'ITV will show qualifying' - Louise Goodman

[bigjon]

Following the discussions about F1 qualifying and TV for season 2005, I thought I'd ask the ITV team at the autosport show today. Louise said 'we will show qualifying but first the format needs deciding' I asked if that could mean itv 2/3 and she 'didnt know.' Ted kravitz was just grumpy old sod and shrugged off the question, whilst mark blundel has trouble speaking english at the best of times so i didnt bother to ask him.

In terms of the show itself - very good! well done autosport

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Did she say if qualifying would be LIVE or not?

[bigjon]

no - it seemed as if she didnt really know yet - clearly though it is the case that ITV have some form of contract requiring them to SHOW qualifying, but not live or on itv1 if thats what they choose.

the most interesting thing she said was probably the fact she feels luizzi is more talented than people give him credit and he deserves the red bull drive - an interesting opinion.

[Kicking-back]

The key line from that is "first the format needs deciding"

I read some quotes somewhere from Paul Stoddart who suggested the 2003 format is likely to return - "decide the order" session on Friday, "decide the grid" on Saturday.

That is the most postive format we are likely to get, I believe.

[luke]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

The key line from that is "first the format needs deciding"

I read some quotes somewhere from Paul Stoddart who suggested the 2003 format is likely to return - "decide the order" session on Friday, "decide the grid" on Saturday.

That is the most postive format we are likely to get, I believe.

I sure hope we get the 2003 format over last years.
I for one enjoyed it.
It would also prevent teams making their drivers slow down so they can start near the back for the second session in changing weather conditions moments before part two.

[BootsOntheSide]

It's much too close to the start of the season for there to still be doubt as to what the system will be - this should've been resolved months ago, for the sake of broadcasters, fans and teams.

I suspect that a lot of European (in particular) channels will be less keen to show an additional qualifying session on Sunday morning, simply because it'd mean devoting an extra hour (at least) of TV time to a sport which hasn't got great reviews in the last year or so. Certainly in the UK a lot of Sunday morning time is devoted to religious programs - you can imagine the "vital religious broadcastign replaced by boring 200mph tobacco advertising" spin the Daily Mail would put on the situation.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Certainly in the UK a lot of Sunday morning time is devoted to religious programs - you can imagine the "vital religious broadcastign replaced by boring 200mph tobacco advertising" spin the Daily Mail would put on the situation.

Heh heh heh, sounds good to me...

[Marbot]

Hopefully the FIA meeting at the end of the month will make everything all better......yeah right!

[pole2pole]

If the sunday morning session goes ahead that will make three live broadcasts over a race weekend {saturday quals-sunday quals and the race}. I really cant see ITV broadcasting all these sessions live plus dont forget of the cost. What will ITV have to pay for broadcasting rights for all these sessions and will it match up to the amount of viewers who decide to tune in.

[Logrence]

I hear the team bosses are warming up to the idea of going back to how it was before - hour of free-for-all with 12 lap limit. Idiots.

[Dog Faced Boy]

Hey I've got a great idea. Why don't they start a channel dedicated to F1 where you can see all the coverage from all the sessions in multiscreen format with reruns afterwards. I sure everyone would be willing to subscribe for a small additional fee. Who's with me? Anyone? hello? anyone? .......................I'll take that as a no.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by Dog Faced Boy

Hey I've got a great idea. Why don't they start a channel dedicated to F1 where you can see all the coverage from all the sessions in multiscreen format with reruns afterwards. I sure everyone would be willing to subscribe for a small additional fee. Who's with me? Anyone? hello? anyone? .......................I'll take that as a no.

Now we're talking! I'd subscribe, without hesitation.

[Kicking-back]

But the casual fan wouldn't - and thats what the sposors need.

[BootsOntheSide]

Precisely - it's vital important that people are somehow brough into the sport, and confusing and long-winded qualifying procedures are not the way to do this. Either the current system, a return to the 2002 system, or a shorter limited-lap session, are the only ways to do this.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

It's much too close to the start of the season for there to still be doubt as to what the system will be - this should've been resolved months ago, for the sake of broadcasters, fans and teams.

For the fans, well just considering me, it makes no difference that it hasn't been decided at this stage. It is far more important they chose a good format.

For the teams? Well there is a chance that they may change something if they knew, but again the priority for them is that the best format is chosen.

The broadcasters? Yes they could od with knowing. Although for European broadcasters the first few races are fly-aways and live means in the middle of the night or early morning. So the 'normal' situation is still a little way off. However with ITV they need to know how much they need to beg GMTV for airtime on their own station - I suspect qualifying will not be on ITV1 live whatever - even if they combine it with an episode of Corrie and have David Beckham guesting in the Australian pitlane.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Now we're talking! I'd subscribe, without hesitation.

I already have, it was great, now it is gone

[ASCII Man]

I had it too, and it was indeed great...

[Kicking-back]

Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix has always been live on ITV

[Dog Faced Boy]

I like the idea of a shoot out on a Sunday just before the race. Friday they practice.Saturday is 1 hours Qualifying with unlimited laps to decide a provisional grid with the lower placings being decided. The top 10 then have a single lap showdown on Sunday to decide the order.There is then a small gap of 30 mins before the GP.

Casual fans get to see the top drivers which is what they are interested in without sitting through the chaff.

Real fans get a more purposeful saturday along with a great piece of pre race adrenalin

TV companies Can simply add Sunday Qualifying to their Race shows. This means less Jim Rosenthal and more on track action.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Dog Faced Boy

This means less Jim Rosenthal and more on track action.

Just turn on five minutes before the race anyway!

To be fair it wouldn't reduce Jim exposure too much. At Japan last year they hardly covered it in the build up. They consider the other Hello! style reporting to be more important than on track action.

[Kirk]

Here in NA, Speed channel recently announced that they would telecast live, practice and qualifying for all 19 races. In the past I think Speed picked up the ITV feed, and assumiing they still do, all ITV coverage of same will be live as well.

[Kicking-back]

Speed have their own commentary team, rather than using ITV's.

And all broadcasters take the "world feed" for pictures.

[Kirk]

Thanks KB. I always associated commentator David Hobbs with ITV for some reason .... he's very opinionated and sometimes obnoxious, but he does make me laugh.

[Dog Faced Boy]

Yes but what about the top ten sunday qualifying idea. Do you think TV companies would go for it? It will be easier to slot into the schedule.

[Kicking-back]

I don't think there will be any form of qualifying taking place on Sundays.