I should be studying.

For around — ooh, let’s see — the past year, I have had hardly any time to blog, or indeed read blogs. Google Reader always has 1000+ items for me to read. I think I’ve only got it down to zero about twice in the past year.

Plainly, even pretending that I can keep on top of all my RSS feeds is a nonsense. I have come to realise that I don’t have the time to read blogs in the same way as I used to. I have probably gone for weeks without even reading blogs actually (excepting Scottish blogs which I have to read for the Roundup). And the thing is that I don’t really miss the blogosphere — especially the politics blogs. (My years at university studying politics have ironically made me deeply apathetic.)

“Boo, hiss,” I hear you cry. But that’s the way it is. Once I got fed up with Guido et al, it was just the start of the ball rolling and reading hundreds of posts like this is no longer my idea of fun.

This is not to say that I will retreat from politics or political blogging — and definitely not blogging as a whole — altogether. But I have to face up to the fact that as a student I have increasingly found that I do not have enough time to engage in it properly.

So many of the posts I have written over the past few months have been about topics that were lingering in my head for weeks or even months. For instance, the one about road tolls was written in my head in December as a response to Calum Cashley. I didn’t get the chance to actually write it until March. See if you can spot more (a fun game for long journeys, I’m sure)!

And that’s what it’s like when I am a lazy student bum! So what on earth is it going to be like when I actually get a proper job?!

At the same time, last month I launched vee8, a dedicated Formula 1 blog. The original intention was to spare the many readers here who do not like F1 from having to read what can at some points during the year become a blog almost exclusively about F1.

But in its first month I think vee8 has quite unexpectedly taken a life of its own. I am enjoying every minute of it. It is such a refreshing feeling to be blogging about something that actually matters rather than that politics nonsense! Seriously though, I have been staggered by how much fun I am having with it and how successful it has been.

I try to avoid talking about stats because inevitably someone takes offence at the showing off. So I’ll say this up-front. The following may be a reflection of how bad this blog is. Readership here has, after all, stagnated over the past 2 or 3 years which shouldn’t really happen (as someone once told me, telling me off for showing off my stats, “it’s a viral thing”).

But at vee8 — which, I remind you, is little over a month old — I am already getting as more “returning visitors” than I am on this blog. As I say, that is probably partly down to the fact that I post here far less often than I used to, while there is usually daily content at vee8. But I’m still amazed at how quickly it has got a solid readership. Obviously it helps that I had plenty of F1 fans reading here originally, but boy — if only I found it this easy to get readers the first time round!

Long story short. I am now running three major blogs. Scottish Roundup has to have a new post every Sunday, so a lot of my Fridays and Saturdays are spent making sure that happens. vee8 is fresh, new and exciting and this season looks like it’s going to be a corker, so a lot of my attention is now focussed there. This one is my personal blog, so I don’t feel like I owe it much attention.

Just two years ago this was my only blog. Now it is just part of my wider blogging activity. With that fact along with impending adulthood, I am having to steer a new path for this blog.

I am probably being melodramatic (it is 4am), so I will say that probably not much will change. In fact, the changes have already happened and I just need to adapt to it.

I stopped being part of the conversation in the wider blogosphere a long time ago without ever meaning that to happen. I just don’t have the time to follow it. So that probably means writing fewer, more in depth posts on a miscellany of subjects.

You might well have noticed that already. The previous five posts here were about coffee, Autechre, income tax, Freeview and Radio 5 Live — quite a mixture. And that takes us practically to the beginning of March. To think that I used to write an average of six pithy posts per day about the day’s current subjects!

It won’t pick up any time soon. Those shards of guilt will be extra painful as it’s exam time. But I have just three exams, and then it will all be over! The difficult part comes after that — looking for a job. (My status as a person, incidentally, is another thing that it making me more reluctant to blog here… Google and all.)

I just remembered that almost a year ago I hilariously joked about giving up blogging. Now I am looking back on the past year thinking it was actually quite prescient.

Anyway, please forgive the navel gazing. I am planning to return tomorrow with another post here, but whether it will interest you is a different matter.

