The BBC has officially confirmed Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle as the lead commentators for its F1 coverage in 2009.
Brundle is not the only ex-ITV man joining the team as Ted Kravitz will reprise the role of pit lane commentator alongside Lee McKenzie.
Jake Humphrey will present the studio coverage alongside David Coulthard (who’s just become a father) and former F1 boss Eddie Jordan.
The line-up is exactly the same as that predicted by Pitpass in September, except for the addition of Kravitz. Murray Walker will also be involved in BBC’s online coverage.
I think BBC have made some excellent choices: retaining Brundle was a no-brainer, whatever the FIA had to say about it, and Legard’s proved himself a knowledgeable and enthusiastic F1 commentators in the past.
I’m glad to see Ted Kravitz return too. Lee McKenzie has more than enough motor racing experience (including a handful of rally appearances) to avoid accusations of being a token female presence.
Jake Humphrey is an unknown quantity to me but as far as I’m concerned the live action is the show and I’m not that bothered about the pre-amble. That said, in Coulthard and Jordan he’ll have two pundits who are never short of an opinion.
With that sorted, attention now turns to the technical side of the show. We already expect it all to be available in iPlayer but will we finally get HD coverage? And will we get live footage from all three practice sessions? Watch this space.
More about BBC’s F1 coverage in 2009
mattclinch
24th November 2008, 14:30
i am very happy with that. jake humphrey will come in for some stick, but i think he has the energy and youth exhuberance to pull the info and opinions out of coulthard and jordan.
nice work bbc.
Seedy001
24th November 2008, 14:44
Great news about Ted, as you said, Keith, keeping Brundle was a blindingly obvious choice but I thought Ted was rather unfairly over-looked by a lot of people when considering the Beeb’s candidates. He always does a great job and I found his online articles particularly informative, he also (along with Martin) didn’t noticeably suffer from Hamilton-mania: an essential ingrediant they’ll both share with DC I’m sure.
Alex Cooper
24th November 2008, 14:44
I agree with mattclinch.
In fact, if I was in charge of the BBC (apart from fearing for my job every half hour due to the likes of John Sergent, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand) this is the line-up that I’d choose as well.
Too Good
24th November 2008, 15:10
happy with the BBC team choice.. and happy for Ted Kravitz. Hope to see his Paddock Notebooks on BBC going forward !!!
Rob R.
24th November 2008, 16:39
Ted Kravitz is an astute chap, I’m pleasantly surprised by that addition. I hope they continue his written reports online.
cyanide
24th November 2008, 16:41
You lucky Brits! We people watching Star Sports have to make do with Steve Slater and whichever driver/knowledgeable commentator is free that weekend. Sometimes it’s someone nice like Karun Chandhok who can speak and knows the technicalities. Most of the other times though, especially when Alex Yoong is on the mike, the commentary is pretty bad.
The Pitstop - F1 Memorabilia
24th November 2008, 17:06
seems like a great line up
i’m glad they have Brundle and Coulthard on board for next year
Scott Joslin
24th November 2008, 17:31
Not a fan of Eddie Jordan….
I wouldn’t say the line up excites me, except Brundle, but I am sure it will be functional and do it’s job.
Robert McKay
24th November 2008, 17:57
I think the addition of Kravitz gives a good balance between new and original, alongside known quantities that the regulars will recognise.
I’m with Keith – not really bothered about Humphrey and presenting…tuned Rider/Blundell out last year because they had nothing to say. Hopefully the BBC will decrease the build up length but increase the quality of it.
Apparently the support races will be commentated on by other people, so there’s still an announcement on that to come.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th November 2008, 19:17
Cyanide – Sorry :-(
But you’ve got five months to hack iPlayer! Here’s what some people have posted so far.
ajokay
24th November 2008, 19:48
Woot! Nice one Ted! Glad to see he’s staying on.
Lady Snowcat
24th November 2008, 20:13
Glad about Jonathan Legard who was always a very sane and astute commentator on 5 Live….
Can Jake be worse than Steve Rider… that has to be impossible…
DC and Eddie are likely to have strong and informed views and may even come to blows….
Ted is good news … he has become pretty accomplished … and let’s hope Lee is a good call..
Martin is great…he even made Blundell look relatively knowledgeable at Fuji when we had a welcome release from the nauseating Steve, forever positioned outside the Macca garage ….
I am just praying that it doesn’t become the Lewis Show Mark II…
michael counsell
24th November 2008, 21:46
Lee Mackenzie is definitely a good idea after presenting pretty much everything else apart from F1. I would have liked to have seen them add an ex top designer or engineer to the line up, like Gary Anderson.
Senor Paz
24th November 2008, 23:21
Ted Kravitz, oh no!
guille2306
25th November 2008, 2:11
cyanide: I’m with you. Fox Sport (Latin America) is really bad. British viewers are lucky…
Journeyer
25th November 2008, 3:24
Wow. I remember the days when British viewers had all the bad luck, what with James Allen and commercials. Now, they seem to have bettered us all. :D
Good calls by the Beeb, especially on Martin and Ted.
Terry Fabulous
25th November 2008, 7:05
Ted is a winner, here’s hoping they steal his pitlane report as well!
Disappointed to hear that Eddie Irvine has a job. The man has no credibility in this sport and and wears his biases and grudges on his sleeve.
Keir
25th November 2008, 7:54
Good stuff! I’m pleased with that. Here’s hoping it’ll be good.
Sush
25th November 2008, 8:07
Martin brundle, and now Ted ?, awesome, I couldn’t be happier.
DG
25th November 2008, 8:38
Hmmm, Ted’s notebooks may be fine, but he had a nasty habit with ITV of trying to make the headlines and get teams to rubbish each other when there was no need.
I hope the Beeb will pay close attention to what he says and to whom.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
25th November 2008, 8:41
Terry – Eddie Jordan, not Irvine!
Chaz
25th November 2008, 10:28
I will miss Louise Goodman. The rest of the team sounds great especially that of retaining Brundle. Additionally I’m looking forward to hearing insights from Coulthard and Jordan. My only real major gripe is Murray Walker whom I despise intensely. I’d rather hear from James Allen than Murray Walker.
D Winn
25th November 2008, 11:13
DC has already stated that he will be attending every race in 2009 – so he will be in two places at once (studio and race).
I guess Red Bull really does give him wings !
stevepCambsUK
25th November 2008, 11:52
its abit early to congratulate the bbc but looks like theyre heading in the right direction, lets hope for gps live timings, rev counter etc and of course HD…..
Alex Cooper
25th November 2008, 16:59
stevepCambsUK, I believe that the GPS, live timings, rev counters, etc. are all Bernie’s graphics from FOCA. The BBC get the same basic feed that everyone else gets and they then lay their commentary on top (or, in the case of ITV, punch loads of ad breaks in it). The added value bits such as footage for their website, HD, etc. is what they negociate with Bernie.
The basic footage that we’ll get next year is most likely going to be what we’ve had the last few years.
Terry Fabulous
27th November 2008, 0:39
Doh! I am an idiot!
I meant to say Jordan not Irvine. :)
jules,australia
31st December 2008, 9:42
just found this site on google.never heard of jonathan leggard,what else has he done?brundle will be good again but what about james allen,he was o.k.the t.v coverage is poor to say the least for f1 in australia.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
31st December 2008, 10:28
Welcome Jules, hope you like the site!
Legard used to do F1 commentary on BBC Radio 5, he was good, he’s been doing football commentary since then. Some more info on him here:
BBC’s 2009 F1 team: Legard, Brundle, Coulthard, Humphrey and McKenzie