The Sky Sports F1 Team: The 2013 Verdict so far

Following on from my BBC F1 review looking at each team member, part two looks at each member of the Sky Sports F1 team. ‘The Verdict so far’ series will then look at BBC F1’s and Sky Sports F1’s programming throughout the year so far, whilst the fifth and final part will analyse the ratings picture and compare it to previous years.

Again for the mid-season piece, I will only be looking at the main Sky Sports F1 team members. Last year there were ten people I looked at during the Sky mid season piece, this year there is only eight, with two noticeable absentees:

– Allan McNish – defected to BBC F1
– Georgie Thompson – left before the season began, recently moved to America

The rest of the team is identical to last year. For this purpose therefore Anna Woolhouse, Craig Slater and Rachel Brookes are not included in this piece, although I may briefly mention them later on.

Anthony Davidson – @AntDavidson
Like Allan McNish on the BBC F1 team, Davidson’s main success is in endurance racing, his highest finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is second. His first chance in Formula 1 came in 2002 alongside Mark Webber for two races at Minardi. Unfortunately for Davidson, this did not lead to a race drive for 2003. He did have one outing for BAR, at the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix, but it wasn’t until 2007 that he was given a permanent race seat – at tail-enders Super Aguri. Davidson’s highest finish there was 11th at the Spanish Grand Prix. He held the seat until Super Aguri’s demise in the middle of 2008.

Davidson’s first Formula 1 broadcasting exploit was in 2004 for BBC Radio 5 Live, before joining David Croft in the commentary box for every session on 5 Live several years later. It was this role which built up the Croft and Davidson partnership, and one that fans hugely enjoyed due to their relaxed style while debating viewers questions and tweets throughout the practice session. Davidson and Croft continued to commentate for 5 Live until the end of the 2011 season, when both of them defected to Sky.

Since joining Sky, Davidson has held two roles. Alongside his practice duties with Croft, he has also been on the Sky Pad alongside Georgie Thompson. I thought this worked fairly well last year, aside from the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere in a not so vibrant ‘box’ (or at least that’s what it felt to the viewer). This year, the Sky Pad has relocated outside, and minus Thompson. At first I was fearful because Davidson did not look natural on his own, but that has since changed, with Davidson now almost looking like a veteran on there. It helps I think too that the Sky Pad is integrated much more into the live shows which helps the overall product.

Damon Hill
One of the few father-son combinations to win Formula 1 championships, Hill made his Formula 1 debut at a relatively late aged 31 for Brabham in 1992. Hill moved to Williams for 1993, leading the team from 1994 onwards due to the death of Ayrton Senna. Twice he came close to winning the championship in 1994 and 1995, but 1996 would prove third time lucky as Hill won his one and only championship. In what Frank Williams described as a mistake on his behalf for not resigning Hill, Hill moved to Arrows and then Jordan to end his career in 1999. His final win came in a frantic 1998 Belgian Grand Prix which seen him lead home a Jordan one-two, with Ralf Schumacher in second.

His broadcasting career started in 2002, again with Sky as part of the F1 Digital+ service, as a pundit alongside Matthew Lorenzo and Perry McCarthy in the studio. The studio role, based at Formula One Management’s headquarters in Biggin Hill, only lasted a year with Bernie Ecclestone pulling the plug on the series. After several sporadic ITV F1 commentary appearances (the last one being the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix), 2012 would be his next return to the paddock as part of the Sky Sports F1 team. Hill was, at the start of 2012, a bit wooden alongside Simon Lazenby but has since improved.

The introduction of Johnny Herbert alongside him loosened him up for the better, which has continued into this season. I don’t know if this is just me, but it feels like Hill has been on screen less this season. That’s not a bad thing, entirely the opposite as it shows that the load is balancing out more. There is not much more to add really as Hill has not done anything new this season, he’s just been there giving his opinions where necessary. Whether he stays with the team long term, we shall see.