4 comments

The Max Mosley allegations

31 March 2008 01:00

Categories: News, Opinion

It cannot have escaped your attention that yesterday The News of the World ran an extraordinary story about the FIA President Max Mosley. The paper has alleged that Mosley was involved in a “sick Nazi orgy with 5 hookers”. If the allegations are true, it could have big consequences in the political world of F1.

Like many F1 fans I am no fan of Mosley. Many have pointed out that there will be a fair few people — Jackie Stewart, Ron Dennis, Damon Hill, Martin Brundle — who must have been chuckling to themselves as they read the story. I chuckled as well. I would dearly love to see Max Mosley leave the FIA Presidency for any reason, and this looks like a pretty good opportunity.

Then again, what Max Mosley does in his private life should remain private. He is entitled to have whatever sex life he wants among consenting adults. I am not a fan of the News of the World brand of journalism which mainly involves secretly prowling around people’s bedrooms, where journalists really shouldn’t be.

Nevertheless, the “Nazi” connotations really take these allegations over the top. My impression is that the Nazi element of the story has probably been exaggerated by the News of the World. We all know how the whiff of Hitler sells papers. And Max Mosley’s connections with fascism are well-known and have not been hidden. He is the son of Oswald Mosley, Britain’s most infamous fascist. It is not too hard to imagine someone in the towers of News International concocting this story. The allegations are almost cartoon-like in their extremity.

It is useful to point out here that Max Mosley is apparently engaged in legal action with another News International newspaper, The Sunday Times, over an article written by Martin Brundle. So News International has an interest in undermining Mosley.

Nevertheless, there is seemingly damning video evidence. The footage is blurry and at no point do you get a truly clear view of “Max Mosley’s” face. The stills on the News of the World website are more convincing. But it wouldn’t be the first time a tabloid newspaper has faked such a video.

Nonetheless, the allegations in themselves are damaging to Mosley’s credibility. While everyone has the right to a private sex life, making light of Nazism and concentration camp victims in this way is rather different. A lot of people will be ready to make a connection with Mosley’s autocratic approach to ruling F1. Then there is the suggestion that the FIA is increasingly filled with Mosley lackeys and yes-men suppressing debate.

What is interesting is the fact that so few news outlets are covering this story. As F1Fanatic points out, the fact that so few dedicated Formula 1 websites are even mentioning this story is telling in itself. There has been not a peep on this massive F1 story from any of the biggest F1 websites. Look on Autosport, Pitpass, Grandprix.com, Planet-F1, ITV-F1, Crash.net — you’ll draw a blank.

This is becoming an all-too familiar reality. Remember last year when the FIA failed to properly censor sensitive documents? Not a peep from any of those websites either.

Mosley effectively controls the F1 media, even “independent” websites such as Pitpass. This is yet another reason why the F1 blogs and podcasts are becoming more important than the mainstream media. We do not need to bend over backwards to please the powers-that-be to get accreditation or even avoid an ear bashing.

The media should be able to stand up to Max Mosley’s bullying attitude. The fact that they don’t even appear to attempt to counter it any more makes me despair. The sooner Mosley is gone, the better. And if it takes a sex scandal to do it, then so be it.

17 comments

Bluffer's guide — Part 1: basics of a race weekend

30 March 2008 20:37

Categories: Bluffer's guide, Guide

Throughout the season I am planning on writing various guides related to Formula 1. I have posted a couple already. The current plan is to publish them on Sundays between races.

Ryan Morrison suggested that I should write a ‘bluffer’s guide’ to Formula 1. It fits in with the guide concept, so I’m going to go with it. It will be particularly useful this season as the interest in Lewis Hamilton attracts ever more viewers to the show. Interest even seems to have increased as a result of the BBC winning the rights.

Ryan has also helped me out with suggestions for this guide, so I should thank him for that.

So, these posts will probably not be much use if you are a seasoned F1 viewer. But if you have any suggestions of things I might have missed, please do leave a comment!

The bluffer’s guide will be split up into several posts. This first post covers the structure of the race weekend and the basic rules of Formula 1.

