91Èȱ¬

Why didn't the race just start on 91Èȱ¬ Two? I was lucky enough to be able to record both, but it seems it would have been easier for everyone if the entire thing was played out on one channel.

Enjoyed the race Jake, but in the post race forum, you didn't mention McLaren at all, and you barely mentioned Ferrari, despite those two teams being the main excitement of the race. It was a bit disappointing, but I understand you have time constraints.

Also - can we please have some continuity from race to race? It would have been nice to see the whole of Mark Webbers' pole position. Minor thing, but it would be great.


As I say I'm not here to whinge, I enjoyed the race and your coverage was good overall. Here's hoping for a drizzle of rain in China - it usually does :-)

Hi Jake,good blog,good racing.As always great to see you,D C and EJ.

Why is everyone moaning sooooo much about the channel change?! it's not like it's difficult to change channel, or if you're recording it's your own problem if you're too lazy to check the TV guide, or notice that the coverage is over and hour shorter on 91Èȱ¬1 than normal...

Hey, Jake. Nice one for answering "that" chocolate question...fair play to yer, sir! Did'nt think you'd chose that as one of the questions as it was a bit of tongue in cheekery on my part, but I can confirm that a Twix Slam is very delicious indeed. If you stumble upon any more cutting edge ways to consume a cup of tea, let me know....I'm a bit of a tea monster myself and always looking to push the envelope where that stuff is concerned :D

Once again sir, you are the man!

Cheers, Rig.

Hi Jake,

Brilliant show and blog as usual.

I have one criticism though, please could you stop waving your clipboard around during the show and even worse using it to jab at team principles. It's very distracting and I'm sure the people you are interviewing don't appreciate it much either.

I've always wondered why the English are known as being worldclass moaners! but as regular reader of bbc blogs i now know why.
people need to seriously get a grip on here!

Come on justin_f1 get over it!!! you may feel that but i personally like the direct movement and the commanding action!!!

I think Jake has move important things to remember than stupid criticism!! if it was a real problem his producer would have told him to stop it, that is one of the main jobs, make the viewing pleasurable!

Great show and blog as usual, Keep it Up!!!

Another great show Jake, well done to you and the team.

I know what you mean about getting fit. I went to Monza last year and I was exhausted from walking around in the blistering sun and that was mid September in Italy, I imagine Kuala Lumpur was much worse. It had me thinking I need to get fit and lose some weight so I won't be as exhausted this time.

We should make a pact or something :)

Great blog again Jake!

I like to thank for your apologies about the switch, I ended up recording just 91Èȱ¬1, and missing the rest!, watched it on 91Èȱ¬ iplayer in the end!

Why didnt it just start on 91Èȱ¬2 then?

Great show as always, I appreciated the fact that someone got Eddie to change his shirt as the patches were rather distracting. Any chance that we will get to see the piece you did with Martin Whitmarsh that you promised us post qualifying? (and before anyone whinges this ain't a complaint, just an unforeseeable overrun in qualifying)

As always a fascinating Red Button, but is there any chance you could give us a little piece on the forum updating us on how the new teams performed, they often seem to get left out of the mix when it comes to what they actually achieved. I loved your interviews with Kovi and Trulli post race, and must admit I agreed with the general consensus that Kovi seems the far more motivated and interested of the pair.

I can't believe that people are actually moaning about the switch over to 91Èȱ¬2, and even worse how you managed to miss any action. How hard is it to change a channel? Legard made it perfectly clear when he said 'Welcome 91Èȱ¬2 viewers' that then was the time to change channels!

Anyway on to positive comments, I now really enjoy the pre-quali/race shows (and The Forum). It actually looks at F1 on a whole rather than just being The Lewis Hamilton show which was the xenophobic road ITV went down and made viewing unbearable.

It obviously gives more time to the front running teams as this is the general focal point of interest, but I am glad to see you talk to teams like Lotus as well.

Also for me EJ is worth every penny he gets paid as a pundit, his banter, sometimes clear frustration at 'stupid' team decisions and his love of the sport all add up to great entertainment.

Finally once again Jake, great show and a great blog.

Great blog Jake, good to see that you can get away with making jibes at EJ's shirt change mid qualy!

@ Justin_f1....really? the clipboard bugs you?...haha...I think if anything it gives Jake a bit more command and respect, he's getting more direct questions across to the principles than Messrs Rosenthal & Ryder ever got across.

Good blog Jake...surely everyone needs to get someone to spell check theis before posting onboard the plane?...Martins was also a little rough around the edges. I know I'm opening myself for serious SPAG criticisms now :P

Hi Jake, Excellent shows once again and Saturdays qualifying session was one the best ever. Shame about EJ's shirt - I felt for him during Saturday as the show went on his shirt got sweater and sweater! But it was also funny. As for the race, again not a bad race overall - it slacked off just past half way but Hamilton performance once again was awesome. Also the top 7 drivers are all so very close now - its hard to say who will be 2010 Champion. Roll on China.