David Croft – @CroftyF1
A Formula 1 commentator for the past eight season, David Croft’s broadcasting career started in 1995 with the BBC. Croft moved up the ladder, working with the BBC Radio 5 Live team covering the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the Olympics in 2004. He moved up to the Formula 1 commentary role from 2006 onwards alongside Maurice Hamilton in the commentary box. From 2009, Anthony Davidson was alongside him in the commentary box, a combination that was a hit with viewers and listeners as I described above in Davidson’s section.

Croft, like Davidson, moved to Sky Sports F1 at the end of 2011. As he did in his Radio 5 Live days, Croft commentated on every session, whilst also appearing sporadically on The F1 Show throughout the season. I’m not entirely sure his commentary has improved on Sky, though. Unfortunately, the insistence of Sky to promote their own products throughout doesn’t help (Sky Race Control) a lot to be honest. I do wonder how many people hear “You can ride with Lewis Hamilton on Sky Race Control” and actually go onto Sky Race Control? I just don’t see many doing that. I subscribe to Sky, I’ve watched them for a year and a half, I don’t really need the same viewing options at each race rammed down my throat.

As well as the above, it feels like some of his commentary at times is forced for the purpose of whatever VT package follows where you know you will hear the ‘5 lights’ line or ‘….wins the X Grand Prix’. It is painfully obvious. I do enjoy Croft as a commentator, and have done since his 5 Live days from 2009, but at Sky his commentary feels like the Sky publicity man, for some reason. It is nice though to see #AskCrofty on Twitter, although I’m not sure straight after the race is a good idea when in reality I should be engaged in the post-race coverage. However, that is probably the time when they get the most exposure, so I can see why that choose that particular time.

Johnny Herbert – @JohnnyHerbertF1
A motor sport career spanning three decades, Herbert began his Formula 1 career in 1989, nearly a year after breaking both his legs in an accident at Brands Hatch. Herbert raced with seven teams from 1989 to 2000, but it was Benetton where he would have his most successful spell. He won the 1995 British and Italian Grands Prix, on both occasions benefiting from Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill colliding. As well as his wins at Benetton, Herbert also scored a famous win for the Stewart team, winning in mixed conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix.

Unusually, Herbert did not appear with Sky Sports F1 at the start of their coverage, instead his first race with them was round three in China. Whether that was always the plan, I don’t know. In any case, he worked fantastically alongside Damon Hill as a pundit and made the broadcast for the better as a result thanks to his lighter hearted style of pundit. Herbert has also been a regular on The F1 Show both last season and this season. My only concern is if he could turn into a parody of himself…

Let’s make it clear that I like Herbert on the Sky Sports F1 team, my only worry is if the light hearted things with him take over the show. Take Herbert’s Lemon as an example, which for some reason turned into a 15 minute standalone programme on the channel. Sometimes it can get a bit too much at times. At the moment it is mostly okay, and I hope that doesn’t change. Too much banter as I have said in the past can obviously become a bad thing. I know some people find it funny but I’m afraid it is cringey at times. As a pundit though, Herbert is good and I wouldn’t want him to leave any time soon.

Martin Brundle – @MBrundleF1
Although probably more famous for to younger audiences for his 17 years of commentary, Brundle’s Formula 1 career began in 1984 with Tyrrell. His first Formula 1 spell only lasted four years as he moved to find success in sports car racing, winning the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was 1992 when he finally broke out of the tail-enders in Formula 1, joining Benetton and racing alongside Michael Schumacher in the team. His Benetton stint reaped rewards with several podium finishes, although he was dropped at the end of 1993, moving to McLaren for the beginning of the 1994 season. His final two teams would be Ligier and Jordan, as Brundle retired at the end of the 1996 season.

Brundle, like David Coulthard did when he joined BBC, remained in the paddock, joining the newly formed ITV F1 team for the 1997 season. He would commentate alongside Murray Walker and then James Allen for the next twelve years alongside doing his now famous grid walk. Both of his roles were well received, back in 1997 you would not see many broadcasters doing the grid walk, now you see broadcasters from many different countries doing the walk before the race. When ITV lost the Formula 1 contract, Brundle moved to BBC where he remained co-commentator. This role changed in 2011 when Jonathan Legard was dropped from the team – the pairing of Legard and Brundle not blending well. Brundle was only a lead commentator for a single season alongside David Coulthard, Brundle was heading to Sky.

