Ok, is it just me, or . . .

Speed Channel's F1 coverage Mega-SUCKED!!

First off, the commentators weren't even at the race!! All they did was comment on the live feed from their studio, wherever that may be. What a ripoff!! I figure SpeedChannel coulda at least gathered up the bucks for broadcast rights and to get their folks to the race. I felt like I was watching Mystery Science Theater 2000 with a coupla inept yahoos heckling the live feed, the coverage was so cheesy!

And the commentators themselves need to get their act together!! The American guy has spent too much time watching ASSCAR. Some of his screwed up comments included:

"Wow! Schumi is really trying to intimidate Trulli to get by" --This would be said about ASSCAR when they're tapping each other. Ain't no tapping going on in open-wheel F1 short of disaster.

"Oh, and he's trying to get by at the end of the straight, but just doesn't have enough horsepower" -- Once again, this guy's been watching too much ASSCAR, where they'll use the draft down the straight to slingshot past on the straight or low into the banking. In this instance, the draft was used down the straight to get alongside, but the pass attempts were done using late braking and position, hardly requiring a horsepower advantage at that point.

The best coverage all day was the silent in-car camera riding with Raikkonen, free of the commentators' jibber-jabber.

Oh, and about the race itself . . . definitely shoulda been Red Flagged and restarted. Hell, we lost half the field in the Turn 1 fiasco at the start. Only 7 cars finished?? With only 7 cars turning laps we couldn't even get any coverage of guys diceing for position 'cuz seven cars spread over a 1+ mile track won't even be within sight of each other!! Just about the only racing action we saw was Schumi working around Trulli and Montoya defending against Schumi.

And about Ralf's crash itself: I think Barrichello was at fault, weaving erratically. Ralf had an excellent start and saw an opening on the left, which Rubens unpredictably weaved back into, leaving Ralf without an escape given his built up closure. Rubens move was hardly reminiscent of Michael Schumacher closing the door on his brother with one steady, predictable move across the track at Nurburgring last season.

Ok, I'm done venting. If anyone has satellite and can get Star Sports, I highly recommend their in-depth and informative F1 coverage over anything SpeedChannel has to offer.

As for next week's Malaysian Grand Prix, I'll be there live and in person, with great grandstand seats. Wooohoooo!!!!

Go Montoya!!!!

How disappointing ... man ... and I was going to order cable just so I could watch F1 this year. Satellite isn't an option for me, unfortunately.

I think Barrichello switched positions way too many times, myself, but that last bit did set him up for his line a bit better ... though I think Ralf really did have a much better start on him and Rubens should have let him by instead of trying the Schumi-style start. ;)

The JPM v. Schumi battles were sweet, though ... those boys are going to put on a hell of a show this year!

"Oh, and he's trying to get by at the end of the straight, but just doesn't have enough horsepower" --

I heard that too. What a goof!

TSN in Canada gets its tv coverage from ITV in Britain. James Allen and Martin Brundel doing the commentation. They do an excellent job without any bullshit.

Please, if you haven't yet, go to both of the links below. We might stand a chance if enough of us complain about the dumbing down of all the other motorsports to the level of NASCAR.

http://www.petitiononline.com/cel21/petition.html
http://www.speedvision.com/feedback/?lvl=0f&cat=22&a_id=3

Believe me, I don't give a crap about Nascar. But I am happy that F1 fans are getting *any* coverage, let alone all the races (though four will be on ABC, I believe). Listen, there are very few F1 fans in the states, all things being relative, so I'm surprised that Speed Channel is making the concession of running as much F1 coverage as it is.

As for the camera feed, I'd like to know if fans in the UK also got the Malaysian feed. My suspicion is that they did. And as for the horsepower on the straight comment: I really don't think the announcer was trying to suggest that the trailing car was catching a draft (though I must admit, i can't remember the specific call). Obviously, HP does come into play on straights (though relatively rarely during overtaking maneuvers) --that's the reason why Williams is such a threat this year; BMW horsepower will challenge Ferrari aerodynamics. Again, I can't remember the specific over-taking attempt, but an F1 car can pass on a straight just by virtue of HP alone.

As for Schmacher trying to intimdate Trulli. I have to disagree with you again: Intimidation is indeed a big part of F1, open wheels notwithstanding. And Schumacher is pretty much known as a bastard when it comes to intimidation and not giving ground.

You are absolutely right Jon. Intimidation has always been a part of F1. Senna was the master. As for Speed Channel announcers not being at the race, thats nothing new. It has been the same for the past 6 years or since ESPN stopped it's F1 coverage. I say be happy we have anything in this country that's dominated by hillbilly racing.

Jon,

Read my comments again. "In this instance, the draft was used down the straight to get alongside, but the pass attempts were done using late braking and position, hardly requiring a horsepower advantage at that point." The overtaking car did not have a position advantage once they reached the braking zone and was forced to yield in accordance with the rules of right-of-way.

Sure, an overtaking car could make a pass solely on the straight using the draft and brute force horsepower prior to reaching the braking zone, but that obviously wasn't the case here, and the commentator was mistaken.

Regarding the "intimidation": Just filling another car's mirrors with your presence is intimidation. I've dogged guys for laps on end, feinting and probing for a place to pass once he makes a mistake. Folks fill my mirrors as well. It's in integral part of racing, which is exactly my point. Schumi was immediately behind Trulli, which is to be expected. What was out of order was all the hoopla the announcer made about Shumi's mere presence behind Trulli, as if it was something so special, unique, and noteworthy. Any seasoned race fan or racer would have rolled their eyes, just as I did, when the announcer showed his true inexperience with Formula 1 by sensationalizing something so simple, revealing just how "green" he is.

About the presence of Formula 1 coverage in the USA: I've been spoiled this past year while residing in Asia and getting my fill of superb F1 coverage. They do F1 here like we do Monday Night Football in the US. I've been to pubs in Shanghai where they'll advertise with flyers, set up the big screen TV in the courtyard with tables and chairs, and folks will attend JUST for the F1 coverage accompanied with a meal and/or some brew.

And the networks not only broadcast the race, they even broadcast qualifying, LIVE! The race itself is accompanied with a one-hour pre-race show (Similar to MNF's Halftime Show reviewing the previous week's games) and an half-hour post-race show with the podium driver interviews, race highlights and analysis.

Also, the race is re-broadcast throughout the next week or two SEVERAL TIMES so the unfortunate few who didn't catch it live can still enjoy.

I should be grateful with many of you that we get what little F1 coverage we do in the US. F1 is the most-watched sport in the world, so I have a hard time accepting the relative dearth of coverage back home.

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. You condensed/filtered what you saw in the broadcast, then I condensed/filtered what I believed to be your point, and then you condensed/filtered what I wrote. Somewhere along the way, the various thoughts and opinions were misnterpreted -- but that's online forums for you! Anyhow, I think you and I are more in agreement than dissagreement. :)

Agreed!:cool:

Phantom
I don't know what you've been watching, but we also get Qualifying live plus the Friday afternoon practice session, also live in many cases. Generally Speed Channel will re-broadcast the race at least once. They also usually re-broadcast Qualifying. Believe me I'm not one to defend Speed Channel, but our coverage isn't that bad. Also in Chicago there are a couple sports bars that have the race on the big screens and draw pretty big crowds. Of course the European races are shown later the same day.

Really? Well then it's good to see that my complaints are getting some results!!