Why so many moans about the channel change? Is it that hard to change the channel? I really don't understand. Jake even gave a reminder on Twitter to change the channel and there was a 5 minute overlap. What more could you ask for!!

I can only assume it is the work of pro-active atheists who are trying to influence the 91Èȱ¬'s commitment to show its fair share of religious output on 91Èȱ¬ One.

Anyway - I missed the forum so will catch that on iPlayer this evening.

P.S: I didn't realise the scripts and on-air bits were learned, always assumed it was an autocue. My respect and admiration for Jake has gone through the roof. Keep up the good work and thank you for all your pictures and tweets!

I was narked about the channel change, we were watching the GP on time lapse because of my mate being to lazy to get breakfast on the go in time. However a little bit of cleverness and preparation stopped it being any real hassle, I just would rather that the 91Èȱ¬ had shown the whole race on the same channel, I don't care if its 91Èȱ¬1 or 91Èȱ¬2.....

great blog as usual!

i'm looking forward to the european races - i refuse to get up early so yesterday although i woke at 6am and 7am and 8am and then 9am, i didnt get up until the race and forum were well and truly over so watched the rerun on bbc2 in the afternoon (the only downside is that i miss the post-race forum, and its not the same on the iplayer)

It would seem that Martin and yourself couldn't sleep on the plane back and we are the beneficiaries, with loads of analysis and back room gossip to enjoy today :D

I'm enjoying the images of Zebedee Eddie and Ted desperately trying to stay out of camera as you pull his mike across to Martin. And the bit in the Forum, when Eddie went off to catch his plane, had me howling with laughter. Meanwhile you could see that you guys were really enjoying yourselves which adds to our enjoyment, I think.

I enjoyed the coverage and the race, this weekend. One thing that still worries me, however, is the new points system. It's tight at the top, at the moment, because three different drivers have won the first three races. You guys tried to do a quick comparison to last year's points system to see if there was any difference and were quite chilled about the whole thing but surely one driver winning a series of races from now on could bring an end to the championship even quicker than how it nearly panned out last year? Particularly if the rest of the points get spread around a bit. I mean, Vettel could so easily be on 75 points by now with the nearest a rival could be, being 54. OK, he's not but, with all this overtaking trouble, it seems a very likely scenario to me.

Thinking about this, I was wondering if an answer to the overtaking dilemma might be to have a points system that also rewards overtaking! Just imagine, the fastest cars would deliberately want to start at the back instead of trying to put the car on poll! The rush to find ways to get past the dirty air would be even more desperate. Cars lower down the pack would be fighting all through the race. I know this wouldn't be a particularly fair system but it would be entertaining. It would need some sort of caveat that an overtake needs to hold for one lap to count (otherwise it would get all thorny over what was a successful overtake and what wasn't!!) and it would need a bit of programming added into the race stats computer. So, who wants to do a calculation of the first three races so far and see what impact such a system would have had on this year's championship race?

Finally, thanks for the insight into your job. As I said before, you make it look too easy. I hope my post in your previous blog, mentioning a possible stuff up on air, didn't pre-empt your sound gremlins this weekend. But hey, it was only on the Forum and you all covered rather well :D

10 days to doing it all over again, hey?!
xJess

I'm glad the rain held off in Malaysia this year. Nothing worse than a downpour halting the racing, being left with an incomplete race and only half points allocated.

The big McLaren and Ferrari made huge error in qualifying. I was glad that EJ gave Martin Whitmarsh a bit of a dressing down on that score.

justin_F1 I hadn't noticed the clipboard waving but now you have drawn my attention to it. I hope you haven't turned it into the thing you are told not to look at but because you have been told not to look at it you look at it and all you can do is look at it.... that would upset me :D

i think the reason why people are moaning about the channel change is because not all of UK have 91Èȱ¬2 and still need to sort out freeview/cable/satellite due to the digital switch over. i don't get 91Èȱ¬2 on my normal tv but as i have sky, i am ok. i do agree with most on the fact that all of it should have been on just the one channel etc.

that my moan-ish out the way.

what a superb weekend for the 91Èȱ¬ team, loved every moment of, and the racing side, well what a weekend that was seeing top teams going from back of grid to near the front. nothing can be taken away from Red Bull, they had a great weekend.

by the way, can we have a picy of EJ wearing the FI helmet, hehehehehe

roll on China, woohoo

Jake, great blog once again and thanks for the explanation of the channel change: it was an annoying feature and without a caption on-screen advising a change of channel I was surprised when the 91Èȱ¬ One feed suddenly stopped. An on-screen caption would have been nice, but no harm done in the end. I enjoyed the race, and indeed the coverage, and will be up bright and early again for China!

