In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen explains how he customises his racing seat after posting a video of himself working on his Alfa Romeo seat.
What they say
I’ve done it for years and years. When I have a new seat always at first it feels different when you sit down. Once you do hundreds of laps you always try to do something, like it goes in the ribs.
I think it’s easier to do it myself because I know exactly where I want something so [it’s] exactly right. I’ve done it for years and years.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Thank you to everyone in the team for sticking together despite the difficult start to the season #WeAreWilliams pic.twitter.com/pgVm7L0nYq
— ROKiT WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) March 1, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Mexico GP negotiating with F1 after missing initial 2020 deadline (Crash)
"After the deadline to keep the date of the one that has been enjoyed by the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Mexico, we announce that the organisation of the event has lost the perennial right to keep that date within the 2020 championship, notwithstanding the negotiations with both F1 and the authorities of our country (which) continue with the best spirit of finding viable alternatives for the remainder of this competition in Mexico."
Buemi’s Formula E Future 'More or Less Decided' (E-racing365)
"Buemi is believed to have favourably considered an extension to his Nissan Edams deal for the 2019-20 season after a recent upturn in fortunes for the Japanese manufacturer."
Ranking the F1 teams heading to Melbourne (Motorsport magazine)
"Leclerc was giving the impression that there was time in hand (something that tallies with how the car looks on track) while Bottas was still talking of difficulties getting the balance right and historically the Mercedes tends not to find as much as others from the softest tyre."
Sky Sports F1 coverage by Sky Creative (The Drum)
"Alongside a start-of-season campaign, SCA has also overseen all the design elements around its coverage, including a brand-new title sequence, interactive touch screen broadcast podiums, a new F1 zone and interview platform."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
Is F1’s streaming service how we will all watch the sport in the future?
My concern with the OTT trend is that there is growing fragmentation, particularly in the movie/TV space, and that is likely to be replicated in the sporting space.
We’ve already seen how Marvel properties are moving off Netflix, since Disney wants to launch their own streaming channel. Likewise, I’m concerned that access to things like F1 might go that way.
Today, I can stream a variety of sports (football, cricket, etc…) via a single and cheap Hotstar subscription, but I fear that this might go the Marvel route, with Liberty electing to keep F1 behind their own paywall sometime in the future. And if it comes to that, I am likely to heavily question the need for me to add on yet another subscription to my already burgeoning list of digital media subscriptions.
@Phylyp
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Exediron (@exediron)
3rd March 2019, 0:41
COTD has a good point. Digital subscriptions are supposed to give us ‘freedom’ from cable networks, but if we need a different – potentially costly, certainly annoying – subscription for every little thing…
I think I’d take the cable network over that, to be honest.
theRealMax (@millionus)
3rd March 2019, 7:54
Totally agree with COTD. The same thing is happening over many different things. A smaller example being something like discount restaurant cards. First someone had a great idea to have a card which worked across loads of restaurants. Then 1 by 1 the restaurants understood there was money to be made, so they start doing their own and controlling it. Next thing you know you need 5, 6, 10 different cards, especially if you like variety in your life. If you don’t like variety I guess you’re OK.
Is the one thing that annoys me with the digital world is that it’s getting so fragmented… You’d have thought it should be going the other way.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
3rd March 2019, 9:14
I sgree with COTD, however I’m way behind the curve!
I literally just took the plunge and paid the £10 a month extra on my basic Sky TV and broadband subscription to get the F1 channel for the first time.
I could deal with the previous 50/50 Ch4 / Sky arrangement, and was ready to be stubborn and just watch highlights, but since Sky announced that they now have the IndyCar rights.
Ironically for me, its the opposite of what COTD fears – my viewing is no longer fragmented!
I now have F1, F2, F3 and IndyCar all under one £10 a month subscription on my preferred format (TV that can be recorded, paused, rewinded).
(BTTC is free on ITV4, FE free on BBCi)
But like COTD fears, my personal great solution may come crashing down next time UK rights are renegotiated.
AliceD (@aliced)
4th March 2019, 9:46
£32 a month on sky is the cheapest you can get F1. If you only want to watch F1 on sky then this is the monthly cost. I really don’t understand why anyone supports sky? Does paying money for sports that used to be free make people feel better about themselves? If there was not sky at all then you could watch all your sport for free on BBC? Maybe I am just stupid.
rsp123 (@rsp123)
4th March 2019, 20:12
Spot on.
