F1 2012

[Benj]

Well done Button! Won in the first corner basically. Hamilton mugged for second by safety car.

Gutted for Williams!

McLaren vs Red Bull

[Benj]

Agree about Croft... I also find some of the lady presenters a bit naff... Too much girly giggles and fluttering of eye lids at the drivers... I miss Lee Mckenzie on the BBC... She was very good.

So mostly I like the Sky converge expect for a few bits. Got to give them some time to grow into the role I suppose.

[lharris92]

Georgie Thompson is alright, Natalia Pinkham is horrific though, suprised she wasn't asking them what their favourite colours were!!

Actually she wasn't that bad but her presentation style is definitely on the giggly side.

They all need to ensure that they don't end up down the 'oh so chummy with everyone' route that the BBC ended up with, where the presenting team and drivers/ officials etc, all seemed to be best mates, there should be a divide between them, otherwise it will just end up as a series of in jokes.

It was hugely refreshing not having Jordan on my screen too, I see he wasn't taken along by the BBC either, with their limited time now, they could ill afford to have him asking questions, that turn into statements, that eventually end up with him commenting on his own dress sense!

[Benj]

he was there for the beeb... just not on st paddys day.

[pryce]

You have to feel sorry for the guy not being given a car that matches his talent season after season...

[Paul ™]

Sky's Australian Grand Prix coverage drives away with 526,000 viewers

First F1 grand prix to be broadcast exclusively by Sky was down 75% on BBC1's coverage last year

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/mar/19/sky-australian-grand-prix?INTCMP=SRCH

[Kyelo]

Sky's Australian Grand Prix coverage drives away with 526,000 viewers

First F1 grand prix to be broadcast exclusively by Sky was down 75% on BBC1's coverage last year

http://www.guardian....rix?INTCMP=SRCH

[Benj]

Which begs the question, will Bernie really make more money from them?

[Benj]

I was anti Alonso for a while for the exact opposite reason... But to be frank neither Hamilton or Alonso behaved as they should and for me its well in the past. I admire Alonso...

Big season for Button... His World Championship win was pretty handed to him on a plate... Last season at McLaren impressed me more. But you know what, I can't get away from the fact we talk what an awesome season Button apparently had and what a poor one Hamilton is meant to have had... yet Button only had 40 odd points more in the end and the same number of race wins.

If Button can out do Hamilton again this season then I will defo have changed my mind about him but I still don't think Button is all that. Great when everything is going his way....

Regarding comparing Hamilton to Senna it is certainly not laughable... Its more than a decent comparison. Driving style is very similar and he as raw pace not many drivers have. Regarding talent levels, well we can talk about that in years to come when we have more to go off. Just like Senna he is VERY quick in qaulifying and is prone to doing something rash.

[eFestivals]

Which begs the question, will Bernie really make more money from them?

He already has

Bernie might have in the short term, but whether it's sustainable in the long term is another thing.

Companies pay huge amounts of money to be splattered all over the cars. If they're getting 3/4 less exposure in one of the biggest markets they're not going to keep paying at the same rates as they've been paying.

The test is going to be the numbers of viewers the live races have on the beeb. If there's a significant fall - and I suspect there will be, cos people won't be as interested in watching half of something - then those sponsors are going to kick off, which will cause the teams to kick off, which will cause Bernie to back down on doing another deal with Sky.

[Jaybles]

The test is going to be the numbers of viewers the live races have on the beeb. If there's a significant fall - and I suspect there will be, cos people won't be as interested in watching half of something - then those sponsors are going to kick off, which will cause the teams to kick off, which will cause Bernie to back down on doing another deal with Sky.

[eFestivals]

Bernie (and the venture capitalists that own F1) only care about the short term... and only needs to care about the short term...

If it didn't suit like you said he would just do another deal with Beeb or some other free to air provider...

While Bernie is going to kick it soon and has made his mint and so might not care, those vulture capitalists will - they'll want a return on their investment, and the sky deal risks them not having much of one.

And while the Beeb would probably have it back, it's defo the case they'd only have it back at a very reduced price. It was the huge price they were paying that caused them to give up that contract mid-way thru, and luckily their desire to save that money was permitted by Bernie cos the deal with sky meant the broadcast contract was worth more overall.

But all of that is based just on the broadcasting rights. None of it is influenced directly by the sponsors, who sponsor to get their name seen by eyeballs. If the viewer-numbers are significantly down they're going to kick off big time, and the result will be less money from broadcasting.

[strummer77]

McLaren's tyre calls also goosed Hamilton, why do they always leave them out a lap too late, they should have had him in the lap before Button, not the one after it, he lost masses of time out there on shite tyres that put him out behind Peres, better to get him early and have to do the laps on shite tyres at the end, when it would not trust him track position.

[eFestivals]

Those venture capitalists won't be looking for a return in 10 years time... They will want a return ASAP.. Hence the current talk of stock flotations and reserved amounts going to some of the teams and so forth...

Neither Bernie of the Capitalists give a shit about the health of F1 in 10/20 years time...

isn't capitalism great?

But what I will add on is the future of F1 isn't in Britain... we already know this by exploitation of new markets over European markets...

Except some of them are already baulking at the costs, as is Spain. It's starting to look as tho F1 is over-priced for it's real audience - rather than its hoped-for one - and it's certainly the case that viewers in the 'wealthy' old world are worth far more than viewers in the emerging economies.

[pryce]

i paid 53 euros for a 3 day ticket for Monza a few years back (vettels first win)

can get some really good prices for european races.... although i would pay extra for a grandstand especially at Monza ... not alot of viewing places

i won tickets to spa about 10 years ago .... so not sure on the price for that but loads of decent viewing places for a bronze ticket

[pryce]

But what I will add on is the future of F1 isn't in Britain... we already know this by exploitation of new markets over European markets...

[Kyelo]

The figures are not slightly surprising, obv fewer have access to Sky and those fewer numbers will also have access to Sky plus and therefore if they're slightly smart, not be up at 4:30 AM!

[Kyelo]

F1's future is also away from europe

[Gre]

I thought that when the Sky deal was first announced the general consensus on here was that it wouldn't matter to the sponsors, because the loss of viewers in the UK would be such a small percentage of the global total, particularly compared to those in the emerging markets... what's changed?

[Benj]

To be fair it was only a lap too late because of the unpredictable safety car. And Button was going to get first call on pitting as he was leading.

[Benj]

That doesn't stand up to scrutiny though. Practice 1, 2, 3 and qualifying in 2011/2012 started at the exact same time and the races were only an hour apart so time clearly makes no difference.. Also if you read the Guardian report it states "Sunday's audience figures included viewers who recorded it and watched it later in the day – as did the BBC1 figures for 2011." so that's also the same, only thing is less people have Sky which leads me to...

...the above being what I was getting at.

[Benj]

Fact is though the lead car gets priority...

I think its a crap idea... The teams should be maximising their chances... But if that is the agreement you have to stick to it I suppose.

[Snufflebutt]

F1's future is also away from europe

[Kowalski]

I think beating Sky up over this is wrong really... Its the BBC who decided they didn't want to do it any more...

[The Nal]

Watched Senna again last night. Still great after 4-5 time!

But who on here said Hamilton was up there with Senna in terms of quality? And do they still have the death penalty where you're from?