Last year, it felt to me that Brundle was on screen too much at nearly every opportunity possible. Thankfully, as I noted earlier in the piece, things have become balanced out so the amount of screen time Brundle gets has reduced. Brundle is still doing some fantastic features though, the feature recently with Mark Webber on the art of overtaking was a great insight which we would not normally get. Also, I’m not completely gelling with the Croft and Brundle combination, if I have a choice of Croft/Brundle vs Edwards/Coulthard, I’m more likely to go for the latter two, at the moment. Still, Brundle is a great asset to the Sky team and it would be a significant loss if he went elsewhere.

Natalie Pinkham – @NataliePinkham
Graduating from the University of Northampton, Natalie Pinkham spent the 2000’s working her way up the ladder through various roles including The Wright Stuff on Channel 5. Her previous motor sport presenting experience before Formula 1 included the Goodwood Festival of Speed with ITV alongside Steve Rider and the Isle of Man TT. Pinkham became BBC Radio 5 Live pit lane reporter from the start of the 2011 season, succeeding Holly Samos in the role. The role only lasted a year for her, as she moved to Sky Sports for 2012.

With Georgie Thompson leaving the Sky Sports team in February, it meant Pinkham was given the nod to present The F1 Show alongside Ted Kravitz for this season. I’m not a fan of Pinkham’s to be honest where Formula 1 is concerned. I have no problem with her doing driver interviews, she is fine doing that, but outside of that, she is too ‘bubbly’ for my liking. For shows like The Wright Stuff, that’s great, probably the exact sort of person you need. But in an F1 paddock? I’m not sure I particularly agree.

I’ve said many times how I prefer Rachel Brookes to Pinkham and I have seen nothing in the last few months to change that, Brookes deserves a bigger role within the team whereas I haven’t seen much from Pinkham to justify the air time she gets. Last year, I enjoyed the Thompson and Kravitz combination presenting The F1 Show, one of the best aspects of the channel, but this year I’m not liking the Pinkham and Kravitz combination, Pinkham’s style of presenting grating on me, I’m afraid. I don’t think Pinkham is well suited to Formula 1 presenting in my opinion, similar applied for that matter when Charlie Webster presented GP2 for ITV in 2008.

Simon Lazenby – @SimonLazenbySky
Joining Sky Sports in 1998, Lazenby’s first role with Sky was as part of the Sky Sports News channel. Lazenby soon moved on though, becoming presenter of their rugby coverage. It was this role which he has held for the majority of his time at Sky, remaining as presenter until the end of 2011. With Sky’s Rugby producer Martin Turner becoming Sky Sports F1 executive producer, the decision was made for Lazenby to jump over with Turner. As thus, Lazenby became the main Sky Sports F1 presenter from the beginning of 2012. It goes without saying that the two roles would be vastly different, the rugby presenting role was mainly confined to a studio whereas the Formula 1 presenting role is more sporadic in nature, and in the middle of a vibrant environment.

Throughout 2012 on this blog I was critical of Lazenby as it looked like he was struggling with the role and sometimes on the screen he came across as a little bit lost from time to time as well as courting ‘controversy’ on occasion. I said at the time that he should be kept on for 2013 and that any decision to drop him would be a knee jerk reaction. Instead, it turned out that Georgie Thompson was to leave the team, with Lazenby remaining presenter. Has Lazenby improved? I think overall, he has. Is he as good as Jake Humphrey yet in the role? No, but improving he is.

It looks to me that he appears more relaxed in the role this season than last, it helps that the line up is mostly the same around him so that there have not been any big changes. I think we will continue to see him improve as time goes on, but one thing that still needs to be toned down slightly is smugness. I was not happy with his and Pinkham’s presenting on The F1 Show Special a few weeks ago for that reason alone. However, anyone hoping (or thinking) Sky will drop him I think will have to think again, that boat has passed now and, unlike Legard on BBC in 2009 and 2010, Lazenby on Sky has got better between 2012 and 2013. Unless he wants to leave, I don’t see Sky dropping him.