Keep up the good work.

Great to see Vettel record a win.

I was worried that the final story of the season would be that Alonso ended up with no real competition, due to the reliability problems at Red Bull.

Hopefully this means a decent contest right up till Yas Marina...

Hope you enjoyed your scones! Best F1 anchor on UK screens for years. Keep up the good work Jake!

Hey Jake. I was certainly a really good weekend for F1. However, I do worry that if the Red Bulls now maintain reliability this championship is going to be a one-horse race all the way. Just why are the Red Bulls so much faster than anything else. Do you think that, if Webber had defended more at the 1st corner on lap 1 and if his pit stop had been perfect, he could have won? Or is Vettel too fast even for him?

It was also interesting to hear EJ and Martin debating Nico Rosberg on the forum. I agree that in this race he pretty much cruised around and that he (and Massa further back) seriously lack the aggression at times that drivers such as Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel have. I get the impression that maybe Rosberg is a bit too laid back and, like EJ said, perhaps lacks a bit of hunger?

Finally, I agree with others on the channel change issue. Like others have said, the whole thing should have been put on one channel. Thanks for letting us know the reasons behind that decision. It seems really strange to me that some people might just sit at home watching whatever 91Èȱ¬1 broadcasts. If some people in the UK don't have 91Èȱ¬2 it has to be a really small minority surely?

Ooh, one more thing. Maybe I am just not that observant and missed an explanation at some point in the past, but who are those annoying people who seem joined at the hip to the drivers whenever they are talking to the media? Button always has a woman with long dark hair listening intently to every word he says while also recording on a dictaphone. Are they there to ensure they stick to the 'corporate message' as it were and don't say anything naughty? Or are they there to ensure the drivers are not asked any awkward question?

Anyway, keep up the good work. Hope you enjoy those scones.

thats a good question raised by Alex, and I think know the perfect person to find out the answer... Martin Brundle, maybe with DC tagging along to provide further embarrassing questions and observations (the double team the did on The Hulk at OZ was inspired).

Hi Jake,

Excellent coverage and blog again this weekend, I managed to catch the forum for the first time this season and I wasn't disappointed.
I'm always amazed at the interviews you manage to get throughout the weekend and you always seem to have much more access to garages than I would have expected.

Keep up the good work.

interesting blog Jake its great to get an insight into what happens off air and all the preporation needed for when you go on air.
the race this weekend was awesome seeing the big boys mess up like EJ said and then to see them fight there way up through the field. Kudos to the other drivers that made the weekend very interesting and exciting to watch.
this is the first time i have read one of these blogs and its not going to be the last :) thankz Jake and to everyone for making this weekend unforgetable.
Good luck for getting healthier and i might just join you in your plea

Jake, yet again a fantastic blog and it is great to know what goes on 'behind the scenes' at a grand prix weekend. I think you have the best job on earth!!

Why did nobody give Nico Rosberg a chance pre-season against Schumi? He is an awesome driver who has consistently outperformed his team-mates. A class act and future WC.

Great show and blog as ever Jake, thanks for your reply to the switch over issue. Will be interesting if the 'people in the know' can make the electronic programme guides work if it's needed again.

China here we come - can't wait!

Amanda
PS Hope enjoyed all of Harriet's scones

My ex-wife used to work in programme planning at the Beeb and she could never explain the decisions about what was shown in which channel even then ! Great coverage - Martin's grid walk is a big highlight - perhaps could work on making a bit more of it like when David or Zebedee (sorry Eddie but that's going to stick!) were with him !

Hello jake....how comes nobody (especially martin brundle) had no bad comments for alonso, hamilton, button, etc after sepang quali, but they always have to put a negative on schumacher...i mean they have been racing for years now and they still stupidly messed up quali....when schumacher gets back on form and mercedes get back on form everybody is going to jump on schumachers fan wagon and pretend they have always backed him.....we will not forget the various posts like, 'does schumey still have it'...schmacher in poor form....schmacher stuggling!!! lol its quite funny how the bbc f1 team put negativity remarks on schmacher....i mean the guy us back for fun....not to hear all this rubbish about hes not good....when schumacher was dominating every race and every year...all of you named f1 BORING....but if alonso or hamilton win back to back or consistantly...IT IS WONDERFUL...really immature of f1...i mean the guys done more for F1 then all of the drivers put together...

Hey Jake,

I'm not going to complain about the channel switch...as you mentioned...you guys did pre-advise all of the change & all it took for us is to press one button on the remote. Yet another mountain made out of a molehill!