First and foremost, F1 is a complex sport with a Byzantine, sometimes secretive, rulebook. You can read the full set of rules at the FIA’s official website. A more accessible version is on the official Formula 1 website. I will attempt to cover the most important rules here.

The race weekend

Teams do more than just race on a Sunday afternoon. Teams commonly arrive at the circuit in the middle of the week to set-up and prepare. Drivers can participate in practice sessions and must qualify before entering the race.

Practice

Two 90 minute long practice sessions are held on Friday (Thursday in Monaco). A 60 minute practice session is held on Saturday morning. These are to help teams and drivers prepare their car for the race, tweaking the set up until the driver feels he is comfortable and has maximised the overall speed of his car.

It is worth pointing out that practice sessions do not count! They are just that — practice sessions. And form in practice is not necessarily a good guide as to who will perform well during the race. That doesn’t stop us from speculating though!

Qualifying — how starting positions are determined

On Saturday afternoon, three short qualifying sessions are held. These determine the grid positions for Sunday’s race.

Each of these sessions lasts a certain amount of time. When the time has elapsed, all drivers may finish any lap they have begun.

The first session — ‘Q1′ — lasts 20 minutes. All of the drivers attempt to set a fast lap time in order to avoid being knocked out. The slowest six drivers (from 17th to 22nd) are knocked out. The positions they finished in are their grid positions for the race.

Q2 lasts 15 minutes. Times from Q1 are discarded, so drivers must go out and set another fast lap. Another six drivers are eliminated according to the same process as Q1. Now just ten drivers remain.

Q3 lasts 10 minutes and is slightly different to the other sessions. The top 10 drivers are expected to qualify with the fuel levels they will carry at the start of the race. This is in contrast to Q1 and Q2 where drivers run on light tanks in order to minimise their lap time.

This aspect of Q3 adds a strategic element to qualifying. It does, however, mean that the fastest driver is not necessarily the driver on pole position. For this among other reasons, ‘race fuel qualifying’ is not very popular among many F1 fans. Qualifying is one of the most tinkered-with aspects of the F1 rulebook. This will be covered in a future ‘bluffer’s guide’.

In all sessions, times are measured to the nearest thousandth of a second. Despite this precision, occasionally drivers set identical times. In qualifying for the 1997 European Grand Prix, three front-runners set the same time! In this case, the driver who set the time first is judged to be ahead. It is generally recognised that the later a car goes out, the easier it is to set a fast time. The reasons for this will be explored in a future bluffer’s guide.

The race

Each race is designed to last 305km (plus slightly more to reach the finish line). The exception is the Monaco Grand Prix, where the slow and twisty nature of the circuit means that the length of the race is 260km. Because the length of a race is determined by distance, the number of laps varies from circuit to circuit.

However, each race can last a maximum of just over two hours. Once the 2 hour time limit has elapsed, the race ends when the leader next crosses the finish line. In reality, the two hour limit is rarely a worry. It is usually only reached in extremely wet races.

If the race is stopped for any reason, the clock still keeps ticking in terms of the drivers’ race times. But this time is not included in the two hour limit. e.g. When Fernando Alonso won the interrupted 2007 European Grand Prix, he did so with a race time of 2:06:26.358 even though the 2 hour limit was not reached.

Scoring

There are two Formula 1 World Championships that run across the season: the Drivers Championship and the Constructors Championship. Scoring for both championships is as follows:

Position	Points
1st	10
2nd	8
3rd	6
4th	5
5th	4
6th	3
7th	2
8th	1

If a driver does not cross the finish line but completes more than 90% of the race distance, the driver is still ‘classified’ as having finished the race. This is partly so that lapped cars can be taken account for. But occasionally a driver who retired can still score points. For instance, in the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, Sébastien Bourdais and Kimi Räikkönen finished 7th and 8th respectively despite the fact that they both suffered race-ending engine failures as only six cars crossed the finish line.

Different rules may apply if the race has been stopped and cannot resume. If less than 75% of the scheduled race distance was completed, half points are awarded (i.e., 5 points for 1st place, 4 points for 2nd and so on until ½ a point for 8th). If less than two laps were completed and the race is not restarted, no points are awarded.