Ted Kravitz – @TedKravitz
Last but not least in the Sky Sports F1 jigsaw is Ted Kravitz, who is now in his eleventh season as appearing on screen. Kravitz has been a part of the Formula 1 broadcasting world since 1997, starting off as a producer on ITV’s Formula 1 coverage. Working up from there, the shuffle as a result of Murray Walker’s retirement meant that Kravitz was promoted to the role as pit lane reporter, a role that began for him in 2002. He kept the role until ITV’s coverage ended in 2008, memorably ending with Kravitz holding the British flag against the railings in Brazil!

It wasn’t until 2009 on BBC where Kravitz grew further. Thanks to more air-time, Kravitz was seen on the BBC forum shows as well as the practice sessions on BBC Radio 5 Live. By the end of 2011, Kravitz was overwhelmingly liked by viewers, and it was no surprise that Sky picked him up for 2012 onwards. It was a good move on his behalf as it meant that his role expanded and viewers seen more of his insights. Alongside his pit lane duties, Kravitz has presented The F1 Show in both 2012 and 2013 – presenting with Georgie Thompson and Natalie Pinkham respectively. But the main highlights for me are the Notebook and Development Corner.

The former was a big part of Sky’s practice coverage back in February and something I thoroughly enjoyed on a nightly basis to get his thoughts on what had occurred. Kravitz is helped also down in pit lane by more freedom in what Sky are allowed to do, with cameras down in pit lane allowing Kravitz to get into the nitty gritty regarding technical developments. By far in my opinion Kravitz is the best member of the team, and I hope that does not change any time soon. Whilst Sky’s team is good as it is, something I alluded to in the BBC piece has to be alluded to here. BBC has a ex team boss, ex technical director and two ex drivers. Sky has four ex drivers.

Arguably, BBC’s line-up is more all rounded. I’m not saying that is a bad thing for Sky, but it just means that on BBC you may get differing opinions due to the different roles previously whereas on Sky you may get four ex drivers towing the same line. I don’t think Sky should bring in an ex technical director because they have Kravitz (although I don’t understand why they have not used Marc Priestley that much given recent experience), but there is a definite argument in my view for Sky dropping an ex driver and bringing in an ex team personnel. Sky’s viewpoint when starting out in 2012 would be to get ‘names’ on board, people will have heard of ex drivers more than former team personnel. But in my view, they should definitely get a non-driver in there so that another opinion is heard. As always, you’re thoughts and comments are welcome, should Sky drop one of their former drivers and bring in someone else?

Episode of Sporting Chapters to air on Sky F1

An episode of Sporting Chapters featuring Martin Brundle will air on Sky Sports F1 on Saturday 3rd August at 15:00. It is part of a wider series that has been ongoing for a while across the Sky channels looking at sporting stars.

And no, don’t ask me about the scheduling. I’ve just described it on the Twitter as “throwing a dart at the board and see where it would land”. Scheduling does not get much worse than that. Unpromoted during the Hungarian weekend, too. Yes, it is great to see new programming on the schedule, but when the scheduling is beyond stupid, why bother?

Update at 16:55 – I don’t have access to the EPG this week but it turns out the first airing is in fact tomorrow (2nd August) at 19:15…

The BBC F1 Team: The 2013 Verdict so far

The first half of the 2013 Formula One season has been exciting both on and off the circuit. On the broadcasting side of things, 2013 has seen some things remain the same, and also some new faces on both BBC and Sky Sports F1. As is now tradition on this blog, it is time for ‘The Verdict so far’. For those unfamiliar, through a series of blog posts, I will look at and analyse all things F1 Broadcasting in the United Kingdom:

– part 1 will focus on each member of the BBC F1 television and radio team
– part 2 will focus on each member of the Sky Sports F1 television team
– part 3 will focus on BBC F1’s programming
– part 4 will focus on Sky Sports F1’s programming
– part 5 will look at the ratings picture and emerging trends

The format is identical to this time last year in case you wish to compare and contrast. Unlike last year, I will look at the BBC radio team as well as the television team. I haven’t listened to a huge amount of their coverage, but have listened to enough for me to do a small piece for each person.

