2010 Formula 1 on the BBC

Live Formula 1 racing action returns to the BBC on 12 March when the 2010 season kicks off in Bahrain. Once again the BBC will bring every piece of the action both on and off the track with comprehensive coverage across TV, radio, online, red button and mobile.

2010 looks set to be one of the most exciting seasons yet with World Champions from the last two years – Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton – driving as team mates in McLaren and F1 legend Michael Schumacher returning to the track for Mercedes.

Plus, there are new teams, new rules and new venues to add into the mix.

The BBC TV presentation team returns with anchor Jake Humphrey joined by Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard as expert pundits.

Commentary comes courtesy of Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard with reporters Lee McKenzie and Ted Kravitz bringing all the interviews and action from the pits.

Plus the legendary F1 voice Murray Walker is once again part of the team with online blogs/reports at regular intervals during the season.

The BBC Radio 5 Live commentary team is led by David Croft alongside Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson, providing a driver’s perspective to events, and pit lane reporter Holly Samos with all the news and reaction as it happens.

The BBC’s Head of Formula 1 Ben Gallop says: “We’re delighted with the way 2009 went and we can’t wait for the 2010 season to start.

“The BBC Sport team will once again be bringing great coverage across all our platforms, meaning F1 fans can follow the action and interact wherever they are, whenever they want.

“We’re proud to offer our audiences the opportunity to follow the great stories and share all the excitement of this fantastic sport.”

TV Coverage
Live coverage of every qualifying session and all 19 races live on BBC One [1]:

• All races and qualifying sessions that finish before 10.00am to have full repeat on terrestrial TV later in the day
• One-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three

BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra
Live commentary of every race plus:

• Coverage of all the stories as they break plus big name interviews from the drivers, owners and personalities
• 5 Live Formula 1 on 5 Live Sport every Friday night prior to a race, previewing all the action with expert analysis and the latest news from the track
• Coverage of practice and qualifying sessions
• Chequered Flag podcast available to download at bbc.co.uk/5live with expert analysis and reaction from the circuit

BBC Radio 5 Live’s Formula 1 coverage is produced by USP Content.

You can listen to 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra via DAB digital radio, Digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/5live; 5 Live is also on 693 & 909 MW.

BBC Red Button
Live coverage of all on-track sessions including practice sessions plus the following options:

• Network feed with choice of commentary from 5 Live or TV for qualifying and Grands Prix
• In-car camera feed and leaderboard
• Rolling highlights
• Coverage of Friday and Saturday practice sessions
• Up to an hour of analysis on the red button immediately after all races with Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Martin Brundle. Viewers are invited to e-mail/text in, ask questions and interact

BBC Sport Website
Live video streaming of all on-track sessions, including:

• Network TV feed with choice of commentary from 5 Live or TV
• Option to choose a high-quality video stream
• In-car camera feed
• Rolling highlights
• Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Martin Brundle provide up to an hour of analysis available immediately after all races, with viewers invited to e-mail/text in, ask questions and interact

Editorial coverage to include:

• Latest leaderboard
• Full statistics from all on-track sessions
• Distinctive live text commentary
• News stories
• Martin Brundle, Mark Webber, Mark Hughes, Ted Kravitz and Lee McKenzie columns
• Blogs by Jonathan Legard, Jake Humphrey and journalists Andrew Benson and Sarah Holt
• Murray Walker regular post-race video summary and Q&A
• Interactive world venue map and circuit guides, including animated laps of tracks
• Driver and team profiles
• Chequered Flag podcast available to download at bbc.co.uk/5live
• The BBC has a five year deal to broadcast F1, which runs from 2009 to 2013 inclusive, and includes exclusive rights to TV, radio, full broadband and mobile.

Notes to Editors
[1] Please note: all broadcast details subject to change, including accommodation of the General Election.

Explain That One

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull talks with Lee McKenzie of the BBC after qualifying in Japan. It was a crazy session with red flags, yellow flags, two medical cars, plenty of marshals in action, and as of this moment, an uncertain grid. Vettel, though, he has pole position, and he’s keeping it.

Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Force India – Behind the scenes of a major TV feature

The Force India Formula One Team will be the star of a major new and revolutionary BBC Sport feature aired during Sunday’s coverage of the British Grand Prix this weekend (BBC1, from 12:10 GMT). Twenty-four Force India personnel will be seen performing several pit stops with Adrian Sutil’s British Grand Prix race car, but these stops have been transformed by the very latest in video and graphic technology to something never seen in F1 or sporting coverage before.