My note is about your discussions....

1) The 91Èȱ¬ F1 Team seems to show alot of favouritism to Jenson. We all know DC is best mates with Jenson so especially post race Melbourne...it looked as if you, DC & Jenson came across very smug & sniggering at Lewis' shortcomings (ie radio rant etc). The team constantly brought up & kind of made fun of Lewis' run in with the cops....& then DC kept bringing up about Lewis 'sacking' his father, throughout the weekend.

2)Another very dissapointing point is the constant Schumacher-bashing. I wouldve thought that the professionals you guys are would understand that it is normal for anyone to be a bit off form when coming out of retirement ...but Im flabergasted that you all seem to think that after 3 years out (during which so much has changed) with no testing & a totally new car in a new team..that Michael would be expected to perform just like he did in his championship days from the go! I was excited to hear of his comeback as hes a legend & it was fantastic for F1 but no way did I have that high expectation for him straight away....I still say even now that he probably wont be his best until maybe mid to late season (maybe even later considering the current testing ban). As we know, one of his major advantages is to develop a team/car over time. He was known as one of the most commited guys in an F1 team so I cant help but to feel that thats what hes still focussing on now...not to start winning from race 1 - no one can be that unrealistic. Also....I'm sure if DC was asked now if he would expect himself to be on full form if he came back to F1 next season....his view would be more realistic. Im sure if anyone would understand it would be DC as a former driver but he doesnt come across like that. We all know that there are many who've never liked Michael, so I guess its not strange to see & hear so many to have an unrealistic & premature excuse to talk him down now. DC seems to be as critical of michael as eddie but when talking about Button in McLaren...DC immediately excuses Jenson as hes in a new team & a new car & needs time to settle - surely its not one rule for one and another rule for others is it?. I give Mr Brundle credit as he himself said that for Michael it will take time yet to settle. I know with Michael theres an extra air of expectation as hes a 7 times WC. Unfortunately this legendary status makes the media think hes a superhuman robot...but he is human like us all. At the moment everyone is questioning whether he will stick around. Anyone who knows Michael (whether you like him or not) knows that hes always in it for the long haul to help develop the car/team to be a winner so I know he will commit..but I do think that if he does leave at the end of the season..it will be due to the un-necessary pressure & witchhunt by the press...if that happens that will be a very sad & shameful day for all in F1. I hope the media can be realistic & give him a break. The press have a history of pantomine & fondness of creating hate figures to throw stones at, so i cant help to think that the media are now trying to force him out. Your interview with michael, as informed as it was...however seemed very uncomfortable to watch & resembled probably the discussion that Lewis may have had with the Aussie cop in the car. At least Martin can remain realistic by saying that Michael is not yet at full form & it will take some time.

Apart from that the overall coverage from the you guys is great.
All the best!

p.s...sarah holt's last negative blog regarding schumacher was shot down by the readers....it was very clear that the media or the bbx f1 team is trying to destroy, or less harsher, hurt schumey's name just because they have new favourites like hamilton and recently new champ button.....to be honest, i dont think anyone and i mean ANYONE can even garantee button will even win another world championship...he had a lucky year in 2009 and now hes excellent lol...i mean hamilton hasnt been close since 08 either. theres just too many talented drivers, but not any incredible drivers like schumacher...prob the closest is alonso, who seems to be a very classy driver, but then even he lacks motivation sometimes. which is evident when things are bad for him.....do u remember 2004? u mite as well of said schumacher has destroyed f1 because of his dominance.....now alonso is in a ferrari....he wodnt mind winning every race and every year.

i think f1 is losing its authenticity.

To Alex (comment 25)

Those people with the drivers during the driver interviews are the PR reps in the team. They are there recording all statements by the drivers to the media as they need to know what was said.

Jake, that is the identikit answer that Andrew Benson gave yesterday. Literally word for word.

Thats pretty funny. But the switch over wasn't exactly a big deal.

@ supasix-1, comment 33.....great to see someone down to earth and unbiast commenting on these ridiculous blogs....

it is a schumacher witch hunt lol....i tottaly agree with the DC comment...i dont think DC would even finish a race if he came back.

infact regarding my last comment...i will put on money on it that button will not win another world championship....and im not kidding...
anyone can challenge me on this,,,,

i bet u no one will lol...because for button to win another wc, he has to beat vettel, alonso, massa, roseberg, schumacher, hamilton, webber...lol inface its impossible

Jake,

Good blog - as always. Quick question. Is there any chance you can have a word with DC about his choice of footwear? Every race weekend he is always very well turned out, but this is slightly tarnished by he decision to wear trainers.

As a fan of DC, I feel it my duty to inform him of this oversight - so if you could pass on this comment, I think it would benefit everyone.

