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The 2013 Formula 1 season is marked by complex race strategies and numerous tire changes during each Grand Prix. For that reason, it's about time that F1 enters the 21st century in terms of television coverage.
F1 TV recently took a step forward with the broadcast of races in high definition. That was good start.
However, F1 could learn a few things from the coverage of American motorsport, such as IndyCar, NASCAR, and even the American Le Mans Series where onboard cameras are bolted to the most uncommon places on the cars.
Unless you pay big money and have access to the “clean feed” of the FOM (Formula One Management), the standard video feed of the Grands Prix is well done, but lacks innovation.
However, what bothers me most is the serious lack of retransmission of radio conversations during the races. Why? Because with the complex race strategies, if that information as share then the viewers, fans, and journalists would have a better understanding of what's really going on.
Nowadays, radio conversations are taped, monitored and then broadcast if they are not too sensitive.
During the recent running of the Canadian Grand Prix, we would have liked to hear Kimi Raikkonen's engineer tell his driver: “Kimi, fuel consumption is far greater than predicted.” We would have understood why the Finn suddenly ran at a slower pace.
This audio clip was included in the race edit posted on the Formula 1 official web site. However, it was not transmitted live when it happened.
We would have also enjoyed Lewis Hamilton telling his team: “Please guys, let me drive.”
We must admit that American television is outstanding at telling us the entire story when the race unfolds.
By hearing all the radio conversations, we could easily appreciate what really goes on during the F1 races.
I fully understand that the producer cannot broadcast every single radio call that takes place between 11 teams and 22 drivers -- that's way too much. However, to focus on the top runners would make the TV broadcast a lot more entertaining.
The FIA recently requested that teams stop scrambling their radio messages so they could be broadcast. I here ask FOM to use them at their best and make us aware of the intricacies and dramas that make Grand Prix racing so exciting.
F1 TV recently took a step forward with the broadcast of races in high definition. That was good start.
However, F1 could learn a few things from the coverage of American motorsport, such as IndyCar, NASCAR, and even the American Le Mans Series where onboard cameras are bolted to the most uncommon places on the cars.
Unless you pay big money and have access to the “clean feed” of the FOM (Formula One Management), the standard video feed of the Grands Prix is well done, but lacks innovation.
However, what bothers me most is the serious lack of retransmission of radio conversations during the races. Why? Because with the complex race strategies, if that information as share then the viewers, fans, and journalists would have a better understanding of what's really going on.
Nowadays, radio conversations are taped, monitored and then broadcast if they are not too sensitive.
During the recent running of the Canadian Grand Prix, we would have liked to hear Kimi Raikkonen's engineer tell his driver: “Kimi, fuel consumption is far greater than predicted.” We would have understood why the Finn suddenly ran at a slower pace.
This audio clip was included in the race edit posted on the Formula 1 official web site. However, it was not transmitted live when it happened.
We would have also enjoyed Lewis Hamilton telling his team: “Please guys, let me drive.”
We must admit that American television is outstanding at telling us the entire story when the race unfolds.
By hearing all the radio conversations, we could easily appreciate what really goes on during the F1 races.
I fully understand that the producer cannot broadcast every single radio call that takes place between 11 teams and 22 drivers -- that's way too much. However, to focus on the top runners would make the TV broadcast a lot more entertaining.
The FIA recently requested that teams stop scrambling their radio messages so they could be broadcast. I here ask FOM to use them at their best and make us aware of the intricacies and dramas that make Grand Prix racing so exciting.
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| Photo: WRI2 |