The Force India crew were filmed in Shepperton Studios, where the majority of the James Bond franchise films have been shot, using cutting-edge Time Slice cameras to show the most detailed and dramatic coverage of pit stops ever seen.

Time slicing, which is also known as ‘bullet time’, is a sophisticated, relatively new optical filming technique created by combining shots from multiple synchronized stills cameras with rolling footage from action ‘movie’ cameras. A single shot from each stills camera is then used per single frame of the moving image to create the illusion of an object frozen in time while the viewer seemingly moves round the object. This technique was first popularised on screen in the Matrix films and more recently martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

This technology is of course ideal for the high-speed pit stops, where wheel changes can be made in less than 3.5 seconds. Fifty six stills cameras were set on a five-metre arc with a movie camera at the far ellipses. Each stills camera was carefully linked so at the given time they were triggered in a linear sequence. Each tiny movement was beautifully captured and then arranged and displayed consecutively to give the impression of the viewer orbiting around the frozen in time action.

As viewers will see on Sunday, each component of the stop, from the car coming in to the stop, the lollipop going down and the gun men changing the wheels, has been captured and recreated to show the synchronisation of a stop as never seen before. Overlaid graphics and audio feed will also give a detailed insight into the unique choreography of a pit stop so viewers will see the refuellers from a viewpoint you’d never imagine, see the nose being changed and hear what key members of the crew think when the car is approaching.

Over 60 cameras, five cameraman, a team of graphic designers and over 200 man hours combined to make the feature. As such, it counts as one of the biggest projects undertaken by both the BBC and Force India so far this season and took a huge logistical effort from both. Impressively, however, the project came together in just over three weeks. Equipment was rushed back from the Turkish Grand Prix to be on set on Friday 12 June, the crew briefed and transported and one race car prepared – meaning the car build schedule was rejigged to take one whole day out of crucial British GP preparations.

With Istanbul over 3,000km from the team’s Silverstone base, the cars and freight would normally take a full five days to return by road, however with this feature in mind, the pit stop equipment, from the overhead gantries, air lines and wheel guns, jacks, tyres, to the earthing strips laid on the floor and fuel hoses and radios were expressly driven back to Silverstone and arrived just hours before the shoot started.

The necessary equipment was then loaded onto a 40ft articulated truck in the early hours of Friday morning and driven to Shepperton to arrive on set at 8am. The VJM02 seen in the shoot (Adrian Sutil’s race car for the British Grand Prix) did not travel to Turkey, but was largely prepared in the factory by HQ-based mechanics. Parts used in the Turkish Grand Prix were however needed to finish the build so a small team arrived at work to meet the returning trucks – an early wake up call of 4:30am!

The 24 crew, including two from McLaren, then arrived at the studios just after the truck to help with equipment set-up and preparation. Eight hours later, with time slice, slow motion and real time camera work completed, enough footage was gathered to edit this remarkable feature.

24-Feb-09: USF1 Officially Announced Via Speed TV

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Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 24th February 2009.

The USF1 team has officially been announced now, with founders Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson choosing Speed TV as their platform. The team say plans are on course for entry to F1 in 2010, and both Bernie and Max are on side. No specific details were released, but Windsor said: “We are two guys who can say we want to do an F1 team because we have the capital to do it, and to some extent the recession has helped us a little bit.” It certainly makes a nice change to hear that. Windsor also admitted that he had told Bernie about the project back in Brazil 2006, to which Bernie replied: “Great, get it done.” The big aim of the team is to promote American technology, drivers and the “competitive spirit.”

And finally, the BBC have revealed detailed plans for their UK F1 coverage, including plenty of TV, Red Button, online and mobile features. The most important thing, though, seems to be the return of The Chain as the theme tune.

That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

13-Jan-09: Toyota to Launch with Movie-Style Trailer

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This if F1 Minute for the 13th January 2009.

We saw a relatively subdued Ferrari launch yesterday, and now have more details about the upcoming Toyota launch. On Thursday, the team will unveil their new car online, and they’ve prepared a special website for the event. TF109-premiere.com features a countdown at the moment, but upon the launch, we’ll see a big-screen movie trailer, virtual tour of the car, plus videos from team members. Apparently the move to an online launch is more about cutting costs than allowing fans greater access, but it seems to be a win-win situation.