If the race has stopped, the results are taken from the standings as they were at the end of the lap two laps before the red flag was shown. This is to prevent drivers who suspect that the race may be red-flagged from going all-out for the win in dangerous conditions. This was the cause of confusion at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, where rather farcically the wrong driver took the top step of the podium!

If, at the end of the season, more than one driver shares an equal number of points, positions are determined by the number of wins. If that is a tie, it goes to number of 2nd places. And so on. If, after going through all the positions, it is still a tie, “the FIA will nominate the winner according to such criteria as it thinks fit.”

In the event of dangerous conditions

Sometimes track conditions are considered too dangerous to allow cars to travel at full racing speeds. The obvious example is if there is a crash and debris has been left on the circuit. The race director has a number of options if he wants to slow the cars down.

Waved yellow flags are used to indicate that the section of the track ahead is dangerous. Drivers must slow down and overtaking is forbidden until the green flag is waved. Double waved yellows signify a more serious incident, and drivers must be prepared to stop if necessary.

If the incident is even more serious than this, the Safety Car is deployed. This is effectively a ‘full course yellow’. The Safety Car drives at a controlled speed. The Safety Car will pick up the leader, and all of the other cars will line up behind him. Overtaking is prohibited. This is a way of controlling the race without calling a halt to it. Timers and lap counts continue as normal. Occasionally, in wet conditions, a race will start behind the Safety Car.

In the event of an even more serious incident, the red flag is shown to signify that the race has stopped. From there, the race may be re-started or abandoned. This affects the result as outlined in the ‘scoring’ section above.

Other flags

The blue flag is shown to drivers who are about to be lapped. These drivers should give way to the faster driver. If a driver ignores three blue flags, he may be penalised.
A yellow and red stripy flag is shown if the circuit is slippery, usually due to oil.
A white flag signifies that a slow car is on the track.
A black flag with an orange circle in the middle is displayed to a driver whose car has a mechanical problem and must return to the pits.
A black and white flag split along the diagonal is displayed to a driver for unsporting conduct. This is like a ‘yellow card’, and if the driver maintains this behaviour he may be shown the black flag. In reality, this flag is seldom used nowadays.
The black flag is shown to a driver who is disqualified and must return to the pits.
The most famous, the chequered flag, signifies the end of the race.

Common transgressions

During the race, a driver may fall foul of a number of rules. Among the most common transgressions are:

Jumping the start
Speeding in the pit lane
Ignoring blue flags
Blocking other drivers (an agreement exists whereby a driver can only make one move across the track to prevent an overtaking manoeuvre)
Causing an avoidable accident

The race stewards will decide if and how a driver should be penalised. The most common penalty is the drive-through penalty, where drivers must drive through the pit lane and adhere to the speed limit. A driver may also be hit with a 10 second ‘stop–go’ penalty. This is like a drive-through penalty, except the driver must also stop outside his pit garage and remain stationary for 10 seconds before going again. Mechanics may not work on the car during this period.

If a driver fails to serve his penalty within three laps of being notified, he may be disqualified. If a penalty is given within 5 laps of the end of the race, the driver may opt not to serve his penalty and instead have 25 seconds added to his race time.

More severe penalties include disqualification and a grid penalty for the following race. A variety of other penalties may be handed out if the stewards investigate an incident that was only brought to their attention after the race had finished.

1 comment

It's official: vee8 is prestigious

29 March 2008 18:29

Categories: Admin

Thanks to Juan H for politely reintroducing readers of Ed Gorman’s blog to my writing.

Regarding some of the comments on the bias of British press, and Hamilton hype, I was happy to read this in a prestigious (I think it is in F1) non-Spanish blog on this subject, from Mr. Doctorvee (alis Duncan Stephen) which I strongly recommend to read…

Thanks! Although I don’t know if many other people will agree that this is a prestigious blog… yet.