Allan McNish – @AllanMcNish
Despite nearly making Formula 1 several times in the late 1990s, only once did Allan McNish break into the sport with Toyota in 2002. An unreliable car meant that he failed to score any points in their debut season. McNish however is more famous for his efforts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, having won the famous race three times. McNish failed to secure a drive for the 2003 Grand Prix season but remained a part of the Formula 1 paddock, appearing several times as a member of the ITV F1 team alongside Jim Rosenthal and Tony Jardine.

It would be another nine years before a UK broadcaster would pick him up, that being Sky Sports F1 as McNish became a regular member of the team last year from the Monaco Grand Prix onwards. He appeared at several races for the remainder of the season. Thanks to his ability to convey technical information over the microphone, McNish was the only person to surprisingly transfer from side-to-side during the off-season, heading from Sky to BBC. I’m interested to know whether Sky put any fight to keep him on board for 2013. Saying that, I don’t think he was a significant loss for the Sky side. Yes, they probably wished he was with them, but it wouldn’t have made a major difference.

What was amusing here was that BBC touted his move as some kind of big announcement, when in fact he was only scheduled to appear at six out of the nineteen races! It begged the question “who will fill his void” at the other races. Nothing against McNish, I was just surprised that BBC have not tried to get more weekends out of him. It was a coup for BBC to get McNish, but it doesn’t do much for the listeners if he is only going to be present for less than a third of the year.

Ben Edwards – @BenEdwardsTV
Now in his second season as BBC F1 lead commentator, Edwards started his commentating exploits twenty years ago. When his racing career did not get off the ground, he turned his attention to commentary. His first race was the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix, commentating alongside John Watson for Eurosport instead of Allard Kalff. The role became permanent from 1995 with Edwards and Watson soon bonding as a commentary pairing. When Eurosport (and BBC) lost the rights to screen Formula 1 at the end of 1996, Edwards turned to American racing, specifically Champ Car at the start of the millennium, still with Eurosport.

Edwards and Watson reunited for Sky’s F1 Digital+ service in 2002, but when Bernie Ecclestone pulled the plug at the end of the year, it again left Formula 1 audiences without his commentary. Still, he had yet to hit the mainstream, after all at this point Eurosport and F1 Digital+ were in front of the die hards. A1 Grand Prix followed, also on Sky Sports and alongside Watson, before a stint with ITV Sport as lead British Touring Car Championship commentator. The latter would spring him towards a bigger audience with the series being broadcast on ITV4. The question as to why ITV overlooked him in 1997 and 2002 for the F1 commentary role, and for BBC in 2009 will probably never be answered, but 2012 was to be his foray back into the Formula 1 world.

Alongside David Coulthard, Edwards has commentated on Formula 1 for the BBC since the beginning of 2012. The beauty of Edwards commentary is his pants on fire style, which is synonymous with viewers as that is the same style that Murray Walker used for his commentary. The great thing with Edwards and Coulthard is that the pairing after a year and a half feels natural which is fantastic to see. Of course, at the same point, Edwards does well to keep the viewer interested and engaged during the BBC TV live practice sessions. It is a pity therefore that BBC viewers only get to hear his full commentary at half of the races, whereas overseas viewers get the BBC live feed for every race. Sometimes, the highlights can take away from the commentary as it is all excitement, with the breathing, less exciting bits being removed. I do see a fair bit of criticism for Edwards over social media, but that unfortunately comes with the territory when you are commentating to a much bigger audience than previously. Nevertheless, I hope the Edwards and Coulthard combination continues for a few years yet.

David Coulthard – @TheRealDCF1
Born in Twynholm in 1971, Coulthard made his motor racing debut at the age of 11. Quickly, Coulthard moved up the ranks, becoming Williams test driver in 1993. His first Formula 1 race start came sooner than expected at the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, due to the death of Ayrton Senna. Coulthard remained part-time with Williams in 1994, deputising for Nigel Mansell for a few races and becoming full time in 1995. It was there that he won for the first time in his Formula 1 career, at the 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix. The Scotsman moved to McLaren for 1996, spending nine seasons with the team and finishing runner up in the 2001 championship.