Elsewhere, Mark Webber has given another progress update in his BBC column, saying he won’t be using his leg as any excuse when we get to Melbourne, although he doesn’t think he’ll be disadvantaged anyway. Webber also admitted that Vettel may be his toughest teammate so far, but he’s looking forward to the challenge.

Finally, after yesterdays bad news for the ex-Honda team, Grandprix.com is reporting that Mercedes are likely to step up to supply engines.

That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Quotes Roundup – Week Ending 11th Jan

The very best from the mouths of those in the know.

Autosport International

Paddock faces and fans alike gather in Birmingham…

• “If there is a desire for people to still be involved with the fan club, then Alan will keep it going and I might have a bit more time now to spend time with it. But it’s inevitable that whilst you’re racing you have a certain level of support, and once you retire people naturally go onto the next driver.” David Coulthard
• “I don’t think you’re going to switch your TV on this year and know who is going to win each and every race, that’s for sure. It’s not back to the ‘Michael Schumacher dominates another grand prix’ season. Who is going to get the car right with the new aerodynamics, with the KERS system, who can make the new slick tyres work best…” Martin Brundle
• “First of all, most people go for the short sound bite – and ‘retirement’ is probably the word that would most cross peoples’ lips when they talk about it. For me, the concept of not being involved in McLaren is impossible. It is part of my life.” Ron Dennis

Donington Thoughts

With planning permission granted, it’s full steam ahead…

• “But I really do struggle to understand how the economics of Donington will work. They have had a 25% swing in the dollar and the contract will be a dollar-based contract. It has got a massive investment into infrastructure. I don’t understand how we are going to get in and out of the place, although I can tell you I will be in a helicopter!” Ron Dennis
• “They will see when buildings come out of the ground and cars come on the grid – if they want to sit at home and still not believe me then that is their prerogative, but the buildings will still come out of the ground and the cars will still be on the grid.” Simon Gillett
• “The proposed change here is at Donington racetrack, not East Midlands Airport, so Donington will need to find ways to satisfy airport safety requirements and to avoid any road congestion that their events may cause. We will remain open as an airport and intend to operate normally through any events in the local community.” Penny Coates, East Midlands Airport Managing Director

Ousted Drivers

Opportunities within Formula 1 are slim…

• “I am well aware that a second chance is often much harder to get than a first one, but I have something to offer that makes me confident that I can reach this goal. At 25, I have three years of F1 racing experience and I am now my third year of testing with a manufacturer F1 team. And the BMW Sauber F1 Team is really professional on all levels. They clearly see the benefit in a reserve driver actually going racing once in a while.” Christian Klien
• “There is a very slim chance that things can happen. The main thing is I am involved with the McLaren-Mercedes family and there are different options in there. We are just pushing on to see what we can get to drive, who knows what it will bring in 2009.” Paul di Resta
• “I think in terms of Formula One drives it is looking very, very slim at the moment. You should never give up, but I am a realist as well and I have learned that over the last year and the year before. Working with Super Aguri really put me in a good position for now, for these times , because it was always a kind of rocky road anyway.” Anthony Davidson

BBC World Service interview with Dr Vijay Mallya

I think it’s fair to say that last season you probably made more progress on the grid than any other team and and yet sadly you spent most of the time at the back of the grid. How would you look back on the season? Was is it successful as far as you are concerned?
It was very successful. I had hoped that we would do a bit better and maybe get lucky enough to score some points. We came pretty close to scoring some points and of course didn’t have the luck with the race. One of the events that sticks out in my mind all the time was when Adrian was running fourth in the Monaco Grand Prix and got hit from behind by Kimi, but that is motor racing. Yes we did progress, we did improve our times quite considerably. Spyker was way off the pace, but I think one really has to also appreciate that the 2008 season was hugely competitive and tenths of a second were separating four or five cars. You see the difference between the winner of the race and even the last car and the gap was less than a second and a half, so in that hugely competitive environment, I think we did pretty well.

Did it surprise you how competitive the 2008 season was?
When we started as Force India at the beginning of the season I had to say that we were quite pleased with the progress we made, we were midfield until we got to Europe and then suddenly it looked as if other people had progressed more than we had. We have had some midfield finishes, we didn’t finish the race on occasion, but all in all I think it was a great learning experience and sets us up properly for 2009.