May I suggest some lofas, or suede shoes? I think these would improve the overall look. Hope DC doesn't take this personally, let him know of the great choice with the light colored shirts this weekend.

Let me know if he needs any tips on shoes, loving coverage this season, keep it up..

Tolly

hi jake ,

great job again on sunday,
i wrote a few weeks ago saying that f1 needs to change as its not exciting enough, i still think its boring.
if it wasn't for rain the last two grand prix it would of been the same boring stuff we saw in the first race, and if it wasn't for lewis hamilton overtaking in malaysian grand prix then it would of been dull again. when red bull get their cars sorted which looks as if they have then they are going to walk away with it , vettel is the man who is going to end up number 1.

Cracking coverage over the whole race weekend Jake. Really good to see its nice and informal...the whole team obviously get on well, and it makes it fantastic to watch.

Take the comments on here with a pinch of salt though...it seems many of the british public can be very critical (One week they complain you're doing too much on McLaren/Ferrari, next they complain you're not doing enough. And people complaining you didnt look at the new teams, when you were sitting in Lotus F1 and had a lengthy interview with Tony and Mike)

Keep up the good work

For what it's worth I really enjoyed the coverage this weekend. Even managed to get the parentals to watch the GP including the forum which eliminated the need to help cook the lunch during the race. Thanks for getting Eddie to change his shirt on Saturday BTW.

Am looking forward to Shanghai. If it rains we're in for a good show. Glad to see the drivers back on the grid for Martin's grid walk. I'm assuming they have sorted out the pass tiff?

Thanks for the explanation about the channel change although if people struggled with the whole change thing there are other issues that need to be dealt with ;-) It was well publicised read the TV listings people!

Hope the scones were nice.

x

Hi Jake.
I love reading your blog and tweets. You and the 91Èȱ¬ team should be very proud of the coverage you are giving us fans. The knowledge, understanding and humour with which you present your broadcasts is fantastic and my only hope is that we never go back to the dark days of ITV (shudder).
Youve come alongway since the BAFTA quality gamong shows that you used to jump around on, on rapture tv, almost brings a tear to the eye...almost.

The reason people are complaining about the channel change is that not everyone can watch live - some people have work or family commitments. It's not something you'd necessarily think to check when setting it up to record (at least I didn't) because normally a programme finishes on the same channel on which it starts!

However, the 91Èȱ¬ schedulers do this all the time with some sports (Wimbledon matches spring to mind) and it is always infuriating. It suggests that the 91Èȱ¬ doesn't take sport as seriously as broadcasters with dedicated sport channels, and instead always tries to fit it in around the other things it does.

However I appreciate Jake acknowledging the comments and taking the time to reply - so thanks for that, and let's move on and look forward to the next race and not forget that the 91Èȱ¬'s F1 coverage is by far the best the sport has ever had in this country (and probably anywhere else).

As always, very intresting blog. Really enjoyed the show.

Stop moaning about your fitness - you look very slim on camera and you werent creating a flood hazard, unlike EJ !

Since F1 went back to the 91Èȱ¬, I have been much more intrested in it, and quality of the coverage you provide is a influencial factor in that.

Look forward to China!

Hey Jake,
A great show with the crew on Sunday, just wanted to ask if you can put EJ's idea of an overtake button to Burnie or the FIA, but with a little twist before the next race?
When you were chatting about bringing back KERS, EJ's idea of a cheap quick fix struck me as a cracking idea. David mentioned a 1000rpm raise to the 18k rev limit would be fine with the common ECU used by all cars, but I (nor many other viewers) have no idea how much extra BHP an F1 engine produces with that 1000rpm raise!!
Hows about we let the driver decide, with a max limit of 3000rpm if he wants it available! If its a car he can nearly pass, then 1000rpm or 2000 is enough, but if its much harder, he can use the full 3000rpm to get past (but at risk of blowing his engine up early etc). If he uses it too much, then his engine wont last the races it needs to, so driver beware!
What do you think? Can you put that to Burnie, or get DC or Martin to do a feature on the engines & how much an extra 1000rpm effects its output?

John from Belfast

ps: whats the email address to the forum as I wanted to put this to you guys on Sunday?
pps: DC in Belfast with the Redbull crew just before the Oz GP was cracking to watch! Give him a slap on the back for us all here in Belfast!

Jake,
just like to say the you have come on in leaps and bounds since last year. The whole coverage by the 91Èȱ¬ is such a step forward from ITV and the interaction between EJ [Zebedee], DC and yourself is great.
In terms of coverage of teams there needs to be a little more balance because little was mentioned about Williams, STR, Sauber this weekend - need to try and get reviews of each team each weekend.
Now you have scoffed the scones - when's the diet starting? Can you not get one of the teams trainers to set it up and monitor your progess as part of an article on driver fitness this year?
Anyway enjoy the cold here before getting back to Shanghai in 10 days.