It was Red Bull where Coulthard finished his fifteen year career, joining them in 2005. He spent four years with the team, stepping aside for Sebastian Vettel at the end of the 2008 season. Coulthard remained in the paddock, joining the newly formed BBC team for the start of the 2009 season alongside Eddie Jordan and Jake Humphrey as part of the pre and post race analysis. The three were an instant hit with the viewers and made the analysis worth tuning in for, unlike the style ITV took previously where the boundaries were seemingly pushed very little with Steve Rider and Mark Blundell.

Coulthard moved up to commentary in 2011, firstly alongside Martin Brundle and then Ben Edwards. Like I said above in the Edwards section, I enjoy the combination in the box. Commentary is a tough beast if you are not used to it, but I think a season and a half in that Coulthard has settled in well into the role. He has also settled well on the grid walk, and doesn’t go for the barging in approach, instead just waiting his turn to get drivers, which probably earns their respect more than taking the first method. Of course, he is also alongside Suzi Perry during the build up and post race reaction, and again is a reliable pair of feet should things go wrong around him. Now a year and a half into the new seven year contract, I don’t see Sky poaching Coulthard and it seems Coulthard is happy where he currently is at the BBC. If anything, he would have been lost in the shuffle at Sky, so I’m glad he remained with the BBC.

Eddie Jordan
Someone who I don’t think will stay around with the BBC F1 team for many more years though is Eddie Jordan. Jordan is most famous for founding the Jordan Grand Prix team at the beginning of 1991. It was with Jordan that Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut, before being poached by Benetton three races later. Jordan became a consistent mid field team, achieving their first podium thanks to Rubens Barrichello at the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix. It was the famous 1998 Belgian Grand Prix where Jordan’s team secured their first victory, Damon Hill leading a one-two with Ralf Schumacher close behind.

The team remained at the front of the mid-field pack, but soon money struggles emerged towards the end of 2001 and the team dropped down the pecking order. Giancarlo Fisichella’s win in a red flagged 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix was their final highlight before the team was sold in early 2005. Jordan disappeared from the Formula 1 paddock for a few years, returning in 2009 as part of the BBC F1 team. Jordan’s opinionated style, as I noted above has in the past four years made the build-up and forum shows must watch as a result.

Jordan is also famous for breaking big Formula 1 driver transfers, Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes to name one. The decision was made at the beginning of 2012 for Jordan not to appear on the BBC F1 highlight shows which has weakened his contribution significantly compared with 2011 and before. Whilst it has been fantastic to have Jordan’s perspective from a team owner perspective, I do wonder how many more years he will stick around for – assuming BBC see out their contract. Jordan turned 65 this past March. In March 2018 (ie, in the last year of the current contract) he will be 70. I’m not so certain about whether I see him still with the team in five years time. I don’t think he will formally leave the team, but instead the amount of races he attends will simply drop as he years pass.

Gary Anderson
A major factor in the Jordan team being moderately successful was Gary Anderson, who was technical director through Jordan’s years in the sport. Before Jordan, Anderson worked as mechanic for Tyrrell and McLaren in the 1970s and 1980s. Anderson’s Jordan stay lasted from 1991 to half way through 1998, when he joined Jackie Stewart’s Stewart Grand Prix team. With Stewart, he was part of the 1999 European Grand Prix winning team, but it was not long before Anderson was back at Jordan however, returning for 2002 and 2003.

Like Coulthard did with racing, Anderson jumped straight from technical director to broadcasting, becoming part of RTE’s Formula 1 team and later Setanta Sports in Ireland. Alongside this, he regularly writes features for AUTOSPORT. With Ted Kravitz moving to Sky Sports F1, BBC went for Anderson as their pit lane reporter from 2012 onwards. At the time, it was definitely the most logical choice, and also helps balance out the broadcast as it meant that BBC had a former team boss, former driver and a former technical director, whereas Sky is loaded with former drivers, but very little in other departments.