How did you deal with that moment in Monaco?
It was an emotional shock when it actually happened and we were all glued to the television screens on the pit wall and the adrenaline was running very high. There were only about 10 laps to go and we were really hoping to score some points and then this event happened. Of course at the moment it was a big emotional shock, but when you look back it is motor racing after all.

Still friends with Kimi?!
Yes absolutely. It was not deliberate, those things do happen and we write it off as a racing incident and that we just didn’t have the luck of the race.

You’ve had your first season, and quite successful and also quite difficult, but you have made some difficult decisions towards the end of the season in terms of management changes and now the link-up with with McLaren Mercedes. How this would affect Force India for next season?
You know we did not have a seamless shift gearbox, we had to develop one in a hurry. It only came to us halfway through the season when we were designing a whole new car for 2009 in any case. I wanted a complete drivetrain and of course there was this KERS issue and there was no way we could develop it ourselves. I first asked my partners Ferrari whether they would help us by giving us the entire drivetrain, plus KERS. They were not able to, for various reasons, and certainly they were not able to give us a seamless shift gearbox until race 10 of next year. With their consent and knowledge we approached McLaren and Mercedes, who were happy to give us a complete package and so we went for McLaren Mercedes. In that environment we wanted to ensure that there wouldn’t be any clash of interest either on the engineering front or the management front. We knew that we had to take a lot of help from McLaren and so ultimately we made the management changes that we thought were appropriate. We brought on board Simon Roberts from McLaren Applied Technologies to function as the chief operating officer of Force India.

Force India as a team – how important is that to Indian sport in general, particularly with the Indian GP?
It is more than sport in general and the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix. It is to do with the young Indian who wants to follow Formula One and loves the glamour and the competitive spirit of the F1. In India cricket is a religion for everyone but you do have that class of upwardly mobile, aspirational young Indians who think that Formula 1 is for them and so the popularity of F1, especially after the Force India team came on the grid, is that the fan club is growing hugely and of course 2011 when we host our first race will be the big moment. By which time I think there will be millions and millions of Indians following Formula 1.

This is a passion to get Indian sport to the highest possible level, but what are the chances of us seeing a successful Indian driver?
Well, I was joking with my friends and I said that with 1.2 billion people there must be a Lewis Hamilton in there somewhere! We have taken it upon ourselves to launch a driver search and a young talent programme and it is clearly at least a five to six year programme but we launch from 2009 and hopefully we will find the driver we are looking for.

Expanding on F1, there is a sort of crisis at the moment, there is a serious credit crunch that is affecting the sport, how do you see this progressing?
Clearly one has to be concerned about what is happening in the world today. Honda’s withdrawal was not a shock to me as I could well imagine that on one hand with global sales and profits under pressure, the first thing that any independent board member would say is ‘what are you doing with a Formula 1 team?’ It’s unfortunate but true that we have to cut our costs and live in the real world and balance both income and expenditure. From the sponsor side as well, people are cutting down budgets, so it’s not going to be very easy to get anyone to write out large cheques for sponsorship either. Force India is in a good enough position, it’s a smaller team with a much smaller budget than the big boys and so it is probably relatively easier for us to manage under these circumstances.

So do you in effect agree with what Max Mosley is suggesting in terms of cost cutting, particularly in regard to the standard engine?
Absolutely, I support Max Mosley’s initiatives totally. This is long overdue in my view. As far as standard engines is concerned, I think the view is that there can be an FIA-sponsored standard engine, but other engine manufacturers could build engines to their own specifications. In any case the engine costs have come down already in 2009 and are slated to come down even more in 2010 and it is reaching the objective of Max Mosley’s cost cutting.

Some purists might say that this taking away some of the edge of Formula 1?
If you look at today, you know the engine doesn’t make a huge difference. They are all pretty good and almost equal. There are a couple that are probably better than the others, but it is not such a great performance differentiator.

In terms of F1 for next year, if the worst came to the worst it comes to a point where more teams pull out of F1, does it get to a point were F1 is no longer viable as a sport as the grid is much smaller and it’s not such a global attraction?
I don’t think that we will reach such a drastic or severe situation. I firmly believe that if another team drops out the grid will still be competitive and attractive and I don’t think that the interest in F1 will disappear. There’s obviously the potential of teams running three cars instead of two, which is not out of the realms of imagination. There are teams out there who want F1 to continue and be as successful as it has been before, but what we need to do is cut the coat to suit the cloth, and I that is why I welcome Max Mosley’s initiatives to make sure the costs of running a team in F1 and competing in the world championship are brought down considerably.

