Channel 4 confirm 2016 F1 coverage details
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Channel 4 has announced the first details of its UK F1 coverage plans for 2016.
Ben Edwards and David Coulthard will reprise the commentary roles they had at the BBC. Steve Jones will present the coverage.
Other ex-drivers in the presenting team include Alain Prost, Mark Webber, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok. Commentating legend Murray Walker will features in the team as well along with ex-Williams tester Susie Wolff.
Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan and Lee McKenzie also makes the move across from the BBC. The line-up is completed by Nicolas Hamilton – BTCC racer and brother of Lewis.
Channel 4 have previously confirmed they will not show adverts during the ten live races they will broadcast. They will broadcast highlights of the other ten. Here’s which races they will show live:
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to your #C4F1 team pic.twitter.com/Q23IpFRjbB
— Channel 4 F1® (@C4F1) March 8, 2016
And although not pictured, Jolyon Palmer will also be involved:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/formula-1/profiles/channel-4-team/
Assuming they’re not all going to feature in every round, especially the drivers who have racing contracts.
Disappointed personally to see Ben Edwards is back, was a bit tired of his commentary, especially when he misses bits.
Is BBC radio continuing?
And Alex Zanardi?
Oooh, @lxznr will be part of #C4F1 as well!
— F1 Broadcasting (@f1broadcasting) March 8, 2016
I seriously hope that someone will stream the C4 stuff, since i cannot receive it in mainland europe and it was and with this team still is the only proper F1 covering.
That’s pretty good. Especially Bruno, Susie, Karun and Jolyon.
That’s not a bad team, as I will most likely be watching Channel 4 this year I’m pleased with what they put together.
I like DC as a commentator, not sure how I feel about Ben Edwards. I was a fan but he did miss a bit last season. I really like that Karun Chandhok is involved, he did some TV work with BeIn Sports in the Middle East and he was always well informed, knowledgeable and passionate. Getting Murray Walker and Prost involved is a bit of a coup, wonder what they’ll be doing.
Not at all bad. Maybe a bit of the BBC’s approach to Top Gear – throw enough names at it and some will be a hit, but I’m sure we won’t see all of them every race. DC, Edwards, Lee, Chandhok, Webber. Great news.
Not so great – Prost, Walker, Senna, Wolff. Can’t imagine what Prost in particular is going to bring to it. Likewise with young Hamilton.
Bitter disappointment – Jordan. Thought we’d seen the last of that ego, although when it goes up against that of Webber there may be a few sparks. Biggest relief – the omission of Threetimeslemanswinnerallanmcnish.
Dunno about Jones. Always thought of him as a lightweight rentapresenter, but I won’t be negative for now. I didn’t think much of Jake until he actually started the job, and he was excellent.
Looks good! Obviously C4 will want to gear it towards its younger audience, but the fact that they’ve brought most of the BBC crew along with a few other respected personalities, such as Walker, Webber, Prost, and “Karunapedia” shows they are taking it seriously. It looks like it’ll be a bit of fun, too — Susie Wolff will be doing a hot lap with Johnny Vegas as a passenger, for example. Perhaps it won’t be all for the purist, but it will definitely set it apart from the professional coverage that Sky provides. I firmly believe C4 will do a better job of drawing audiences than the BBC did, and maybe create a new generation of F1 fans too.
@mel-drew
I never minded Allan McNish, I think he’s good at explaining what racing drivers do and think. I agree with most of the rest of what you said, although I don’t see how anyone can dislike Murray. I doubt he can travel much these days so it’ll probably just be his thoughts on the season or a ‘storytime with Murray’ segment.No , no. I don’t dislike Murray Walker. I just never thought he was as good a commentator as some other people did. After forty years, I still remember how infuriated I used to get at his mistakes although I acknowledge that he used to work under some tricky conditions, sometimes. I think he’s only on this list to add some sort of gravity. You’re right, of course. He will just be offering occasional short pieces.
All looked good until the mention of Eddie Jordan. He’s proven that he doesn’t add anything of value from his time on the BBC, and I have no idea what Nicolas Hamilton could possibly bring to the table that the wealth of other talent they have couldn’t bring.
Nevertheless, I’ll go in with high hopes of a renewed enthusiasm in the C4 coverage.
I was hoping Jeremy Paxman would present it…not seen anything of him on 4 since the election last May. Imagine the interviews with team principals, or the Commercial Rights Holder.
Any amount of Zanardi is time well spent, I feel pretty much the same about Karun Chandhok, and they’ve done well to find an English-speaking driver with experience of the current generation of cars, in Susie Wolff.@bullfrog Chandok speaks good English (he’s driven the turbo cars, hasn’t he?)
Well, Sky Italy went with Marc Gené as commentator and Jacques Villeneuve and Davide Valsecchi as paddock interviewers if I remember correctly, which while good in itself pales in comparison to this line-up. And considering Sky is a pay-tv and broadcasts all of the races, this only makes Channel 4’s efforts praiseworthy. They seem to be very dedicated, though what the point of so many personalities is, I still can’t understand! Though of course most will rotate between weekends, as has been pointed out already.
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