Hi Jake,

Just wanted to let you know how fantastic it is to read your blog's, very informative and interesting, also congratulations with the coverage that you and everyone else involved at the bbc does with F1, it truly is great and a million times better than what we used to get on ITV!

1 thing i'd like to ask you is, what do you do job wise in between each race, do you have other work on? Also EJ's shirts are awesome but your's are always so plain and boring, why don't you try and spice them up a bit!

Keep up the good work.

Hey Jake,

Another fantastic weekend of coverage on the 91Èȱ¬.

Determined not to get dragged in to any bias arguments this week. I think some of the people here need to go watch F1 TV coverage in another country. I spent most of last season watching SpeedTV and cannot describe my joy at the depth and involvement of the 91Èȱ¬ coverage. We get extended red-button coverage post-race, we get blogs from our presenters, we get to watch bits we missed on-line, we get to listen to more than one commentary stream and all people here can do is whinge that you don't talk about their favourite driver for two hours.

Whatever. I know from experience that we in the UK are very, VERY fortunate with our F1 coverage and I for one am thankful to the 91Èȱ¬ for making it so. Keep up the awesome work.

Suz. x

The church service should have been on 91Èȱ¬2, which is the minority channel. 91Èȱ¬1 is for programmes with a majority interest.

As for the channel change I was under the impression that the whole race was going to be on 91Èȱ¬2 due to a comment made on Something for the Weekend the previous Sunday but had the foresight to check the listings in advance. It's not really that difficult is it?

Another great weekend's coverage and another fascinating blog. Thanks Jake and the team! Maximum respect having read the above. Live, no autocue, at the mercy of unpredictable events, not to mention coping with the Tsunami that Zebedee was producing this weekend. I wouldn't last five minutes before I just lapsed into blind panic.

Given the fact the Hamilton is currently managerless, and the speculation as to who he might appoint, perhaps Martin could do a short feature on exactly what a manager does for a driver, how important they are, and the relationship between driver and manager. Perhaps he and DC could make it a joint feature, as I believe he was- (is?) DC's manager for a while.

Enjoy your short time back home- roll on Shanghai!!

P.S. If you need anybody to carry the luggage, I'm available!

Great blog as always Jake.
Happy to hear you completed a lap of Sepang, are you planning to do a lap of every circuit this year?
Would just like to mention that watching EJ being completely baffled during qualifying was fantastic! But he was absolutely right. McLaren and Ferrari really should have enough experience to avoid such a mistake but they are just too clever and complicated for their own good. They forget about the basics.
I was disappointed it didn’t rain at the end of the race, it would have really spiced things up! However it is refreshing to see an exciting race with plenty of overtaking without the aid of the weather!
Here’s looking forward to China!

Cracking Blog Jake! Follow it every single time, really enjoyed the fantastic coverage again even tho I was in Braintree with my nan (being rather ill!)

Still managed to watch the qualfying on iplayer, race live and red button forum on iplayer again!

Well done and safe trip to China!

Rich

Great blog again Jake.
I didn't have a problem with the channel change, far less inconvenient than in the old days of ITV and ad breaks or before Bernie moved the race start times of the Australian and far eastern races and we had to get up at 3am to watch them.
Keep up the good work
:)

Here's a question for you, Jake (and others on the 91Èȱ¬ team).

Considering what part of the world you've just come home from, and considering that within 2 weeks you have to go all the way back out to china, would you prefer to have stayed in the eastern region and travel the relatively short(er) distance to china from there, or are the gruelling flights back home and then back out there worth it?

It's something I've often wondered about. I know that to stay out there might put a bit of a strain on family commitments, considering the time between Grand Prix sometimes being longer than a week, but I'd hate to have to go through all that plane time to come home, only to have to head back out that way less than 2 weeks later. Would love to hear your opinions, since you and others are the ones that actually have to the travelling.

Hi Jake

Great Blog as usual. Very Interesting.

Channel switch didn't bother me. I've always found looking at a program guide gives you a pretty good idea of what program is on what channel - Its not rocket science. So it was easy to set my recorder.

The 91Èȱ¬ team are keeping up last years very high standards, but I had to comment in particular on Eddie Jordan this year. He's even more hilarious than he was last year and its great to watch. I love the way he stumbles over his words and asks the most complex never ending questions (that sometimes don't even have a question at the end) and he was on top form this weekend, and was particularly funny as he was leaving the coverage on the F1 forum. The guy has loads of experience and his opinion is as valid as DC's or MB's (even though he'll always disagree), but he is a great asset to the 91Èȱ¬ team and livens up the coverage no end.