In terms of your own team, you are the smallest team on the grid I assume a lot of the finances come from yourself. Would there come a point that if results don’t improve you say enough is enough and pull the plug and say I have enjoyed F1, but I cannot afford it any longer?
It’s not that I write all the cheques to bridge the gap, my companies are sponsoring the team as well. We have an independent measurement of the exposure and the value of that exposure in relation to what we spend and I have to say that the results have been very encouraging, so even though we are not a front running team yet we have got value for money.

Do you put a time limit on when you want to be up the grid and then hopefully competing with Ferrari and McLaren for podiums?
I certainly hope to be up to a midfield in 2009 given all that we are doing and I would be disappointed if we are not, so that is a major step forward to begin with.

Let’s talk about the medal system. Is it a good idea?
I personally support the idea and I think it will be very exciting. There are some people who view that the championship could be decided half way through the season, but arguably it works the other way round. I think it’s a good format and I think the FOTA will debate it respond as appropriate to Bernie. I like the idea of bringing in more creativity and more excitement and bringing it in if it makes it more exciting for the spectators.

We can sense that you have a passion for Force India and have had quite a successful season with major changes. What is success in 12 months time?
If I had a few trophies in this room, that would be wonderful.

Is it possible?
We’ll – nothing is impossible.

24-Nov-08: Webber Recovering from Tasmania Accident

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This is F1 Minute and it’s the 24th November 2008.

You’ve probably heard by now, but Mark Webber suffered an unfortunate accident over the weekend during his charity challenge in Tasmania. Webber was on the cycling leg of the adventure challenge and was involved in a head on collision with a car. He escaped with a broken leg, although it did require surgery. He is well and according to Red Bull in good spirits. They say he will return to the UK as soon as possible, will miss out on a lot of winter testing, but they’re sure he’ll be back in time for the Australian Grand Prix.

Elsewhere, Dietrich Mateschitz has said he thinks Buemi is “very likely” to get a race seat at Toro Rosso for 2009 although we won’t know the official decision before the final December test.

And lastly, the BBC have confirmed their lineup for F1 coverage next year. Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard take over commentating duties with David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan as pundits. Lee McKenzie and Ted Kravitz cover the pit lane. I’d love to hear what you think of this lineup at F1Minute.com.

28-Jun-08: Hamilton and Hugo Boss Yacht Crew Involved in Crash

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It’s the 28^th June 2008, and this is F1 Minute.

A slow news day today, but even when F1 isn’t hitting the headlines, McLaren and Lewis Hamilton still are. This time he has been involved in a crash, not on track but on the water. Taking part in the Round the Island race which goes around the Isle of Wight, Hamilton was on board the boat of McLaren sponsor Hugo Boss. Before the yacht race even started, he and his fellow sailors had collided with another boat, but the damage was not extensive enough to stop them from competing. They went on to apparently win the race.

However, controversy isn’t limited to Formula 1, as a complaint from the team who were hit saw the Hugo Boss crew disqualified six hours after the race had been completed.

Elsewhere, Murray Walker is being given a star on the Walk of Fame at his home city of Birmingham. The star is in recognition of his achievements and his fame. The BBC article reporting this story ends with: “Other West Midlands celebrities to have been given a star on the Walk of Fame include rock stars Ozzie Osbourne and Noddy Holder and comedian Jasper Carrott.”

That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

20-Mar-08: BBC Secure F1 Rights From 2009

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Hi everyone, it’s the 20^th March and this is F1 Minute.

News that has made a lot of fans in the UK happy today, the BBC have secured the rights to broadcast F1 from 2009. The deal cuts short ITV’s current contract, and extends for five years including TV, radio, mobile and online deals. However, the move has been questioned by a Labour MP saying the sport is wealthy enough and doesn’t need BBC licence payer’s money.

In other contract news, Brazil track Interlagos has secured a deal to keep F1 until 2015. Supposedly organisers had to promise Bernie they would build a new pit complex and revamp the paddock and grandstands.

Part owner of Toro Rosso, Gerhard Berger, says he understands the decision to sell the team, but that he still wants to be involved, if possible. He says: “For me, it is not a question of making some money. My passion is racing. I want to stay in Formula One with the team.” He also said that Red Bull were his dream partner but he is supportive of the decision.

That’s all for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.

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