Anderson I felt started off slowly at the beginning of 2012, but has grown on me significantly since then. Instead of the interactivity on the iPad that Sky offers, Anderson gives his analysis using a pen and paper. It does the job perfectly at a much lower cost, so why not? As well as this, Anderson regularly gives his thoughts on strategy and predicts, mostly correctly, what he expects the teams to do in the race. Arguably, the technical analyst role is the most difficult to convey information to a casual audience without alienating them, but in my view, Anderson is doing just fine at the moment. Alongside his BBC television commitments, he is regularly alongside James Allen in the radio commentary box (hopping from the TV to radio box and vice versa), a first in UK F1 broadcasting to have a technical analyst alongside the lead commentator. It is an interesting dynamic to get the strategy side of things updated in real time. I have not had a proper chance to listen to the 5 Live commentary outside of sound bite form, but it seems to be going down well.

James Allen – @JamesAllenOnF1
One of the few people to make a return to Formula 1 broadcasting, Allen’s pit lane exploits began with ESPN in the early 1990s until the end of the 1996 Formula One season. It was in 1997 that UK viewers were introduced to Allen as ITV appeared on the radar. Allen would roam and interview drivers up and down the pit lane alongside Louise Goodman, also a new voice to the UK audience at the time. Allen continued the role until he succeeded Murray Walker as lead commentator. His first race commentary though was on the 2000 French Grand Prix which Walker missed due to recovering from a previous operation.

Allen took over full time from Walker at the beginning of the 2002 season, commentating on ITV’s coverage alongside Martin Brundle until their coverage ended in 2008. Allen’s commentary was criticised though, partially as a result of Walker’s boots being extremely tough to fill, and also because of some ‘debatable’ commentary calls. I probably don’t need to remind readers of the scream at the end of the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, or some of the Lewis Hamilton ‘love in’ in 2007 and 2008 (although admittedly the latter was probably a call from above rather than Allen himself in order to improve viewing figures).

At the end of 20008, Allen disappeared from the UK scene, to concentrate on running his own website whilst making sporadic appearances with Channel TEN in Australia. Allen maintained that he did not want to return to television commentary in the UK, but with radio posing a new challenge, he came back in 2012 to the 5 Live Formula 1 team. Since 2008, I think Allen’s commentary has toned down significantly, and also turned into a more relaxed style to cater for the radio audience. With ITV, his commentary at times did feel forced, whereas now with 5 Live it feels more natural.

Jennie Gow – @JennieGow
Like Suzi Perry, Gow’s first foray into the broadcasting world was on two wheels. It was 2010 when Gow replaced Perry to present the MotoGP coverage on BBC. Despite a solid first year, Gow was dropped at the end of 2010 with the coverage now being produced by Century TV and replaced by Matt Roberts. Although that was probably a cost-cutting move, at the time I didn’t really agree to Gow being dropped after just one season, but clearly other forces were at work.

Gow was not out of the motor sport spotlight for long though. Half a year after being dropped as presenter of BBC’s MotoGP coverage, she had swapped four wheels for two, as part of the BBC Radio 5 Live team at the 2011 Canadian and Hungarian Grand Prix’s, stepping in for Natalie Pinkham. It was this which led to her becoming full time pit lane reporter from 2012 onwards, a role she has continued this season. Gow also occasionally appears on BBC television’s free practice coverage in the pit lane alongside Tom Clarkson.

Alongside her usual pit lane commitments, she has presented the 5 Live Formula 1 discussion shows, such as ‘Slicks-o-Six’ after the British Grand Prix. I personally enjoyed the ‘Slicks-o-Six’ show from Silverstone, it is not often we get Formula 1 phone in shows straight after the race of that nature, so I hope we see it again. Also at some point in the future, I’d like to see Gow move up to the television team if any changes occur on that front in the future as I feel she has gelled into the 5 Live team nicely since joining them.

Lee McKenzie – @LeeMcKenzieF1
Before her BBC Formula 1 debut, viewers may have recognised her from somewhere else. Remember Speed Sunday? She was presenter of that, which was on ITV on Sunday’s in 2004. The show unfortunately did not last very long (although may not be too out of place on Sky Sports F1, if they had more rights) and was soon consigned to the dustbin. But, it was McKenzie’s foray into the motor sport world. McKenzie moved on to being the A1 Grand Prix pit lane reporter for their World Feed, a role that she held from 2005 to 2008.

