Formula 1 will hit the BBC air waves in 2009 after a long run on ITV. The move will require new figureheads to sit at the desk, and London's Times has said that Top Gear's Richard Hammond is the top man for the job. Economics at least partially drove ITV's decision to withdraw from F1 coverage. The coverage is expensive, so making money is challenging, even with newly rising star Lewis Hamilton making F1 more interesting for UK viewers. Hammond's presence might help broaden the appeal beyond just racing fans, as would guest appearances by Jeremy Clarkson and James May, Hammond's cohorts on Top Gear. Letting Clarkson and May prowl the paddock could offer priceless moments of color commentary that would set YouTube alight. The BBC also plans to update the look, feel and pace of its coverage, and fans will be able to get at the presentation more easily with races going out across broadband digital outlets in addition to the standard radio and television. Thanks for the tip, Eric!
[Source: Times Online, Photo by Getty Images/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John R @ Mar 25th 2008 11:32AM
Having Clarkson and May running around the paddocks would be more entertaining than what Speed Channel does currently. I forget the fellows name but its sometimes cringing to watch as it get summarily dismissed by drivers and managers.
John R @ Mar 25th 2008 11:33AM
as "he" gets dismissed...
Alan @ Mar 25th 2008 2:06PM
That would be Peter Windsor and I think he gets a much more cordial response than most since he was one of the gang back in the 80's. He worked for Williams and Ferrari I believe.
I'd like to see Hammond give it a try, but also is the BBC coverage going to be commercial free...if so now I'm jealous being in the US.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Mar 25th 2008 12:13PM
You will not there is only one person who asks the questions in the post-race driver interviews, and it's Peter Windsor. It's clear he's far from the bottom of the barrel.
The problem is just F1 itself. No driver of any note except Barrichello (or Coultard if you count him) will give an interview on the track except possibly to their home country media.
F1 really needs to take a tip from NASCAR and require their drivers to be more accessible.
Tim @ Mar 25th 2008 12:43PM
Peter Windsor is about as much of a fixture in the F1 paddock as Murray Walker was in the broadcast booth, which is to say an important one.
chris @ Mar 25th 2008 5:21PM
'why not', it's just because no one cares about some crappy Speed channel, not because the drivers don't do interviews. Here in Australia we get the ITV (and probably BBC starting next year) coverage, and their pit lane woman interviews basically every driver who DNFs. Alonso and Kimi are probably the only drivers who don't do interviews, though even they might sometimes, I can't remember every single race.
Mel. R @ Mar 25th 2008 11:36AM
Odd choice. Even the Hamster himself would be the first to admit he knows next to nothing about F1.
The commentary ought to be priceless though.
DannyBoyUK @ Mar 25th 2008 11:50AM
But Clarkson is the only one out of the 3 who actually cares or really knows much about F1!
ckm @ Mar 25th 2008 12:07PM
Weird headline. He is already at the Beeb, they signed an exclusive contract more than a year ago (before his accident)....
why not the LS2LS7? @ Mar 25th 2008 12:16PM
It would make no sense to have May walking the grid. He's the one who doesn't care about fast cars and motorsports, remember?
The big thing to note here is that F1 couldn't be broadcast at a profit by a commerical broadcaster in the UK, the home of F1. It's clear F1 has some work to do on controlling costs and making their product more interesting.
Owen Henn @ Mar 25th 2008 12:25PM
yea, im surprised to see hammond doing it because of his self-proclaimed dislike for formula 1. i would definitely be interested in watching their coverage though
Warren @ Mar 25th 2008 12:39PM
Hamster's a good presenter, but they need someone who really knows their stuff. I'm not sure he's 'always' been a BBC guy. I think he was freelance - until his stock went up (post-accident). Remember the poor ITV show he did? *Cringe*
People like Murray Walker and Martin Brundle could always give insight into F1 because they loved it so much. Hamster's entertaining, but I dunno if he's got the 'one liners' to stretch for a two hour live show.
Perhaps sticking him with someone like Tiff might help.
At least it'll be good to be able to watch F1 without the commercials again!!!!
Tim @ Mar 25th 2008 12:43PM
I can't wait to see Jeremy's reaction. He's gonna light up Hamster on that one. He's always chiding Richard for not watching F1.
the_english_speaking_monkey @ Mar 25th 2008 10:16PM
I thought Hammond was the one who didn't like F1, maybe that changed after his drive in the Renault.
Jeremy doing pit lane interviews would be interesting, as would James going OCD in the garages. But if you have all three of them for every race, then they may as well just make it a series of Top Gear specials.
Britboyj27 @ Mar 26th 2008 11:35AM
The mast-head of the paper says "The Times." It's not called "The London Times." It is simply "The Times."
If you really have to specify, you should say "The Times of London."
Chewy @ Mar 26th 2008 8:39PM
will Clarkson and May be on too?