I didn't mean the above as if he is a liability or a joke, i genuinely think he is an entertaining guy and adds a different dynamic to the coverage. He's not a TV natural - and thats the point. (a very good point)

I agree completely about EJ, Swerve1!! I loved the way he laid into Martin Whitmarsh over their qualifying cock-up. No deference shown there. He's a real character and the 91Èȱ¬ coverage would me much poorer without him!!

On the subject of presenters, while it's great to see Mike Gascoyne back on the pit wall, and I wish Lotus every success, I hope that the 91Èȱ¬ snap him up if he ever becomes available. He's a natural in front of the cameras and would be a great addition to the team!

3 races and 3 winners, makes 09 look tedious doesn't it! i can't believe we're heading to china where anyone of 6 drivers could come out leading the championship.

sorry, make that 8!

3rd practise session on 91Èȱ¬ iPlayer please!!!!!!
We have everything else available on iPlayer, even Inside F1, but no 3rd practise session.
Go on, stick it on there. Not too much to ask... is it?

"Sorry again guys - as always the whole 91Èȱ¬ F1 team just want to provide the best possible coverage of the sport we all love."

Sorry Jake, no excuse for splitting coverage to 1 and 2. No prior warning on the listings and you have a defined race time. 2 hours!

To those who watched this live and had notice of the change I say good for you. But don't come up with comments like, "well too bad if you are too lazy to look at listings..." Some of us set this to record in advance for whatever reason, and had the 91Èȱ¬1 listing said F1 part 1, then I too would have recorded both channels, but it didn't and it didn't series link either. So why would you expect to have to search listings just in case the 91Èȱ¬ may decide to split any program? That is a silly argument. One could say that this happens with tennis, but match times are not defined. F1 is.

So a ruined experience on this occassion, but cutting off in mid broadcast did make us realise that 3 hours is a lot wasted time in front of the TV at the weekend.

It seems that 91Èȱ¬ schedulers don't think that viewers of religious programs are capable of reading listings either or being able to view TV listings, or indeed switching the TV to 91Èȱ¬2?

Come on 91Èȱ¬, use your common sense.

I am so glad that F1 is back with the bbc no breaks just racing from start to finnish.

There is much debate about making the racing more interesting!! Or to be more accurate that overtaking is made easier.
Here is an idea for your technical bods raise the ride hight by 6mm that would break the ground hugginging effect, possibly make the cars more unstable create greater tyre wear meaning more pit stops etc. Also might make it easier to overtake as the rear airflow (turbulence) would not be so great. All without a huge amount of expense.

Talking of expense in your post race metting on the red button with Mike Gascoyne he alluded to more major change for next year.

What are these?

If the FIA really want to reduce cost for F1 the why can't we have 2 or 3 years of stability in the technical regulations, in that way teams would be able to plan ahead for 2 to 3 seasons enabeling them to have planed cost reductions, and it might just be possible for new teams to enter knowing what lies ahead for the next few years cost wise.

Please keep up your excellent work. I do enjoy the bantter

Great show again Jake but I was slightly disappointed that you never mention the middle teams. Kubica, Petrov, Hulkenberg, Sutil, Buemi and Alguersuari all drove brilliant races and they didn't make a single highlight or get a mention in the F1 forum.

As a big Toro Rosso fan I was disappointed they got no coverage at all despite even Martin Brundle saying they provided us with the most entertainment.

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MadDex- The split coverage was clearly marked as such in the Radio Times, in the newspapers, on Ceefax, on the 91Èȱ¬ F1 Website, and in the online TV Guide that I occasionally use.

I'm sorry you failed to record the whole thing, and I appreciate that must be frustrating, but to say the split coverage wasn't trailed enough - well, I really can't agree.

And if you think three hours watching a Grand Prix at the weekend is "wasted time"- well, I'm surprised you're so bothered about this in the first place!! It's not a waste of time in my book!!

The biggest problem with the mid race switch was that 'series record' didn't function. I have 91Èȱ¬ F1 coverage on 'series record' on my plus box. It records all the qualy and races without me needing to do anything.

But for some reason it did not record the portion on 91Èȱ¬2. Why?

Luckily I was watching the race live, my recording being just a safety valve in casse I slept late.

I enjoyed the race on Sunday
but found Eddie Jordan very insulting when he had to talk
it was like seeing my 3 year old throwing her toys
especially when he called the MacLean team boss a Muppet.
Can't we find some else?

Must say last season's coverage was impressive but this year the Beeb is really on the ball, so congrats for that.

