– We run down the latest news and our take on the US Grand Prix at Austin
– New driver announcements: Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hülkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Éric Vergne, Pedro de la Rosa, Charles Pic
– Listener feedback and holiday wishes
– Keep in touch with us in the off-season at http://f1show.com
Finally listened to the latest podcast today, as I had been saving it for a Christmas present to myself. As usual, laughed my ass off while listening, which may have prompted some weird looks, as I was on the ferry at the time! I particularly loved the “Transylvania” accent.
Thanks, as always
Lori
You two are completely right about Speed’s coverage being dumbed-down compared to the coverage elsewhere. They don’t seem to understand that F1 fans are not the kind of fans that watch other race series like Nascar. I watch F1 because it’s the most technical racing series on the planet, and when I watch coverage I don’t want to be treated like a child. I want to hear the technical details, I want to hear the arguments about the regulation changes, and I want to hear about the politics of the sport. If you ever get the chance to watch the BBC coverage, it’s amazing how much prior knowledge they take for granted in their audience. Martin Brundle can say that it looks like a car went off at Stavelot or Copse and he assumes his audience knows what he’s talking about. I don’t think that Speed is going to increase their audience share by making F1 more viewer-friendly or more accessible to fans of other series. They have to realize that F1 is a different product with a different type of fan.
Great to see you guys are remaining active in the post season. Really enjoyed the show throughout the year.
I too agree with the hand-holdie nature of Speed/FOX’s coverage when broadcasting for the local viewers. It really cheapens the experience a bit. We really don’t need to hear why tires are round or why the cars turn not only left, but also right. Just give us the same coverage as usual and those that would like to learn more will gravitate towards regular viewership. To continue the pre-k style of coverage will only work to their detriment. New viewers will soon begin to see that F1 race analysis is nothing more than repetitious, basic banter without any depth and turn away from viewing due to a newly gained false sense of the level of information dispersed throughout a particular broadcast.
On another note; what’s wrong with Valencia? It’s a beautiful long sweeping track and it looks great on TV. I hear this from other F1 podcasts as well, but I can’t see why you all share this viewpoint. I guess I’m alone on this one, but I definitely have a bit of a bias towards street courses. And the on-track action never seems to decline, in my opinion. But again, I do realize that I can watch a single F1, GT, DTM, or Le Mans car cycle around a track for miles and never be bored with it.
With regard to your comments on STR: Is it valuable to have an on track training program? Each team needs to be there to seriously compete, not be a student driver program getting in the way of teams actually looking to win. If STR truly is a Red Bull driver development program, shouldn’t that happen independent of any of the calendared Grands Prix? There has been much talk about the cluttered field and the lack of competitiveness from the back-packers. Why would the FIA allow a team to occupy space on the grid when their intention and motive is clearly not focused on promoting the increase in the level of technical competitiveness that will continue to propel F1 into the future as the premiere motor racing segment?
Keep the shows coming, looking forward to the next one.
DnathE46