6 comments

What to expect from the BBC's F1 coverage

28 March 2008 21:21

Categories: Opinion

Having considered the past of ITV’s Formula 1 coverage, it is time to turn our attention to the future of the BBC’s F1 coverage.

The first thing to point out is that, of course, just about everything is pure speculation for the time being. We have been given a few hints of what to expect — HD coverage, internet and mobile coverage and things like that. This all sounds like a very good step in the right direction. (It is ironic that this year ITV’s coverage is sponsored by Sony’s HD products — and it’s taken a move to the BBC for F1 fans to enjoy the sport on Sony’s HD products!)

Obviously the move to the BBC is popular for one overriding reason — races will be broadcast uninterrupted, without adverts. Beyond this, though, is the move to the BBC going to be the best thing for F1 coverage in the UK?

A note of caution must be struck. First of all, as pointed out by Ben Evans today, ITV revolutionised F1 coverage in the UK. While we may cringe at the fluffier elements of the pre-race show on ITV, at least there is one! On the Beeb, F1 was usually part of a packed Sunday Grandstand programme. Sometimes coverage basically started when the race started.

Even more amazingly, races were not guaranteed to be shown live until 1995! And coverage of qualifying was by no means a certainty either. You have to hand it to ITV on this front. They might have shoved F1 away to some of their more obscure digital channels from time to time, but I don’t think they have ever opted not to broadcast a race live (although there were a few difficult moments in the days before Freeview!).

Of course, there is nothing to say that the BBC will treat F1 in the same way as they did in the mid-1990s. Television has changed a lot — sports coverage especially so. Nevertheless, the BBC has a packed schedule. As far as I can tell, they seldom have problems filling their Sunday afternoon schedules — either on BBC One or BBC Two (let’s face it — the EastEnders omnibus, love it or hate it, is an institution).

The Beeb does have one thing going for it. The red button service essentially gives the BBC two extra channels at most times of the day. There will be opportunity costs here as well though, and F1 will have to compete with other BBC interactive services.

But if it is true that it was Bernie Ecclestone’s decision to pull the plug on ITV’s F1 coverage, it seems likely to me that he has sought guarantees from the BBC about the quality of coverage. It is not impossible that a guaranteed live terrestrial slot is part of the deal.

Also, a lot of people have pointed out that the BBC does not have much in the way of sporting events these days. And with Hamilton hype reaching overdrive, the BBC could have an opportunity to present F1 as the crown jewel of its sports coverage.

A survey out today shows that Formula 1 is now the UK’s fifth most popular sporting “category”. Ahead of it are the FA Cup, Wimbledon, FA Premiership and Six Nations rugby. Of these, the BBC has the rights to only Wimbledon and the Six Nations — events that are highly concentrated in just a few weeks of the year.

But for this reason, anyone hoping for an end to coverage utterly fixated on Lewis Hamilton will surely be disappointed. The BBC may not be a commercial organisation, but it can be every bit as populist. It also has to draw in the viewers in order to justify the money it has spent on F1 (estimated to be around £200m). The Beeb’s coverage will probably focus on Hamilton just as much as ITV do.

On a related note, many have expressed their unease at the rumours that Top Gear will be heavily involved. My feeling is that far too much has been read into a few comments about Top Gear. The most extreme one I can find is this:

Coles has also said that the success of BBC’s revamped Top Gear programme will be a major influence on the tone of their F1 coverage in 2009.

“When Lewis Hamilton did a test lap on Top Gear it got more viewers than the Brazilian Grand Prix,” he explained. “Bernie (Ecclestone) was very impressed with the Top Gear proposition and there will be cross-fertilisation between the show and the races.”

Now, that could mean anything. It could simply mean trails for the race being dropped into the Top Gear programme. As for “influence on the tone” of the coverage, this does not necessarily mean actually involving the Top Gear presenters. As has been pointed out by many, this would be a mega mistake — the Top Gear presenters frequently express their dislike for F1! The BBC would be foolish if they actually thought that it would be a good idea to have such people presenting F1 coverage.