MrE004
5th March 2019, 8:25
BBC is not free, it is a mandated and outdated underperforming one size fits all shoe that demands every British person pays for it for the tiny fragment they want to use of the service. In order to get back the functioning BBC people remember then the TV licence you pay for it with would be astromical, even compared to Sky prices today. Then a monopolised BBC would have no competition in order to keep things “free to air” and coverage quality would stagnant, if not decrease, as we have seen with no competition to Sky.
Before it is pointed out, I do still pay my tv licence for the small amounts of rugby and football coverage that BBC offer in UK, but am well aware that I am primarily paying it to not watch BBC coverage and watch my Sky channels instead.
Kelly (@kelly)
3rd March 2019, 0:52
The Williams wing looks like a remembrance wall… Signs to come?
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
3rd March 2019, 10:25
@kelly; That was my instinct also, it looks like a war memorial! I get the gesture, and it is nice to see actual names, we never get to see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and I guess these few weeks have been very tough for Williams.
But I think I’d feel a little disconcerted if I saw my name in amongst an alphabetised list like that.
faulty (@faulty)
3rd March 2019, 1:01
Mixed feelings about the MexGP.
On the one hand, it’s a source of national pride; on the other it’s a massive chunk of federal funds that benefit only one locality; on yet another hand, it’s boring TV.
Coanda (@ming-mong)
3rd March 2019, 4:00
Mexico has plenty of wealth. Just not in the right hands or not in the right places…
Josh (@canadianjosh)
3rd March 2019, 5:06
Haha you’re not kidding, I have relatives in Tamaulipas.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
3rd March 2019, 10:28
I’ve actually quite enjoyed most of the Mexican GP’s on TV. It seems one of the more characterful races, certainly better than Bahrain et al. But I can appreciate using public funds on F1 is a very hard sell in any climate.
ColdFly (@)
3rd March 2019, 1:50
I agree that fragmentation in streaming services worries me; or better annoys me.
I signed up to a Netflix to be able to watch any movie any time. But now I find out that they only have a few popular titles and annoyingly try to force me to watch certain programs. I think I will cancel Netflix and go back to paying for each movie I order via App or Play Store.
F1 OTT is different though. I expect them to be a one trick pony. I don’t mind that they won’t show hockey or football.
What I do mind is that they are not available in my region without VPN.
And what I find stupid on their side is that they don’t allow FTA to broadcast some significant part of races either summarised or time delayed. And they should also allow the service to be offered as part of satellite or cable packages. This is the easiest and cheapest way to grow new aficionados like myself.
Renee (@renee)
3rd March 2019, 13:14
Does VPN work for countries not officially listed for F1 TV? Some services use the credit card info to find your country or block VPN services. So if you are not from a country they support you can’t watch it. In Estonia there’s no official live coverage of F1 nor access to F1TV. There’s maybe one channel you can get from a certain cable provider as a part of a package but that’s also in a foreign language with no subtitles. So no use really. A rather pityful situation. If a vpn and paypal works. That’d be great.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd March 2019, 2:27
Thank you for the CotD, Keith!
@robbie – I responded to your comment y’day but for some reason my reply was lost. The gist of that is given below:
In response to your question, I would say yes, I am likely to consider dropping paying for F1 unless FOM are able to price F1 TV Pro in an appropriate manner for my country (appropriate for a combination of value + price).
To put that in perspective with some numbers – in my country today, I can stream various sports (including F1, cricket, football), movies and news for £11 annually. If I wanted only sports, that figure drops to a mere £3 annually. Now, that streaming service does not include free practice, but at those prices I’m not going to complain… too much. If I chose not to be a cord-cutter, then I could pay roughly £80-90 annually to get a whole bevy of hundreds of TV channels, which includes F1 coverage with free practice.
It brings to mind the dilemma I face with movie streaming services as well: in my country, Amazon Prime costs £11 annually, which brings with it movies, TV and a host of other benefits. On the other hand, Netflix costs £7 per month, a fee I previously didn’t mind paying, but am now questioning, for the same reasons @coldfly has articulated.
