More facts have emerged in the last few days from the BBC and Sky about their controversial deal to share the rights to screen Formula 1 in the UK from 2012. Sky’s coverage is shaping up nicely, with confirmation that they will screen the races advert-free on a new dedicated channel, ‘Sky Sports F1 HD’.
Sky promise plenty of programmes away from the races to fill up the new channel, and one wonders quite what these will be – classic races would be fantastic, but BBC/ITV-style F1 lifestyle features are perhaps more likely.
In addition, Martin Brundle has unsurprisingly confirmed he will be making the switch to Sky, which is just reward for his ever-entertaining commentary. The fact that he has moved from ITV to the BBC and now Sky shows how synonymous Brundle’s voice, forthright opinions and sharp sense of humour have become with television coverage of F1.
Current BBC Radio 5 Live presenter David Croft is expected to join him, a solid if slightly surprising choice given the sometime darts pundit’s relatively low profile (despite a cameo appearance in the latest Formula 1 video game). I for one would like to see Ben Edwards given a shot, although it would be a shame if he left ITV’s increasingly-fine BTCC coverage.
Meanwhile, the BBC has confirmed the 10 races they will be showing live. It’s a mixed bag really, with the most significant absentees being Montreal, Monza and Suzuka. Apparently both broadcasters were only allowed to pick two races in a row to screen live (or exclusively live in Sky's case), which explains some of the decisions, although how the BBC ended up with both Valencia and Barcelona I cannot imagine. At least Spa remains on the BBC roster.
The European races not shown live will get 90 minutes of highlights on Sunday evening. For no obvious reason the races from Asia get two hours of highlights instead, and these will be shown at 2pm. How much of this time will be race coverage and how much no-doubt hilarious banter between the presenters remains to be seen.
Speaking of presenters, David Coulthard will remain, much to everyone’s acquiescence. No mention is made by the BBC on this blog post of Eddie Jordan, which is probably for the best – his ‘me, me, me’ rantings have worn rather thin of late. The somewhat vacant Lee MacKenzie will be “pit lane reporter” – does that mean she will take over the superior Ted Kravitz’s responsibilities as he is not mentioned by the BBC?
But, worst news of all (even in comparison to the loss of Martin Brundle) is that the puerile Jake Humphrey will continue to ruin what little coverage the BBC has left with his loose interpretation of top-class sports presenting. The fact that Sky showed no interest in taking him speaks volumes. As Eddie Jordan commented (inadvertently summing up the thoughts of the nation) during the Brazilian Grand Prix pre-race coverage, isn’t he a children’s television presenter?
One question that remains is whether the BBC and Sky will share the same main commentary feed. In the absence of Murray Walker making a comeback, and given the fact that I will most probably be watching on the BBC, I really hope so. Especially given how excellent Brundle has been in recent years and how poor the alternatives are – the return of Jonathan Legard or, whisper it, James Allen [shudder]? But my hopes aren’t exactly high given that Sky will inevitably want to keep their probably-pricey presenter to themselves.
So to sum up, it doesn’t look great for F1 fans with access to free-to-air coverage only - no Martin Brundle or Ted Kravitz, no live coverage of half the races (including some real classics), and just as much Jake Humphrey as before. It’s as if the BBC has taken inspiration from my nightmares…
Apologies for the rather half-arsed, BBC-esque approach to updating the site in the last few weeks and months. Despite the lack of driver ratings appearing on the site, I have been diligently recording them privately, and will incorporate them into the Pits Take F1 Season Review which will appear… well, before Christmas I expect. I will also crown the Pits Take Driver of the Season, taken from an average of all the ratings across the year. Since I haven’t actually worked these out myself yet, I can genuinely say that literally anyone could win (although Karun Chandhok is unlikely…).
