Motorsport Off Topic Thread

Sky are filthy rich anyway, they can afford Formula 1!

Although I did haggle an amazing deal with them last week. Got my line rental cut from £14.50 a month to £6. Broadband Ultd slashed to £0 and bought Sky Sports so I can watch the football as well (already had Sky HD and therefore F1 for free) ...Happy days :D
 
Skeeter said:
JRS made a nice Then vs. Now thread. Why don't you dig that up and reminisce about how you used to be able to freely read practice and qualifying reports in the paper, and watch delayed race highlights on BBC in the evenings...
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Ah the good old days when Murray and James did the commentary from the TV feed in a broom cupboard at Television Centre for the long haul races...

They used to fake it by flying Murray out a few days before the race to record a bit of VT. :D
 
JRS said:
Anyway, watching a season from highlights packages isn't so bad, as long as there are some ******* highlights. That's why the BBC coverage of the BTCC used to be so good - they'd make a show for each race solely from all the best bits (and there were always plenty to go around, not something you can necessarily say about the BTCC all the time these days) and have Murray record a commentary track. And it was always a great show. When they moved to showing it live, it never had quite the same appeal.
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The BBC got a third party to do it. BHP Sport I think?
 
JRS said:
Yeah, think it was BHP.
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Top notch work.

I hated that the race report got published in Autosport on the Thursday and had to wait until the weekend for the highlights on Grandstand. Did I read it or wait for the TV. Decisions! It was invariably shown at an incorrect time as some flipping horse race didn't run to schedule!
 
Haha. Setting up the VCR to record it only to get something random.

The point is F1 coverage has grown to a level and quality never seen before, so its not surprising that the cost of it has grown beyond the reach of Free to Air broadcasters and into the realms of subscription services. Sky plan to spend £1bn on F1 over 6 years, something the BBC simply cannot match.
 
I do wonder just how long Sky's current level of coverage is going to last.

Remember when ITV took over for '97? They had a much more elaborate setup in the beginning, with Jim Rosenthal, Tony Jardine and Simon Taylor (all three very good presenters, and Tony and Simon in particular very knowledgeable about the sport) presenting the overall coverage from a studio in the circuit paddock at each round. By the end of their run at the close of '08, we were reduced having Steve Rider and Mark ******* Blundell standing around in the paddock itself looking (and, in Mark's case, sounding :rolleyes:) gormless.
 
JRS said:
I do wonder just how long Sky's current level of coverage is going to last.

Remember when ITV took over for '97? They had a much more elaborate setup in the beginning, with Jim Rosenthal, Tony Jardine and Simon Taylor (all three very good presenters, and Tony and Simon in particular very knowledgeable about the sport) presenting the overall coverage from a studio in the circuit paddock at each round. By the end of their run at the close of '08, we were reduced having Steve Rider and Mark ******* Blundell standing around in the paddock itself looking (and, in Mark's case, sounding :rolleyes:) gormless.
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Sky are 10 x the company ITV are though, and with as many times the amount of money...
 
I'm not worried about Sky's coverage reducing, I'm more concerned about it slotting into the Sky Sports 1/2/3/4 channels as the SSF1 channel is 90% dead airtime.

Unlike ITV or BBC, Sky don't have to worry about running out of money. If they need more they just whop an extra 50p on all their subscriptions, or restructure their packages to more expensive combinations.

BBC may not be, but Sky most certainly are rolling around in piles of money like Scrooge McDuck.
 
JRS said:
Remember when ITV took over for '97? They had a much more elaborate setup in the beginning, with Jim Rosenthal, Tony Jardine and Simon Taylor (all three very good presenters, and Tony and Simon in particular very knowledgeable about the sport) presenting the overall coverage from a studio in the circuit paddock at each round.
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While undoubtedly extremely knowledgeable on motorsport as a whole, there was something about Simon Taylor that used to really wind me up, and equally annoying was that I never quite worked out what it was.

I hear him very rarely nowadays.
 
Came across a review of the '94 F1 season on YouTube (hint: '1994 F1 Review shows') - didn't watch it all but just from skipping through its a good reminder on how much more dangerous and unprofessional the sport was even then, which was about the time I started to follow it.
 
Ceryndrion said:
So Martin Brundle is making comments about how Kimi's people might also be talking to McLaren, as well as Lotus & Ferrari.
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Twhitmarsh is saying they want to keep Button next season, Perez has a two year contract and, if rumour is to be believed Telmex will replace Vodafone as Team Sponsors, Telmex McLaren Mercedes then in 2015 Telmex McLaren Honda. I don't believe it personally unless Button is on the way out as Telmex would want Perez in the team, possibly even as a condition of the Sponsorship and the many millions it will bring.

Hmm there's a thought. Button to Ferrari next year?
 
MissChief said:
Hmm there's a thought. Button to Ferrari next year?
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Yeah, he gave an interview a few days ago about his future, be it at McLaren or elsewhere:

Button said:
I think Red Bull is done. I think the Ferrari seat is a great opportunity for any driver in F1, to get the opportunity to race for a team like Ferrari is very exciting, what they've achieved, the passion within the team, the culture is very interesting. Hopefully someone that deserves it will get the drive.
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Cheeky, gamesmanship or genuine contender?
 
He said similar things a couple of years back when people were linking him with a Ferrari seat.

But you aren't going to say bad things about a possible employer, regardless of how small your chances are, are you?

McLaren do look in a bit of bother if its true though. Hinging the team on an average rookie with a big cheque book in order to sign a flight risk like Kimi who isn't going to be a media mug for them. Kimi will cost them more than Button, and they will have to pay for it with Perezes money. If neither really work out then they could be a bit stuffed
 
I like Button and he seems a good fit for McLaren, but their current driver line up really doesn't scream potential Championship winners at all to me.
 
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