So that has me wondering, when F1 TV Pro arrives at our shores, is it going to be priced at a point akin to Amazon Prime, or that of Netflix? I’d be curious to see how much Liberty are willing to tailor prices regionally.
Witan
3rd March 2019, 12:45
Amazon Prime and Netflix are just under £8 a month in the UK. At least with the former I get free deliveries and I use online a lot except for food shopping.
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd March 2019, 13:31
Yeah yeah you can thank him all right, for every COTD you get this site credibility decreases.
I agree with you though @phylyp
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd March 2019, 13:38
@johnmilk – dude, stop revealing the job description that Motorsport Media gave me when they let me loose here :-D
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd March 2019, 13:39
Are they trying to lower the price?
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
3rd March 2019, 14:15
@phylyp I agree. All this little bubbles only makes torrent relevant again.
pastaman (@)
3rd March 2019, 2:32
My biggest gripe with F1TV is that they show the top 3 finishers at the top of the screen if you watch the race delayed (not live). This is so stupid I can’t even begin to go into it.
Here’s hoping that’s not the case this year.
JR Love (@dermechaniker)
3rd March 2019, 6:04
Am I understanding you correctly in that the podium is spoiled if you want to watch a race time shifted?!
I’m gobsmacked if this is the case.
Mog
3rd March 2019, 10:17
Its more that Mercedes, mercedes and Ferrari paid to have their names at the top of the screen, and when the podium is finalised they just shift the names to the correct order.
Problem is sometimes Red Bull want their name up there too, which is just plain obnoxious of them.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
3rd March 2019, 10:29
LOL, nice one :)
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
3rd March 2019, 11:28
@pastaman @dermechaniker Did they not fix that part way through last year by adding a ‘show results’ spoiler tag which now needs to be clicked to show the results.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd March 2019, 7:00
So, if I interpreted the wording correctly, the situation now is that Mexico if it were to remain in F1 beyond the upcoming season, wouldn’t have a slot around the annual Day of the Dead festivities guaranteed anymore, i.e., they might have to accept a slot further away from that time of year to be able to keep the race?
anon
3rd March 2019, 8:02
@jerejj, basically, yes – even if the race stays on the calendar, and now there is no guarantee of that, it looks like there is no guarantee that they’ll get a date at the same time of year.
I suspect that FOM would probably try and accommodate them if a solution can be found in the near future though – not only because holding the race around that time of year provides a more dramatic backdrop, but logistically it is potentially easier when grouped with the US and Brazilian GPs too.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
3rd March 2019, 9:17
Considering how Austin always bang on about Mexico being too close to their race, do you think they now hold any sway with Liberty to make Mexico double up with Canada in future deal?
JohnH (@johnrkh)
3rd March 2019, 10:38
In regard to COTD I’m afraid that is the future, short term as it may be that’s what Liberty are going for. They are not particularly interested in the health of F1 or motor racing in general. They are very concerned with being able to deliver a profit to their investors / shareholders. That means driving down costs through whatever means and increasing profits.
Also the need to address the coming changes to the Motor Industry which is the foundations of Motor Racing is yet to be confronted by F1.
No, I do not have any solutions, but that does not dissipate the problem.
rpiian (@rpiian)
3rd March 2019, 20:04
Bahahaha you keep doing you Kimi!
Brogan (@brogan-fraser)
4th March 2019, 2:37
There are so many comments made here without people understanding how business sometimes works.
I’ve missed dozens of deadlines, been three months late with a signature or a payment…all because I couldn’t get the directors in the same room, or to decide on something.
Sometimes I had to push things through and deal with the consequences later. (It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission)
Same thing goes for stuff like cashflow, it can make a sport or company look bad “losing money” “no money in the account”…sometimes its creative accounting, sometimes you do not want the money till a particular time..It’s all business.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
4th March 2019, 9:19
@brogan-fraser
It’s that type of dishonesty that has cause multiple financial crises.
dutchtreat (@dutchtreat)
4th March 2019, 16:41
I like to let you people know what I pay in the US, let me know how that compares to the rest of the world, just curious.
My provider is Frontier Communications. Monthly bill about $270 US Dollars. This include Internet, Phone (landline not Mobile) and TV also includes $9.99 monthly to have the Sports Package so I can watch F1 through ESPN/Sky Sports. Maybe some tips on how to do this cheaper are welcomed.