Wow, what a brilliant race we've had this weekend! There were plenty of great performances from a whole host of drivers and teams which made for a really exciting race, though I'll admit Vettel was extremely lucky with that safety car. Well done to Button for a great win, hard luck Lewis, but I'm sure he'll bounce back. Onwards with #FanFormula!
Q1) Williams appear to have come back strong with a great battle between Maldonado and Alonso. But what did you make of the 'midfield' teams today battling against the like of Ferrari and Mercedes?
A: I thought it was absolutely brilliant. It was great to see Williams fighting for those points after such a torrid couple of seasons and I was genuinely gutted for Maldonado when he had his hefty shunt, despite some questionable moves earlier on in the race. Watching the 'midfield' teams mixing it up with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes was so exciting to watch; Sauber's tussles with the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg made up half the action that went on in the race, and it was so wonderful to see them have a really good go at getting some points. The battle between Alonso and Maldonado was gripping too, kudos to Fernando for managing to stave off Pastor in the end, as it was no mean feat with that extra DRS zone this year. All in all it was just such an exciting first race, helped a lot by Ferrari and Mercedes' performances seemingly becoming the opposite of their qualifying pace.
Q2) What do you make of the rule that lets back-markers unlap themselves under the safety car? Does it just prolong the safety car period, or is it fairer on those that would be out of place due to lapped cars?
A: Let me start by saying that knowing Hamilton would be pushing for Vettel, unhindered, after that safety car today was a quite a nerve-wracking thought! It certainly makes for a much more exciting spectacle for the fans, but for sure it prolongs the safety car period by quite a distance. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking 'just get on with it' by the fourth lap under it, but I think it'll be something we'll get used to eventually. Given more time, the positive of drivers being able to have clear runs at each other on the restart will outweigh the negative of waiting longer to see it happen.
Q3) If you watched via Sky what is your overall opinion of the new team and coverage? If you watched via BBC, how did you find watching the highlights show rather than live coverage? Did it lack the excitement knowing that the race was already over?
A: I watched both the Sky and BBC coverage as I'm still in two minds as to which provider I'm going to stick with this season.
Sky Sports F1
Sky need to be given some space for the first few races, as they're new to covering the sport and the team will need time to gel and properly understand how they'll work together. A lot of people have argued that Simon Lazenby seems to be a little 'wooden' and lacking some knowledge and charisma, but the guy is relatively new to Formula 1 and I imagine must have been quite nervous (it's shown, with him sometimes interrupting Martin Brundle and/or Damon Hill in full flow to get a word in), so I'll be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. Getting Ted Kravitz as part of the team has been a major coup, because the money Sky have to invest in technology has allowed him to really delve deep into the technical side of the sport; I've really enjoyed him explaining about the new innovations with the SkyPad, particularly Mercedes' rear-wing 'F-duct' and the different solutions teams have come up with in trying to cope with the double diffuser ban. In the commentary box David Croft and Martin Brundle seem to be a great pairing, you can tell they get on well and both have a raft of knowledge - Crofty made a few mistakes today but it was a pretty hectic race, and you can't deny that the guy has passion.
Having said all that, up to now I've been a little disappointed with build-up and post quali/race round-ups. This may just be because I have a short attention span, but 30 minutes build-up for practice and 90 minutes for the race seems much too long, so much so that at some points Simon seemed to struggle to think of what to bring up for Martin and Damon to discuss. Keep in mind that this is being written prior to the airing of the F1 magazine show, but I can't see what Georgie Thompson is bringing to the coverage up to now, apart from being something pretty to look at. When she's presented analysis on the SkyPad it's been clear that she doesn't really understand what Anthony Davidson is saying. Again, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but I'm sure she knows that she'll need to do her homework to keep up to speed. Overall I think Sky have made a very promising start and that given time, they'll improve even more.
BBC F1
Watching extended highlights will of course never be the same as watching a race live, but the BBC seem to have coped incredibly well with the budget cuts imposed on them. I wasn't too keen on the idea of Ben Edwards taking the lead comms helm but I take it back now - he may get a bit over-excited, but him and David Coulthard have already established a good rapport and were pretty much flawless during the race. Gary Anderson's technical input has also been a very interesting addition, while the camaraderie between Jake, DC and Eddie Jordan is still great to watch despite the shirt jokes being very old now. It's this in particular that gives the BBC a much more casual feel, which is perfect for them as the casual F1 fan is their target audience after all. It's not to everyone's taste, but they're doing a good job and I'll look forward to watching their live race coverage.
BONUS) What was your favourite moment of the weekend?
Vettel's pass on Rosberg in the first couple of laps was sublime, it was very brave of him to try that on the outside of a corner and it payed off beautifully. And who said he couldn't overtake?
Q3) If you watched via Sky what is your overall opinion of the new team and coverage? If you watched via BBC, how did you find watching the highlights show rather than live coverage? Did it lack the excitement knowing that the race was already over?
A: I watched both the Sky and BBC coverage as I'm still in two minds as to which provider I'm going to stick with this season.
Sky Sports F1
Sky need to be given some space for the first few races, as they're new to covering the sport and the team will need time to gel and properly understand how they'll work together. A lot of people have argued that Simon Lazenby seems to be a little 'wooden' and lacking some knowledge and charisma, but the guy is relatively new to Formula 1 and I imagine must have been quite nervous (it's shown, with him sometimes interrupting Martin Brundle and/or Damon Hill in full flow to get a word in), so I'll be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. Getting Ted Kravitz as part of the team has been a major coup, because the money Sky have to invest in technology has allowed him to really delve deep into the technical side of the sport; I've really enjoyed him explaining about the new innovations with the SkyPad, particularly Mercedes' rear-wing 'F-duct' and the different solutions teams have come up with in trying to cope with the double diffuser ban. In the commentary box David Croft and Martin Brundle seem to be a great pairing, you can tell they get on well and both have a raft of knowledge - Crofty made a few mistakes today but it was a pretty hectic race, and you can't deny that the guy has passion.
Having said all that, up to now I've been a little disappointed with build-up and post quali/race round-ups. This may just be because I have a short attention span, but 30 minutes build-up for practice and 90 minutes for the race seems much too long, so much so that at some points Simon seemed to struggle to think of what to bring up for Martin and Damon to discuss. Keep in mind that this is being written prior to the airing of the F1 magazine show, but I can't see what Georgie Thompson is bringing to the coverage up to now, apart from being something pretty to look at. When she's presented analysis on the SkyPad it's been clear that she doesn't really understand what Anthony Davidson is saying. Again, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, but I'm sure she knows that she'll need to do her homework to keep up to speed. Overall I think Sky have made a very promising start and that given time, they'll improve even more.
BBC F1
Watching extended highlights will of course never be the same as watching a race live, but the BBC seem to have coped incredibly well with the budget cuts imposed on them. I wasn't too keen on the idea of Ben Edwards taking the lead comms helm but I take it back now - he may get a bit over-excited, but him and David Coulthard have already established a good rapport and were pretty much flawless during the race. Gary Anderson's technical input has also been a very interesting addition, while the camaraderie between Jake, DC and Eddie Jordan is still great to watch despite the shirt jokes being very old now. It's this in particular that gives the BBC a much more casual feel, which is perfect for them as the casual F1 fan is their target audience after all. It's not to everyone's taste, but they're doing a good job and I'll look forward to watching their live race coverage.
BONUS) What was your favourite moment of the weekend?
Vettel's pass on Rosberg in the first couple of laps was sublime, it was very brave of him to try that on the outside of a corner and it payed off beautifully. And who said he couldn't overtake?
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