It was there that she made an impression on BBC’s F1 production team, who approached her for the 2009 pit lane role, a position she accepted and has held ever since alongside presenting Inside F1 on the BBC News Channel. Whilst Jake Humphrey was presenting at Euro 2012 and the Olympics, McKenzie stepped in, presenting the Canadian, Germany and Hungary highlights rounds. It was this that made me have McKenzie down as the front runner to succeed Humphrey as lead presenter for this season onwards.

As it turned out, either McKenzie didn’t want the role or BBC chose elsewhere as Suzi Perry was announced as lead presenter last December. I was disappointed that McKenzie was overlooked, but you can see why BBC would want to go with Perry given her previous motor sport presenting experience. It will be interesting to see if McKenzie stays beyond this season, I hope she does, but at the same point if opportunities appear elsewhere, I won’t be surprised if she moves elsewhere – after all this is year five for her now in the pit lane role. She did say a little bit after Malaysia with multi-21 (I think it was on the Motorsport magazine podcast) how her role is arguably better than the presenting role as she gets to interview all the drivers’ after the race, whereas a presenter doesn’t.

Suzi Perry – @SuziPerry
Leading on nicely from the above, it was Perry that got the nod for the BBC F1 presenter role ahead of McKenzie. Perry is extremely familiar with motor sport fans, but more so for those who like two wheels, having presented BBC’s MotoGP coverage until the end of 2009. Since then, Perry has presented for The Gadget Show on Channel 5 alongside various other gigs. Jake Humphrey leaving BBC’s Formula 1 team left an opening in the presenting position gave Perry an opening, leading her to be confirmed as presenter for the 2013 season.

When Perry was announced, there were many that were saying that she “hates” Formula 1. What I don’t know is when that was said. I assume this was said around 2005 to 2007. Which, without going into a long discussion, the 2006 version of Formula 1 is significantly different to that seen this year. I would be surprised if she still hates Formula 1 considering she is currently presenting it, but stranger things have occurred. A fair comparison for Perry would be compare her first half year to Simon Lazenby’s first half year at Sky, given that both are presenting Formula 1 for the first time. I think overall the first half year has been better than Lazenby’s, but the same nervous tendencies have been displayed.

During the highlight shows, Perry is fine, with Coulthard and her generating good discussion, but things are not that way during the live shows, due to the nature of them. This was particularly noticeable last weekend in Hungary, on Saturday, BBC went live for the last two minutes of their highlights show to report on Romain Grosjean’s possible penalty, and the difference was obvious to see. It should be noted that during her MotoGP days it was 30 minutes build-up and 45 minutes post-race reaction, her Formula 1 commitments are double in both measures. Saying the above, it has been a solid start for Perry. Not as good as Jake Humphrey’s first half year, in my view, but not a disaster either. Attention for me turns to what could happen if BT Sport come knocking. I think it is within the realms of possibility that Perry could end up presenting MotoGP for them next season. Will it happen? Personally, I’d rate it as unlikely, but again, stranger things have happened….

Tom Clarkson – @TomClarksonF1
The first UK viewers heard of Tom Clarkson was during last year’s Canadian Grand Prix, who was in Lee McKenzie’s role for that race among others due to Humphrey being elsewhere. Before being introduced to UK viewers on BBC’s broadcast, Clarkson was apart of Australia’s TEN Sport broadcast and is also a writer for F1 Racing magazine.

There is not too much to say for Clarkson here as he has only been on the screen for half a year and the amount of air time then is even less. The thing with Clarkson is that he has not formally replaced anyone and is therefore sharing duties with McKenzie and Gow so at this point I’m not quite feeling his contribution to the output.

Overall, it is difficult to find any way to change the BBC team for the better, at the moment they have as close to the perfect team as you would find. The question marks lie with whether anyone is poached in the future, or if anyone decides to leave. But for the moment, I don’t see any reason why BBC should make changes to the team. In part two I will look at each member of the Sky Sports F1 team and analyse their contribution to the team, whilst parts 3 and 4 will look at each channel’s output. As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome. Do you agree or disagree with what I have wrote?