Fleetwood Mac The Chain back in 2009

[v85rawdeal]

I do get the sense that the 'beeb' got it back because of the fact they already have a HD channel in place, with the facilities to 'upscale', if necessary (although I hope that they don't need to and can get full HD transmissions going.

Also, the 'beeb' also had stated that they will also be able to transmit on radio, which may not sound like much, but imagine the fun you could have driving along the motorway listening to the F1 commentary (maybe this deal will be sponsored by GATSO).

I think that ITV may very well have shot themselves in the foot, but probably have something in line to replace it (maybe Indy Car... or Gladiators!!!). The BBC have picked up what certainly looks to be a gold-mine, especially with all the buzz surrounding the new drivers and the recent rules changes to the season.

In the end though, all we can really do is speculate on the decision, hoping that the reasons become clear soon.

My fingers are crossed though, because I always preferred the BBC coverage, primarily because the presenters always seemed so much more knowledgeable than the ITV crew (which seemed to be mostly made up from the cast-offs from other sporting programs, or F1 drivers who's careers had been less than impressive. At least the BBC had the late James Hunt on their time)

Lets just hope that this season is a good one and generates more interest in the sport and the drivers.

[AlexJ]

Also, the 'beeb' also had stated that they will also be able to transmit on radio, which may not sound like much, but imagine the fun you could have driving along the motorway listening to the F1 commentary (maybe this deal will be sponsored by GATSO).

BBC Radio 5Live have already being doing this for years.

[v85rawdeal]

Well, that just shows you how little I listen to the radio...

[Buleste]

Andrew MacKinlay a Labour MP has raised questions over the BBC showing F1. He said the licence fee should be spent on "real sports rather than the wealthy industry of Formula One". Yet i bet he was one of the first to raise objections over the loss of the Premiership on BBC when that happened and you don't get much more of an elitist wealthy worldwide industry than that. If you live in Thurrock, Essex then do not vote for this complete arse who makes comments like that when the amount of money in the deal hasn't even been mentioned and is part of a government that wants to sustematically dismantle the BBC and privatise it. Thats my rant over with.

[AlexJ]

Yeah, the real sport dig is a bit crap really. Richard Hammond on Top Gear proved that no Joe Public can just jump into these cars and drive them. At least in F1 20% of the grid is made up of British drivers, and all but a couple of the cars are put designed and put together in the UK. The same couldn't be said of the top football teams.