I'd like to say I found it refreshing not to concentrate on McClaren or Ferrari for once. To have the interview with the Lotus main men, showing how the lower echelons of the sport deal with the whole weekend, was much more interesting than the same lines like you see in every interview as the drivers move from camera to camera being asked pretty much the same questions every time. The Forum is a banker for me, guaranteed entertainment even if the race does turn out not to be the spectacle we all hope it will be!

I have just seen the silliest comments ever...Mercedes boss Mr Fry saying that they can build up on Nico's 3rd place finish. First: Nico and Schumi are realistically in 7th, 8th or even 9th considering the Force india's. The only reason why he was third was because of the decision Ferrari and Maclaren made in Qualifying...Not only Nico lost one place finishing 3rd from second on the grid..but admitted he was worried were Hamilton was. So they have to build from 8th or ninth not from 3rd because they are not there and it was pure luck..but I get he had to say it, he works for Mercedes.

ewewewew

This year - as last - there are to be grid penalties for excessive consumption of engines (inter alia) - I note Ferrari are currently high consumers!!! Can an update of this info be posted with the results and standings - it would seem to be relevant to the different teams standings for later in the season certainly, even if not currently dramatic news.....

Well, having spent the weekend on my mate's stag do around the streets, pubs, and clubs of London, I had to watch quali and the race recorded, so I used iplayer for the whole lot and recorded the onboard stream on my freeview pvr.
I love that even on a recorded event I can have multiple angles, and the additional position scroller really helped as did the picture in picture to help me sync them up

Even with it all recorded I felt it was still a complete experience. thanks for all the great efforts over the weekend that made it so (and thank **** I managed to avoid all results!!!)

To add my comments to Channel Gate, I used my generic satellite recorder to set the Grand Prix to record. Naively thought the Series Link would pick up the 2nd part. It didn't but no problem at all due to the excellent Red Button and Sports Multiscreen for highlights. Stop grumbling everyone!!

Thanks for the excellent coverage 91Èȱ¬ and particularly to Jake, EJ and DC for their fantastic build up work. EJ's sweat patches and interrogation of Martin Whitmarsh were particular highlights. I have been a Formula 1 fan for years, going to my first South African Grand Prix when I was a young lad. The return of Formula 1 to the 91Èȱ¬ and the whole package has re-ignited my love of the sport and I am really looking forward to this season.
Excellent blog Jake, keep up the good work!!

Hallo Jake!

That's not about last weekend. I've just wanted to ask something. Will you and your team consider coming to Bavaria Moscow City Racing this summer? Hope to meet you guys :)

best regards from Russia
Elena aka elidare

@ Supasix 33

I agree entirely with your comment. I have already complained about the commentary teams bias. Although I think Jake has taken our comments on board, I am generally disappointed with the performance of this commentary team. I don't mind commentators having a particular favourite driver, they are after all, motor sport fans too. But this tabloid style commentary is not welcome in F1.

I remember Murray Walker had a particular affection for Damon Hill and his commentary when Damon won the championship was a memorable, very moving piece of commentary. But I don't remember Murray ever deliberately trying to riddicule a driver. I will remember Murray for his infectious enthusiasm, impartiality and respect for all the drivers.

I think we are in a era where reporting in general seems to concentrate on sensationalising trivia. For the record, this is not what real fans are interested in. We want to see and hear drivers being applauded for their bravery, skill, decision making, meteronomic precision and so on. For anyone reading this, who thinks I'm just having a go for the sake of it, listen to the commentary of any premier league football match. The commentators at the ground always relay the kind of enthusiastic, impartial commentary which I think we have lost in F1.

The Hamilton incident in Austrialia is a case in point. The commentary team made such a meal of it, with the clear intention to humiliate. Not once did they mention, that when Jenson was around Lewis's age he was caught doing a 140 mph on a French motorway. I suppose that was just the excuberance of youth and not something that one needs to remember or dwell upon. Whereas Hamilton's incident was the result of pure stupidity! Now Michael Schumacher is getting 'the treatment'.

Another case in point, Vettel getting driver of the day ahead of Alonso and Hamilton. I really like Sebastian and he drove an excellent race, but I'm convinced Martin Brundle has his favourites and Vettel is very much one of them. In fact, not one of this current team seems to show the kind of professionalism we would expect from someone working for the 91Èȱ¬.

Anyway, lets hope the commentary is better in China, afterall we are stuck with these guys for at least the rest of the season. Here's hoping I have something more positive to write next time out.

Hi Jake, Love reading this blog. Just wanted you to know what big fans me and my new husband are of the 91Èȱ¬ F1. We got Married Saturday 3rd April and we both (inseperate houses of course) watched the qualifying while getting ready on the Saturday morning and set the alarm on the morning after our wedding to ensure the first full day as a married couple was spent watching the Grand Prix!

Keep up the good work Jake and the team! x

can you give us a chorus of on the ball city jake?????