Having said that, I have a feeling that Richard Hammond wouldn’t actually be a bad anchor. After all, Jim Rosenthal was self-confessedly ignorant about F1 but in the end I thought he did an okay job on ITV. These Top Gear rumours do sound as though the F1 coverage will be dumbed down quite a lot though, which is a shame. But like I said, the BBC have to do something to appeal to more than just hardcore F1 nuts.

So, Top Gear presenters aside, who else could be on the BBC’s team? I have seen a lot of people suggesting that people like David Croft and Holly Samos who already present F1 coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live could be moved along to present the television coverage. But it is worth remembering that the BBC still have rights to broadcast F1 on the radio. They might well decide to leave the radio coverage as it is while it still works, while taking the opportunity to broadcast on television as a chance to make a fresh start.

Three obvious candidates for lead commentator pop into my head — assuming James Allen is out of the equation, as most assume he is. One is David Croft. He is a bit like James Allen I think, but doesn’t put his foot in his mouth so often. Crofty gets excited in a similar way, and he is obviously very passionate about the sport. Could be a good shout, although like I said the BBC might consider him to do such a good job on radio that they might keep him there.

The second candidate is one that I haven’t seen mentioned often — Jonathan Legard. The first article I read about the Beeb winning the rights on Pitpass said, “of course” Jonathan Legard is likely to be the lead commentator. Somewhat conflictingly, the article also describes David Croft as “a shoo-in for the Allen job”, though they might have meant for ITV.

Jonathan Legard used to do the commentary on Radio 5 Live up until the height of the Schumacher domination years. He left to become the station’s chief (I think?) football news reporter. Obviously that’s a pretty good job to have anyway, but you would imagine he’d be tempted by the opportunity to be the lead F1 commentator on television. Legard’s style contrasts to David Croft’s. Legard is more analytical. It might depend on who his sidekick is. Having two analytical voices in the commentary box might not work.

Another possibility — yet another that I have seen little mention of — is Ben Edwards. It amazes me that he seems to be seldom considered as a potential James Allen replacement because he seems to do an excellent job whenever I see him commentate. He is highly experienced as a lead commentator, and he can do both the Croft style excitement and the Legard style analysis.

On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine Ben Edwards commentating with anyone other than John Watson! They must be joined at the hip.

An outside possibility is for Martin Brundle to be the lead commentator alongside David Coulthard. I have thought for a while now that Brundle would make as good a lead commentator as a ‘colour’ commentator. After all, he has had to carry James Allen for several years now, so he is used to playing the two roles.

David Coulthard has been linked to a role at the BBC as a ‘colour’ commentator. I am sure DC wants a job like this once he retires from driving, and he would be more useful in this role than Brundle because of his more recent experience as a driver.

On Martin Brundle, I am sure that most F1 fans agree that the BBC must pull out all the stops to bring Brundle to the Beeb. He is an institution now, just as Murray Walker was when the Beeb lost the rights to ITV.

An on Murray Walker, any suggestion that this will see a return to the commentary box for him is surely complete nonsense. Murray Walker didn’t retire because F1 left the BBC — he commentated on ITV for years. He retired because he was past it. He is even more so today. It’s not bad for the occasional race, but an entire season? No way.

As I said though, it’s all speculation for the time being. I am sure the BBC will give us some decent coverage though. With their red button service, it is tempting to think that we could get a watered down version of F1 Digital+, where we can perhaps go interactive to watch different parts of the race or view the timing screen. I would have thought Bernie would go along with this, seeing it as a pilot for a relaunched F1 Digital+.

Going by what Bernie Ecclestone has said, we can expect to have coverage of practice session as well. ITV have only just started that this year, online. And the BBC have a good infrastructure to provide online coverage and highlights packages over iPlayer. They already do this with MotoGP.

In summary, the move to the BBC gets my thumbs up. It will be a good opportunity for BBC to bring Formula 1 coverage in Britain up to date, just as ITV did when the won the rights. Let’s just hope their coverage isn’t too Lewis-focussed and dumbed down.

Here is how Formula 1 exited the BBC — with a look back at the highs and lows of the BBC’s twenty years covering the sport.

10 comments

doctorvee